Does anyone have any advice on re-attaching ram horns to the cores. I'm working on a euorpean mount for a corsican ram and not sure how to keep them "stuck". I've heard about possibly using expanding foam like the one used for insulating. Do you also have to cut off half of the core before attaching the horn?
Tom
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Tom, wipe down the core and the inside of the horn with acetone, then
just use Bondo. Apply a thin coat about 1/2 to 2/3 down on the core. This will leave room for some of the Bondo that will squish down the core when you push the horns on. Personally I don't cut any of the core away. I know some people do.
Good Luck.
Eric
Read in the archives how a B&C pronghorn of mine bounced across the floor out of the customers hands when the Bondo DISBONDED. I use epoxy paste on all my horns now.
Tom, Erics advice is fine! Bondo work great. No adhesive will work if not used correctly, even the "GREAT" epoxy. If the cores or the sheaths are wet, nothing will hold. I've used bondo for as long as I can remember and never had one come off. I've even tried to get them of a time or two with no success.
Bob C
I use bondo and have not yet had any problems, but I do respect George's knowledge and his thoughts! Perhaps I have been lucky, but I make sure that the core and the horn sheath are dry and cleaned with acetone, prior to applying the bondo...I may look at the paste idea in future...never hurts to try more then one technique...
Read, wipe the core and inside of horn with acetone first. I've done hundreds of sheep and goats, and have NEVER had any horns come off. Epoxy is fine too.
Eric
Guess you need to understand Bondo AIN'T an adhesive. Read the label. It's fiberglass body filler or really fiberglass resin with microballoons. Epoxy is an adhesive and amazingly, it WILL work through water as it disperses moisture. And if you go through all the mumbojumbo you two suggested, why not include driving two brads into the back side of the horns into the cores. That'll hold just as well.
I have used drywall screws to make the horns removable. Sometimes you get those really wide corsicans that have to be crated and shipped. Well, just drill a small pilot hole through the sheath and into the core. Screw in a 1 5/8 sheet rock screw and you're all set. Oh yea, put it in the back of the horn so its not noticable.Dont do it while the horns are wet or the screw will rust and you'll never be able to get it out. Bob C
George, I guess proper prepping of your capes is mumbo jumbo too?!
Bondo is a filler,..But, amazingly it will "adhere".
Nuff said.
Eric
you don't have a clue. Click that orange icon over there and get one free. Look up "adhesives". Better still, take two 2x4's that you've "cleaned properly". Putty Bondo on about a foot from each end and "adhere" them together. Use clamps or anything else you'd like. Then lay them across two chairs and walk from one chair to the other. I hope you have low chairs. Then repeat that process, but this time use a 2 part epoxy. Don't clamp them, just let them lay together until the epoxy cures. Then lay them beween the chairs and walk across them. You can jump up and down if you'd like, but I'll bet you that the 2x4 actually breaks before the glue joint disbonds. Then write me and tell me what a great ADHESIVE Bondo is.
I guess using BONDO To re-attach (dare I say bond) cut forms is no good either.?! This is a common practice,,....oh and by the way works very well.
By the way,.. I have a 2x4 I can jam somewhere without adhesive that I bet you can't remove either.
Eric
It IS common, but it ain't the best. Obviously FOAM would be a better product and on the big guys (Moose, elk, bison, kudu), you'd better believe I use epoxy. Bondo "bonds" only by attaching to the nooks and crannies in the foam. If you doubt that, next time you Bondo a form back together, just wait until it kicks (give or take an extra minute or two if you'd like) and THEN try it. You end up with the same 2 halves and a slice of Bondo to play with. Bondo fixes cars by having holes drilled in the sheet metal, remember. No different. Never said it wouldn't WORK, just said it wasn't close to being the BEST CHOICE.
I appreciate your response George. I know what you are saying. I am not new to this buisiness and do a lot of the big guys. Big Brownies to be exact. Obviously shipping them to Kodiak Alaska they are cut. So I do have to re-attach most of my forms. I haven't had the problems of unbonding,..but also I make sure I don't move anything till it has kicked and cooled back down. I do use epoxy on my earliners, but to get that stuff here is EXTREMELY pricy. Anyway,..sorry for being so harsh in my last post, but... the "get a free clue" remark was hard for me to take without responding.
No harm done George!
Take Care!
Eric
Sounds to me like George was smelling bondo entirely to long at some point or other!