Here's my first attempt at a razor and shaving brush.  It takes a Mach III blade.  No finish; I wanted the texture of the antler to be felt.  Brush is badger hair.

 

 

 

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Semper fi
www.swearingen-turnings.com

Very nice Jason. I like the idea of leaving it natural. The brush is a nice touch.

Nicely done Jason. I like the natural look.

 

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John Moody
John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

The set looks great.  Really nice job!  Badger hair - I had no idea. What is antler like to turn?  I bought some beech once to make some wooden spoons and it was like iron.  

 

SQ

 

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It it can't be fixed with glue and sawdust - it's not worth fixing.

Jason, nice work, you too Charles!

They look old west, or old country. Are you both marketing these? And if so, what and where is your market? Just curious is all. Or gifts?

 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Jason's is a much better solution, the original ones were dangerous, badgers are mean and don't like being dipped in the shaving mug.....I've turned a lot of antler and it really turns out great but you need to use sharp tools and make sure you have dust extraction


SQ said:

The set looks great.  Really nice job!  Badger hair - I had no idea. What is antler like to turn?  I bought some beech once to make some wooden spoons and it was like iron.  

 

SQ

 

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It it can't be fixed with glue and sawdust - it's not worth fixing.

LOL  yes, nothing worse than a badger in a foul mood. Is antler more harmful to breath than say wood dust?  

 

SQ


Mike Dillen said:

Jason's is a much better solution, the original ones were dangerous, badgers are mean and don't like being dipped in the shaving mug.....I've turned a lot of antler and it really turns out great but you need to use sharp tools and make sure you have dust extraction

SQ said:

Antler or bone dust is more harmfull than wood dust because it has jagged edges.


SQ said:

LOL  yes, nothing worse than a badger in a foul mood. Is antler more harmful to breath than say wood dust?  

 

SQ

Mike Dillen said:

 

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It it can't be fixed with glue and sawdust - it's not worth fixing.

Charles, you should post that old lathe here on TPW classifieds as well.


Charles Nicholls said:

Hi John, I will be, but at the moment these are being made for a friend that asked me to make some (2 total). After that I will start making the entire set.

As for my market, eBay is just getting entirely too expensive and non responsive to list on so I am pretty much not listing there unless its an unusual item.

Etsy right now is my place of choice to list at, its just about as unresponsive as eBay but at least it costs less to list.

Being able to advertise what I make is always a problem due to lack of advertising choices.

 

I purposely try to not over fancy the items simply because I am more of a function guy over fancy, but fancy works too.

 

I also don't have a few of the tools i need to fancy the items up more, mainly the beading tool. Hope to have one soon but until then i am using a skew. Maybe i can get a bead tool when the old lathe sells. Bead tools are usually $35-$50 pretty pricy especially when there are different sizes.

 

 

 

John Morris said:

 

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Charles

 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Jason

    Where did you get the components for your brush and the razor?

Yup, mine came from PSI.  www.exoticblanks.com sells them a bit cheaper; they buy in bulk from PSI and then pass on the savings.  I'll buy from them next.

 

http://www.exoticblanks.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=133&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=60

 

To answer a few questions:

 

This set won't be for sale.  I made some mistakes on it (like not making a flat base for the brush to stand upon) and not applying a finish.  The antler will discolor from the oils on the fingers.  If I can figure out a way to put a finish on it without damaging the hardware, I'll buy a stand for it and then sell it as a set.

 

Pricing?  I'm aiming for $85 for a set; $100 with a stand.  Prices will vary with material selection.  How am I marketing?  It'll go on my website, but mainly through word of mouth and Facebook.  Most of my sales for now are to people I know or meet.  eBay sucks for selling art work; people there are looking for inexpensive items, not high-end art.  I have two stores that have seen my stuff and are interested in selling it, so I'll pursue that.  

 

As far as working the antler, I turn at top speed for small items, 3k rpm.  With a freshly sharpened gouge, antler turns like butter.  It stinks, but that's not a big hurdle.

 

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Semper fi
www.swearingen-turnings.com

Hi Charles,

I am going suggest that you get a bit of guitar string and cut some small lengths and put a wood handle on each end.  You can use a skew to put just a small cut around handles or even just put string around backside of handle and pull towards you. It will smoke the wood and leave nice rings.  Just don't make string to long and let it tangle at all.

 

Charles Nicholls said:

Hi John, I will be, but at the moment these are being made for a friend that asked me to make some (2 total). After that I will start making the entire set.

As for my market, eBay is just getting entirely too expensive and non responsive to list on so I am pretty much not listing there unless its an unusual item.

Etsy right now is my place of choice to list at, its just about as unresponsive as eBay but at least it costs less to list.

Being able to advertise what I make is always a problem due to lack of advertising choices.

 

I purposely try to not over fancy the items simply because I am more of a function guy over fancy, but fancy works too.

 

I also don't have a few of the tools i need to fancy the items up more, mainly the beading tool. Hope to have one soon but until then i am using a skew. Maybe i can get a bead tool when the old lathe sells. Bead tools are usually $35-$50 pretty pricy especially when there are different sizes.

 

 

 

John Morris said:

 

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Charles

To make your own "line burner", build something like this:

 

 

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Semper fi
www.swearingen-turnings.com

Mike,

 

Thanks for the information.  I didn't realize that. 

 

SQ

Mike Dillen said:

Antler or bone dust is more harmfull than wood dust because it has jagged edges.

SQ said:

 

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It it can't be fixed with glue and sawdust - it's not worth fixing.

You can make them or if you don't have access to piano wire, you can purchase them. They are not a high cost item.

 

 

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John Moody
John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com