Thank you Chris for demonstrating your method seem to work well. I have worked with many various natural material, I have found with any porous material warpage is usually due to moisture adsorption. Moisture can be almost anything, water, solvents, glues, alcohols. The adsorption on one side causes more expansion on one side vs. the other side, this is your warp. In your case here the heat possibly dried out the expanded side thus shrinkage getting it back to flat. One solution would be to cut your scale the then thoroughly seal it. Kind of like making stabilized wood. But there are other products that work well with thin materials, Minwax Wood Stabilizer is one, and is easier the vacuum method. After sealing then shape to final dims, then reapply sealant to the sanded surface then machine any features. Antler is very much just like wood and all natural material, they will adsorb moisture right out of the air. Before applying a stabilizing agent warm the material for a duration to dry the material, about 6% moisture content is a good value to be considered as dry. Just some suggestion you may want to consider, I am an retired engineer & machinist and hobby knife maker. Thank you again.
Those are some good points, and thanks for the suggestions. Come to think of it, as I was heating the scales, I noticed little beads of moisture forming. Even though I've had the bone for a while, I guess it still wasn't totally dry.
Thank you Chris for demonstrating your method seem to work well. I have worked with many various natural material, I have found with any porous material warpage is usually due to moisture adsorption. Moisture can be almost anything, water, solvents, glues, alcohols. The adsorption on one side causes more expansion on one side vs. the other side, this is your warp. In your case here the heat possibly dried out the expanded side thus shrinkage getting it back to flat. One solution would be to cut your scale the then thoroughly seal it. Kind of like making stabilized wood. But there are other products that work well with thin materials, Minwax Wood Stabilizer is one, and is easier the vacuum method. After sealing then shape to final dims, then reapply sealant to the sanded surface then machine any features. Antler is very much just like wood and all natural material, they will adsorb moisture right out of the air. Before applying a stabilizing agent warm the material for a duration to dry the material, about 6% moisture content is a good value to be considered as dry. Just some suggestion you may want to consider, I am an retired engineer & machinist and hobby knife maker. Thank you again.
Those are some good points, and thanks for the suggestions. Come to think of it, as I was heating the scales, I noticed little beads of moisture forming. Even though I've had the bone for a while, I guess it still wasn't totally dry.
@@cfcrawfordyout 130-140F in a toaster oven for a few hrs, works on wood never tried it on antler. 6% is a good number to reach for.
@@RRINTHESHOP Good tip! Thanks!
That's a cool technic
Thanks Jayson.