/ Register

  1. Welcome to Taxidermy.net, Guest!
    We have put together a brief tutorial to help you with the site, click here to access it.

what went wrong

Discussion in 'Tanning' started by wildcat2, Feb 12, 2015.

  1. Feb 12, 2015 #1
    wildcat2

    wildcat2 New Member

    20
    0
    I have 2 grey fox hides that where shot last year. They were skinned the same day they were killed and placed in the freezer. I recently thawed them, fleshed , salted for 2 days , placed in a pickle using ultimate acid (McKenzie) ph was right on for 3 days. took them out and fleshed again, back in the pickle for a day. i then put them in a neutralizing solution (3 gallon of water and 3 tbls of baking soda) for an hour. I rinsed well rolled them in a towel for abot 20 min to remove extra moisture and then painted on the McKenzie tan and left it on for 5 hours. after it rinsed it noticed that the hair on the ears is slipping.........

    the only place i can see where it deviated from the directions is in the salting as i couldnt get to them right away or the neutralizing bath was supossed to be 1/2 hour but i was fleshing a beaver and left them in for an hour.


    where did it go wrong?
     
  3. Feb 12, 2015 #2
    John C

    John C Well-Known Member

    16,976
    1,205
    Between South Africa and America.
    Did you turn the ears while in the tan? If you did not turn the ears inside out thats just one problem. The tempature of your hands while skinning the ears might be another.
     

  5. Feb 12, 2015 #3
    cyclone

    cyclone Posts: 400001

    4,364
    702
    West Virginia
    Fox are prone to slippage. The back of the ears is probably the number 1 spot that this occurs.

    As far as your prep and pickle work goes you have to give more information. How long was it before you got the salt on the hide? An hour, a day, 2 days? How did you make the pickle, what acid? How much salt? What was the pH? How did you measure the pH? Did you stir the hide often? Did you weigh it down or free float? Rehydrate? How? Wash? again, how?

    The difference between a 30min neutralization and 60 min neutralization is negligible. However, you must rinse the excess solution from the hide when finished otherwise you have a high pH situation in the hair next to the skin..
     
  6. Feb 12, 2015 #4
    wildcat2

    wildcat2 New Member

    20
    0
    these are just for wall hanging for a friend. I did not turn the ears or remove the ear cartilage. Guess thats where i frogged up. never thought about it, thanks. live and learn. hopfully when it is fully dry the rest will stay in. i have done several skunk that way but the ears are alot smaller.....
     
  7. Feb 12, 2015 #5
    wildcat2

    wildcat2 New Member

    20
    0
    i took them out of the freezer and salted the next day. my pickle was 4 gallon of water, 4 pounds of salt, 2 oz of ultimate acid and ph was between 1.5 and 2.0
    as tested with ph paper. hides were stired everyday and ph checked. i did not weight them down.
     
  8. Feb 12, 2015 #6
    George

    George The older I get, the better I was.

    34,669
    4,550
    Magnolia, Delaware
    No need to weigh them down. Osmosis takes care of that. What you describe is not unusual for foxes. Unless you see them killed and skin them within about a 4 hour period, tanning them is always a crapshoot. Fox and cat ears are always the worst.
     
  9. Feb 12, 2015 #7
    cyclone

    cyclone Posts: 400001

    4,364
    702
    West Virginia
    Maybe not totally frogged but a tadpole at least. Turn them.
     
  10. Feb 12, 2015 #8
    twinrivers

    twinrivers Active Member

    833
    33
    New Sharon, Iowa
    Gotta turn the ears Haas.