Turning antler mounts

Occasionally I get tasked with making antler mounts, so I wanted to share some of that process. First, the antler needs to be of suitable size and well seasoned (dried a few years). I’ll then cut pieces into oversized sections and then face and bore 1 side. Antler comes in all shapes and presents a challenge when trying to hold it on a lathe. I made an expanding collet to hold the piece after boring to the rough size. It’s then turned round, the bored to final size and attached to the drone. Once it is secure on the drone, the whole section and mount are finish turned and polished to a nice shine. Quite a bit of work and challenging for such a small part of an instrument!