Morel Carvings

It all started because I wanted a mushroom hunting stick with a morel on top. Not really something that you can go into a big box store and pick up. I had cut some Mulberry trees out of my fence line and dried them over the winter, thinking that they could be used for garden poles, so using several of them to make my mushroom hunting stick was a no-brainer. The first three were fun and three friends ended up buying them from me. I laugh when I think about learning to hold the Dremel tool and the adjustments I had to make as I went through every accessory that came with the tool trying to figure out which bits would work for what I was trying to carve. Frankly, my early attempts were okay, bet there was a lot to learn about the tool and what I needed to do to be able to use it. (I still think that those early attempts are better than some carvings that I have seen, but no one is ever satisfied with their work and I am still learning.)  I wore out the brushes on my first Dremel tool in less than six weeks. I called the Dremel customer service line, told them the symptoms, and they were able to walk me through rotating the bushings. That bought me the time I needed to get the replacement bushings that I ordered while on that call. It has been almost 5 years now and I am still refining my technique and using that same Dremel, plus another Dremel and a Rotozip to carve morels and other items. If anyone else is carving items from deer antler, I would love to know what accessory bits you feel work the best.