My questions are listed in the response section of "Jamie's" Question titled "Tanning process tell me if I'm doing it right"
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Please .
I've been trying to find the optimum sequence of steps for deer cape preparation and tanning using Liqua-tan. I recently added an acid pickle step using SafeTee Acid. After neutralizing and towel drying I finish flesh and shave the hide the best I can with a scalpal. I don't have a power flesher yet. I liberally apply Liqua-tan and usually mount the following day. I seem to suffer from shrinkage particularly around the eyelids and sometimes the lips. My only defense seems to be excessive pinning which seems archaic. Any suggestions.
First of all, things are going to shrink, no matter what . I would guess your biggest problem is that you are not getting the hide thin enought around the head , especially around the eyes, nostrils and ear bases. Second, you should be useing critter clay or apoxie sculpt to shape your eye lids and brows ( If I were you I would just do the critter clay). The shrinkage with this is less than 1 %. Third, you might want to go to a 2 part epoxie glue for the head area-Epo-Grip is supposed to be good. Hope this helps, remember, having to use pins is not a sin , they can save you alot of potential headaches.
Good luck to ya, Brad
Thanx Brad for the advice. I hope you and the others have lots of pennies, 'cause I got lots of questions. I'm gonna hammer the Archives to answer as many as I can. I intend to spend whatever time necessary to shave the head area on my next cape. Would it be safe to say that the optimum overall cape thickness might be around 1/8th to 3/16th's of an inch? Or thinner? I just got some Apoxie-sculpt in the mail, intend to try that for sculpting eyelids. I recently read something about shrinkage associated with clay products due to the slower drying rate of the clay. Actually causes slight rehydration of the eye in particular, and creates a drying, mini-rehydrating, drying condition. Result = excessive shrinkage? Makes sence. Been using Van Dyke's Dakota Creative Clay. Really like the workability, feathers great when moist, seems to dry w/out cracking and shrinkage. But that is just it I guess, it has to dry, thus releasing the moisture? I've been mounting the head while the clay is still wet. Perhaps this would be reduced if I let the clay dry prior to mounting? Clay is cheaper, but seems like using a medium that neither releases nor absorbs moisture is much better. Also, what about hyde pastes? I previously used AFG hyde paste, but that dries hard. I recently tried a caulk product recommended by a local taxidermist. DAP "Alex-plus" Acrylic, Latex W/Silicone. Seemed to work good, easy to apply, inexpensive and dries somewhat flexible. Any thoughts on this product?
Happy to help. I would stay away from the caulk products as they dry slow and mold easily. You would like buckeye supreme hide paste alot if you would be willing to try it. It is all I use. I will say again that unless you are good at modeling eye detail, go with critterclay first. As far as thickness goes, go as thin as you can without damaging hair roots. Good luck and keep it fun . Brad