Experts, I would like to build my own antler lamp. I have about 8 pairs. I want to put them all together. I would be willing to buy info., from the professionals. I would be forever in your debt for some advice. Please contact me on my email. I thank you folks so much. Dave
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I have a friend who makes some very good ones. What he does is arrange them in a design he likes, then he drills holes in them and screws the antlers together. Use the right size bit for the antler so you don't crack it. Might be best to test it first on a scrap antler. Be sure to countersink the screws. Then he takes a really long 1/4 inch drill bit, and bores a hole into the antler to run the cord through. He starts at the base of one antler where the cord goes in, and he tries to drill as long a hole as possible in one shot.
Here is the tricky part. The antler is curved, and the bit is straight, so he has to drill right out the side of the main beam. After coming out on a bend, he removes the bit, and drills again starting from the exit of the previous hole. Then, when he has tunneled all the way up through the antlers, he runs the cord through and mounts the light socket on top. When all the drilling and dremeling is done, he uses apoxie sculpt to cover the screw heads and cord holes. Take oil paints, thin them way down, and apply light washes over the repairs until you get a decent color match with the surrounding antler material. If you are crafty, you can put most of your screws in from the bottom, and align your drilling holes to be fairly well hidden. Do not apoxie over the screws until everything else is done, because you will almost always have to dissassemble it to get the long holes drilled and the cord run through.
Now that you have a rough outline of what to do, hopefully you see how important it is to use big enough antlers. The tines don't matter much, but you need good sized main beams so you can make long runs with the drill bit. Practice drilling some holes in a board or something first to get the hang of it. The bit he uses is about 18 inches long, and it takes the right touch to drill the antlers accurately.
Is there a special 1/4 inch drill that should be used to drill the holes in a antler for the electrical wire? Thank you for any advise.