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How can I make a beautiful headgear from antlers?
Perhaps you want to dress up your LARP or fantasy character. Or maybe you want to create a pagan-inspired headgear. Either way, antlers can be a great addition to a headgear. However, due to their weight, they can be tricky to attach to a headgear. Glue is rarely strong enough to hold them in place, and due to their length, they will quickly wobble and come loose again. We will show you how to best make a headgear from antlers.
The most sturdy way to attach a real antler to a headpiece is by screwing it in place. The basic of the headpiece must be strong and wide enough so that the antler can be properly attached and the headpiece is well balanced.
Options for the basic include a strip of metal bent into a headband, layered strips of leather, or a hard cap/helmet base.
What do you need?
-antler
-drill
-punch (optional)
-saw
-screws
-glue
-headpiece base of choice
-foam or other soft padding (optional)
-decorations of choice
-hot glue
How to attach an antler to a headgear:
Step 1:
Secure the antler firmly in the vice.
You can now drill a hole into the antler from the bottom. Antlers are quite hard, so if you want to drill into them, you need to apply some pressure, but be careful not to drill too quickly. This can cause the antler to split or crack.
The material of the antler becomes hot during drilling, which can cause the material to stick to your drill. I advise you to regularly pause drilling, remove the drill from the antler, and clean the drill before proceeding.
Step 2:
Mark the placement of the antler on the basic of your headgear. Use the drill or a punch to make holes in the basic at the marked spots.
Step 3:
Push the screws through the basic of the headpiece, ensuring the heads of the screws are on the inside of the headpiece. Drip some glue into the hole you drilled in the antler and slide it onto the screw. Hold it firmly in place until the glue has sufficiently hardened so the antler doesn't start to tilt.
Repeat this for all antlers you want to use in your headgear.
Step 4:
Try on your headgear. If the screws press too much into your head, you can glue a strip of foam or other padding to the inside of the headpiece to make wearing it more comfortable. Do not make the padding too thick, or the headpiece may become too wobbly.
Step 5:
If you have attached your antler to something resembling a headband, you can leave it as it is and use it that way.
You can now also add more decorations to the headpiece if that is the look you are aiming for. Most decorative items can be easily glued on with hot glue.
If you have used a cap-shaped basic, you can now start building up the rest of your headpiece. For example, you can cover it with fur or a wool fabric, or glue other decorative items onto it until the basic is no longer visible.
