trubond 1000

[hounddoggy]

I tanned my first two capes with trubond 1000 today.The tan came to my house today and ThankGod it wasnt in one of those big mouth bottles. Very easy pouring,no mess-no waste. I also tanned a cape with the remaining tan i have used for the last year. No, i wont say the brand name as this post is not about bashing or promoting anyones tan. I followed the directions that came with my trubond. My pickle stayed between 1-2 on these capes, however, trubond instructions say keep your pickle between 2-2.5. I didnt get my trubond til after this cape was pickled and shaved.I dont know why on the pH  BUT will be mindful of the pH when doing my next batch. I neutralized per instructions .
A slow but thorough color change took place with the trubond capes. A more rapid color change occured with the other tan.
For kicks i just stretched the neck(widthwise ofcourse) to see what would happen. Obviously while damp with the tan, all of them stretched somewhat. The Trubond really did outstretch the others BIG TIME.I have stretched the necks before on capes just to see if id get back to original size.Never has a cape of mine stretched as easily as the one i tanned with tb1000. I will put these capes in the fridge over night and rinse in the morning. I will be mounting the deer tanned with trubond 1000 just as soon as i help load a customers elk in the morning.
I dont have as much experience tanning (2 years) and now what real  stretch is. I assumed stretch was tugging like heck to get 1 inch. I honestly think i could stretch that trubond cape 3 inches.Not that i would. Never have i know that kind of stretch.I will post an honest evalution after i mount the deer. It will be a 86-70-19L with a cape that measures 19".

[brigham boy]

I am waiting for mine to get to my door. I have some in the pickle at 1.5 i guess ill raise it a bit to 2

[hounddoggy]

Honestly i doubt there will be ill affects of the lower pH. I did neutralize like 3 min. extra. I can honestly say that after applying the tan and tugging the neck an hour later, i never had capes give like that. If its like that come mounting time ill be ecstatic. My inexperience and having used only one other tan, im not qualified to judge,however, i can say ive never had a cape give like a tb1000 cape. My other tan smelled of strong leather and the cape would never give like this. As long as the hair stays locked and, with a rinse, the glue will hold, im sold and could care less what is in it. Cant wait to mount this cape in the morning.

[brigham boy]

Ive heard nothing but good things about this tan. I am way excited to try it out.  Post in the morning with your results .

it sounds like the beez knees...

[CarlScroggins]

Did you order a kit from coonhollow, or did you buy direct from Bear Essentials?

[hounddoggy]

I purchased a gallon of trubond 1000 from bear essentials. As i understand it, Coonhollow has assembled kits for various projects. I will be checking that out as well.

[hounddoggy]

This morning i removed my capes from the fridge. I rinsed all 3 of them the same. In my first post i noted little color change with the trubondcape while my other tanned cape with a different tan showed a rapid change. This morning all 3 capes showed the same color and texture. This trubond DID make leather. After a brief rinsing, i lightly towel dried each cape and hung them for additional drying while i prep forms and load an elk for a customer.

I gave each cape a neck tug stretching widthwise down the entire cape. The trubond cape honestly stretched in a way that I have never known stretch.It was crazy. I knew off the bat that the trubond cape will not only fit on its form, it will easily fit. There are times ive dreaded mounting a particular deer cuz of the capes condition. Im no expert and dont have much experience. Maybe some other tans give these results but the few ive tried were not even in the same ball park. I feel that a popular tan i used before did indeed make leather but not a leather that was taxidermy friendly. Stiff and coarse are never fun to mount. The condition of this trubond cape is new to me.

What im looking for now is glue down. Will the glue hold? I rinsed this cape well to ensure the glue will hold. I dont know what is in various tans  and the skin has to dry without drumming and without the tan or its ingredients preventing glue down. Im off to prep forms. After stretching the trubond cape im confident it will be a pleasure to work with. Gluedown is the final test for me. If it dries and holds im sold. By the way the hair was tight. I gave a good tug on the hair, even the brisket hairs and it was tight-no issues there.

If the glue holds and it dries without ill effects, i will have my new tan. I will post after mounting this deer later today. Then i will post on it in one week. Good day to all.

[Suprdave]

Oldshaver has truly come up with an acceptional product,
he may be able to retire a millionare

[hounddoggy]

I mounted the cape today that i tanned with trubond last night. NEVER and i mean never has a cape been that easy to mount-EVER. I honestly never touched the hide puller and only used the rougher tool a bit to adjust the cape. UNREAL!! I have little experiences with tans but i can say that alot of my issiues in the past WERE NOT ME  it was the tan! I followed the same procedures as with another tan and its ridiculous the difference. Now, I dont want to rush my evaluation of this tan. I t was by far the easiest cape i ever worked with period.
This cape had/has zero stiffness and zero meomory. ZERO. It was crazy. My neighbor assured me he knew what one and maybe two of the ingridiences are. His assumptions caused me to wonder about the glue working-IF he was right on his assumptions. My thoughts on that are- i dont give a hoot what is in it if it holds during drying. Shrinkage is still something i have to watch as this is the first cape tanned with trubond. I bondo'ed the ears and as of now there is no issue there. The skin is so stretchy and soft that i wonder if alot of shrinkage may occur as it dries. I will post those results later in the week. Even if it shrinks some-who cares ! I babysit my mounts for four days anyhow.

If the mount dries with no issues I will be ordering more.ALOT MORE. tHIS WAS BY FAR THE EASIEST SOFTEST STRETCHIEST CAPE I HAVE EVER TOUCHED.i DONT KNOW OR CARE WHATS IN IT IM SOLD ON IT. IF I COULD SHOW A DIFFERENCE I WOULD. NONE OF MY CAPES EVER TURNED OUT LIKE THAT. IT TOOK ME AND 1 1/2 HOURS TO MOUNT THIS DEER. THATS WITH A LITTLE WORK ON THE ANTLER SETTING,BONDO ING EARS, ROUGH SETTING EYES/EARS SEPTUM , STUFFING NOSTRILS/TEARDUCTS, STAPLING BACK AND PUSHING THE CLAY AROUND ANTLER BASES.

SO FAR WORKING WITH TRUBOND HAS BEEN AWESOME-IF DRYING GOES WELL- I CANT IMAGINE ANY OTHER TAN BEING BETTER-----THEN AGAIN IM A ROOKIE WITH LIMITED EXPERIENCE.

[brigham boy]

Hows it drying so far?

[hounddoggy]

As of this morning (tuesday) i see no issues. My shop dries mounts quickly! Ear butts are still a tad soft but around the eyes, the skin is set. I took plastic out of nostrils and tear ducts. I did take t-pins with cooton balls to put down the muscle detail of the neck. I use the cooton balls because it prevents breakin hair and is easy to remove. I dont do this all of the time and now i know i dont need to do it with this tan. There are zero glue issues. I pulled on a piece of the hibe which was on the backboard. I didnt trim it off yet after stapling. The hude had glue on it and its there to stay! haha !

Really, i love this tan and as we speak i have 3 more capes sucking it in as i type. One was a retan. Old Shaver gave me a personalized concoction to remedy a tough/non stretchy hide. I followed his instructions on that nightmare and its re tanning now. I was able to get a tad over 9 on the tape measure. This is a brute and would look dumb on a 19 inch form. The tan i did on it left me with a coarse and very non-stretchable cape. I cant wait to see if this cape will do like the last one. Remember, this was a re-tan job. I screwed up on it some how and it wouldnt go on its intended, 86-7020L form. I was sick! If this retan with TB 1000 works i will be frippin dancing! I already tanned one side of these three capes and im on my way to flip them over to do the other side. If McKenzie is open wednsday, i willl be getting the forms to mount them.

The cape i mounted saturday was my first with tru-bond 1000 and it only took me 1-1!/2 hours. No  swearing, no mess, no issues -period! I know nothing about this concoction or its history. I refuse to believe someone with OldShavers reputation would put out a product that was inferior in anyway. Probably something he has learned in his years as a tanner. Other companies aint gonna like it if everyone tries it. Im serious this stuff is crazy! I wear gloves and use it in my shop. I brush it on and let it soak in and then tie it up tight in a bag and put it in the shop fridge til morning. Rinse and mount. I used to freeze two and leave one thawed cuz it took too long to even think of trying 3 in a day. I really think if i preped 5 forms and had 5 capes tanned with trubond, i could easily mount 5 in a day-if all capes were preped and forms preped.

I dont want to ramble on about this tan and sound like a spokesman. I dont know OldShaver from Adam, but to me it really is that good. Ive only ever used 2 tans. I accepted that it was just that hard to work with a cape. I never have tried a com. tanned cape so i cant compre that but i honestly cant believe that there is a softer stretchier tan. Compared to what i used....hahaha...not even the same ball park.

No glue issues as of yet. 3 days doesnt sound long but my shop dries them quick. I will continue to check on it and post it for ya. I have to take them time to learn how to post pics on here. Tell ya what, I will figure that out today. My kids are out of school and they can figure the pic posting mess.out for me.  Then i will do a little piece with pics on my experiences with this trubond tan. I dare anyone to say they can produce a softer cape. I will mount a cape on a 86 7020 L in the morning that i could only get 19" from with another tan-same cape mind you. it was re tanned with tb1000. I will post that later gotta go! be safe and enjoy the ice/snow(N.C. folks)

[coonhollow]

just marking

[brigham boy]

sweeeet

[timstaxidermy]

hey hounddoggy now u got me wanting to order some of this to try it
out as well.
wondering what type of hide paste u are using with this new tanning
agent?
tim

[hounddoggy]

im just using plain ole buckeye paste. Just like with any other tan. Finna mount 2 more later today. it really has taken the pain out for me! My last tan was fine at times but never like this. All of my "rants" i feel, were due to my tan. If you read you can produce a great cape with this tan........prolly what i needed hahahaha. In the past i would re shave and reshave and stretch. I would end up with a few holes trying to get the hides to work better and no, i dont over measure often. I shave thoroughly after pickle, tan,fridge, rinse, mount. The mount in this post has no lingering odor at all, no cracks, no pull away, no issues. I could hand shave a cape with a skife once and mount with this tan. With shipping its a tad cheaper than the other major tans. i have now tanned 4 and mounted one. Id say almost 1/2 gallon remaining and one cape was BIG. With shipping i will have 5-6 bucks in each cape. Cant beat that. Ill be gettying a 5 gallon jug soon.just try it......youll see.