When you have small bits of antler left over, finding something to do with them can be a chore. I'm swimming in antlers, but they're tiny things from tiny deer, unfit for knife handles and the like.
So as they collect dust, I will occasionally pull one out of the collection and begin chopping at it.
In this case, the tip of the tine was perfectly shaped to become the stopper. All I had to do was turn it around and it fit in the hole like it was supposed to be that way from the beginning.
The base is just the pithy part of the antler... with some pitch glue mashed in. It's maybe 1/8" thick or a little more. The spongy texture of the antler pith makes a dandy matrix for the warmed pitch glue to lock into. All that surface area means the thing is rock solid and not going anywhere.
Backstrap sinew to reinforce the mouth and make a cord for the stopper. Pretty easy work, there, but some thread or the like could have also been used. I prefer sinew for things like this because it dries so tough. It's almost like nature's plastic when working on something this small.
And to finish it off.... good ol' Stockholm Tar. That'll preserve the whole thing and gives it a nice shine. A win-win situation if ever there was.
Not all peaches and cream, though. I wasn't thinking things through when I did all the cutting at the start, and it turns out to be too short for a lot of my needles. Better than nothing, but I'm gonna have to start all over if I want to have somewhere cool to stow my bigger more bushcrafty needles. Stay tuned....
So as they collect dust, I will occasionally pull one out of the collection and begin chopping at it.
In this case, the tip of the tine was perfectly shaped to become the stopper. All I had to do was turn it around and it fit in the hole like it was supposed to be that way from the beginning.
The base is just the pithy part of the antler... with some pitch glue mashed in. It's maybe 1/8" thick or a little more. The spongy texture of the antler pith makes a dandy matrix for the warmed pitch glue to lock into. All that surface area means the thing is rock solid and not going anywhere.
Backstrap sinew to reinforce the mouth and make a cord for the stopper. Pretty easy work, there, but some thread or the like could have also been used. I prefer sinew for things like this because it dries so tough. It's almost like nature's plastic when working on something this small.
And to finish it off.... good ol' Stockholm Tar. That'll preserve the whole thing and gives it a nice shine. A win-win situation if ever there was.
Not all peaches and cream, though. I wasn't thinking things through when I did all the cutting at the start, and it turns out to be too short for a lot of my needles. Better than nothing, but I'm gonna have to start all over if I want to have somewhere cool to stow my bigger more bushcrafty needles. Stay tuned....
