Thread: My First Brush

Originally Posted by engine46

It is very porous in the center so I just thought of an idea. Next time I will fill in the center portion with CA. On this one i had some channelocks with heat shrink on the jaws so I held it with them & started drilling the hole. Once it started cutting the larger hole, I think it was much easier.

Use an epoxy. CA in that quantity will take a weak to cure through. Epoxy will take an hour at the most. Just make sure you use an epoxy that's fairly clear so it won't distort the natural color to much.

On the other hand, if it does change the color a bit it might look alright to.

Nice job on this one though. Post another pic after the first use so we can see the bloom.

Wood hardener also works - there's a UK brush maker (notsharp) who sent me some antler to make scales with and I know he uses it. It does darken the honeycomb but you're not going to see that anyway.

Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

Use an epoxy. CA in that quantity will take a weak to cure through. Epoxy will take an hour at the most. Just make sure you use an epoxy that's fairly clear so it won't distort the natural color to much.

On the other hand, if it does change the color a bit it might look alright to.

Nice job on this one though. Post another pic after the first use so we can see the bloom.

I used a transparent 5 minute epoxy to glue the knot in. I was referring to guitstik's comment on how difficult it is to work with antler. When I first used the forester bit on it, the center point tried walking on me so next time I figured if I use CA in the core of the antler where it is soft & let it set up in time, it should drill more on center. I was still able to get it to drill by holding it with some channellocks I have with heat shrink on the jaws to keep from scratching it up.

Sorry Harry, I misunderstood you.