I sorted thru a pile of at least 150 elk antlers and chose the best ones I could find. Had to drive 5 hours(one way) to get them, broke down on the way back(not quite half way), had to hitch a ride home, then called a tow truck to bring my Sidekick to the nearest shop. Ended up bringing these home on my motorcycle........ about a 7 hour ride round trip, but they`re here now....... some awesome pieces in that pile!
Sidekick`s still in the shop 3 1/2 hours away        

Darcy    

Nice, I have some Red Deer antler I plan on trying to use on my blank when I sort it out. It's amazing how similar Elk & Red Deer are to the point that they can interbreed.

Probably my favorite handle material for looks and durability......something interesting about elk antler. The stuff grown further north is more solid with less pith..........more like sambar stag. I see the same thing with deer antler. The deer antler from around here is almost totally solid......very dense and heavy.
I believe culpepper's is going to be getting a bunch of this for amber treatment pretty soon. Getting me some amber stag!
Darcy  

What's amber treatment?

It's a deep dying process......look up some of Lin Rhea's stag handles......many of them are amber stag. If the pieces I cut have good texture and shape, but not so great of color, I will send them to be dyed. Some people don't like amber stag, and I used to be one of them, but it's one of those things that has really grown on me I like it a lot now......... such deep rich color.
Darcy  

here's a pic of the ends of some of the cut tines to show how dense they are.......the brow tines are the most solid.


Darcy  

The smallest antler, furthest to the bottom of the pic?  I love the subtle fork it makes.  I've long sought a Bowie with a forked antler handle.

Looks darn nice!