Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Q for the knife makers

I've been out catching up with the herd of Roosevelt elk I followed last Fall. The bulls have dropped their hats and I'm enjoying finding them.
What do you knife making wizards look for when you want to use antler? Minimum dimensions?

nearest td bank atm to me

100 unique baby names

Not a wizard but....
That varies a lot depending on whether you are doing rounds or scales.
Rounds need to fit the thickness and length you or your customer wants.
Flat scales need to fit the height, length and width of a full tang.
Tips can be used in various ways or for dog chews.
Crown for belt buckles.
Scraps for dog chews.
Most of an elk antler is usable.
Cores can be quite pithy depending on....

I use the ones and twos for handles...the brow tines. A 280-300 class bull with straight, not crooked, brow tines suits my needs the best.

My instagram here shows a few of those knives:

https://www.instagram.com/doublehknives/

Thanks for the info, gents. When the water comes down a bit I'll get back out looking for more sheds.

Nice collection of pics, Hank.

Best option in my opinion is to send off an antler from one of your elk and have your favorite knife maker build you a knife or set of knives. Trading excess antler stock towards the knife(ves) is a win-win deal.

Here's a few of mine using the brow tines.

Beautiful work there Godogs, I wish I could find some good antler material around here but I have been using some great stabilized maple burl for my latest knives and pistol/revolver grips.

Love stabilized maple burl....makes gorgeous handles. I’ve also began stabilizing pecan wood that has fiddleback figure in it....looks as pretty as walnut.