Mounts

[PJ]

What sort of antler or horn can be used as an alternative to ivory for mounts on a set of pipes? Specifically can deer, moose or caribou antler be used for making mounts?

What sort of treatment do antlers or horns need before they can be turned? Drying, chemical treatment of some sort, etc.? How long after harvesting antlers before they could be turned?

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[Joseph E. Smith]

Yes, they all can. Of the three, Moose is my favorite.

[Tony]

...How long after harvesting antlers before they could be turned?

This website suggests a year:

http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com/deer-antler.html

[sjcavy]

Roddy MacLellan uses moose mounts, and they are beautiful! Give him a call, I bet he'd be happy to talk your ear off about it.

[pancelticpiper]

yes many Highland pipemakers use antler for mounts. Look up Mark Cushing's website for photos of antler-mounted sets. Also "Colin Kyo" pipes. For whatever reason US Highland pipemakers are more likely to use antler, while makers in Scotland tend to use either plastics or alternate woods.

The best alternative to ivory, in my opinion, is the tagua/tauga (sp?) nut or so-called "palm nut ivory". This stuff is very hard, has a colour like old ivory, and has all sorts of natural varigation.

Here's a closeup of a set of Highland pipes by the wonderful US maker Dave Atherton mounted in Palm Nut Ivory:



Here's a set of Highland pipes by Dunbar of Canada mounted in Palm Nut Ivory:

[Hans-Joerg]

Antler is a very nice material: It is nearly as unsplitable as metal and at the same time somehow "elastic" (as the animals use it for fights), "manufacturable" nearly as simple as ivory (no varnishing necessary), you can use "cast off" antler (and be sure that the animal is still alive) and the sawed off "antler feet" (also frequently referred to as "antler roses" over here by hunters) are ideal for regulator ends or drone ends, BUT these (from European Deer or Red Deer) mostly are "white-greyish-cloudy". Does somebody by chance know a way around this (bleeching; moose; etc.)?

[uilleannfinlander]

My boxwooden fullset's mounts made from moose and reindeer antler.Drones and regs end moose , chanter mounts from male reindeers of Finland.

[ChaplainBlake]

"you can use "cast off" antler (and be sure that the animal is still alive) and the sawed off "antler feet" (also frequently referred to as "antler roses" over here by hunters) are ideal for regulator ends or drone ends, BUT these (from European Deer or Red Deer) mostly are "white-greyish-cloudy". Does somebody by chance know a way around this (bleeching; moose; etc.)?"

Yes, you can use shed antlers. In fact, that is the best sort (if you can find them). Sheds are a renewable resource, and require no harm to their respective former owners. I collect sheds from our land all of the time, and have sent some of them to a pipe maker. It should also be noted that for international shipment (and even some interstate shipment in the US) sheds and cut off antlers are considered differently. I always leave the rosette (base) in tact, so that they pass the test of scrutiny.

To your second question: I have never attempted to bleach antler. If you want white, go with artificial mounts. Natural products have their own character, and I believe this adds to the character of the instrument. Part of the allure of natural mounts are their material idiosyncrasies. I like to consider the variations of antler in the same category as wood grain. Also, antler density, growth, hardness, and color are determined almost exclusively by an animal's diet, and as a result, color even withing a local species will vary wildly. Since antlers are shed annually, the color even varies on a single animal from year to year. I have collected (and inspected as a function of my study of genetics, wildlife management, and the assessment of food quality) virtually every variety of antler available from species in North America, and I have seen that variance in every type. Moose is great, but very little of the antler is actually used. Caribou, mule deer, and NA Whitetail are also suitable, but as the animal get smaller, so too do the diameters of their antlers. As a general rule though, the closer to the skull, the more solid the material.

If you have any other questions, please let me know--I have been studying NA species and their respective antlers for about 20 years now.

All the best,
Blake

[Hans-Joerg]

Thanks, Blake! It is perhaps worthwhile to mention that you only can use the "outer rim" of antlers, whereas the interior is much too spongy. The small European Deer (about a little bigger than the size of a goat; "Reh") "produces" antler feet and rosettes that are ideal in size for Coyne-style reg-caps (no metal necessary). You sometimes cheaply run across their shed antlers on Ebay.

Concerning this - another question: Sometimes two absolutely symetrical antler-sticks without any skull remainders are offered and you can be dead sure that they are from one and the same animal. Could you then necessarily conclude that the poor animal was shot (down) ("mama, that greenish dressed guy killed Bambi") or do they sometimes shed their sticks close-by so that you can find both?