The Watering Hole

Made a couple of picks out of whitetail deer antler sheds last weekend.

I hunt for them in a couple places in the early spring and have collected a few.  Decided to sacrifice a smaller one to make a nut for my acoustic but wanted to see how hard it was (comparable to cow bone) and gauge the difficulty of cutting and machining with simple tools first...

I haven't made a nut yet, but I think the antler will work well.

The picks have a slightly sharper attack than a Jazz III, but not much and will plink a little more if I strike the string with a looser grip or more on the edge than the flat.  Not brittle as I had suspected.  I plan to make a few more and get some laser etching / scrimshaw done on them.

Pics are of the prototypes.  The left one is a cross section and the larger was cut lengthwise.

That's pretty much awesome.  Renewable, reusable, no dead deer required.  I love it!  I'm interested to see how the antler nut works out too!

That's pretty cool.  Probably a lot of work...  

p.s.  Do you have a V pick to compare it too?  

DreamTheaterRules — Oct 12, 2010p.s.  Do you have a V pick to compare it too?  

Thanks guys.

No V picks Howie.  It took more patience than work to make them.  It was difficult to keep the saw from wandering.  Hence the saw marks in the larger one.  A small mitre box would help reduce waste and sanding time.

Cut a length from a tine to start the nut.  It looks clear and solid.  My acoustic's nut slot is angled > 90 degrees - to match the headstock.  Might be tricky.

I'll try to remember to get pics of the nut in progress.