Bondo ears

I've had good success with both. Mostly bondo commercial work and use liners on comp pieces IF the liner is accurate.

 

Fox, Bobcat and other small game I have been using ear liners on of late. No special reason other than trying to keep things moving, earliners are not faster for me. I use mainly Ozark woods earliners on the small game. I do a good bit of grinding on them for thinning and and heat to get the shape I want. On deer if the ear is really messed up I use Research plastic earliners, they are thin and work well for me. If the ears are good I can do a bondo/resin/chop in just minutes.

 

If you go to Taxidermy Training Unlimited and buy The mule deer DVD by Manny Chavez, you will see it used by a master.

 

For Anyone that is a member of the Texas Taxidermy Assoc in this years magazine we will have an I depth study on both earliers and bondo methods. Covering commercial techniques from beginners up as well as competition techniques. Clint Rickey will cover liners (Last UTA Champ WT) and I will cover bondo (National Champ WT and Third in World WT using bondo). If your not a member but would like to get a copy jump online and join up to get it. There will also be tons of other articles and generally good info!

 

It's all about what you started using and what you are comfortable with. I was taught with the Bondo method and been using it ever since.

 

Well, I started out using sheet lead and that's no longer an option. I will use Bondo, but 3Bears nailed it. If you have the talent, then so be it. I plain suck at doing them and I've used every method known to man. One ear will just look FUBAR compared to the other, so I use earliners whenever possible. I know my limitations and time nor money have any effect on my choice because I know my skill.

 

For bobcat I mix red clay with apoxy sculpt. It's the right color which shows through after dried, it's easy to shape, and the clay slows down the drying time so I have more time to shape it. I use ear liners for calm poses, but after heating and shaping aggressive posed ears over and over, I found this to be easier and they turn out great and thin.

 

$00.3125 per ear. I get 32 pair or 64 whitetail ears out of a gallon.

 

Justin, you must be making a fortune working for $2 an hour.

 

George we have a guy up here who still uses lead flashing for ears, dry preservative and glass wool insulation for ear butts. Packs the hell out of the insulation until he's happy with the shape. He's cheap and has a fast turnaround, been doing that for years and gets a lot of work. Go figure. I had to redo one of his heads so I know this for a fact.

 

I learned bondo ears in the late 80's from a video by Bob Elzner. I was pretty good at it. I did my first 20 or so before I tried ear liners. Now I Bondo small game and elk. For some reason I hate removing elk cartilage.

 

I hate removing the cartilige from pig ears. They are so much harder than deer. Also, maybe it's just me, but it seems like the few whitetail I've gotten were so much easier to remove the cartilige in than on the blacktail/mulie crosses I commonly do.

 

What does it matter? I use bondo.resin.fiberglass mat on deer (Yox has seen them) on fox and bobcat I use Ozarkwoods earliners, because in just seconds I can grind them super thin and a touch of heat reshape the ear liner my way.

 

Black tail and mule deer ears tanned by me are a breeze to remove the cartilage. Ones tanned at the tannery are most unpleasant. Bears cartilage are difficult too. Hell, they all give me fits. Where's my Bondo, dang it?

 

I like bondo myself I think it makes a better ear. a lot of guy's have trouble with it getting hard before the ear is done .I keep my bondo in the frig. will not fire as fast . get the shape and thinness hit it with a blow dryer. fire fast . have about 5 mins in a ear. and It works a better with ears that are cut ,torn,.

 

I'm coming up with at least $2.50 an hour.

 

LOL