During my routine reading of the many posts in these forums I had an eye opening revelation as to how thin eyes needed to be for mounting thanks to a post from Bill Yox some time ago.
So far this year Ive been skinning and tanning many critters getting ready to do some mounting very soon. I now have ordered materials to do several mounts and will be doing them in the coming weeks.
I did some pretty good work last year but want to do a lot better this year, especialy around the eyes. I have the eyes super thin but I still have the occassional cut in an area that seems to me that sewing would be obvious. I am thinking a good glue would be better than sewing these areas around the eyes but what glue do I need to use? I want a strong hold but I need a few minutes to work before the glue kicks off.
Also, I am wondering if any one uses glue on the skin that gets tucked in behind the clay work of the eye. I have never used anything in that area before, I havent had the skin pull out on any of my mounts yet but it seems to me that it might be a good idea to bond the tucked skin with something. I have been looking at different glues in the catalogs and stores but still havent made up my mind which to use.
I would appreciate any advise I can get on this subject and any imput on facial detail I can get. Thanks in advance.
Ron
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If you turn your eyes and flesh them properly, you should not ever glue your eyelids, especially because this would not give the skin sufficient breathing and drying time. The skin, once skinned and fleshed properly, will tuck under the clay work on the eye almost perfectly. The only time I had problems with my eyelids sticking out, was if I didn't turn the eye down to the eyelash folicals. If you cut the eyelid or skin around the eye when skinning your deer, try pinning these areas together after mounting and setting your eyes. Than once your mount is dried and ready to be finished, just use apoxy around the eyelid areas that are sliced. This method works very well. If your skin that you pinned together has any cracks or pinholes showing...use heated wax for these areas, and then brush the hair around it...it works very nicely and saves yourself so much work. Good luck to you
if you are a little heavy handed with a scaulple try a skife
it is very inexpensive and works good for thinning, drape the skin over your finger and work it down real thin, ifin ya cut ur finger guess what, anyway ya get a good feel. but eventually you probably will get just as good and fast with your scauple and horn or beam or dowl or whatever ya prefer
Since you mentioned me, I thought Id add some more advice to what youve already recieved from these good guys. I prefer to use hide paste for around the eyes, as it does help hold everything where I want it along with the critter clay. But more importantly, like I always say, glue is first and foremost the vehicle with which the skin moves. Once all is adjusted, then it becomes the adhesive.
I use a scalpel to shave the fine stuff, but you may wanna try using a small barrel sander attachment on your dremel tool. It works really well too. Thats an old Bill Turner trick I picked up many moons ago.