I seen that some people use the dry preservative and some tan their hides for all their mounting.What is the difference between these two besides that one takes longer than the other?Which is better?I'm just starting to learn taxidermy so if this sounds stupid forgive me..
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Try them both. You be the judge. I do dry and am very happy. It's
an age old argument. Drive a Ford or Chevy. I have been dry mounting
for 7 yrs. now and have never had not one single unhappy customer.
But you be the judge. Just always keep an open mind in Taxidermy. In
fact I compare my work to others competition mounts instead of commercial mounts. Maybe not quite as good, but probably 1/10 the
time envolved and very good quality looks.
is that dry preserve has gotten somewhat of a bad rep.if and when you do a mount for a customer some of them will be worried about the quality of the tan/preserve just as you are now. i have used both and cant say anything bad about dry preseve. but i ask myself, would i mount my own deer using dry preserve?no!then why would i do that to a customer?
Scott check the archives on this one, you'll find a ton of info that goes both ways. I'm not going to say one way is better than the other, but have you ever tried on a fur coat that was made with dry preserved skins?
Roe, you amaze me. You must be a truly gifted artist if you are able to compare your standard commercial work with others competition pieces! And with only 1/10th the amount of time spent too! After 7 years you must be making a ton of money in taxidermy,huh? I loved your idea about using nails to close your seams. Any other time sving hints for us? What do you do for your ears? Bondo, earliners, or just card them up and let them dry? How about hide paste? Do you prefer epoxy, dextrine, latex or elmers?
I'd love for a chance to pick your brain some more. Maybe if I learn enough, and adopt some of your timesavers, I too can make some big bucks in my studio.
Mick dont be a Dick.Funny they sound alike.Just an observation.LOL.
I loved it. We must be sharing the same recipe for razorblade soup. LOL
dont get me wrong dry..is fine on small animals but on bigger animals tannigs is better for a couple of reasons dry i srink and tanning will not if done right..and tanning will last alot longer..like someone else said ..i would not have a deer head mount done in dry preservative..Mark
and do things right from the get-go. I've never used DP but my nearest competition swears by the stuff. Good thing, too, because it has made my job that much easier in stealing away his business because it's so danged easy to show a prospective customer the inch-wide gap down the back of the neck where the hide shrunk so badly that you can see the form beneath. Those bare areas around the eyes where the skin is cracking all apart don't hurt either, especially considerning that the mounts are less than two years old. Personally, I wouldn't use the stuff because I'm a tight-a$$ (my wife says I'm so tight only dogs can hear it when I fart!) and try to put myself in the customer's position - does he want it done cost-effectively (pronounced "cheap")and quickly, or right. Sure, tanning takes longer, but it produces an end product that is so much easier to work with, has much less shrinkage (if any), and has a lifespan longer than a thousand days. If you're not comfortable with doing your own tanning, salt, dry and send off to a reputable tannery. I do that very thing and it's worth the thirty-plus bucks per cape to not have to mess with the rest of it. If you're doing work for customers, it's just one more cost you factor into your price. No big deal. A few months ago, George (I believe) posted a very informative comparison piece pitting wet-, dry-tanning, and dry perservative against one another. He likened DP'ing to a dried road kill. Leave any hide in the sun long enough for it to dry through and through, and the hair will stay in place. When customers ask me the difference, I hand them a copy of George's post. I've educated a lot of guys this past year to tanning versus crap.
Along this same vein, if you're serious about learning how to do this vocation right, spend the money to get the right tools for the job. Lip tools, sculpting tools, good quality clay, good quality epoxy-type adhesives, etc., are worth their weight in gold. They've been developed to do a specific job and they're good at it. Trying to use a pair of pliers as a hammer makes building a house an exercise in frustration. Using the right tools (and you can tool up for well under a hundred bucks - money that can be earned back on just one deer) will make the job so much more enjoyable, will produce a much better looking end product, and will lave you with an art piece that truly reflects where you are in the development and progression of your skills as a taxidermist, rather than a testimony to the limitations and liabilities of using either the wrong tool for the job entirely, or trying to put by and make do with a makeshift substitute. Spend the money, spend the time, don't take shortcuts and enjoy the process of learning how.
Sorry if I offended you, but if someone brand new is strutting around puffing his head full of hot air, I just figure that I owe it to the guys that DO work so hard on their competition work, to pull out my pin and deflate their ego a bit. Though I normally wouldn't waste my breath to defend myself against one who lacks the gonads to leave an e-mail address, I couldn't pass up the chance to at least try and make you understand my point, before inviting you to kiss my a$$.
Can anyone tell me how to make your own spray tan.