I don't like to waste material of any kind whether it is hardwood, canvas, leather or antler. So the main body of the antler it self is sort of flat. I figured if I could saw out grip size pieces then split it,, it may just work as material for a grip.
The antler is not really that hard to cut, but splitting it was a bit of a challenge. I tried the band saw but it was a little to aggressive. What worked best was a hand saw and the reciprocating saw very slowly.
Once I got a feel for the material, the speed of the saw, it went very quickly.
I use Titebond 3 when gluing up materials on other paddles, but i was unsure how the antler and the glue would work. So to make it bomb proof I used my other favourite G2 epoxy.
Once glued up the antler was not that difficult to work using the spoke shave or rasp. Sanding it was amazing and it finished smooth as silk. It is nasty stuff so a dusk mask is needed especially when sanding.
I wasn' sure how it would turn out or how it would be to work with. I didn't want to take any chances though. Just in case I loved it and it was perfect. I wanted it to be on my favourite blade shape and have the grip I favour as well.
A all yellow cedar Algonquin blade with a smaller grip was what I chose. The pictures below are of the finished paddle showing the grip.
The last 2 pictures are of the grip beside my other Algonquin paddle.
All in all I was amazed how the antler grip turned out!
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