Holy cow! A fellow I know has some hollowed out and dried Rhino feet from an african hunt some years back. They appear to have crystals of salt attached to the inside of the hide and the toenails are still attached. Also, they are somewhat mishapen from haphazard drying. My question is this; What would you do with the things? Can they be successfully rehydrated and re-formed? Clearly, someone had an idea to do something with the things some time ago, I just dont know what. They're BIG and the hide is about 1/4" thick (at least). I have burnished off some of the African dirt still attached and the outside of the epidermis seems to have a pleasing appearance. What's a guy to do?
It sounds like they are still in their salt dried state. Thats the way they usually come into the states. contact your tannery they can probably give you a better idea on what can be done with them.
first you need to relax them, there are several different relaxer chemicals available---relaxo,kemal 4, ultra soft, etc------soak them until pliable, then check to see if there are any flesh chunks that you can remove--get all you can, then wash thouroughly to make sure
all the salt has been removed. Some would disagree, but on something as tough as old rhino feet, I would liberally coat the inside with dry preserve and mount. when they dry again, they will be as tough as they are now, and much better protected from bugs.
if you want to mount the feet, you can check the companies to see if someone might pour you some foot forms, or you can carve from foam using reference.mount them using clay in the bottom of the foot, and glue the skin with whatever you prefer---caulk, bondo,epoxy,etc.
I would cap them off on top with a plywood circle that was cut to fit. I would bondo it to the top of my foam form, then attach the skin to it with brads, then trim off any remaining skin flush with the top rim.
after they dry, you can do whatever suits you.I can't think of a good use for them, but they would certainly be an interesting novelty.
good luck,
Dave
foot stool... you could set your computer monitor on it...you might put a coffee can in it and store your tools... Put a handle on it and have a beer mug no one else would 'mistakenly' drink out of.... :D