skull mounting

cbrjohnthou

Anyone ever tried to do a skull mount, I decided to give it a go. I made the plaque from rustic oak, took a while to prepare the antler but I got there it the end. the antler has gone a bit white but I can prob fix that with Potasssium permanganate.

jwshooter

shank1 wrote: »

Anyone ever tried to do a skull mount, I decided to give it a go. I made the plaque from rustic oak, took a while to prepare the antler but I got there it the end. the antler has gone a bit white but I can prob fix that with Potasssium permanganate.

you made some bollocks of that shank .

on the up side the shield is good.

the best way and quickest way is as follows .

get your head ,take the jaw off ,ears and neck skin off .boil for 45-55 mins do not put antlers into the boiling water.

now if you wish tape up the nose bone ,power wash off ,5 minutes work .

cut with a hand saw ,not a bone saw from under the nose just under the eye socket .

then mount .

Tackleberrywho

shank1 wrote: »

Anyone ever tried to do a skull mount, I decided to give it a go. I made the plaque from rustic oak, took a while to prepare the antler but I got there it the end. the antler has gone a bit white but I can prob fix that with Potasssium permanganate.

I've done several, use some oil into the antlers either; makes them nice and natural looking.You can get antiquing wax for furniture either

I did a few goats too

cbrjohnthou

jwshooter wrote: »

you made some bollocks of that shank .

on the up side the shield is good.

the best way and quickest way is as follows .

get your head ,take the jaw off ,ears and neck skin off .boil for 45-55 mins do not put antlers into the boiling water.

now if you wish tape up the nose bone ,power wash off ,5 minutes work .

cut with a hand saw ,not a bone saw from under the nose just under the eye socket .

then mount .

yeah cheers ya p***K:)
I had to cut it that close cause his lower jaw and bottom part of his skull was smashed to bits from the bullet. I did use a handsaw to cut it though. it was really only a bit of an experiment to see what it was about. I,ll give one another try this year.

I'll follow your instructions next time and if I make another balls of it I'll blame you:cool:

Tackleberrywho

shank1 wrote: »

yeah cheers ya p***K:)
I had to cut it that close cause his lower jaw and bottom part of his skull was smashed to bits from the bullet. I did use a handsaw to cut it though. it was really only a bit of an experiment to see what it was about. I,ll give one another try this year.

I'll follow your instructions next time and if I make another balls of it I'll blame you:cool:

I boil it for hours. I use washing powder in the mix to help whitening and kills the smell lol

Well done on your first attempt.
As you do more you will get better and better!

It's like skinning, you will get better and better each one, Practice on small animals first if you like, boil a few a sheep skulls, a butcher will get them for you.
And practice skinning and boiling on them:D

cbrjohnthou

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

I boil it for hours. I use washing powder in the mix to help whitening and kills the smell lol

Well done on your first attempt.
As you do more you will get better and better!

It's like skinning, you will get better and better each one, Practice on small animals first if you like, boil a few a sheep skulls, a butcher will get them for you.
And practice skinning and boiling on them:D

Might try skinning the neighbours dog if it don't F**k up:).
I'll def try another one anyway, I'll stick this one up in the shed as a coat wrack, I had left the head at the bottom of the garden for about a year before I tried to do it, so as you can imagine it had gone like leather, had to hack the skin off with a chisel ( jaysus I'm rough).Should have done it when it was fresh. Its all about learning I suppose:o

Tackleberrywho

shank1 wrote: »

Might try skinning the neighbours dog if it don't F**k up:).
I'll def try another one anyway, I'll stick this one up in the shed as a coat wrack, I had left the head at the bottom of the garden for about a year before I tried to do it, so as you can imagine it had gone like leather, had to hack the skin off with a chisel ( jaysus I'm rough).Should have done it when it was fresh. Its all about learning I suppose:o

Bing it to a maggot farm either, after a few weeks it will be picked clean, then was it in bleach.

I left one on a bush in the garden and the dog ate the snout off it:D

It was easier to mount then though. I used a bench grinder to shape the skull

cbrjohnthou

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Bing it to a maggot farm either, after a few weeks it will be picked clean, then was it in bleach.

I left one on a bush in the garden and the dog ate the snout off it:D

It was easier to mount then though. I used a bench grinder to shape the skull

I had planned on the flies laying maggots on it and cleaning it for me but the weather was so **** last year there was no bluebottles around to lay eggs in it. I read on the internet that Pot permanganate will bring the natural brown back to the antlers, I might get some in the chemist and see how it goes.

Tackleberrywho

shank1 wrote: »

I had planned on the flies laying maggots on it and cleaning it for me but the weather was so **** last year there was no bluebottles around to lay eggs in it. I read on the internet that Pot permanganate will bring the natural brown back to the antlers, I might get some in the chemist and see how it goes.

Beeswax good too;)

Sika98k

Cut as much of the hide off as you possibly can.
Then off to Tesco,s and buy some soda crystals,89c
Bring to water up to boil ,throw in a couple of handfuls,its fine stuff.Boil for a couple of hours and remove,powerhose it off and off to Lidl for some bleach,immerse the skull,just the skull, for a couple of hours and dry.
It should at this stage come out looking ok.

dwighet

If you dont want to boil do what I do....Clean as much flesh as you can then leave it in a bucket of water for a few weeks...Skull only in the water.
The remaining flesh will turn into snot after a few weeks and then its a light powerwash and let it dry out outside cause it will stink...The skull want need bleaching as the soak removes all the color.....

I had to do it this way cause the mrs had my balls on the wall from when I used her good stewing pot and the stink in the house....
She the boss god bless her little cotton socks:D

CJhaughey

Don't use bleach, it makes the bone yellow. Better to get some peroxide from the chemist and use that to bleach the bones it gets them whiter than white.

cbrjohnthou

dwighet wrote: »

If you dont want to boil do what I do....Clean as much flesh as you can then leave it in a bucket of water for a few weeks...Skull only in the water.
The remaining flesh will turn into snot after a few weeks and then its a light powerwash and let it dry out outside cause it will stink...The skull want need bleaching as the soak removes all the color.....

I had to do it this way cause the mrs had my balls on the wall from when I used her good stewing pot and the stink in the house....
She the boss god bless her little cotton socks:D[/QUOTE

]

jaysus yer a rough man dwighet, would you eat a stew out of that pot afterwads in fairness:D:D:D and in the house too, lord jaysus rough:D. Thanks for the tips though.

dwighet

shank1 wrote: »

dwighet wrote: »

If you dont want to boil do what I do....Clean as much flesh as you can then leave it in a bucket of water for a few weeks...Skull only in the water.
The remaining flesh will turn into snot after a few weeks and then its a light powerwash and let it dry out outside cause it will stink...The skull want need bleaching as the soak removes all the color.....


]

jaysus yer a rough man dwighet, would you eat a stew out of that pot afterwads in fairness:D:D:D and in the house too, lord jaysus rough:D. Thanks for the tips though.

I forgot she gets home from work eary on the day I did it...got caught red handed....**** it was funny though...we still av a laugh over it..
I didnt laugh over the price of a new stewing pot...They dont come cheap...Cost me the price of 3 boxes of bullets

flanum

there is a very good demonstration here .. part one and part two.. approx 20 mins total..

J.R.

I find an electric deep fat fryer pot ideal for boiling skulls........I don't mean a one in use but an old one!!!

The wife decided to get rid of the deep fat fryer ....gone all into healthy eating ......so rather than dump it I scrubbed it clean removing any traces of oil. I now use it to boil skulls.

The beauty of the electric deep fat fryer is that you don't need a stove or pots etc. You just plug it in, fill with water to near the top of the skull and then switch on. It means you can do it in the shed or anywhere outside the house where there's power.

Most of them come with a mesh tray with a handle which is very handy for lifting out the skull to check progress.

Deerspotter

Be careful with the potasium-pro. It is very corrosive and will stain anything it touches permanently. Add only a tiny amount to LOTS of water and then with a small paint-brush - paint on the antler any where you want to be brown. It will look purple till it dries. Then paint on some more in areas that then need to be darker. It does a great job and looks brilliant and totally natural if done well. Best of luck and put up a before and after photo of it after your done.

cbrjohnthou

Deerspotter wrote: »

Be careful with the potasium-pro. It is very corrosive and will stain anything it touches permanently. Add only a tiny amount to LOTS of water and then with a small paint-brush - paint on the antler any where you want to be brown. It will look purple till it dries. Then paint on some more in areas that then need to be darker. It does a great job and looks brilliant and totally natural if done well. Best of luck and put up a before and after photo of it after your done.

yeah i'll do that mate cheers, I heard it looks really natural alright:)

cbrjohnthou

J.R. wrote: »

I find an electric deep fat fryer pot ideal for boiling skulls........I don't mean a one in use but an old one!!!

The wife decided to get rid of the deep fat fryer ....gone all into healthy eating ......so rather than dump it I scrubbed it clean removing any traces of oil. I now use it to boil skulls.

The beauty of the electric deep fat fryer is that you don't need a stove or pots etc. You just plug it in, fill with water to near the top of the skull and then switch on. It means you can do it in the shed or anywhere outside the house where there's power.

Most of them come with a mesh tray with a handle which is very handy for lifting out the skull to check progress.

Now there's a great idea, right job for the shed and all, cheers.

Deerspotter

An example of a head done with some potassium-pro

What do you think?

26122009317.jpg

cbrjohnthou

Deerspotter wrote: »

An example of a head done with some potassium-pro

What do you think?

26122009317.jpg

thats a savage job mate, I'll def try it on my one after seeing that,in fact is there any way I can delete the one I did cause that makes a holy show of mine:o:D:D:D

nice set of antlers on that fella too, fair f**ks to ya:)

Deerspotter

Not mine, I am not a shooter.
Helped a friend out with it who is a shooter.
I am just a defender of country sports and hater of vedgies & greenies...

cbrjohnthou

Deerspotter wrote: »

Not mine, I am not a shooter.
Helped a friend out with it who is a shooter.
I am just a defender of country sports and hater of vedgies & greenies...

Any hater of a veg head is a friend of mine:)

Now go and get yourself a gun:D:D:D

Grizzly 45

UGH! The thought of putting oil or beeswax on the antlers!:eek::eek:
You'd all be taken out and shot by fellow hunters on the Continent for such sacrilige to the trophy!:D
I saw a few of those at the Birr show last year,and they looked as natural as a laminate finish on a gunstock made from the best Walnut burl.
Boil,pick and clean meat,power hose if you have such,or simply take to maggot farm,[as we dont have red ants to do the job in Ireland].Pack the skull soildly with cotton wool and pour 90% hydrogen peroxide on the skull.Keep this wet for at least seven days..Remove was and dry.It will be snow white.Dont worry about coloring ,time and athmospherics will do the rest.Dont forget to write even on the skull, in black marker where and when it was shot.Nothing worse than looking at a skull and rack and not knowing a little bit about it's history.If it was a trophy,then it might be worth a engraved ID plate,but a marker is cheaper.

BTW Shank ,there is nothing wrong with the cut on your trophy.It is a matter of perference that.Some folks like them as JW describes ,others even smaller.Some even leave the upper teeth still on the trophy.
If I had a critique it would be the sheild.Its too big and you lose the skull on it.

BTW can I ask does anyone here save the front lower teeth from their trophies??They are also extremly valueable,and used in traitional hunting jewellery?

Spannerman7

Is there any value in these, I don't mean to hyjack or anything, it's still about heads and mounts etc, thing is, I'm moving house soon and the missus don't want this to come aswell.


It cost me a nice few quid to get done by yer man in Killarney years ago. (When I had some). Does anyone buy this sort of thing. I like it and it reminds me of a great winters afternoon with a shooting buddy, but I aint the boss of the house, I might persuade her but it would be picture-no- sound for a while untill she gets her way :rolleyes:

Deerspotter

Picture and no sound is fairly appealing to me I must say, sounds like a win-win for you then!!!
Keep it, you will regret getting rid of it. Put in your garage, or in the attic – just keep it.
Only way to sell it, I imagine, would be through an auction house or e-bay. I wouldn’t expect there’d be much of a market for it in the current climate with so many hotels and pubs in trouble.
Just keep it. It has a value to YOU.
Be a man!

Smashing head and nicely done too.

kerryman12

have to agree with that deer spotter

cbrjohnthou

kerryman12 wrote: »

have to agree with that deer spotter

ah lord, don't get rid of it man, you night never shoot one like it again. A lot of memories come with certain heads, would be a shame to lose them.
you'll find somewhere for it

cbrjohnthou

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

UGH! The thought of putting oil or beeswax on the antlers!:eek::eek:
You'd all be taken out and shot by fellow hunters on the Continent for such sacrilige to the trophy!:D
I saw a few of those at the Birr show last year,and they looked as natural as a laminate finish on a gunstock made from the best Walnut burl.
Boil,pick and clean meat,power hose if you have such,or simply take to maggot farm,[as we dont have red ants to do the job in Ireland].Pack the skull soildly with cotton wool and pour 90% hydrogen peroxide on the skull.Keep this wet for at least seven days..Remove was and dry.It will be snow white.Dont worry about coloring ,time and athmospherics will do the rest.Dont forget to write even on the skull, in black marker where and when it was shot.Nothing worse than looking at a skull and rack and not knowing a little bit about it's history.If it was a trophy,then it might be worth a engraved ID plate,but a marker is cheaper.

BTW Shank ,there is nothing wrong with the cut on your trophy.It is a matter of perference that.Some folks like them as JW describes ,others even smaller.Some even leave the upper teeth still on the trophy.
If I had a critique it would be the sheild.Its too big and you lose the skull on it.

yeah I tend to agree there, I had sized it up a few times before I cut the shield but when I was finished lacquering it and the head was on it I was sorry I didn't go smaller, Prob would suit a fallow better, Iam going to make a few templates from hardboard so it will be easier to size them up before making the actual shield.

Spannerman7

you know, ye're right lads, I'll find a place for him, thanks.
He was shot only a few fields away from my new house, a young buck now looks out for the hinds, I see them regularly.

Spannerman7

Shank, if you need templates I can e-mail some to you, I have them for work (metal cutting), if it's of any use to you, or anyone for that matter, lots of styles.

cbrjohnthou

cheers mate but I have access to a C.N.C machine so its only a matter of changing a few numbers in the control panel and hey presto.I'll knock out a few templates in hardboard so I can offer them up to the antlers that I want to mount. Thaks all the same:).

cbrjohnthou

I put the potassium permanganate on the antlers today, they turned out pretty good, 3 coats seemed to get the right colour, I gave them a rub down with steel wool to take the' new look' off them.

Tackleberrywho

shank1 wrote: »

I put the potassium permanganate on the antlers today, they turned out pretty good, 3 coats seemed to get the right colour, I gave them a rub down with steel wool to take the' new look' off them.

Where did you buy it?

P.S *I see you have good choice of tools Dewalt

cbrjohnthou

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Where did you buy it?

P.S *I see you have good choice of tools Dewalt

I got the potassium from a friend who's a pharmacist, they come in crystal form, just add water.

I can post you some if you like but I think they are handy enough to get in a chemists,

Like you said ' a bad craftsman has bad tools' I spend a fortune on really good tools but they last years, its the same as anything, you get what you pay for:cool:

patsat

If you don't treat the antlers with anything will they decay over time??

I have a paint in the shed and just wondering do I need to treat them?

cbrjohnthou

patsat wrote: »

If you don't treat the antlers with anything will they decay over time??

I have a paint in the shed and just wondering do I need to treat them?

Nah! I don't reckon they will ever decay, I only put the potassium on them because they had faded and gone white from being left out in the garden, and for a bit of crack to see how it would turn out.

dwighet

I recall a small wipe of linseed oil brings a rack up nice...
You might have to check that up first....
Im just gettn a flash back of someone saying that..

Tackleberrywho

dwighet wrote: »

I recall a small wipe of linseed oil brings a rack up nice...
You might have to check that up first....
Im just gettn a flash back of someone saying that..

Linseed oil makes a lovely honecomb on many things, even on your gun stocks.

Patsat

The won't decay if kept inside. I have some 13 years and they are the very same.

But they will weather if left outside.
Basically go white as the minerals leach out.

I will try shanks recipe on one of mine that is weathered.

Some guys varnish horn and antler, but it can chip and look gammy IMvHO

dwighet

maybe this is worth a go
http://www.bushwear.co.uk/nostyles.php?ProductID=353803&ClassID=253

Tackleberrywho

dwighet wrote: »

maybe this is worth a go
http://www.bushwear.co.uk/nostyles.php?ProductID=353803&ClassID=253

I often find all these Cure all's are simple chemicals.
For 100 times the price

I used to boil my heads in washing powder and they were very white, and stopped it being smelly.

Although it did whiten some of the antler.

I do like Shanks bit'een of timber.

And fixing the skull without destroying it.

cbrjohnthou

dwighet wrote: »

I recall a small wipe of linseed oil brings a rack up nice...
You might have to check that up first....
Im just gettn a flash back of someone saying that..

It makes them a bit shiney though Dwighet, a lot of lads use boiled linseed oil when using antler on walking sticks.

cbrjohnthou

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Linseed oil makes a lovely honecomb on many things, even on your gun stocks.

Patsat

The won't decay if kept inside. I have some 13 years and they are the very same.

But they will weather if left outside.
Basically go white as the minerals leach out.

I will try shanks recipe on one of mine that is weathered.

Some guys varnish horn and antler, but it can chip and look gammy IMvHO

if your using it on your gunstock make sure and use very very little and use the heat caused by the friction of constant rubbing to make it soak in.When you are happy with how it looks use a mix of 1 part beeswax,1 part linseed oil and 1 part turpentine to finish it off, an oil finish looks great if its done properly:)

sikastag

Shank,

Thats a lovely job you made of that head. I have a head in the shed thats well bleached from the sun and thinking of having a crack at it with the pot-perm. Saw the earlier posts by deerspotter with tips and pic, another great job. Any advice on way to go about it? Did you do anything different?

Tackleberrywho

shank1 wrote: »

if your using it on your gunstock make sure and use very very little and use the heat caused by the friction of constant rubbing to make it soak in.When you are happy with how it looks use a mix of 1 part beeswax,1 part linseed oil and 1 part turpentine to finish it off, an oil finish looks great if its done properly:)

many years ago two painters were killed in a fire where linseed oil combusted, so i hear ya shank

Is that longshanks BTW
Or Shanks mare??

cbrjohnthou

sikastag wrote: »

Shank,

Thats a lovely job you made of that head. I have a head in the shed thats well bleached from the sun and thinking of having a crack at it with the pot-perm. Saw the earlier posts by deerspotter with tips and pic, another great job. Any advice on way to go about it? Did you do anything different?

Cheers Sika:)

It was pretty straight forward to be honest, but I would advise you to cover the skull because the pot-per stains straight away, I dropped some on the skull and it was very hard to remove it. Try to keep it away from the tips of the antler too. Just paint it on with a small brush and allow to dry, its easier to go darker than lighter so make sure not to apply too many coats. If it looks too uniform rub it down with fine sandpaper or steel wool to make it natural looking. Give it a go and put up a pic.

cbrjohnthou

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

many years ago two painters were killed in a fire where linseed oil combusted, so i hear ya shank

Is that longshanks BTW
Or Shanks mare??

Yeah its supposed to be lethal if left on a rag, old rags should be disposed of by burning and not lobbed in the bin.

ShawSHANK redemption !

sikastag

shank1 wrote: »

Cheers Sika:)

It was pretty straight forward to be honest, but I would advise you to cover the skull because the pot-per stains straight away, I dropped some on the skull and it was very hard to remove it. Try to keep it away from the tips of the antler too. Just paint it on with a small brush and allow to dry, its easier to go darker than lighter so make sure not to apply too many coats. If it looks too uniform rub it down with fine sandpaper or steel wool to make it natural looking. Give it a go and put up a pic.

Thanks Shank,

I'll have a crack at it once I get the time and I'll try to post a before and after pic.

Luck,
Sika