the lips on my whitetails try to pull away from each other. i put the strongest polystranspar adhesive on there and up into the slot and in a few days i find they have pulled apart an eighth or quarter of an inch. i usualy end up putting brads in to hold it in place. what am i doing wrong and why are they pulling so much? any info is wanted, jack
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to big of a lip slot in the mannikin. Go with a smaller cut next time. All you can do now is to put in brads and cover them with a good molding epoxy like Apoxie Sculpt.
Coyote
I'am always adjusting the lip and eye areas. If you do this through the first couple days this will eliminate a lot shrinkage problems. Sometimes you can rehydrate the area and retuck.
Read the archives you will see where you have to check the mount for three to 7 days.
Do your homework before goofing up!
Next time you mount a deer get you some good epoxy like Epo-Grip or even the CLA by McKenzie. Mix your adhesive together get you some rubber gloves and rub that stuff all over the face of the maniken and into the lip slots,and once you tuck them you can forget them cause they are there to stay.
Thats the method I've used for three years now and have never had a problem with the lips never. Good Luck
Jack, Most shrinkage is caused by not getting the skin VERY thin to start with -not just the lips but the whole face area. The thicker the skin the more potential for shrinkage and the problem may actually be starting with pulling from the snout area of the deer. Be certain that the face fit is proper and not too snug. Also as mentioned, too large a lip slot and poor adhessive. If you are doing dry preservative it is all the more important to use a quality adhessive. Enjoy, Aaron H.
i have had the same problem at times and have used this method; use Epo-Grip in slot and push bank pins into slot on top of skin - bury them below lip line and walk away - it is done
you shouldn't have to go to that kind of trouble. I do my lip slot with my lip tucking tool, that way I know that lip+tool when tucking will = tight fit. When I make the slot, I wiggle the tool up and down so the slot is tight and narrow, but inside of it is a larger more open void. Be sure to flesh and trim lip flesh down until it's good and thin. I actually leave the very edge kind of thick so that once it's in the slot, it swells slightly larger than the width of the slot and acts as a sort of dead-man anchor. I use Epo-Grip on the face and really sop it into that slot before tucking. Check it every once in a while for the first day or so and I haven't had one move yet.
You will be suprised how easily the mouth slot is to cut, you may wish to add a bit of epoxy for a handle.
Just go very slow and about 1/2 inch deep.
Sand the slot, be sure and get all the slick surface off the foam and Epo-Grip 2 part.
Once you figure out how to do this, it will never slip out and will never need any PINS after the first day.