I have read the archived posts, but did not see where anyone specifically talked about the causes of hair standing up after a mount dries.
My usual theory is it means your form is too large, or cape not aligned properly. I have never had problems with this in the past until this weekend. I mounted a mulie on a brand of form I have never used before, and it is standing up half way between the chin and the brisket on the front, and on the sides. I had a nice loose fit when sewing, did not have to force it at all. Everything seemed aligned correctly. So either the cape is wierd, or more likely the forms muscles structure is off. Any truth to that theory?
I sprayed the thing down with water, adjusted the cape when wet about 15 times, dried it with screen, and it just won't lay down.
Thanks for the input. I love a nice smooth, clean looking mount, and hate to see hair standing up anywhere. And this mount is the opposite.
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Drew,
I had the same problem with three deer this year... I have no idea what caused this other than maybe the folical got twisted some how. I tried several different methods..If you use any hair products like show cattle ( it is used when presenting cattle in shows, Van Dykes sells it) Use it VERY sparingly or it will look like you dressed him for the thirties! I have also tried the hair set stuff from Van Dykes..will work if the spot is small. I recently had it do it to a half life size deer and what I did was broke alot of rules that I had been taught. I wet the hair well and took a hair drier and went to work. Once the hair was pretty pliable I used some of my wifes bad mamba jammba (Name made up) hair spray and coated it. It dried very well..the only thing is you CANNOT touch it afterwords. I instruct my customers not to mess with the hair anyway..but especially on this one. If you have any specifics on how each product worked for me shoot me an email. On one of the deer after all the products were tried..I shampood it..needless to say I wound up eating a new cape and had to redo the mount over a patch of hair that was the size of your fist on the right shoulder. I hope this helps and I am very interested in what others may post. Good luck, Stephen
But you've ruled that out, so I'm at a loss on this one. Did you use a good hide adhesive? I'm really grabbing at straws, however. Sorry.
I really to time to taxi it around. It started to stick up before I even had 6 inches or so sewn down from the V (full length cut). I was able to reach around each side and adjust the leather from side to side and up and down. The stitching was very easy and the seam came right together. After sewing most of the way I even folded the cape back up towards the head and made sure I laid it down smooth and relaxed. It didn't matter. So tonight I went out and tried combing it out and still wouldn't lay down right. What I finally did was back comb it so the thing looked like a fluff ball and lightly slicked it down with my hands. It looks better because now the whole thing is somewhat fluffy. All i can figure is the artist sculpted this form with thought of making it looked puffed up like a buck that is rutting hard.
Forgot, I am using Buckeye supreme paste.
Was the deer blonde colored everywhere, without the rusty forehead patch?
In my case it was a tannery wet tan that was losing hair on the back hide once they rehydrated it... so naturally i assumed it was cowlicking because i didn't dare touch it more than necessary until it dried.
I had this problem with some capes a few years ago that I sent out to have tanned.Thay had a few small patches of hair sticking up and no matter what I did it wouldn't lie down.The place used liquatan so I contacted Knoblocks to ask questions and they said that it is posible that a HOT pickle was used and that if not stirred properly that hot or over acid places could ocurr in the pickle solution and the follicles and or hair can be affected in this way. Made sense to me at the time. These capes were also very loose haired all over.
I have had this problem and i have found 2 causes for sure. I if you leave them in a bag rolled up and they are wet, say you were thawing them out or sweating them after rehydration and they are left too long the hair will start to conform to the position that it's in. I have also noticed that hair will stick up sometimes when there is a spot that may be loose, like it's starting to slip. I know these two conditions exist. To tame the hair down take some wet earth clay and smear it into the hair where it is sticking up and make it lay down, When the clay dries take a brush and brush out the clay. Should be good to go.
I will try the clay trick. I wonder if it sweat too long in the fridge...I had it in the fridge for 4 days before I mounted it. i had to work on it every evening after my fulltime job. Then i would just throw it back in the fridge.
Thanks!
Was the cape wet tanned. I've seen it happen on wet tan hides. It can get an area in the hide that still feels damp but is to dry. I find more where the hide was folded. It twists the hide and hair folicals a little. I spray the flesh side of the hide down with a spray bottle. Then let it sit for 10-15 min. It rehydrates the cape a little and relaxes the hide and works fine. It even gives me a lot more stretch. I spray every wet tan hide before mounting. The tannerys dry the wet tanned hides down some to get some of the water weight out. I found out that they are to dry. After misting them you will be surprised how much nicer they are to work with and groom.
I think I figured out what is wrong. The cape was shaved too thin in spots, and they hit the roots. A buddy of mine pointed that out from the scraps. I think once the shaver affects the hair roots, the hair isn't locked in straight and will stand up. Glad I am not using that tannery next year, they screwed up a lot of my capes this year. They shaved a few of them way too thin along the seem so my stiches were all blowing through.
I also had this on my last mount. Could it be from shaving unevenly? I do my own and my last mount had slippage i think because i shaved some spots too much and shaved the roots. I figured the spots sticking up were areas that were thinnner than the areas that layed flat.
Any thoughts on this idea?
I agree with Daveh leaving them rolled up in bag to long will for sure cause this problem. As will thin spots or uneven shaved skins
hope this helps