(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g193/hnt2mch/HPIM0754.jpg) (http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g193/hnt2mch/HPIM0757.jpg) (http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g193/hnt2mch/HPIM0759.jpg)
nice job what did you whiten with?
would have to tell you when i get home in the morning but i got it at a beauty supply place same thing the ladies use to strip their hair with
ooops stripe not strip :banghead:
That coyote skull looks virtually identical to one I did a few years ago. You did a great job on those pieces and obviously avoided using bleach. Most likely you used peroxide from the beauty shop.
Guy
They look totally awesome.
grey you are correct and also use the lazy man method as opposed to boiling....thanks rdoggsilva
QuoteOriginally posted by hnt2mch:
grey you are correct and also use the lazy man method as opposed to boiling....thanks rdoggsilva
What's the Lazy Man method? I have a bear skull in my freezer that I was going to put under a wire cage in the forest to allow maggots and such to work on it rather than boiling. Am I close to the LM method :dunno:
nope osage61 i tried that before and the skull was stained with our famous red clay dirt,i put the skull in a bucket of water and about half a box of riddex and check from time to time till done then fresh water and dawn for a week to degrease.am doing a hog a deer and a bobcat now they are nearly ready :D
ok thanks very much, I'll try that. your skulls look great :thumbsup:
thanks i will post the whitening combo when i get home this morning.
this is screaming a skull along lol.
I have a few skulls I need to get done. Grizz black bear yote and lynx.
Tip my local taxi gave me, 50 50 white elmers to water for a nice coat thats not overly shiny. Came out really nice on my brown bear skull. Catch the drips before they dry.
What is riddex? I did a search for it and all I came up with was some kind of electronic pest repellant.
Nice job on the skulls!
its septic tank aditive, some kind of bacteria. that eats organic matter. thats all i know.
oh, i would like to see pics of this process, sounds interesting.
you got it arrow30 i probably spelled it wrong whip.ak dan there wouldn't be much of a pic show but i would be glad to tell the steps i use i prefer it over boiling but it does take longer but i ain't in no hurry lets me do it in my time as opposed to setting aside several hours at once
Please do tell, Gerald. I have a skull needing to be cleaned, but I've been dreading the whole boiling thing. The rid x treatment sounds like the ticket. Great looking skulls!
it's got me wanting all types of heads lol.really simple method if you ain't in a rush
well alrighty then
step one is skinning it which is the hardest part getting eyes and brain matter out and as much meat as you can without scratchung the bone.
you can either proceed or put it in freezer till your ready to continue.then just fill a bucket with water large enough to cover the skull with water.then pour half a small box of rid x in and i hang the bucket to keep unwanted critters out.check from time to time that the water doesn't get down of the skull,havung the antlers in the water hasn't discolored mine so far.
Thanks Gerald. Gonna give it a try this wkd. Ballpark; how long does it take?
now the warmer it is the faster the bugs do their part.mebbe two or three weeks i pull the skull out and look if clean i proceed of not return to bucket.
a word of caution here handle carefully as this soaking loosens the sutures in the skull but once dried they tighten back up
fritz the time varys i haven't done a large amount but i have done some in 6 to 8 weeks in hot summer temps as longer in cooler. it does take a while and i get busy and dont check like i should.
when you pull out a fairly clean skull,may be a few small tendrals hanging but no worries as these tend to dry up and turn to dust with little effort.and dont get worried if the skull looks a littl greyish or if you mess around and leave it in longer than you think you should have.
pour out your water.
another word of caution here learned the hard way...there will be bugs and other things in the water when pouring out WATCH FOR YUOR TEETH some critters loose teeth not so much deer but others and i have lost some i now pour thru a screen i made.
anyway refill bucket with clean water and a generous dose of dawn dishwashing liquid and soak for a week or so.this pulls the grease from it.
then i take it out and hang it to dry out.when dry or you get back to it.you can proceed
i clean up any died matter ,which hasn't been much so far and can be done with toothbrush and pocket knife.
then i wrap the horns in saran wrap as the soulotion in the following step will cause whiting of the horns real fast.
glue back in any bones or teeth that have fallen out and i have had the upper bones come out forward of the nose,usually by ruff handling.
then mix a solution of salon care 30 or 50 volume creme developer and quick white super strenth powder purchased at salley's beauty supply,for a few bucks. this will foam some.i then just paint on and wait 30 minutes and rinse off with water hose.
let the skull sit for 30 minutes to an hour,i usually fling arrows during the waiting parts ,as it will whiten some more as it sits.
if the skull is not white enough to suit ya paint it again and let sit for another 30 minutes or so,shoot some more and let sit i haven't had to do one a third time and at anytime after rinsing you can pause and return when you want to paint again.
now i am still experimenting with seals i have used triple thick from hoppy lobby and it gives a wet shiney look and the latest i am trying is a water based polyurethane,dont use oil based as it will yellow the skull.
then i hang on a plaque,those shown are made by a buddy of mine i work with.and i may add make the skulls look even better he puts them at an angle to show the horns a bit.the pics were taken more from the top to show the skulls
got me some old weathered barn wood to hang the ones i am doing now some on to see how they will look
Thanks again for the info, Gerald! Now I just have to get off my butt and get it done. :thumbsup:
most welcome fritz,you can call me goat maybe a few folks have run into me ta the shoots,i amby no means an expert but they been comming out good so far and with my schedule it works for me real well
I hear you. Time is my enemy. I just don't have time to babysit one that is boiling.
great job, look really good.
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/8003/dscf0014cm1.jpg
This is what we do with Javalina skulls
This was perfect timing since I just found a winter kill of a nice 13 pt buck. Was wondering what I was going to do with it.
Nice job :thumbsup:
Very nice! Chortdraw, awesome art work!
thanks for posting the info! Gonna give it a go on mine and see how it goes...still pretty cold yet to let it sit in a bucket...it'd freeze lol. Gonna print this off and wait for spring.
chortdraw that is awesome!i have one that is painted but just one solid color nothing as cool as that!sadly i am nowhere near that gifted.
Good job!
Excellent job ! i have seen alot of them done and those are about the best ive have seen the have a shine to them... crest white strips for the teeth eh!
I have 2 more to do and these were cleaned very well. Now to figure out what to do on them. I guess I will have to take a break from my carving and concentrate on painting.
I have given my bow making equipment to my buddy so he will try his hand at building some bows. If he builds as good as he shoots he won't have any problems. I'm getting to old to have so many prodjects :knothead:
Very nice work on those skulls!
Enjoy!
Shoot straight, Shinken
:archer2:
Very, very impressive. They look like they were hand carved. My skulls always turn out looking like dead animals.
Those are some pretty skulls
I tried a new way this year and it worked really well, its the lazy mans way ! I tied a good strong rope around the antlers, tied it to tree and then threw it in the pond, 2 months later I pulled it out sprayed out the remaining eyes balls and such and it looked as good if not better then all the ones I had spent hours boiling, give it a try it works and its easy !
was the product you used to whiten hydrogen peroxide if so i use this for whitening turkey wing bones that i make into calls works slow but really whittens LjT
The 2 skulls I have to do were cleaned by the beetles. They seem to do a great job. That would be the way to go if you have a lot of them to clean.
QuoteOriginally posted by hnt2mch:
ooops stripe not strip :banghead:
no your right, my wife calls them stripper stripes.
Skulls look good.
Nice job on the skulls.
I like the mounting board for the deer skull especially.
thanks for all the kind words ya'll when i finish the hog and bobcat i'll post pics
Real nice.
Very Cool!!
QuoteOriginally posted by Chortdraw:
The 2 skulls I have to do were cleaned by the beetles. They seem to do a great job. That would be the way to go if you have a lot of them to clean.
Those dermestid beetles really do a great job. Just be sure they don't get out of the aquarium because they'll also do a great job on wool clothes and carpets, silk, fur, feathers (!), etc. They're a bitch to get rid of if they infest.
But the skulls they clean look great :D
Guy
Does the bucket of water just stink when you check it? I like the rid-x idea and wil give it a try but just wondering about the smell. Not a big deal - just want to be prepared.
Great looking skull mounts BTW
Yes, Bobby it does stink. Mine has been soaking about a wk and it's getting rank smelling. Mine is put up in an old barn away from the house, so as not to offend anyone.
I've buried mine skin and all with a barrel over top to keep varmits from digging it up. If you time it right you can dig it up later and just about all that's left is the skin and it slips off easy. If you leave it too long it may take on some ground stains but as long as the skin is still covering it they come out fairly white. You may have to look for teeth as mentioned and possibly the nose section if not careful. I don't glue together until after peroxide treatment because the glue prevents whitening if it gets on the surface and makes the glue joint more obvious. Of course, I don't have red clay. Good for garden though.