How To Make A Deer Antler Chandelier

Making a Deer Antler Chandelier

If y'all've ever stayed with us at Hawkeye Brae, y'all'll have noticed the stunning antler chandeliers that hang from the rafters of every log cabin. Eagle Brae Owner, Mike Spencer-Nairn, lovingly makes these chandeliers by manus using deer antlers, which male person deer shed naturally each year. The whole process takes him nigh threescore hours, divide into four equal sections of creating the construction, drilling and wiring, roofing upwardly and painting. Today, Mike shares his instructions on how to brand an antler chandelier, so you too can create your very own!

Please note, this method requires noesis and skills in electrical wiring. Please inquire an electrician for help if you lot are not able and confident to practise this yourself.

Choosing your antlers

To brand a chandelier, with say 15 antlers in it, you will need a minimum of 50 antlers to work with. This is because every antler is unlike. Most antlers but wont be the right shape and size for any ane position, and so y'all need a good choice to choose from.

Collecting antlers is ane pick, but very time consuming. Also, it tin annoy gamekeepers, as they are traditionally their property. The all-time bet is to buy them from an antler dealer. The other advantage of buying them is you can choose 50 antlers all of similar size and shape, which will brand your life much easier when information technology comes to putting them together to make a chandelier. Brand sure to purchase 50/l right and left paw antlers.

The Construction

The first thing to practice is to make your structure. Start with the bottom round by laying all the antlers out flat on the work surface. You will demand to pair up left manus and right antlers so that their tine points face into each other and touch. This is crucial every bit you will put a screw through every single point where ane antler touches some other. This is where the structure strength comes from.

To begin with, record all antlers together with electric record. It's perfect for the job, as you can bind it tight and yet it however allows a little movement to juggle things around. Build the entire structure with electric record bindings first earlier you spiral anything.

Spiral it together

Once yous are happy with taped structure, it's time to screw it all together. One very important matter to remember is that yous will have to wire this chandelier after screwing it. The only place wires tin can jump antler to antler is the same places you lot are screwing the antlers together, so don't block your wiring routes with the screws. Place screws strategically to proceed a road open for the wiring channels.

To screw the antler together, employ a Dremmel tool or similar with a conical sanding plumbing equipment on to make an initial hole in the hard surface. Then use a drill to make a pigsty about 0.5 mm smaller than your spiral size. Put the screws right through, merely don't send the head right up to the antler surface. Leave the screws sticking out at both ends. Yous will cut them off later. Put the screws right through your electrical record, there is no need to have the record off first, y'all can remove it easily afterwards.

Cutting off the screws

Using a Dremmel tool with a little grinder disk fitting, cutting the screws heads and tails off at each stop to be flush with the antler surface.

Drilling

Programme your route get-go. From where the wire volition enter the chandelier at the peak, right the mode downward and around to the last calorie-free. Employ unlike colour electrical tape to mark your crossing points from one antler to the next, and to your light bulb positions. Yous will need special long drill bits, at least thirty cm long (preferably longer). Equally with the screw holes, make the initial start of the hole with a sanding tool, then drill. Try and drill through every bit far down the antler as you can, aiming for your side by side crossing signal. Ensure you will leave the antler at a point where you can re-enter the antler. The idea is to drill back and forth diagonally along the antler until you become to antler crossing points and on until you reach a bulb site.

Y'all will exist using a dual core flex wire for the wiring. In some sections of the wiring channels, this volition demand to be double and in others single. Pre-programme this and drill a narrower pigsty for the single sections and a broader hole for the double sections. For example, only a single dual flex wire is required from the initial entry point downwards the upper antlers. Notwithstanding in one case y'all enter the antler that holds a seedling, you will need to take the wire to the bulb and back before crossing to the next antler. So this section needs double dual flex wire and volition demand to exist drilled broader. In one case you have drilled all the wiring channels, utilize the sanding tool to soften the edges of all openings.  You volition likewise have to drill the openings for the bulb holders.

Fix the bulb holders

Next, gum in the seedling holders with superglue.

Wiring

Permit enough wire to travel from the ceiling rose down the chain and and so to your outset seedling. From then on just allow plenty wire from bulb site to bulb site in dissever lengths. To help get the wire through, connect the dual flex to some sparse picture framing wire or similar and use that wire to pull your dual flex through the channels. The sections with double dual flex volition demand both to be pulled through together at the same time. In one case you have finished wiring, tape the ends of the wires upwards at the bulb sites, leaving enough wire to work with to connect the wire to the seedling holders afterwards on. If you desire to test your wiring, you tin do so at this stage past putting bulbs in and connecting the wires. Call up your wiring is in a series circle, and so they will all need to be connected to exam them all. Seek the help of an electrician if y'all are not 100% sure on the wiring.

Covering up your tracks

The chandelier is now wired merely looks terrible as there are holes everywhere. Take an taxidermist's epoxy resin. It usually comes in A and B parts that become active when kneaded together. It's a putty that remains soft and workable for almost half an hr and then starts to harden. After 24 hours it will exist equally difficult as the antler itself.  Make full all the holes with the putty and texture the outside surface to look similar the antler effectually it. If there are natural lines on the antler, so keep these across the putty. The right texture goes a long way to completing the comprehend-up. In one case consummate allow to gear up for 24 hours.  You will likewise want to put a little putty over all your spiral entry and go out points, where you accept cut the screw heads and tails off.

Painting

You now need to pigment the putty sites. Buy acrylic paints in the dark-brown, ochre, sienna, mustard, umber ranges, and of form blackness and white likewise. You should be able to match any colour on the antler from these acrylic colours. Paint a base colour for each putty area first and then the particular on tiptop in some other color. Carefully look and understand the colour scheme of the natural antler around your putty sites and try to reproduce it. A well painted putty site is impossible to meet in the finished chandelier!

Ready the hook eye

At the top of the chandelier you will demand to screw in a hook eye that will ready information technology to the chain information technology hangs from. The location of this hook eye is crucial to how your chandelier hangs. It must exist at the absolute center of the weight residue of the chandelier for it to hang level. To observe the correct spot, put screws into the chandelier at diverse places and pick it up from the screw head with pliers to see how the balance is. One time y'all observe the spot, screw your hook eye in.

Connect the bulbs

Complete the wiring by connecting up the bulbs.

Hang the chandelier

Connect the hook center to a chain, connect upward the wiring and hang your chandelier! You must ensure you install a weight load certified safe cable just in case either the ceiling rose, chain or hook-middle ever fail for some reason. Independently connect this cable to the ceiling/rafter and run it downwardly the side of the chain and through the antler structure then that it deceit pull dorsum through. We use cablevision and stop ends made past Gripple which are perfect for the job.

And then now you know how brand an antler chandelier, and how much time and effort goes into each i of our Eagle Brae masterpieces. You lot tin view more photos of the procedure here on Facebook. Now it'due south your turn to have a go!

Source: https://www.eaglebrae.co.uk/news/how-to-make-an-antler-chandelier/

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