Re-Furbished Shed - What Do You Think?

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O_S_O_K

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First time trying to revive an older white antler with cracks. I used taxidermy 2-part modeling clay to fill in the cracks and then I finished it with WAM (Wild Antler Magic). I ended up doing multiple coats of the WAM to try and darken it up more but I think it turned out pretty nice.

I am working on another one that I am going to finish with wood stain. Any ideas on type of stain that works well? I want to darken it up, kinda chocolate, but I only have one shot.

Before Pic:
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With WAM Applied:
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After Finished:
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"The problem with quotes on Internet Forums is that it is often difficult to verify their authenticity." - Abraham Lincoln
 
The WAM shed looks great! All the wood stain sheds that I have seen and tried looked terrible. I would say stick with WAM if it's working for you. I have used VanDykes antler color with some success as long as there is no chalky places on the antler.
 
WOW! Looks great, that stuff looks to be the bomb. I have tried everything from bees wax to sheet rock mud to fill cracks. Your antler looks top shelf in my book.
 
Bonepicker - great feedback and exactly what I was wondering about. Will avoid it and try more coats of the WAM. Thanks

LRB - Yeah, it took me forever to finally come across the 2 part modeling clay idea. I have a friend that does taxi work and I took the shed to him for some ideas. He whips out this stuff and it works great. Cool thing is it stays workable for about 30 minutes or so and it will take the stains from the WAM or whatever else. Apparently this is the same stuff they use to fix antlers and such. Anyway, it colored really well.

Like I said, I am working on another one with some bigger cracks. I didn't get any before pics of the cracks but some were pretty deep and wide (1/16" wide at least). I have some before pics showing the clay in the crack and plan on taking an after pic of the same location once complete.

Will keep ya posted.

Thanks for the comments.


"The problem with quotes on Internet Forums is that it is often difficult to verify their authenticity." - Abraham Lincoln
 
That shed Looks great.
How much coin is a guy into for the clay and wam?
Seems like most wood stains I've tried will lighten up over time. Esply if It's a chalky type antler
 
Great looking work. WAM is always what I use and it always turns out well. If I remember right I bought mine for $35.
One thing you could do to help darken is intead of rubbing the dirt off all the way just let it dry then lightly go over with some sand paper. This will lighten the high spots and keep the lower darker.
I'll have to look into the modeling clay. I've found white corn meal to work pretty well but it isn't perfect.
 
Tried some "old English furniture scratch cover" dark color and it worked pretty good on some
 
Looks great!! I would stick with what your doing, I may try that myself. Thanks for posting up the pictures and info.
 
Minwax aged oak gel stain works awesome. Browtine did a how to a few years ago. I bet you can find it in the archives. Way cheaper way to do it. How did the epoxy scultp take the WAM?
 
Thanks for all the great comments guys!

DrHornHunter - The WAM was about $35 but it's enough to do a whole pile of sheds. Anything left over after your stain them can be re-used so it goes a long way. I bought the set that comes with brown mainly and then some black and red. I find myself using more of the black than the brown but that's just my taste. The epoxy was about $8 so not a big hit. It will also do a whole bunch of sheds as a little goes a long way.

Sneak Attack - The epoxy took the color very well. That's exactly what I was worried about but it turned out great. I will check into the "How To" post for the Minwax.

GLEDEASY - I tried to do that some but probably should have left a little more on there. Thanks for the pointer.


"The problem with quotes on Internet Forums is that it is often difficult to verify their authenticity." - Abraham Lincoln
 
Nice job-looks good.I've tried lots of different stuff to fill the cracks-wood putty will fill the crack,but it stains a different color.Tried the cornmeal,but I would think it would eventually fall out.The WAM is awesome stuff,and if it covers the epoxy the same as the antler-Home run!!Let us know how the next one turns out.I've also used the MinWax aged oak that was suggested above,and it works pretty good(WAM is better,IMO),but everything I've ever tried for crack filling seems to stain differently when using wood stains.I'm going to try your technique today.Thanks for the post and the idea!
 
Looks really good! I agree a little darker would be even better. Where can I get that "taxidermy 2-part modeling clay"and what is the exact name of it? I have a good set I would like to fix up.

By the way everytime a post comes up and WAM is mentioned I swear that about 5 different sales pitches come out of the woodworks for it. It may work very well, but I'm just saying that some of the posts sound a little over board like corny sales pitches.
 
I searched on-line until I found something that would work. I ordered this stuff from the following web-site:

http://www.taxidermy.com/cat/16/epoxy.html

I ordered:
Item - APCW2
Description - 1/4 lb. Kit White Apoxie Clay
Price - $8.49

There is a MacKenzie location locally here in Ogden (BDO) that I picked it up from to save the shipping, but you could have them ship it right to you.

Hope this helps and post up your sheds when they are done.

PS I agree on the WAM and the "advertisements" you tend to see, but part of that comes from the fact that this stuff really seems to work well for all that have tried it.

My problem is when you open the box you feel like you just paid $35 for a few bags of colored dirt, which is probably all it really is (since that's how they get colored in nature anyway). I would hope there is more than just dirt in the bags, maybe something that helps them stain better, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was just good ole' fashioned dirt.


"The problem with quotes on Internet Forums is that it is often difficult to verify their authenticity." - Abraham Lincoln
 
>Minwax aged oak gel stain works
>awesome. Browtine did a how
>to a few years ago.
>I bet you can find
>it in the archives. Way
>cheaper way to do it.
>How did the epoxy scultp
>take the WAM?

Anybody got a Pic of the finished product using this?


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Another cheap way is use the clay to fill in the cracks then take the blood from some of your deer elk beef or whatever steaks then some pine needles pine gum aspen and dirt and work the blood and dirt together and rub with leaves and pine the guys in alsaka use this all the time with moose and caribou and my uncles moose turne out amazing so i tried it on some sheds off of a buck i killed and it turned out pretty good i used a flour and water mix to fill my cracks and that worked also


www.hightopoutfitters.com
 
LAST EDITED ON Feb-24-12 AT 09:28AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Feb-24-12 AT 09:21?AM (MST)

When you have a chalky horn, dip it in water for a minute then remove it and use sandpaper and rub the horn. The water will mix with the horn "dust" and create a paste that is natural and fills the cracks great, it also holds the stain like the rest of the horn. The hardest part is around the base. Let the horn dry before you color it.

I think your horn looks great!
 
LAST EDITED ON Feb-25-12 AT 07:19PM (MST)[p]I've stained alot of antlers with the mini-wax oak as well. No, it's not an authentic look, but it does make for a good display type look. I also like "the antler re-coloring system" from Outfitter's Taxidermy (I got mine from Research Mannikins website). Their set-up is a much more natural look than the mini-wax, but hey you can pick up the mini-wax whenever you need it.

Here's a couple pics of a few of the elk antlers I've stained. (not close-ups, but you get the idea)


249226_2109334495192_1300473009_2529176_96772_n.jpg


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250504_2109331775124_1300473009_2529164_5522317_n.jpg
 
I was taught to use the normal 200 grit. I have used it several times and it does work good. I like WAM alot and use it every horn I color. Also a dremel tool around the base and burrs works good.

Good luck.
 
I use minwax aged oak gel stain. A toothbrush works good around the bases to get the stain into the deep parts.
 
Wondering if anyone can offer some help. I recently found a good five by four set that has a broken tine. The set is also a year old and needs to be re-colored. Judging by the opinions I am going to go with the WAM, but I want to try and rebuild the broken tine. Aparantly the APCW2 epoxy works good for filling cracks, but could I rebuild a tine with it? I came across this site for tine rebuilds (http://www.epogrip.com/taxi/taxi_how_to_antler_repair.htm), which I think works good but, I don't know how the epo-grip epoxy will take the wam? Anyone got any ideas?
 
Just ordered some of the apoxy clay. I'm going to try it on some smaller sheds to get some experience with it and if I like what I see I'm going to restore a 5x4 set I have.

I'll start a thread and post some pics when I get to that point.

Can't wait.
 
>Wondering if anyone can offer some
>help. I recently found
>a good five by four
>set that has a broken
>tine. The set is
>also a year old and
>needs to be re-colored.
>Judging by the opinions I
>am going to go with
>the WAM, but I want
>to try and rebuild the
>broken tine. Aparantly the
>APCW2 epoxy works good for
>filling cracks, but could I
>rebuild a tine with it?
> I came across this
>site for tine rebuilds (http://www.epogrip.com/taxi/taxi_how_to_antler_repair.htm),
>which I think works good
>but, I don't know how
>the epo-grip epoxy will take
>the wam? Anyone got
>any ideas?


Don't know how it would take the WAM but this might help you.
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/Antler-Tine-Rebuilding-W27C2407.aspx
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/Staining-and-Finishing-Repaired-Antlers-W28C2407.aspx
I used the brush on wipe off paint on a set I did here http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID18/5128.html
 

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