Antler color
Whitetail Deer
Has anyone ever used stain or a similar product on antlers to bring color back to bleached out antlers? I have a couple of European's I would like to add color to. Thanks!
Use burnt umber oil paint lacquer thinner and a clean cotton rag as well as a paint brush to really darken the bases.
Put a dab of paint on the rag moisten it with thinner and rub it into the antlers.
You can darken and lighten it to your liking
What shug said. I use this stain from VanDykes. Darker at the bases then lighter as you move out by thinning a bit with paint thinner.
Newfy bull after staining! Not hard at all!
No need for "special" for Antlers products sold at a premium. Just use any good quality wood stain.
The beauty with wood stains is you can mix them or do several applications using several tones.
Light oak for those prairie bucks, Black walnut and Cherry for those deep forest bucks...
Man Charlie,,they look great!!
That is a nice job....many taxidermists struggle with getting the right color and finish especially on repos. Unless your versed I would purchase the "antler stain"...they have already done the "leg work" on tint/finish. VanDykes/ McKensie`s also carries your Havalon blades for your replaceable blade knives.
that's some pretty stuff Charlie.
How many colours can you achieve with VanDykes? One? And what is is made from, wood stain? ;)
Use wood stains following the same process as VanDykes, Wipe on, wipe off, Add some more in chosen areas, thin/erase with solvent if needed. . Finish off by lightly sanding the tips on those elk with 400 grit.. make them shine like ivory.
It is really so easy. Don't be shy, Just do it. :)
That looks great Charlie, thanks for all tips guys.
Try old English furniture polish dark oak. Works great
This dead head had many cracks and was chalky. It need more than just color, but to answer your original question Minwax Early American was the color I used.
This shed needed some tine repair, cracks filled, and color. Same stain was used as with the Mulie.
Lots of times. We've got a cabinet shop, so I have my pick of colors :) Very easy. Just dip a rag in the stain and work your way from the bases to the tips. That way when the rag has less stain on it you are at a point in the antlers that are lighter. Bases get dark and it looks very natural. Not at home right now so don't have a pic on hand, but I havea number of racks stained no one every notices.
Potassium Permanganate is what you want
Those look awesome. Nice job guys. One thought i had would be to practice on some small sheds and mess with colors on some horns you don't care as much about.
After painting
After painting
The paints I used
The paints I used
wilbur's Link
Old England Scratch Polish
Interesting thread.........Most people wouldn't know what a good taxidermy mount or antler "stain" job looked like. If details are pointed out, then some folks can appreciate the difference. I do some antler repair projects and mostly use oil points and layer different colors. "Staining" with one tone doesn't give me satisfactory results. I will say that there are some red flags that make antler coloring jobs look fake. 1. Down towards the base is where most rubbing occurs. Color is distributed down in the channels and veins of the antler. Rubbed high spots like bumps and ridges should be lighter. Most color too dark and don't have highlights around the antler bases. 2. Farther up on the antler the reverse happens normally past the brow tines. Most color is distributed on the higher flat spots with vein channels much lighter.
What happens with most people applying a stain with a brush or rag? The bases are much too dark without good lighter tones and further up the antler and beam the stain goes down in the veining and low spots. Your eye is seeing the reversal of mother nature and they look phony.
This whitetail antler was basically white from a game preserve and the shed pedical had been sawed off while under sedation. I reattached a natural shed pedical, sculpted in the juncture, brought the entire antler to the same tone and then painted follow the RULES of how color is normally distributed on antler from rubbing and polishing.
Most antler tones can be achieved with raw and burnt umber, raw and burnt sienna, black, yellow ochre and white. Applying some shredded bark is a nice touch as well.
These elk antlers were also sawed off from a zoo I think. Anyhow, natural shed pedicles were reattached and sculpted in matching tones. I don't have the final photo but there is a slightly darker tone on the repair which was blended after I lightened and highlighted the burred out high spots down around the rosette.
Hidden Instinct has a great video on using coffee grounds. I attached the link.
You guys do some nice work. I think I'm going to try the coffee grounds. Thanks again!
Rough country and Charlie are both hired when i need some stain work done! Great work y’all they look awesome
