I tried boiling ,and boiled to long,, skull flaked and weaken.. I was only able to remove one horn..What did i do wrong ? Also should i print or polish horns ..First time tring and not having fun . Any help would be appreciated....THANKS GOAT
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You should never boil a skull. Period. You would have been a lot better off to macerate the skull (soaking in a tub of water), or let beatles and other insects do the work for you. Both those techniques will take some time, up to several months. Depending on the age of the Longhorn steer, you may never get them horns off. On old bulls and cows, the horn core is practically fused to the bone and will not come off. On young bulls and cows the horns will come off easy if you soak them in water for a while or even just lay them out in the pasture for the insects to have a hayday with them.
Whether you are going to polish the horns or not depends on whether you want them to look natural (then don't polish) or want them to be shiny lookin' like them fake horns they sell to tourists (then sand them until they are really smooth and coat them with a clear urethane coating or furniture finish like Deft).
This method was given to me on this site and it worked great. Take the whole skull with horns and put into a black plastic garbage bag. Toss in a couple of cups of water. Tie the bag well and get it up on the roof, away from animals. Being on the black shingles helps too to keep it warm. Leave it alone for several weeks. I left mine for almost a month. The warmth and humidity create a nasty bacterial stew that rot the material holding the horns on. After several weeks have gone by empty the bag and the horns should pull and twist right off. Get a good pair of gloves and hose it all off first .. and hold your breath. I did a huge Scottish Highland bull skull with 3 ft horns on it and it came out wonderful. After you get the outer horns off, cut the cores to about 6 to 8 inches short. They are hollow and full of a foul, liquid mess by this time. This leaves enough for you to put the outer horns back on if you want. I boiled it in a trash can after I got the outer horns off but only for about an hour and in a very strong soap solution with some washing soda added in to get rid of the grease. My barrel of acetone won't hold something that big. .. Good luck. :)
What is the best way to polish a set of steer horns on a skull to make them shiny?
Thanks,
Colette