how do i get my 22inch back.

[little fred]

ok i skinned fleshed ,salted for 2 day's then i went through the krowtann instructions and followed with a fine tooth comb,
now i notice my deer has a 17 inch neck now behind the ears, but befor it was a 22 inch .

what did i do wrong?
fred

[RoyalOaksTaxidermy]

You didnt mention shaving it thin....

[Rebel]

You didnt mention shaving it thin....

winner winner

[Hudson]

Not seeing the cape I would have to say it is in the shaving...this is the single biggest factor in loss of size or stretch. A local taxi brought me a elk cape tanned by a very prominent N. tannery. The neck was 28" with zero stretch, this cape weighed a ton. It was obvious it was not shaved other than the face area and right tight behind the ears. I shaved the entire cape and even put the fleshing in a bag because the hunter had the cape tanned himself and brought it to the taxi. When I was done the bag weighed almost as much as the cape and when we pulled the piss out of it he got 32" easy. I was shocked how THICK this cape was.

[little fred]

thanx guy's i will shave it and oil it,let it sweat overnight , remeasure it if that don't do it,any other suggestions

thanx fred

[Hudson]

I think it will do the trick but you might want to contact Tom King or others that use Krowtan alot, they will probably have some tips for you. My money is on the shave....

[trophycase]

I would shave, and then renuetralize that should do it.

[dsbragg]

Did you rehydrate the cape before you put it in the krowtann? If you really fallow the directions for krowtann, you do not salt at all. You flesh, turn, split and into the solution. If you salted two days and did not rehydrate before krowtann, that is your problem if thinned well. IMO

[Heath Cline]

Fred, I agree with Hudson about the shaving & dsbragg is right about not salting before hand when using krowtann.
You should have looked at the directions before you salted the cape.
You should come up to my shop sometime & we can do some work on some deer heads & see if we can teach each other anything new !

[Jim Tucker]

ok i skinned fleshed ,salted for 2 day's then i went through the krowtann instructions and followed with a fine tooth comb,
now i notice my deer has a 17 inch neck now behind the ears, but befor it was a 22 inch .

what did i do wrong?
fred

Hey Fred how you doing!

These guys have the answer.  If you don't flesh your capes THIN your neutralizing step is wasted.  Thin the cape and then re-neutralize.  FOR ME I need to neutralize LONGER than the instructions call for.

[Hudson]

Jim has hit on a critical step that most home tanners miss, whether it is KT or any other tannage..(this has been covered a million times so I am not trying to make it look like it is MY idea..but it is critical)....Most ARE NOT checking HIDE ph...only bath PH...one must always check HIDE ph when neutralizing. As Jim stated the hide ph could be quite different between a paper thin hide and a thick hide.

[little fred]

well i took all your advise and end's up will 20 1/2  i figured better then nothing RIGHT!

  i shaved so thin i could see light through it,then neut,oiled,sweat ed,washed and mounted.

thanks for all your help you guy's know your stufffffffffffffffff......

Freddy

[cyclone]

......with a fine tooth comb,

You obviously used the wrong comb....

Kidding aside, whenever someone states that they've followed directions to the "T", to the "LETTER", to the "PERIOD", or with a "fine tooth comb" as this case may be....You can pretty much bet your bottom dollar that they didn't..

Hudson, in case you haven't read the KT directions, they don't measure pH..

[Hudson]

Sorry Cyclone...my mistake...LOL

[cyclone]

Sorry Cyclone...my mistake...LOL

 Just joshin...