I have heard many great reviews about Epo-Grip hide epoxy.
I am pretty slow when I put a critter together, I see on the can that a 100 gram mass will begin its initial setup around 30 minutes @ room temperature. I realize that this dosent mean that its going to set up so I wont be able to work w/ it in 30 minutes. But I am a little concerned I dont want to start a shoulder mount and have my adhesive set up on me before I am ready. I thought that I heard on the forum that it actually had a working time of 4-6 hours at room temperature and longer w/ cooler temps. Can I get somebody to confirm this.
Thank you
Return to Deer Taxidermy Category Menu
BUT, you need to be very careful as there are other variables. ONE- room temperature. If your shop is 90 degrees, it will set faster. If it's 65 degrees, it will take MUCH longer to set. TWO- mix it thoroughly after your hide is in place. Do not let it set in a small cup where the thickness of the material can generate it's own heat. If you put it in a 6 ounce cup, it will cure much, much faster than had you mixed the same amount and placed it in a larger flatter cup. The thickness of the mixed epoxy can change cure times.
Still, you should have more than sufficient time to work with it. I use a short "Y" and I mount the hide then paint the face and sew the "Y" up. Then I roll the neck skin up and cover the mannikin. I roll it back, push the air out and staple it. THEN and only then do I work the face, nose, and mouth areas.
I mix one batch to do the antler, ear butt and seam area.
Batch number two for the eyes, forhead and rest of the face.
But I also leave it about 1/8 of an inch on a piece of cardboard its very slow to set at 65 degrees this way.
If you keep your shop temp even lower 35-40 degrees you can adjust the face some the next morning.
Then kick the heat up to 75 and set the hide paste.
I started using the Epo-Grip water based hide paste in the gallon size. The pink stuff. That stuff is the best hide paste on the market as far as I'm concerned. It has a realitively slow set and the best part is if you geet some in the hair or where you don' t want it, simply wipe with a wet rag I have used a lot of the other brands but this stuff is truely a great product. A little goes a long way to, one gallon will do about 10-12 whitetails for me. So it's pretty cost effective.