I test fitted my cape before pasteing it and it does not fit. (to small)I dont seem to have the stretch I need to get it to fit . It did seem to dry out alittle, was wondering if I need to rewet the cape to try and gain stretch or will that even matter. EZ-TAN 100 w/ pro plus oil was used. I checked the archives and could not seem to find formulas that people trust. Bruce Rittle said "NO LYSOL" so that knocks alot of guys out of the water.The form was actually ordered just alittle small to accomodate some shrinkage within an inch small ( did not want to go bigger) Any ideas will be of great help its my first deer.
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No reason to use Lysol here, how would that enter this problem?
Ok rewet the cape, if its tanned correctly rewetting should not hurt it.
Now if its still tight, acid swelled, you may need to use a bit of baking soda sodium bicarb. Arm and Hammer type, 2 tsps to 16 ounces of water, Sponge on the Flesh side only and go slowly to see if it releases. If you over do it, the hair will slip.
Or you can heat some water to about 110 f and soak the cape in it, for 4-5 minutes.
There is no perfect cure for this, it could be acid swell, where the stretch will come back after neutralizing.
Or over tanning, if you used to much EZ-100, or left the skin in the tanning vat to long the hot, very hot water should help.
BE CAREFULL IF YOU DO BOTH.
If what John said doesn't work, try this. Put the hide over your fleshing beam crossways (skin side up). Now take a large pair of tin snips or a NOT sharp fleshing knife (or even a lawn mower blade and work the skin out. You will see it stretch. Go over the entire hide as needed paying attention to the neck area. You prabably won't need to work the face at all. Put enough muscle into it!
Was the cape shaved thin enough? A good tannery would save you all these problems.
First try re-wetting it first. Soak it for 30 minutes in 3-4 galons of water with a handful of salt added for each 1 gallon used. Take it out and bag it in a plastic bag - tie it off - frig it overnight. The next day remove it and it should let right out. I like to tumble the cape for 5 minutes then blow it out and mount it - no longer than 5 minutes tho! You should see maximum stretch unless it was overtanned or not shaved thin enough. Actually - if it wasnt shaved thin enough - after tumbling - shave it again.
I fleshed, salted, rehydrated, pickled, shaved, pickled, shaved, tanned, oiled, then shaved again according to Don Mathis, The Breakthough Whitetail Taxidermy manual chapter 4 Closed mouth mounts Ato Z I have been reading it like it was the bible also alot of time in the archives maybe that is why it dried out alittle I am trying to do the best I can without disturbing you folks that actually make money at this. maybe some day we will meet in competition but first I have alot of bugs to work out.
rub it on the flesh side and let sit in fridge for about two hours or overnight. You wil get a lot more stretch out of it afterwards.
Thanks for all the help I'll let you know how it went.