FrenchieBoy
Well-Known Member
I would like to give a huge thank you to Willie Gunn (Dom) for sending me a piece of Red Stag Antler to make a fishing priest from - Dom, many thanks, you are a credit to The Stalking Directory.
O.K. so how did I go about this "project"?
First of all the brow tign was cut off and sanded down. Then the entire length of antler was given a sanding down to take off and rough edges and to bring out the grain pattern. The antler was then cut down to exactly 30cm in length - The exact minimum size limit for Mackerel, any mackerel that are not as long as the antler priest will not be given their "last rites"!
Next I drilled into the coronet end of the antler and filled it with 3 ounces of lead. (I opted to leave the coronet on to give the priest a little character) The end was then filled and sealed off with 2 part (Araldite) epoxy resin.
My next step was to whip a paracord handle on to the antler. This was set into a coating of araldite to make sure that it kept tight and tidy.
The next stage was to drill into the handle end of the priest and set a platted paracord wrist lanyard on. This again was set in and the end sealed off with Araldite.
All that remained to do was to give every part of the antler that was showing a couple of coats of clear varnish to seal it all off and stop the chance of any water ingress into the antler as well as to make it easier to wipe down to keep it clean.
Here are a couple of photos of the finished priest ready for the mackerel to start showing around the North Shore of Llandudno which will hopefully be within the next few weeks (If we get some warmth and sunshine to warm the water up)
Your thoughts are most welcome but I am very happy with the finished result as I am sure that you will agree that it is always more pleasurable to use something that you have made yourself.
Once again, Many Thanks for the antler Dom!
O.K. so how did I go about this "project"?
First of all the brow tign was cut off and sanded down. Then the entire length of antler was given a sanding down to take off and rough edges and to bring out the grain pattern. The antler was then cut down to exactly 30cm in length - The exact minimum size limit for Mackerel, any mackerel that are not as long as the antler priest will not be given their "last rites"!
Next I drilled into the coronet end of the antler and filled it with 3 ounces of lead. (I opted to leave the coronet on to give the priest a little character) The end was then filled and sealed off with 2 part (Araldite) epoxy resin.
My next step was to whip a paracord handle on to the antler. This was set into a coating of araldite to make sure that it kept tight and tidy.
The next stage was to drill into the handle end of the priest and set a platted paracord wrist lanyard on. This again was set in and the end sealed off with Araldite.
All that remained to do was to give every part of the antler that was showing a couple of coats of clear varnish to seal it all off and stop the chance of any water ingress into the antler as well as to make it easier to wipe down to keep it clean.
Here are a couple of photos of the finished priest ready for the mackerel to start showing around the North Shore of Llandudno which will hopefully be within the next few weeks (If we get some warmth and sunshine to warm the water up)
Your thoughts are most welcome but I am very happy with the finished result as I am sure that you will agree that it is always more pleasurable to use something that you have made yourself.
Once again, Many Thanks for the antler Dom!
Time in the shed well spent.
