Last year I mounted my first and secound deer hear. Both were sh. mounts. I was looking through the forums and got scared half to death when I came upone a message from someone asking what to use for tanning after they have split the nose and lips and then the EYES! O my Lord, I just almost fell of this chair. The video did not say anything about splitting the eyes! Is one to do this or is it not needed? I use Rinehart manikin with the eyes already in it. Do I still have to do this? HELP! confused, Bob..........
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Hey Robert,eye spliting is more like eye thining.What you actualy do is thin the eye lid and shave the area around the eye.Its realy hard to explain here,those beginner videos leave out a lot of imformation.Get WASCOs a to z video,im pretty sure it covers eye spliting.
You do need to split the skin on future mounts. I suggest that you get a Breakthrought manual to guide you.( I think every taxidermist should have them)
You might also try a different video--there are many to choose from, try to find one geared toward beginners.
splitting the skin is simply separating the inner and outer lid skin.
I completely remove it and pin the eye into place. most people thin it, then tuck it next to the eyeball when mounting.
check out those training resources !
good luck
Dave
Robert, the term splitting is misleading. When using forms with preset eyes, you need to shave the area around the eye very thin. If you don't, you will have a lot of shrinking that will ruin your mount. Splitting the eye lid is usually done when a taxidermist sets his or her eyes in clay and wants to tuck the lid inside the clay. If you shaved the skin close, you will be OK. If not, there could be trouble, although I think you would have started to see some problems by now. Good luck.