ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS ADDED Staining or painting antler burr limb bolts

[bohuntr]

I recently bought a very nice Brackenbury Nontypical from Donald Rowan and it came with antler burr limb bolts that are very white. I am may be a little too paranoid but while I like the ease of taking the limb bolts off by hand I don't like the idea of the white knobs. Too much like a whitetail flagging and seems to me that any small motion would show up better. I have seen these antler burr limb bolts before that were kind of a chocolate brown which I think would look good with the color combination of my bow and Kanati quiver. Suggestions????

[maineac]

I am planning to make some limb bolts and had teh same thought.  I figured using a wood stain would soak into the porous end of he burr fairly well.

[Bladepeek]

I've always had better luck staining antler with leather stain. You can take dark brown and thin it to get the stain you want.

[bohuntr]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Where does a guy get leather stain?  Any other suggestions?

[YORNOC]

Yes, leather stain, Tandy leather, wood stain does not soak into the harder partts of the antler. Bison brown and timber brown are two great colors, you can buy them in small bottles.
Here's a pic where I did the outer edges.
I believe the product line is called Eco-Flo.

 

[maineac]

Those look great David!

[graybarkhunter]

this may sound dumb, but maybe rubbing a little pinch of dirt or two into the white portion of the burr may mute it enough not to totally take away from the "real" look of a burr. on the other hand, i really like YORNOC's burrs in the above pic

[Caughtandhobble]

Leather dye is the ticket...

[bohuntr]

For those of you that have used the leather dye before what is the approximate drying time? Just put a coat on a few minutes ago. Also do you put more than one coat on? Thanks for any additional info!

[The Whittler]

After you stain do you put a sealer like poly on so the stain don't rub off on your hands.

[Steve Clandinin]

Dan,I've done many many limb bolts.Like the rest said leather stains the way to go.Many times I'll scorch the edges first with a reg.propane torch,then stain the edges for more of a antique look,then either wipe on poly or true oil. If you have reservations just send em here my friend.we'll get em sparkling for ya ! LOL

[YORNOC]

I let it stand over night but it really dries in a hour or so.You can also put a coat of wax over the stain, I like Butchers wax. Another FAST coating is from Tandy too.Acrylic Satin Sheen. Wipe it on over the stain, dry in minutes. Clear, low sheen, DONE! Couple of coats works great. You can wax over that too if you hunt in REALLY wet areas.

[Razorbak]

lightly scorch with a torch..do it in passing and not directly on the antler..do it in stages you can get the consistancy you want...I done the leather dye trick as well..tape the best you can on areas you dont want stained and dab a little at a time then wipe off and do it again until you reach color stage you want