i was talking to a fellow taxidermist today and i was asking him how to tan, and he said that he does not tan his hides. this sounded kinda funny since everything that i have read said to salt, pickle, shave,pickle, rince and finally tan, he said that all of this is not needed for commercial work. he said that he will recieve a deer headand the first thing he deos is thin the cape down as thin as he can get it. then he will put on some wet/dry preservative and then mount it immediatly. i think this goes against everything that i have learned so far, but i am still learning. he stated that he could get a head in and in 3 hours he could be putting the hide on the form. i guess my question is deos this really work and why is it not used more? i mean this is the first time i have heard of it. thanks for any insight.... one more thing, god bless the USA.
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Type in "Wet Tan, Dry Tan, Dry Preserve". Or just type in "DP". There's enough reading to keep you busy until the Iraq war is over.
People been beating this dry preserve thing to death! Think about this, nearly every good experianced taxidermist who do this for a living tan their capes! Also most have probably use dry preserve at some point in there past, probably when they were just learning the ropes. But they learned that for the long haul proper tanning techniques were the way to go. Listen to the real profesionals in here like George,John C, Yox etc. etc. I believe they all tan. I personnaly would never go "back" to dry-preserve. I think that most who would argue this are just looking for a cheaper,quicker,faster way. But i'll stand my ground and say there is the right way "proper tanning" and the beginer way "dry preserve". Although i do recognize using dp for smaller critters like squirrel,birds etc. Ok dp users give me hell! I can listen and chuckle!
Ken I have a Deer mount with Dp 15 years old no problems, looks just as good today as it did then, no smell, no bugs,no problems at all, if its done right your not gonna have problems these guy's are telling you.or you can send your cape off and let someone else tan it for you, like some do.
I am a proud dp user and also a good taxidermist who makes a living doing so.Ive also used commercially tanned capes but have been disappointed in the condition they come back in.I have mounts that are in my showroom that are 20 years old and look fine.If you like tanning then fine but lay off taxidermist who use dp.To all you beginners use all the dp you want on birds,fish,and small game but do not use it on a deer.It will disinigrate in 6 months.
I would like to ad to Millers comments.I have deer mounts done in Dp that are 8 to 10yrs old and they are not falling apart,but some do have some cracking(very slight)around the eyes but not all.Now don't get me wrong,I used DP when I first started out because I did not know better.But results vary,(thats the problem,it is inconsistent)I have a russian boar that is 7yrs old and is in perfect shape.I found when using DP,I got better results if I did'nt try to use a mannikin that was too big,do not over stretch cape!Now I only use DP on fish and birds,and I have good results,and by using tanned capes and hides and pelts I am sure my customers trophies will hold up well for years to come.
I suggest using both methods if your learning. Then you will be well rounded and can decide whats best for you. Good luck.
I have used DP on birds, squirrels, weasels, etc for sixty years and old mounts from way-back-then still look good...no problems.
Also have a fantastic White Tail Head and Black Mouflon Goat Head with DP...35-years old ans still lokk perfect...if you know HOW to use it.
Sally Dahmes mounted a White Tail Cape on her video with DP and it looks great. I now tan them with Rittle's E-Z Tan.
Never heard of it ?!?!?!
"DP" is short for Dry Preservative...like Borax.
use both methods while you are learning,I found the best DP is Van Dykes instant preserve, I recently took apart a large fox squirrel that was mounted 15 years ago with Van Dyke's instant preserve the skin was pliable and looked tanned not dry rotted no insect damaged,I destroy the mount because it was crushed by accident ,otherwise it would have lasted who knows how much longer, I must say Van Dykes instant preserve is not borax base,I have also used it in large mammals and it works very well, it all has to do on how thin you shave your skins,and use lots of alcohol before you use the DP ,but still I rather have a Tanned skin ,because there isn't as much shrinkage as with DP,and you can't get the luster in the hair like with a tan skin.
....ROFLMAO. It went righ over Ed's head! LOL
Nope,aint touching that one again! LOL
Have a great night gal's and Guy's,
Dave
Yep...Way over his head! LOL!
I hope I am explaining this right since I am a beginner(2mo).This is with a squirrel. I tried to cure a hide with borax (instead of salt) after skinning it(because the book I have been using said to do this).I tried to cure another hide with salt only. After I treated both of these hides in this manner and retreated them in 3 days I then pickled them in the 8lb, 1lb borax, 1lb alum per 4gal water. The hair fellout of the borax hide and was locked in well on the salted hide. This may be be due to the pickle because I think (I really don't know) that I should maybe have just mounted it after I treated it with the borax. I pickled deer hide(3 different pieces) for a rump mount, a cape, and the back hide after salting them first.The hair locked in well. I must say for me at this time I like the salt+pickle method.The deer hide is a little harder to work with but it was just a test. Next time I would work the hide more to soften it.