I just received one of my W\T dry tanned hides back from the tannery and it is missing the tag with the measurements that I affixed to it. No biggie I thought, I'll just check my ref. book and I forgot to wright it down! The cape dry is 7 1/4 x (13" neck at head) x (3" down neck is 16") the cape has some stretch to it but I want to be sure. Hydrating then measuring it is out of the question because it would take to long to ship the form and the tannery only recommends rehydrating over night. Also the cape is cut all the way down the neck which if the form dimensions are not correct can be tough.I know this is not a big deal but again I want to be sure on the size. Thanks
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I would think if you rehydrated it,stretch it and get your neck measurements,order the form,and then keep the hide wet with a spray bottle mist until you get your form,keep strething the hide to make sure it don't shrink on you to much,towel dry it when ready,then mount it. This method should work out for you,depending where your at,you can usually get a form and supplies in just a couple days. LOL Jesse
measure it , then freeze it until the form gets there.
If it is super-important, you could always re-hydrate,measure, keep damp with damp towels, and get overnight shipping.
It is hard to tell from a dry tanned hide the exact,hydrated measurement.Tans vary as do individual skins.The tannery means let it hydrate overnight before using.That doesn't mean you can't put it in the refrigerator or as JP said,freeze it.Hydrate it as per your tanner's directions,then put it in the frig till you mount it.Most tans can stay in a frig for weeks.If you are not sure about it,freeze it.Wait till it hydrates overnight before you measure it.If you had to measure it dry,a conservative estimate on the neck measurement would be an increase of about 25%,harder to say about the nose to eye.If I were a betting man,I'd say 7 1/4"x17". It's still better to hydrate and measure to be sure.
Rehydrate cape, give it a few minutes for excessive water to drip off,bag it and throw it in the fridge overnight. I usually partially inflate a lawn tractor inter tube in the neck region to get my stretch. In the morning I remove ear cartilge, trim excessive tuck skin from nose,eyes,and mouth, get measurements from neck and throw in freezer. My contract has a spot where I document eye measurements as soon as I recieve the speciman, along with other key measurements. Organize your system a little more and I think you'll find these kind of mistakes to be less likely. Some problems can be avoided with a little bit of planning. Keep it simple! Save your sanity for the problems that sometimes cannot be avoided. Best of luck. Jeff F.