Hi guys,
I've got a problem I hope you can tell me what I did wrong..... i asked a while ago about the re-sizing of a cape that had been streched long and the neck measurements were way too small. I had an article sent to me about the soak in salt water for 1.5 hrs and sweat the cape in a fridge overnight then with the blunt end of a file working from the center line out to the cut edge you can actually gain about 4 to 5 inches and bring it back into shape. Well I'm here to tell you that I either did something wrong or the person that sent this is not a HACKsidermist . I've got slip real bad. It did exactly as it was supposed to . It opened right up. but now the slip problem .... I think I can still get him mounted but don't know about the slippage ? Do you guys think it will be ok once it dries? do I have any other options ? just need some advice ?
Thanks Lance!
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Hi Lance, I am the HACKsidermist, I sent you that information, I have never had the problem you are talking about. As far as how you use it, I have no control, and as far as how the cape was taken care of before you got to this process, I have no control. I use that method on black bear, coyote, white tail, mule deer, antelope and have not had any problems. It is not a good problem to have, I will admit that, what kind of tan was it, how was it pickeled, I would like to know , your HACKsidermist, rw
Please accept my appology for not controling my choice of words. the skin in question was a wet tan by eastcoast and I've never had a bad skin from them. Please help me figure out what I did wrong... I had 2 others that went through the same process without all the trouble? Just was upset and very discouraged to see this ? Please accept the appology!
Oh ya, did I ask for u to accept my appology?
SORRY, Lance
Lance, your soak time was too long. If the cape was already moist being wet tanned, all you needed was a fast wet down if it was getting too dry, and stretch out the way Randal suggested. Too much water soaks the epiderm layer causing hairs to pull out. Tumble out or use towels to dry excess water from cape and mount it, taking care not to pull on hair and let it dry with a fan to help speed up dry time. If the cape was bad it would have slipped at the tannery...Paul
lance, I'm by no an expert on these matters, but I've had a few capes that were given to me and they were already iffy. Didnit pickle back then, didn't know about it. And some of them would have hair falling out as I sewed holes and in prepartion. I tried this, used towels to get all the surface moisture out and then sprayed stop slip on them and followed the directions on the bottle. I saved most of them and only one still has a small hair fall out when brushed, nothing major or patches. still looks good after 5 years. don't know if this helps but call Rittels (hoped I spelled it correct), has all the good chemicals you need.
Though you never said originally, I wondered why you were "storing" your hide in salt water in the first place. East Coast recommends WARM WATER ONLY and for less than 20 minutes before sweating and thats for DRY TANS. A wet tan should only need a warm water bath to rise residual oils off. Whoever wrote the article and whoever sent you the article would be much wiser to contact the tannery direct. I've found each tannery has their own directions on these processes.