Rack Mount The Easy Way

So after seeing this ask so many times , I figured id show you newbies my may . It goes pretty fast and easy once you have done it a time or two . I’ve done it this way with deer , elk , moose and everything in between. You just need a bigger template. Bare with me as I’m doing this from my phone and will probably make 4 or so different post .
First I cut a tear drop shaped template , I have 5 or 6 of these in different sizes , as you can use over and over . Then I use a paste furniture wax and rub it on template to act as a release. Now set that aside , cut your skull as small as you can but can still be strong enough not to break. But keeping it as flat as possible where the rack won’t hit the wall kinda thing. Cut a block of wood that will fit in brain cavity keeping it as flat as possible remembering this will be the screw in point to attach to plaque. Now I drill thru skull into block to hold in place then bondo it in . ( sorry I have no pics of that part , but it’s easy to figure out from other pics ) once bondo kicks Now screw the the rack to template so rack burrs are 3/4 the way up and make sure rack is straight. Part 2 coming

 

Part 2 : Now secure this to a mount stand or something that you can spin it on for easy work, and it won’t fall over on ya . I run a screw up in the template a bit so it can pivot but still secure. Now mix 2/3 paper mache 1/3 plaster in bowl (dry) after mixed well add water to make a stiff but workable paste , if it starts to kick then add little water . Start applying mix to template and cover rack , go as fast as you can so you can cover it all in one batch . The more plaster the faster it kicks off . Make sure to get it up under the burrs only leaving enough room to tuck hide , Tool and shape with water to get as smooth as possible, you can go back and add more mix if needed to get desired look and shape . You can even sand if needed or use a wrasp to shape . Part 3 coming

 

Part 3: So after you like the shape , let dry and get hard for bout an hour . I normally do 4 at a time as I have 4 templates and as I roll thru them , the first one is ready to go by the time I get the 4th one shaped . So after dry , take screws out back of template and tap with hammer . Clean edges and bottom off and shape if needed . Now put back on stand with a screw going into the brain cavity wood block, again keeping kinda loose so you can spin . Get yourself a pcs of deer leather and lay across it , making sure it’s what you want and covers completely. Cut excess off leaving couple inches . Get some contact cement and an old little brush ( acid brush works great) roll deer leather back to burrs and apply glue heavy. ( make sure you don’t get glue on hide or you will have some issues) . Roll hide back down to cover , get it a little stretch to tighten a little , rub it down for better contact . Now here’s the slight tricky part, I don’t like adding rope or anything to cover pedestals so I tuck it and is why I said get the mache/plaster mix up under burrs , now take a sharp knife / scalpel and make a cut on burr edge , not under or over but on edge for bout 1 1/2 inches . Part 4 coming

 

Part4: Now from the center of that burr cut , cut straight back following the main beam so cut will be hidden. From that cut you can tuck and cut working around the burr on both sides . Now take the side pcs and tuck it under burr going around back , and take top middle pcs and tuck and go around burr and over lap side pcs , cut thru both at one time to make a perfect seam , now roll the hide forward and glue heavy , let glue tack up a bit , now tuck under burr and match seam up , repeat to other side again be careful not to get glue on leather show side .

 

Not sure why pics doubled posted sorry :

Final steps : take off stand cut completely around leaving 1/2 to 3/4 inch now take and bend around back , cut any place it buckles or over laps so it lays flat with scissors . Put Glue around edge and tack up a bit , push hide in place and again cut where needed . Lay on plaque you chooses and mark for holes making sure your going to hit the wood in brain cavity. Put hanger on dress it up with Bussiness card over screw holes . ALL DONE . It goes really fast once you do it a few times and looks clean , I use deer hide and one hide will do bout 10 deer . I charge $150 for this and have only $20 in it and can do one in less then an hour hands on basically

 

Hope this helped some , this is how I do it .

 

Thanks gents glad I could help . If you would like the measurements on the teardrop template just let me No .

 

Ok here is the 3 sizes I use small for WTail deer and mule deer , the middle is for caribou and small elk and the biggest is for big elk and small moose , most moose bigger are mounted but if not I’d make a bigger template. But haven’t had to in 34 years .

 

Here ya go Robert

 

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