Bill Steckman with antler crown on antler throne

Bill Steckman’s forty-something year passion for all things antler began innocently enough on a vacation to Newfoundland, Canada in 1969.

Enquiring of a local where he might find a set of moose antlers, Bill was invited to stop by for a visit. Immediately impressed by “what a moose could build without any formal education” Bill offered to trade a bottle of rum for the rack.

Returning many, many times over the years, Bill collected “not hundreds, but thousands of antlers” from over 180 families across Newfoundland, each of whom still receive an annual Christmas card from the Steckmans.

On the homeward journey to Salamanca, New York, Bill’s motorhome was usually  burdened with thirty or forty antler sets or more, prizes won in trade for bottles of rum and scores of Swedish knives! What a sight it must have made rolling down the highway bristling with bone!

And what has Bill done with his mountain of moose antler?

Carved some, commissioned work from others, sold raw at the local Seneca Nation Pow Wow, built furniture blessed by the Pope and filled a custom built ‘cabin’ to the brim, that’s what, and he’s learned a pack in the process that he is willing to share with fellow antler enthusiasts.

Indians in a Boat, antler, artist unknown

He is currently at a point in his life where deteriorating health has made it difficult to do the things he has in the past (“I have trouble using a screwdriver”) and he feels it is time to divest himself of many of his creations and commissions.

I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to state that Bill Steckman is perhaps one of the first collectors ever of all things antler, and I can’t help wondering if it wouldn’t behoove a contemporary collector to consider acquiring much of Bill’s offering to keep this precious legacy intact.

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Bill grew up quickly. His father died when he was a teenager and he took over the responsibility for providing for his mother and two sisters. According to Bill, “I was working all the time. When television first came I didn’t mind working on roofs, so I put up half the antennas in town, did big tree work, and put in black-top driveways with the power roller I built. Dad was in the hospital for three years, so I didn’t get married until I had every bill paid and found work on the side so that I could give Mom as much money as I did before I was married. I’ve been a busy boy!”

Inside Bill Steckman's cabin

After serving in the U.S. Navy during WWII, Bill found permanent employment with the Erie Railroad, retiring after 43 years. One glance inside the ‘cabin’ he built from reclaimed railway buildings reveals that his passionate interest in antler, begun during his employ, has blossomed in retirement.

“Everybody calls the camp a museum. It’s 36’x57’ and there isn’t room for anything on the walls and it’s so full of moose antler furniture that you can’t walk through it.”

“It all works out if you make up your mind to do it,” is Bill’s response, when awestruck I asked, “Where did you find the time?”

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Carving on whale rib by Bill Steckman

When Bill began in antler, hardly anyone was working in the medium. A native carver taught him how to carve using a hammer and chisel, but, not surprisingly, he found this difficult. Later he bought a Dremel and foot pedal (prior to the Flexible Shaft attachment) but gave it up when he encountered an artist who exhibited real skill in creating a level of detail he could not match.

Since then, he has commissioned others from around the world to create carvings using the antlers he collected. Sadly, the carvers’ names were lost when the original bases were replaced with Bill’s own black walnut creations. Some carvers are recognizable by their style: Jack Brown’s dragon knives, Clyde Drew‘s native carving, and Tom Cooper’s sheep on sheep horn.  According to Bill, some have been created by a selection of excellent Indonesian carvers from Bali. (Perhaps via the internet some of these artists can be identified?)

'Dragons' on antler, Bali

Bill has focused his own efforts on the creation of antler furniture. Chairs and footstools, dining and coffee tables, Davenports, lamps, and chandeliers – he’s made them all and learned much about working with antler in the process. He works closely with an Amish upholsterer, who covers his creations in tapestry and leather, and, lately, has found an assistant, fellow rail road employee Bill Skoken, who helps with some of the tasks he can no longer perform.

Dining Table and Chairs, antler, by Bill Steckman

In addition, Bill has sold many of his antlers during the annual Seneca Nation Allegeny Reservation Pow Wow. Salamanca is the only city in the U.S. to reside completely within a native reserve and Bill took advantage of the event to offer antler for sale. In fact, some years he would cover his 200ft driveway “solid full with antlers to sell (Denis Walrod, author of Antlers can attest to this) and by the end of the pow wow they would all be gone.”

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Bill has learned much about antler, hard won secrets gleaned from trial and error that he is willing to share:

• Density- Moose antler comes in different densities, “some are lighter than others of similar size, it all depends on what the moose was eating.” He selects the heavy, perfectly formed  antlers for use in his furniture.
  

  Eagles on rare antler set with matching drop tines

• Seasoning – Antlers must be seasoned for several years, otherwise they shrink when used. “While the antler is drying, cut and wedge a 2×4 between the antlers to prevent them from pulling together by several inches. What reduces a trophy measurement is not the shrinking of the antlers but the reduction of the distance between the antlers from turning in.”

• Dust – When working with antlers – dust is a factor. Bill uses a Grizzly Dust Collection Systemwith 4” pipe and two big bags, into which all of his power saws are plumbed (table saw, planer, jig saw, band saw).

• Smell- Bill has a dust mask, but hates to wear it. He has a band saw for cutting antler, but will often choose a hacksaw and blade with 22 teeth/inch, “which cuts through awful fast”,  to avoid the stink. “I can’t stand the smell!”

• Drilling- The gold coloured, cobalt drills bits don’t load up or clog with antler. When drilling into antler, “you only want to go a little ways and then pull out your bit, if you go too far and it’s hot, you’ll never get that bit out!”
  

  'Marine Life' on antler, artist unknown

• Handles – Antler tines can be used as handles for tools like screw drivers or chisels. “If you’re got a screw driver with a broken handle, take a tine and drill a hole in it a little narrower than the diameter of your screw driver shaft, put it in water and boil it on your stove for half an hour or so and then take it and tap it in and you’ll never in God’s world get that out. You don’t have to use a drop of glue. I’ve done quite a few tools that way.”

• Mounting – When mounting antlers to walnut base, use glue and/or a dowel.

• Antler Dust + Epoxy – Most of his antler furniture is screwed together. To hide visible countersunk screw heads in antler, “save all your shavings from different antlers, because they are all different shades.” Grind the shavings into powder, then combine them to make the same shade as the antler in question. Mix into clear, two-part epoxy and apply. “You can hardly tell where my stuff is put together.”

• Colours – To colour an antler if it isn’t “just right” you can use: several kinds of wax shoe polish, which can be applied with heat; or, varnish (with stain), MinWax 224, ‘Special Walnut’, available at the hardware store; or crystal potassium permanganate, mixed with water and applied in two or more coats “if you don’t get the right darkness the first time.”
  

  Dinosaurs on moose antler, artist unknown

• Colour Application – “I use camel hair brushes and I might spend hours going over an antler, doing it, to get it to my ‘satisification’. Then if it’s got a little bit of a shine to it, what you want to do is take real fine steel wool and go over it lightly and, oh boy, what a piece you’ve got when you’re done!”

• Finsh – As a finishing coat on some of his items he uses up to six coats of Tung Oil.
  

  Tapestry Upholstered Chair and Footstool by Bill Steckman

• Gorilla Glue – “I use this extra strength Gorilla Glue a lot too. Use it with screws, you don’t want to use much of it, and here’s another thing, if you use Gorilla Glue just by itself, you’ve got to use clamps because it will push it apart when it comes out if you use it too heavy, and you’ll always want to wet the other part just a little bit with water – that’s what makes it work – that’s the catalyst.”
  

  Eagles and Snakes on caribou antler, artist unknown

• Rope Work – “I do a lot with a glue gun. The glue gun works well with rope work.” Some of Bill’s furniture bases are made with 3/8” rope and a glue gun. “That is the slickest way to go, use a hammer to tap it in as you go and keep twisting the rope to keep it tight. And here’s something that’s really important, you’re ends are going to screw up and not look very nice, but when you start and end, take Elmer’s White Glue and open up the rope (untwist so you can see through it) and smear with white glue for a couple of inches and you won’t see it when it dries and then take a mat knife and cut it on an angle.”

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Indian Chief, artist unknown

Bill will soon be 86 years old. He suffers from dizzy spells and macular degeneration, requiring monthly treatments. This winter, with help, he figures he will make his last chair with the few special antlers remaining in his inventory.

I asked Bill to look back over his career in antler to reflect on things that he might have done differently. Without hesitation he said that he would not have sold so many of his antlers raw, since they are now so hard to acquire. Also, he would want to have found someone, like his assistant Bill, to help him with the work much earlier, because, as he says with a grin, “we could have made a bundle!”

I wondered if Bill had some wisdom he would like to pass on to his fellow antler carvers and craftsmen. He thought about this for a moment and then shared, “Don’t ever be in a hurry doing a job, because if you are, you’re going to screw it up. And if someone comes to visit you sometimes it’s best to put your work aside and visit.”

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Bill and his wife Anna have no children and his remaining sister is dying of cancer. There is no one to whom he can bequeath his marvelous collection of antler furniture and carvings, so he is offering it up for sale.

Bill and Anna Steckman

Neighbour, friend and artist, Cassie McLaughlin Woolen, is helping Bill get the word out, and is responsible for most of the photos in this article. She has posted many more images on her Facebook profile and will act as a liaison with Bill, who does not have a computer. Jack Brown also provided some of the photos.

If you are interested in any of the pieces please contact Cassie through Facebook or by phone at  (716) 307-5220, or call Bill directly at (716) 945-1592.

Scrimshaw on Whale Scapula, artist unknown

How wonderful it would be to preserve Bill’s legacy and build upon it to create a truly great collection of antler sculpture and craft!

Bill Steckman on antler chair

Design by Serge Proulx

Bear - In Progress, by Serge Proulx

A. Well, Serge, you certainly have jumped in at the deep end of antler carving! Generally speaking, when antler carving it is better to choose an image or pose to be carved either in full profile or head on. Carving a face in a 3/4 profile view is very hard indeed, for a number of reasons. But, since you have asked the question, I’ll try to offer a few suggestions.

Carving a face in a 3/4 profile view is always a challenge when carving high relief, because the natural inclination is to ‘correct’ the perspective and carve the face as if it were either a full profile, or, if the face is more fully angled toward the viewer, a full front on pose. In the case above, the image has been pushed into a full profile – note how the end of the nose is squared off and the rear eyebrow has vanished, whereas the mouth and ears are still correctly placed according to the initial drawing.

But don’t panic. The carving you are looking for is still there within the antler.

The secret to carving the 3/4 face is to rely on the reference image completely, to trust it as a pilot trusts her instruments when there is no visibility. What seems right to the pilot in low visibility is not – if the instruments are disregarded the pilot’s ‘corrections’ will often put the plane into a spiral. Likewise, what seems right to the carver is not – if the reference image or drawing is disregarded, the sculpture will end up looking wrong.

Copy the main image and then cut out the head. Hold it up to the carving and re-mark your reference points exactly. Do this by looking at the carving straight on, perpendicular to the carving at 90 degrees, hold the paper in front of the antler, position a pencil crayon (the best for making marks on antler) at a key spot on the paper (corner of the eye, mouth etc.) then remove the paper and make the mark on the antler. Keep going until you have redrawn the face. You’ll see right away where you have gone astray.

Observe the larger shapes on both sides of the face. They are shaped differently. Because the mind thinks they should be proportional, it tends to adjust. Don’t do it. Try to keep the shapes intact. If in doubt, measure both the shapes and the relative distances (eg. eye to cheek) to get them right.

Also, remember that as you carve into the antler, the planes, shapes and edges will need to be checked and adjusted constantly.

Another peril of relief carving is the reliance on a single image. Sometimes the image is taken with a telephoto lens, which tends to flatten significant bits, bumps and textures. This can lead to a misinterpretation of the form, leading the sculptor to ‘place’ elements of the image in the wrong ‘layers’ or planes on the sculpture. It really pays to study the anatomy of the creatures you carve – and at the very least, look at a whole pile of pictures to get a sense of the animal from many different angles.

Sometimes, when creating the 3/4 pose, it may be prudent to minimize certain details in the carving. For example, noses can become a source of great irritation and distort the 3D effect. It may be better to hint at the nostrils, rather than carve them deeply into the antler.

Don’t be too hard on yourself, and don’t feel that the carving needs to look ‘right’ from every angle. By definition, relief carving is meant to be viewed from a very restricted perspective. Get it right so that it looks good from one viewpoint only, and stick to that viewpoint when carving, to avoid the temptation to make it look right from other viewpoints. Therein lies distortion and disaster!

Below are a couple of shots of a recent 3/4 profile carving of a wolf I am working on – I’ve been giving this question a lot of thought throughout the carving of this piece!

'Wolf 2' by Shane Wilson, close view

'Wolf 2' by Shane Wilson - side view

Here is the link to the In Progress Page for more images. Happy carving!

The most familiar rotating motor tool is the Dremel. It is small, cheap and usually comes with a variety of accessories useful for accomplishing any number of useful household chores. Some carvers use the Dremel as it comes, simply inserting the various burrs into the motor itself. While this works, it is not necessarily the most manoeuvrable solution and carving intricate patterns or accomplishing fine detail can prove difficult.

For an additional sum, the purchase of a Dremel Flexible Shaft can solve this problem. The burr is inserted into the handpiece on the end of the flexible shaft, which, in turn is attached to the motor. The motor is hung or mounted close to the carving, allowing the carver to manipulate the handpiece like a pencil or pen allowing for much greater control.

For beginner carvers, I would recommend the purchase of a Dremel, Flexible Shaft and few good burrs. The Dremel can accommodate burrs with shafts up to 1/8″. Downside of the Dremel is the quality of the machining in the handpiece. This results in a noticeable vibration which will reduce the ability to create fine detail since the burr will wobble slightly. Over an extended carving session, the vibration will cause your hands to go white and numb, also not pleasant.

I still have my first Dremel, and though I no longer use it for carving, it is very effective when performing sanding or polishing tasks which require torque but little precision.

The next motor a carver usually invests in is a Foredom. The Foredom is a powerful flexible shaft motor. It comes in a variety of configurations, but for carving the most useful Foredom is the S Series with a standard collet handpiece and foot pedal for controlling the speed.  The Foredom S Series uses a 1/4 HP motor and is wonderful for roughing out a carving but is less useful for creating detail, since the large flexible shaft and handpiece are not easy to manipulate with finesse. The handpiece accommodates burrs with shaft diameters up to 1/4″.

Burrs of this size can remove a lot of material fast and need to be used with care. Burrs can ‘run away’ in certain circumstances, for example when they catch the grain of the antler, and can cause injury if they contact your unprotected hand or body. Always wear protection. Safe carving should be your motto! I sank a large burr into my thigh in an instant before I learned that a protective apron (leather preferred) is a must. I’ll cover safety equipment in my next post.

In order to create stunning detail in a carving, the preferred tool is the micro-motor. The motor is small, as the name suggests and resides in the handpiece itself. The handpiece is wired to a control box, which controls the speed and direction of the rotation. Like the Dremel, these handpieces can accommodate burrs up to 1/8″ in shaft diameter. Unlike the Dremel, the micro-motor tool is a precision instrument, finely machined with no wobble and negligible vibration, making them a joy to use.

The king of micro-motor tools is the NSK Electer E-Max.  NSK also makes dental grinders, so they know what they’re doing. Other companies, such as RAM, make lower end micro-motor tools which still work exceptionally well, but are a little bulkier and less pleasing to work with compared to the NSK. If you plan to take up carving in a serious way, invest in an NSK if at all possible. It will return your investment both in sheer carving pleasure and in results that will most truly reflect your skill as a carver.

I’ll go into greater detail about each of these tools and cover basic maintenance concerns in a future post. Happy carving!

When you first start carving, you may purchase a Dremel kit from a local hardware store. This usually comes with the motor, flexible shaft and an assortment of burrs. Most of these burrs are useless for carving, so it will be necessary to purchase them separately.

I have included images of some of the most useful burrs for carving antler.

A. Great questions – for which there are no easy answers.

Pricing is a combination of factors – your time and the value you put on it, the material and tool cost (depreciation, rent, etc.), dollars you may have invested in promotional materials or travel averaged in, etc. On the other side are those who would purchase your work – what are their budget constrains, etc. It helps to know what the work cost you in terms of time so that at least you have a starting point – so that you can determine a fair price. If you are not interested in making money right away, maybe you’ll offer the work for less – just so that it finds a good home.

As far as marketing goes, in my experience, paid ads don’t work – best to make and show the work in person, then via a website of your own, then look for opportunities to have others feature your work (the ribbons at a show are great – what about a follow up article in a local paper, written by an arts editor?)

Other than that, it is just time in the game, the longer you make art, the better known you become and the better your work gets.

'Yukon Seasons, 2003' by Shane Wilson moose antler and skull sculpture (112x120x61 cm - Yukon Government Permanent Collection)

This website is dedicated to the art of antler carving. It may also be of interest to carvers of other materials (such as horn, ivory or bone) since we share many of the same tools and techniques. And the differences are sure to be instructive!

I hope other carvers will join me in posting images of their sculptures and discuss things they have learned about their work: tools, techniques and marketing tips.