Have a number of suggestions regarding the horns of a corsican ram and the methods for their removal. Question: Once they are removed what will I find and what do I do in order to prepare this skull for mounting? I know that they must be glued back to the skull but my concern is the process prior to glueing.
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In reviewing your menu I believe I have a few ideas on removing a ram's horns. My question, once the horns are removed what will I find and how and what do I do to prepare the skull and horns for glueing?
You will find two very porous, boney cores that will reek to high heaven. You should pour dry preservative (DP) or borax down into the horns themselves. As for the cores, Cut them to where only about 3 to 4 inches remains attached to the skull. DP them as well and allow them to dry. Cut your skull according to the manikin requirements. (I leave the horns off the cores until after I've mounted the sheep usually.) When you get ready to reinstall the horns on the cores, heat a container of water until it has a rolling boil. Stick the base of one horn at a time into the pot and leave it for about 5 minutes. Remove it from the water and quickly push it back on to the core. This allows the softening of the horn "apron" so that the horn will go back down on the core as far as it originally was. Repeat with the other horn and allow them to cool. Once cool, remove them and coat the core and the inside flange of your horns with an epoxy paste. Push the horn back on to the cores and allow the epoxy to cure.
BEFORE you remove the horns, drill 3 small holes in the bases of the horns into the cores. These holes should be as low as you can get them without splitting the horn bases and spread the holes out equally. You should use a very, very small drill bit( i forget the size I use). It should be about the size of a finish nail. When you remove the horns, wash out in an antibacterial soap, pat dry and pour dp into each horn. Do the same for the skull cap and cores. Allow everything the completely dry out for a few days, checking to make sure they are completely dry before mounting. If you don't dry them out completely, you will have that pleasant odor after removing them in the mount. When you are ready to mount, re-attatch the horns with a good resin and lin up the holes you drilled prior to removing them. When you glue and line up the holes, pound a small nail into each hole. This will line up the horns exactly where you need them because when the horns and cores dry out, you will have some play in them when sliding them back together. Then you are ready to mount. Hope this helps and enjoy.