How did you attach the antler to the tang?
Nice catch, Wolfy! The tang was a rectangular shank, like most tangs; waaaay too big for the antler. The first maple block behind the guard is epoxied over the tang, nice and solid.I belt sanded the maple and the tang as one unit to the approx 45 degree angle(flush). I drilled a hole half- way into the maple block just above the tang. I epoxied and threaded a 3 inch stainless sheet metal screw into that hole. After it set, I drilled the cocobolo for a close fit over the screw, and drilled the antler for a
threaded fit to the screw. The leather spacer between the wood and the antler acted as a crush washer to allow correct indexing of the antler. The whole assembly was glued together with epoxy, and sanded and filed to shape. It's a solid assembly.