Thread: My First Brush

Here is the first brush I ever made. I bought the 5.5" Elk Antler with Chrysocolla end cap on eBay as a knife handle & cut it in half. I drilled a hole in it for the 24mm silvertip badger knot. The handle is 57mm with a 55mm loft, total length 112mm. Once I get my lathe over here from my mothers house, I will be able to make my own handles.

Nice work Engine-Let's see it again after it blooms!

I love antler brushes,,,,,,,,

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Nice work Engine-Let's see it again after it blooms!

Thanks! I have a metal cutting lathe at my mothers house I need to get over here. Some people on the four already know about my lathe. I'm waiting to get on disability & once that happens, I'll get it over here. I almost bought a wood lathe but some members on here said I could use a metal cutting lathe because they do the same thing so I'd rather do that & cut down on space. I can use it for cutting metal & wood.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

I love antler brushes,,,,,,,,

Thanks Hirlau, I love antler brushes too so I do't think I'll ever stop buying the antlers on eBay once I get my lathe here. I have another piece of antler I'm hoping to make a brush with a 28mm knot. I'm waiting on the knots for now.

Can I see another disorder on the horizon? Looks good, I can tell you from experience, antler is NOT easy to work with.

Originally Posted by guitstik

Can I see another disorder on the horizon? Looks good, I can tell you from experience, antler is NOT easy to work with.

It wasn't. The inner portion of the antler is soft so when I used the forester bit, it kept trying to walk in the center until the outer cutters started cutting.

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.

Super cool brush. I'm loving the asymmetry. But I suppose that's a given with antler.:-S

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.