I thought about your sawzall ? while removing a set of antlers yesterday. My solution, here goes. I took a regular hand saw(course) and started the cut where I wanted it and the sawzall was a breeze to use after that. Most "big league" taxidermists have band saws and don't deal with those problems. The cape, of course, is removed BEFORE attempting antler removal. Just thought I'd pass that little tid bit along in hopes that it might alleviate one of your headaches. Good Luck! Peace- Jeff F.
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The advantage of being a big guy is being able to hold a saw-sall with one hand.
I have never had any problem with it, maybe we should ask the little old men how they do it;JL how do you handle the big machines? hehe
I can hold my sawzall with one hand but was dealing with a frozen head yesterday. It was a BEEEEEP getting it started. By using the hand saw as a starting point it made sawzalling a LOT easier. Peace- Jeff F.
Try a different blade.
I guess I'm lucky, I just shout when I need help holding the head.. but usually I do it by myself, because by the time I drag them out to the shop I could've cut off 4 of them...
Thanks jeff :) It shouldn't even take to much time to pre-score the cut path, and i know it would be straighter/squarer too!
I can hold my sawzall with one hand too, but i get a little scared sometimes that i might not be ready for it to 'pop' out the underside, i see now that i ain't the only who does it that way :)
I just got 'tim taylor syndrome' and when i bought my sawzall i wanted POWER! So it is a little bulkier than i really need. So i breeze right throught the head but i just got to be sure to brace myself for it to come out on the underside.
I used to remove the antlers before i finished caping it(when i used a handsaw), but there is no way i could hold the sawzall, hold the cape back and steady the antlers, so i definitely get the cape clear off before i remove the antlers now. That's why i was saying sometimes i whack the nose off and pull the face over the front, but like evelyn said, she only does that when the guy gives her the whole neck! And she doesn't feel like having to sew up 20+ inches of cape.
I ain't complaining about the neck meat though, it'll feed my dog for a week! LOL He don't like nothing better than rutted up neck roasts. :)
Theres your problem Griz. DON'T cut all the way through the skull. Just cut to where your other cut will intersect and you won't have to worry about the sawzall coming through. Problem solved. NEXT. Peace- Jeff F.