Antler tip came off..

[capt eddie]

I remember about threads about bowyers that would not use antler for bow tips.  I see why.  The antler is soft like plastic. Alittle grainy on the glued side, like it was not solid material.  Has any one else had this problem.  I do use a tip protector on all my bows.  Could that have caused it??

[Tim Finley]

Antler wont absorb the glue well and it contracts and expands with cold or moisture. I stopped using it on my bows several years ago....Tim

[far rider]

Good to know, I'm getting ready to have Craig Eikin put some overlays on a couple of Hill bows I have. I was considering elk antler on one, but I will look at other materials now.

[Pat B]

You can saturate the pithy part of the antler first with super glue, let it dry and glue them back on(after cleaning both surfaces). I use thin super glue to solidify the pith and gel super glue to stick the overlay to the tips.

[Dave Bulla]

I don't think the ability or inability to absorb glue makes much difference.  Heck, fiberglass don't absorb ANY glue and it stays together.  Compresses and stretches too.  I expect it's that the antler DOES NOT flex.  Never heard of antler being soft like plastic.  Do you mean you can bend it or are you talking about the porous side and maybe how you can put a fingernail mark in it or something?

From my somewhat limited experience bow building, I've found that you need to have a real precise fit between the two surfaces then you have to be careful about not starving the glue joint by clamping too tightly.  

Lastly, if you do like I did on my first bow and shape the limb tip and tip overlay so that the antler part is longer than the wood, (I was going for an old time horn nock sort of look but with a flat surface joint instead of a cone) you do run more risk of it coming off simply because when you rest the tip on the ground, only the antler touches and it puts a lot more pressure on the overlay.  The best way (though not as pretty) is to have the wood and overlay the same length and round from the edges so the wood or wood/antler seam is at the longest point.

[d. ward]

Yes antler does expand and contract in different temps.the best way is to soak the antler with super glue 2-3 maybe even 4-5 times to stabilize it a little and fill the pours.Once the antler is stablized and cured for 1-2 days.Then bonded with epoxy to the bow it should never come off.
99% of epoxies need heat to cure and in many cases the tip overlays are the last thing glued to the bow and do not get to spend time in a hot box.I use a 75 watt light about 6 inches above the antler overlay to cure the epoxy for 24 hrs.works great.bd

[capt eddie]

The antler was flexible not hard like I thought it would be. I did not build the bow, It was custom built by well known bowyer.  He is out of town now and can not tell me what to do with the tip.  I am sure he will answer all my questions when he returns. I bought the limbs with the antler already on them.  I would not order antler on a bow after the remarks I read years ago addressing this problem.

[Dave Bulla]

If the antler was flexible, I'd almost have to think it wasn't real antler unless there is some sort of chemical process to alter it I've never heard of.  

Bowdoc, I know you've done a ton of restorations, have you ever heard of "flexible" antler?  The closest I can imagine is if it's from a pithy section of antler but I doubt most bowyers would use that part.  

But I keep thinking of the science experiment I did as a kid where you soak an egg in vinegar for about a week and it takes all the minerals out of the shell and you can push it into a bottle who's opening is too small for a hard egg....

[artifaker1]

There is a lot of difference in antler according to the species and the individual animal. Sambar stag is the best, it is  solid "ivory" inside except for a blood tube near the center. Moose is top notch and can be solid in the crown and clear out into the palm. I've even seen palms that were solid. Usually they're not though. White tail are pretty good usually and mule deer are hit and miss with most having a large core of pith. Elk are the worst, almost all pith except right down in the crown. I've cut up a lot of horn for flintknapping tools. And seen much more that was cut up by others.
When I was considering tip overlays for a self bow I was working on I took nearly equal size pieces of horn, antler and ivory and weighed them the horn was vastly lighter than the other materials. I mean a bunch lighter. And it is very tough and rugged. The horn that I used was domestic cattle. I've never had a piece of Kudu so I'm assuming it is similar.
That heat lamp on epoxy is really the hot set up, you can't blast it off after you set it with heat. I tried to tell some guys on here about that for gluing in inserts in arrows but they disregarded it, too bad.

[artifaker1]

Pun intended, and I forgot to add that if you have a private hunting area or something like that you can grow some real trophy's by putting out those brown 50 lb salt blocks in areas where they hang out in the spring I would think. The brown ones have all the minerals in them.

[Ron Foley]

Try Axis deer horn almost solid except for blood vessel hole thru the center. Any peice over one inch in diameter and a couple of inches long will yeild two peices when cut in half. Sanded flat with 80 grit on the split side should give you two peices that will glue extremely well. Axis horn looks very good in place of Elk, Or other antler. I've used axis only for several years and have very good results. As for a soft antler (that you spoke of) SOMETHING AIN'T RIGHT
Try Axis horn and use fresh super glue .

[d. ward]

I've never seen any real antler that was flexable as Dave mentioned some softening process may have been used.
I use the super glue process to stabilize all tip overlay material antler cow horns and or all types of wood.Been working OK for me for over 35 years and have not had any problems after stablizasion process.bd