Antler broke off?
 

A friend of mine got a buck and one antler broke off.It appears it was gonna shed soon.How is the best way to reattach it?It will only be a skull mount.Do you think it needs to dry good first?

Did the antler break or did the antler pop off the pedicle leaving a some what bloody hole in the skin? If it came off the pedicle the other one is probably not solidly attached. I would recommend he call a reputable taxidermist and ask for advise. A broken antler can be carefully glued back together with epoxy but if it is a shed situation it is not the same situation.

I haven,t seen it but I betcha a beer at the Boar,s Nest that it broke of where you mentioned below the skin.

If I knew where the Boars Nest was, I just might take you up on that beer.

Hazzard County my friend.

I didn't know we had a Hazard Co in PA, must be a 68th county that was added when I wasn't looking.:D

It is an easy fix if you let me know where or how it is broken off .

I seen it yesterday.It isn,t broken per se.It snapped off when he was cleanin the skull while he was grasping it.It just looks like a shed that came off a little to soon.A slight depression in the skull.

I fixed 2 racks that had that happen, i just got some threaded rod and some epoxy i drilled a hole in the rack slightly bigger than the threaded rod and a hole in the skull plate. I attached the threaded rod in the rack, with some rod sticking out, let it dry, a few days. next i epoxied it in the skull plate. I set it up on the table with books/blocks to prop it up & weigh it down while it dried in the correct position. After it was complete i ground off a little excess steel rod. A taxidermist told me to do this, it worked. I forgot i also used some wire and rubberbands to help hold it together.

Great tip.You must of drilled all the way thru the skull to be able to access the rod in the skull.

Good Ole Boy i have only have done it on the sawed off skull plates. I looked over some skulls and it could still be done, with them, it would be a bit more difficult though. You just have to have things (blocks,books,wire) set up when you do the final epoxy, so it's in the final position to dry/harden.

Gotcha,thanks.:happy0001:

Well,did it get fixed yet ?

Not yet.Just finished the final cleanin stage and gonna make sure it is good and dry before I reattach it.

I have some gorilla wood glue that I think will be a good epoxy.

I suggest you use a two part epoxy instead of gorilla glue. Gorilla glue will expand and probably show where the skull meets the antler, real epoxy will not do that.

I was doin some repair work today and was usin FS110 Industrial Contractor Adhesive and got the idea to try it on the antler since I already had the tube opened.It is slow setting and hopefully it will hold.If not,back to the drawin board.I,m just concerned that the adhesive will stay tacky and not get rock hard.If it gets hard it should be good.

So far so good.It appears to be holdin but don,t want to test it per se.My friend ought to be happy.The adhesive bonds good but don,t get rock hard it appears.If not handles excessively I,m hopin it holds.Hopefully when mounted gravity won,t take it,s toll cause the broken antler is long and lankey.

Contact the manufacturer, there should be a contact phone # or e-mail address on the container, and ask if it gets hard and how long does it take.

It,s not holdin up.It is stayin rubbery and won,t support the antler.It,s been goin on 24 hours.

Scoop it out and start over with 2 part epoxy.

OPPS ! Oh well?

Cleaned it out and hit it with some epoxy.Let you know tomorrow if it holds.If it don,t I,m gonna drill it and screw it.

I hope it works for you. It should.

So far so good.Looks like it,s gonna keep(knock on wood).

I am glad it worked out.

Thank you.It appears rock solid.