After searching the archives endlessly, I've uncovered a lot of great suggestions regarding "treating" Dall sheep horns. I have a set now that will be placed on a European-style mount w/walnut pedestal, and I'm ready to finish the horns. I don't want to darken the horns to an "unnatural" look, but the really dry look resulting from "doing nothing" is unacceptable to me. I've seen conflicting posts from George (whose opinion I highly respect), recommending 50/50 linseed oil/turpentine in some early comments, OR WD-40 in later ones. Which do you recommend for 2005? I just want to do the best job possible for my client.
Others have recommended Liquid Gold, Mop-n-Glo, etc.
The WD-40 is probably "safer" because it eventually evaporates/fades if it's initially too dark, but...
Advice?
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wd-40 is oil based and will atrack dust. The horns will stay the same if the client dust it on a regular bases.
Not trying to railroad your question to George. I haven't done Dall Sheep but I use olive oil on Antelope horns and wipe with just a little, then finish with a dry cloth. A litte on a cloth goes a long way. It gives a clean look/finish and the tone can be controlled without smell or overpowering appearance.
ANY oil of any kind will soak in and darken Dall sheep horns and RUIN them "period". Liquid gold or wd40 or mop and glow also are bad for WILD sheep horns. Some of these things will work on domestic goats and Texas types but NEVER on wild sheep esp dall which have lighter colored horns than bighorns in the first place. To give wild sheep horns a better look spray them with a matt finish spray and then immediatly wipe it in and down using your hands. A cloth or paper towell will leave lint or bits of paper you'll just have to deal with. Some taxidermist also just use a light wax but that to will over darken them in my opinion.
MY OPINION
First and foremost, I'm not going to argue with Jim Marsico because I know, in my heart, that what he's said is correct. I do, however, know that from an esthetic point of view, very very few customers want their sparkling white sheep to have dull, dry looking horns.
I still maintain that the 50/50 is the better product and I still put a thin coating of it on my sheep horns ONE TIME before they go out of the shop. I understand that Dall horns are golden, and nothing in either turpentine nor linseed oil is going to make them brown. The mixture is golden and all it does is wet the horn. As soon as it's applied (and I use it on all my antlers and horns), I immediately wipe it off with a terrycloth towel. Within an hour, the oils have dispersed inside the horn yet the soft glow is there for the customer. I've got mounts that are over 30 years old and there's been no discoloration to the horn except where the outfitter boiled the horn off and some of that oils darkened the bases a little. They are still golden horns and this is true on both the Dall and the Stone sheep I've done.
I DON'T endorse any spray on lacquers or poly's because IN MY OPINION, they do as much harm ESTHETICALLY as doing nothing. They eventually crack as that horn dries out over the years or it blisters from the moisture content still in the horn and they tend to look like crap in years to come.
I strongly suspect that my posting about WD-40 was a caveat with someone else recommending it. WD-40 is just too thin to do anything including depending on as a rust inhibitor for any length of time. It's a penetrating (water displacing =WD)and cleaning oil and that's all I'd ever use it for. (The best thing I've found WD-40 is good for is removing residual tape glue when some nitwit duct tapes his horns or antlers together and that sticky glue is left when the tape is peeled.) I don't use commercial products like Liquid Gold because they contain synthetics and coloring agents that I just stay away from.
But that's MY OPINION and obviously not shared by everyone.
Or King. You the man George! LOL! I am sure that you have forgot more than I know on the subject. The oil mix will dry out over time so its not like being married with kids. If you use spray..there ain't no divorce!
Jim, As far as lint...yep, yep and yep..but air hose cleans it right off.
Kind Regards to all!
I will stand by my advise. I have dall sheep mounts that I mounted and shot in the late 60's and early 70's here in my studio. I worked in Alaska as a full time studio taxidermist for 6 years for Tommy Ray and Louie Brunner and with Joe Romero and using any oil on sheep horns would of got you fired. The horns look great on my mounts and I have always done what I said. I have seen some pretty unhappy people after some taxidermist put oil on thier sheep horns and some pretty dark horns because of it. Unnatural and Ruined. I also like to eliminate steps that are not needed like picking lint out of the cracks of sheep horns that will NOT blow out.
And most of us OLD taxidermist never change our way because "we always did it that way." Jim, talk about two names that differ like night and day, I've met both Tom Ray and Joe Romero. Tom's a cantankerous, opinionated SOB a lot like me, but Joe, just in our short meeting seemed to be a super individual who was willing to share and teach and must've provided you with a great wealth of information. I also knew Sam Touchstone and I think history will show that he didn't do too badly touting his dry preservative on everything from "mice to moose" and I've seen some of his earliest work that still looks as good as what some of the "masters" of his era produced. I don't paint anything with that broad brush of "we never did it like that" and I hope I take that trait to my grave. If I find proof that I'm wrong, I try to immediately change what I'm doing, but someone simply telling me I should do something for reasons that I can't validate is one of them. I doubt I live another 30 years, so if that sheep I mounted 30 years ago lasts another 10 or 15, I figure it will probably need a new hide anyway before those horns turn brown.
Just as an insight, Joe and I had a long talk about boiling horns. Joe adamantly opposed it and showed me a set of ruined Argali horns that the Siberians had boiled for a few days it looked like. Yet when I suggested boiling on this site some years ago, a man I greatly respected, Lars Jensen, told me those same things. Then one day I saw a posting thanking me. It was from Lars and he stated that he'd been put in a rush situation and figured that just once, he'd ignore his own advice and try to simmer them off as I'd suggested. He wanted everyone to know that after 20 minutes, his horns had just popped off and he saw no evidence of residual oils or warping during the process. And the moral of the story is that even old dogs are capable of learning new tricks....as long as they're willing to try.
This year, for the first time ever I let a bettle guy take my sheep horns to core off for me and they came back perfect with the skulls all cleaned nice to boot. I before have always used the rot and pound method. So I am also open to and try new ways. I still mount about 20 wild sheep every year on average along with several Marco Polo types also and I would crap my pants and fire him if one of my helpers would not listen to me and tried to touch the horns with oil. Tommy was very hard to work for but I out lasted most by far. You just had to keep your head down and mouth shut and do really good work, no excuses; most would not and he would fire them on the spot, no discussion. I will say the work produced out of his shop was VERY high quailty. Joe is still a good friend. Joe was the best man at our wedding 32 years ago and I am still married to the same women probably because of lessons learned at Tommy Rays, ie. head down and mouth shut and saying "yes" you are right.!