Friend of mine took a bear about 10 years ago. A taxidermist tanned the hide, finished the head and couldn't complete it due to some personal issues. The rug then sat in my friends closet for ten years. To complete the rug, it needs the feet done, hide sewn, dyed, and backing installed.
Questions are:
1) can I rehydrate the feet after ten years and straighten the toes and fill them with clay?
2) the hide appears to be complete. can I pull it off the rug shell and mount this life size?
thanks
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I don't know how rugs are tanned but I can't see it being a problem to rehydrate it and fix the toes. I do know that when a hide is cut for a rug it's not complete, alot gets cut off around the edges so It might not come any where near being a complete hide. Best of luck to you though! I'm sure some one can give you a little more educated answer than I did.
Any skin that has sat exposed to the elements for 10 years is more than likely dry rotted and will turn into mush or simply just fall apart when rehydrated. I would highly recommend cutting a small piece of the leather somewhere off the bear and put it in a little tub of water for 1/2 hour or so, remove it and pull on it and see what happens. That will tell you what will happen to your hide if you rehydrate it.
If it has already been stretched and trimmed, you may be able to get away with vulcanizing it and rugging it. Forget about rehydrating and trying to straighten the toes. I can guarantee you after 10 years they will fall apart!
Kind regards
Thanks for the response. What is vulcanizing ? Is it something a novice can learn or best left to an expert? About how much would it cost?
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