Antler Restoration ideas

Dr_Hunter

Dr_Hunter

Very Active Member
Messages
1,057
Hey guys,
I posted this a few days ago but without a picture. I was wondering if you guys with experience could point me in the right direction. I found a 5x5 set that I wanted to brown up, but they are probably 4-5years old and cracked. Usually I stain the antlers I find that are only one to two years old but these are cracked and older.
Should I use filler or wood putty to fill the holes, then sand it and stain it? I have looked into WAM, but have never tried it. Is it worth trying? Would you recommend painting them? Or are they too old for any of the above? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

4a0b29d962ff989e.jpg
 
WAM works great for sheds that are up to 3 years old. Sometimes even 4. But i'm not sure if yours will work well. Possibly but not sure.
 
I tried restoring a 27" lion kill. I used wood filler and stainned the antlers. The problem was the antler color was different than the color of the wood filler. I ended up with two toned antlers. So you definitely want to experiment with filler and stain on something other than the antlers.



A bad day hunting still beats working!
 
The best thing that I have found to use to fill in cracks in corn meal. Just get it wet enough with some water until it turns into a paste and rub it all over the antlers and then let it dry, hit it with a little 400 grit sand paper and then stain it up. I like to use boiled linseed oil and peet moss for elk antlers and for deer I use wam then after the stain is dry and hit them with some 000 steel wool to polish up the tips and knock of the coloring on the highspots (nubbings) just like the animal would by rubbing on a tree. I have had great results so far but what ever you end up doing always test it out on an antler that you don't mind messing up on. Good luck and post up some pics when your done.
 
Pushin_30, How in the world did you come up with the idea of corn meal? I will give it a shot and post some pics. Do you apply the peet moss on the antler while it is wet with the linseed oil or let it dry first? Thanks fo for the advice.
 
If you have another antler you willing to sand down, you could use the powder from that antler, get it a little bit wet and work it into the cracks. Then the cracks are filled with actual antler particles and should stain the same color as the original antler.
 
i have always used meatal glaze or even bondo. if you spend the time sanding and detailing cracks and dents it will turn out well. it has always excepted my staining mix really good.
 
I hace never tried those ideas, but can tell you this about W.A.M. It works great and I have brought back antlers that were around 15 years old with them being in the decaying away, pink and with moss growing on them and after they are done I can drop them and they are alot stronger than before.
With W.A.M. follow the instructions if you have year old up to three year old antlers it will make them look great, any older I have found that if you soak them in water and then wet sand them letting the old bone work into the cracks it helps fill them. Around the burr and up the main beam were they are bumpy I use a sanding dremel bit to remove the cracked outer layer. After I W.A.M. them up and after drying remove most of the W.A.M. then taking a small area at a time sprying the over the layed antler with W.A.M. with the schlack and lightly sand it into the antler and buff up the high polished areas. Then use the red and or black W.A.M. if preffered to color to liking. This is a easy but yet time consuming process usually takes about 1-2 hours depending on size and condition of antler over three years old and older, but has great results. Remember this though, no matter what you use or do that I have tried bone is bone just like concrete, once it cracks you can fix it but it doesnt look the same. But this process atleast you have a all natural look along, but from a arms length away it looks alot better, faste, easy and makes the antler alot stronger.
I will be doing a demostration at Antler Fest this year at Cabelas, so if any one wants to see the process stop bye and we will have them announce the time and when we will be doing this.

Hope this helps, thanks. Wes
 
Well, I tried the cornmeal idea with boiling linseed oil and peet moss and it worked great! Wow! What a change. I tried it on an old, small elk shed and it looks great. I am trying to post a pic but don't know how. Do I have to upload it somewhere else, in a gallery, and then copy and paste the URL?

I think I will also try the WAM. Thanks for the input Wes. I will be at Antlerfest. Maybe you can do the demonstration on some of my anlers. Not a bad idea, eh?

I also went out yesterday and found another good six point set along with some other singles. The only problem is that I am only finding whites that are 2-4 y/o, or older. I have yet to find a brown antler this year.
 
Dr_Hunter, glad to hear the recipe worked for ya. I actually got this recipe from my grandpa years ago. I have no idea how he got the recipe, but it seems to work well. Lets see the before and after pics.
 
Sorry it's taken me a while. I am out of town and have been studying for the biggest test of my life. I will post the pictures when I get back (next week.)
 
Sorry, I have been under the weather for the past few days. I will have them posted by this afternoon. I am a little disappointed with how the latest turned out, but my practice ones look awesome. I have fooled a few people. I think that I may have put too much linseed oil on this last set and it wasn't able to brown as well. I don't know? but I'll have them posted in acouple of hours (my batteries are dead.)
 
Here is the set that I was hoping would look better. The before picture is the picture posted at the beginning. They didn't brown up as nice but still look decent. I may try sanding them a little and rubbing more peet moss, dirt, pine sap, and dog crap on them to see if they brown up better. J/K about the dog crap.
I think that after putting in all the work of trying to restore them, is an incentive to get out more and find the fresh ones before everyone else does. Although, it is fun to do during the off season. I may try doing a few more and will post them. Let me know what you think.

http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/User_files/4a37d0955f0308cb

4a37d2586a9337b2.jpg
 
Looks like the cormeal did the job if that's the same antler as your first post.The raghorn(4 pt)stained up nice.Looks like you need to darken the set,though.I'm a little concerned that the cornmeal will fall out of the crack after awhile.Thanks for the pics,DH.
 
Hey Dr. Hunter I have a suggestion, try finding some old leaves that are on the ground, and dig underneath to get the decaying leaves, if they are still wet start rubbing them on the antler. If the decaying leaves are try put some water in a bowl and dampen the leaves, then rub them on. This works great. I have done this for my sheds and it works great. I recently used WAM and was not very impressed compared to the free leaves. Let me think 50 versus free. Also if you want to seal in the cornmeal you could try a matte finish spray or some laquer but you will have to get steel wool and rub them down to remove the glossy look. But you have done a great job so far and it looks good. Different leaves have a different color, cottonwood leaves work great for elk. Try rubbing it on and I bet it will change your color for ya.
 
>Hey Dr. Hunter I have a
>suggestion, try finding some old
>leaves that are on the
>ground, and dig underneath to
>get the decaying leaves, if
>they are still wet start
>rubbing them on the antler.
>If the decaying leaves are
>try put some water in
>a bowl and dampen the
>leaves, then rub them on.
>This works great. I have
>done this for my sheds
>and it works great. I
>recently used WAM and was
>not very impressed compared to
>the free leaves. Let me
>think 50 versus free.
>Also if you want to
>seal in the cornmeal you
>could try a matte finish
>spray or some laquer but
>you will have to get
>steel wool and rub them
>down to remove the glossy
>look. But you have done
>a great job so far
>and it looks good. Different
>leaves have a different color,
>cottonwood leaves work great for
>elk. Try rubbing it on
>and I bet it will
>change your color for ya.
>
POONER: after seeing your same type of post on several forums, it is pretty obvious that you are just trying to spread bad mouth about WAM. if your not capable of using basic steps to make antlers look great thats fine, but others would benifit greatly using the stuff. we've all seen post after post of people making antlers look awsome using WAM. when i go to refinish a couple of big sets i have, based on what i have seen[ 100% posative feedback EXCEPT your posts] WAM will be the first thing i try
 
Well heres a second opinion.

I have yet to see a set done by wam or any other chemical look good. Ya, the antlers will look brown but you might as well spray paint them. I might just be OCD but I can't stand looking at antlers that have been stained badly.

Using decaying leaves, mud and other organic material is the best way, IMO.
 
Thanks for calling me stupid because I cant follow directions. I didn't say it didn't work. I said I was not impressed. The reason being that it didn't turn out any better than the free leaves. If i was in your position and trying to some money I would say its great. Sorry for just trying to save a fellow shed hunter a few bucks, like 50, that could go towards his next shed hunt.
 
Pooner, the thing that i find somewhat confusing is that on other forums or message boards, you say that you have never used WAM, and that was as recent as a couple of days ago. Now you say you have used it and "Was not impressed". Please if you can, clear this up for me. I am confused, I don't recall selling the product to you nor do any of the other WAM boys. So, have you tried WAM or not? If indeed you have, I would greatly appreciate a PM, email or a phone call, so that we can figure out what is going wrong for you. We pride ourselves in customer satisfaction and service. I WANT you to be one of thousands of those customers that are 100% in love with the product. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me or any one of the other WAM boys and we would be happy to assist you.
 
I did a really old white and cracked winterkill set with a method I got from Browtine.

1- brush antlers with a LIGHT coat of Minwax aged oak gel stain
2- using an old rag rub antlers down with soil (different colors for different looks)
3- wipe down with clean wet rag
4- let dry
5- repeat if needed

The dirt filled in the cracks well and gave it a real cool look. I was way happy with the way they turned out. Simple, cheap, and easy.

Here is a vid after I put the set on a shoulder mount. (sorry no before pic)



-----------------------------------------------
http://andymansavage.blogspot.com/
 
Yes I had not used it, but I had a friend who had some so I went and helped him do it. No i didn;t buy any, why we have been over this. Mostly because I wanted to know how the producted work. Did work yes, was I impressed for the 50 bucks no. I am sorry I have never bashed on it, well i guess you could say I did. But i never said it was horrible just pointed people to a cheap method.
 
AndymanSavage- Antlers look great! You did a great job restoring those bad boys.
In response to the previous posts. I am all about saving money. I appreciate the tips and advice.
Also, I have seen WAM used and seen it restore some pretty old antlers. At Antlerfest, Wes introduced me to the product and showed me some before and after sets. It works pretty good. However, I would rather save the money and like someone posted before "use it on a future shed hunting trip." As long as these other methods work, I will continue using them.
I think this is the whole idea of Monstermuleys; bringing hunters together to share ideas and help a fellow hunter out. Thanks again for the tips. I'll try the dead leaves.
 
Sweet Dr. Hunter, let us know how it works, also, it works best if you can find old leaves on the bottom that have moisture in them naturally without adding water. Good luck.
 
I forgot who posted in response to my quest for antler perfection, but one of the MM Members told me to try the back side of a shingle and some paint thinner... low and behold its by far the closest thing to a true even color i can get.
*It will not do a thing for cracks, but if an antler as been out for a year or so, you can brush it up to look brand new.*
So whomever told me try it out, step up and claim your method!
Ill post up some pictures when i get a sec. -MMM
 
a little sheet rock mud rubbed in really well with your fingers will get out the cracks. let the mud dry and then wash the antler. The mud will stay in the cracks and stain or color just fine. On the tips I like to use a laytex filler (same method) and it will not color or stain up as much so you can get the rubbed look.

For color I am a lot different than most. I use a polyurathan stain such as royal walnut 350 and mix with other colors to get what I like. It took a lot of messed up antlers before I felt confident enough to fix most any antler like this.
 

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