I am done with my fox, and the whiskers on one side are going in the right direction but the other side is sticking out funny. And on my coyote that is now drying, I noticed a few whiskers had fallen out. I did minimal fleshing/shaving in this area, the head on the fox is stiff unlike the rest of the pelt.
Anyway, do you do anything special to protect whiskers during tanning? I saw from searching that a lot of people just pull and reattach.
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What works for me is to shave to the follicles and then use a good epoxy paste in that area. This glues them down and I will guaranty you won't be able to pull them out with pliers! For added fullness you can dremil out an indentation and fill the cavity on the form with epoxy paste to sort of puff that area up a little better than what is built into the form. As for the problem at hand the tanning didn't do it. I would bet you did shave down to the follicle. If a wicker falls out or if you pull one out use a dot of super glue on the root and put it back in. Lastly as for the whiskers "sticking out funny) I think I know what you are saying. Remember back in grade school when you where making ribbons curl by dragging the ribbon over scissors? Do this very lightly after the mount is rock hard dry in the direction you want the whiskers to curl a bit. I use the handel of a spoon not scissors so I don't cut a wisker off by accident but you get the consept right?
whiskers then remove them from cape and shave whisker area thin and then replace after mount if dry - this is the BEST way to get REALISTIC whiskers i have ever seen - for commercial jobs i rough flesh the whisker area with wire wheel - then i reflsh with dremel wire whhel between whisker butts - then i notch out form and fill with clay - the last thing i do after mount is on form is 'set' the whisker butts into the clay - not as good as the first way i mentioned but perfectly adequate