Antler Handled Firesteels


Steven Long

Steven Long

Hunger For The Pine
Joined
Feb 15, 2011
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Made a few antler handled firesteels yesterday and today. A few will be shipped out tomorrow to a few friends on this wonderful website. The rest will make great gifts in the future. These are really easy and fun to make. I have seen a few tutorials on here so I won't post one. Just a bunch of eye candy.

They are made out of...
-Deer antler handles
-Firesteel.com survival firesteels
-Brass tubing
-Nickel silver tubing
-Mosaic tubing
-Paracord lanyard

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Burr handle with Rising Sun Mosaic tube....
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Nickel silver tubing...
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Brass tubing...
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And the final product...
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Enjoy!
 
Beautiful work - never heard of mosaic tubing, very cool!
 
Survive said:
Very nice handiwork!

What sort of glue did you use for to attach the handles?
Click to expand...

Thank you!

I used Loctite epoxy - 2500 PSI. I would have rather used Devcon since I know it holds strong over time. This was my first time using Loctite, so we shall see how well they hold up.
 
Survive said:
Out of curiosity, what is your source for the blanks?
Click to expand...

I get them from Firesteel.com. A little pricey but a good product. I have not tried any other source but I have heard that people have good luck with the cheap ones from ebay. I might just have to try them out soon.
 
fantastic

Those look fantastic, i'v just ordered some mosaic tubes to make in my firesteels. I'v never worked with them before. Could you share a little on how you fitted them to the antler?
 
Thank you.

All I do is cut the tubing to size (the width of the handle), drill a matching hole in the handle (3/8" OD tube gets a 3/8" hole). Next, rough up the tube a bit with a coarse sandpaper (helps the glue adhere to the tube), apply a little epoxy or strong super glue, hammer the tube into the handle (be quick, it will set up if you quit hammering before it goes all the way through) and then sand with a dremel. First I use a coarse grit sandpaper and then use a finer grit to try and get the tooling marks off of it. Next soak them in oil overnight. The next day, I usually buff them on a buffing wheel.

Have fun!
 
VERY nice. Love the antler that you used and the mosaic tubes. Way more character in that antler than in the antler that my son and I used.

Helped my son make an antler handled firesteel last summer; he did the work, I just showed him how. The antler we used was MUCH smoother though, no bumps at all. We just drilled the lanyard hole; didn't even think of using brass or brass mosaic tube. May have to go back and "spruce" his up a bit. Thanks much for the insperation and ideas.

Another difference was that we just used Gorilla Glue. So far seems to be holding up to use/abuse by son and his fellow Boy Scouts.
 
What kind of oil?

steven148 said:
Thank you.

All I do is cut the tubing to size (the width of the handle), drill a matching hole in the handle (3/8" OD tube gets a 3/8" hole). Next, rough up the tube a bit with a coarse sandpaper (helps the glue adhere to the tube), apply a little epoxy or strong super glue, hammer the tube into the handle (be quick, it will set up if you quit hammering before it goes all the way through) and then sand with a dremel. First I use a coarse grit sandpaper and then use a finer grit to try and get the tooling marks off of it. Next soak them in oil overnight. The next day, I usually buff them on a buffing wheel.

Have fun!
Click to expand...
 
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