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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Antler Ring

Polished antler ring with antler behind.
As some of you may know if you read my previous post "Snowy Adventures" I came across a deer head with antlers still attached (see post for photo of antlers.) Well I actually carried the antlers with me back home, and I've been meaning to do something with them for quite some time. After a few hours of browsing the interwebs for ideas and coming up with nothing but hat racks, and gun racks I decided to go it alone. I finally decided on a ring for my fiance (not engagement, she already has one of those, an antler engagement ring would be kinda tacky I think.)


The end of the antler was wide enough to make a ring out of so I started sawing with my ryoba (double edged Japanese pull saw.) After about 5 minutes of that I was off the the store to buy a respirator, the smell of antlers dust is worse than burning flesh and I can't imagine it being good for my lungs. Once cut it was then clamped down and a hole was bored using a spade bit in the drill press. Drilling the hole was quite easy since the marrow was a bit soft in the center, like a gross chewy caramel core. After that it was just a few days worth of hand sanding the outer part of the ring to refine the shape and smooth it. The finishing touch was a few hours of polishing compound and cloth to give it a nice shine (difficult to see in the photo as I don't have the proper setup to take amazing photos of jewelry.) Anyway I think it came out well and has a really amazing unique texture to it, I hope she likes it.
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21 comments:

  1. nick.May 4, 2011 at 12:17 PM

    If you've got photos of the process or can describe it, you should post an instructable on how to do it! The end result looks great.

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  2. DaveMay 4, 2011 at 12:50 PM

    Poor old Deer.

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  3. SteffiMay 4, 2011 at 1:44 PM

    Beeaaauuuttifulllll!!!!!

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  4. ZachMay 4, 2011 at 2:27 PM

    Wow thats sweet, had no idea people made rings out of antlers :P

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  5. FunkyDuckmanMay 4, 2011 at 2:32 PM

    I've always liked rings made of natural materials rather than precious metals. Really cool

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  6. UnknownMay 4, 2011 at 2:37 PM

    dang. that's so cool!

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  7. MemoMay 4, 2011 at 3:53 PM

    The ring came out pretty sweet, I hope your girlfriend/fiance likes what you've made her.

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  8. ribarMay 4, 2011 at 3:53 PM

    i love it ill have to make one

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  9. AnonymousMay 4, 2011 at 6:33 PM

    Cool invention! I tried to make a sword once out of wood when I was little, but failed miserably lol

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  10. UnknownMay 4, 2011 at 7:57 PM

    This is great work, I once made a cool walking stick when I was young, It felt natural. I of course didn't need a walking stick, but it made me feel like a wizard.

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  11. AlexandraMay 4, 2011 at 8:27 PM

    that is actually very beautiful! I hoped she liked it!!

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  12. PsiconMay 4, 2011 at 10:16 PM

    BEauty!

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  13. MichaelMay 4, 2011 at 10:20 PM

    Sounds like a cool idea. But I agree an engagement ring made of antler would be a little tacky.

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  14. tomatoshadowMay 4, 2011 at 11:35 PM

    It's really amazing! I would never have thought to do this with an Antler!

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  15. goat-on-a-stikMay 5, 2011 at 3:57 AM

    looks cool! great idea!

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  16. GreenIdeasMay 5, 2011 at 7:33 AM

    wow thats really nice.

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  17. Paulie PecansMay 5, 2011 at 10:37 AM

    neato!

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  18. freightblogMay 5, 2011 at 12:42 PM

    poor deer but looks nice :)

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  19. JayMay 5, 2011 at 6:39 PM

    awesome!

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  20. Schla.mp3May 5, 2011 at 10:41 PM

    that looks great!

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  21. AtleyMay 6, 2011 at 9:42 PM

    Dude, that's so cool! I'm proud you found a new way to use an old material! you also might find a small market for antler rings? haha turn it into a small side business.

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