# My European Mount DIY story thread... w/pics!!



## jstuntlocke

OK.. after about 4 hours of simmering since I just put it in with cold water it actually took almost 1 1/2 hours to start boiling and I only had to refresh my coals once. I was very careful not to get it too hot. I was afraid it would weaken the integrity of the skull.
But after those 4 hours.. I was sick of passing out sitting up and realized that I shouldv'e started in the morning instead of the evening...(note to self....) lol
So I moved the pot inside my shop, and went to bed for about 5 hours. then woke up threw some wood on the fire, and started trimming all the leftover meat and diggin out brains. And really most of it just fell off, but some did not.








Then I refreshed my water, baking soda, and dish soap mixture and started cookin again... still being extrememly careful not to get it rolling too hot.
total elasped time for this cooking was only 2 hours.
then it was time to trim the rest of the flesh off using dental tools, and hemostats as well as a wire brush and putty knife. I realized that you could do some damage with these tools also if you are not careful and there are tons of little holes and places for tissue to hide all over the skull that you didn't realize were there!!
total elapsed time 4 hours. including the above boiling time. I would scrape some and boil some, pick and scrape some, and boil some more... and so on...


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## jstuntlocke

Once I got all the flesh and tissue off, flicked it everywhere all over, and felt satisfied with the fact that this thing isn't going to start stinking up my house. I started to peel back my tape, towels, and plastic off the horns and get the remaining flesh off around the base that I couldn't really get because of my tape job. 
This was kind of a chore as it didn't really get softenend up too much from the hot water. And my buck had a big ol gnarly infected sore from a previous battle with another buck behind his one horn that was very puss filled and smelled like dirty toes. I found it when I was caping him, so it was kinda smelly too with the infected flesh still kinda hangin out there...... LOL 

so feeling now 110% satisfied with my meat diggin and scraping job, I went and got some extra strength hair bleach creme from the drug store. cost: $6.00
And it came with a powder activator that you mixed with it.(see pic for the box) 
Then I emptied out a case of bottled water, used the cardboard from that to set my skull in. Grabbed up a big round artists pait brush and started to mix up the paste and paint it all over the bucks skull being careful not to get any on the teeth or antler bases. 
Then I set it down on the coffee table next to a shed off a deer from the same property we were just admiring and snapped a couple more pics for you guys...
total elapsed time to paint on the peroxide bleach creme: 15 min









Then my dogs smelled it...LOL








and that was yesterday at about 3PM.

so today in about OOOOOOHHH let's see 5 more hours.. I'll take a little chip brush and brush all this foamy dried creme off it and we can all see what it looks like.

And that's the suspense of an epic story.. you'll have to wait for the outcome with me!!!! LOL
hope it works! :cheers:


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## IGluIt4U

Is the Glock to keep the dog away? :noidea: :lol:

Great job so far, can't wait to see the next stage... :thumb: :moviecorn


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## jstuntlocke

Thanks man... here's the final pic of the end result!!









I'll probably spray the white with some clear coat here after it's totally dry, but all in all... I'm pretty happy with it!! 

I mean it's not perfect and I learned some tricks and things not to do next time and there are some things I'd like to try too. I definately couldn't make any money doing this as it took me waaaaaaaay too long for it to be profitable! LOL

but it was fun. And everyone remember I shot this deer on the 18th of this month and what's today, like less than a week later??? That's the fastest turn around I've ever had on a finished mount of any kind after a slaughter! Even a dried up turkey tail fan in borax and then 5min epoxy takes longer to do!!

OH and BTW... Um.. that's not a glock. 
That's a Springfiled Armory tactical XDLE .45gap auto with an insight technologies M6X tac light/laser on it... and it's for if the dogs don't get the point across....

hahahaha NO, it's actually cuz I get scared walkin in to my tree sometimes in the dark!
But that's between you and me so, ssshhhh! don't tell anyone! LOL


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## turkeytom

A few things that you might want to try next time to speed up the process.
1. Use a fish frier hooked up to a propane tank.You can get them at bass pro shops.Dont boil it,let it simmer.

2. Wrap tin foil around the antlers.It takes about 30 seconds to do each antler.

3. Use a screw driver to scoop the brains out.I use one that I bent on the end a little so you can reach all angles inside the skull.I also rounded the end on the grinder and filed some groves in it to help grab the brains and to get the protective skin that is between the skull and the brains.I do this befor I simmer the skull.

4. Use an air compressor or canned air to force out vanes that are in the small holes in the skull under the eyes and down tward the nose.

5. Just wash the compound off the skull with the water hose.If there are some places that wont come off,use a small brush to break it loose.Wash the brain cavity at the same time with the water hose.

Hope this helps.


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## jstuntlocke

turkeytom said:


> A few things that you might want to try next time to speed up the process.
> 1. Use a fish frier hooked up to a propane tank.You can get them at bass pro shops.Dont boil it,let it simmer.
> 
> 2. Wrap tin foil around the antlers.It takes about 30 seconds to do each antler.
> 
> 3. Use a screw driver to scoop the brains out.I use one that I bent on the end a little so you can reach all angles inside the skull.I also rounded the end on the grinder and filed some groves in it to help grab the brains and to get the protective skin that is between the skull and the brains.I do this befor I simmer the skull.
> 
> 4. Use an air compressor or canned air to force out vanes that are in the small holes in the skull under the eyes and down tward the nose.
> 
> 5. Just wash the compound off the skull with the water hose.If there are some places that wont come off,use a small brush to break it loose.Wash the brain cavity at the same time with the water hose.
> 
> Hope this helps.



Thanks man those are great ideas and pointers! :cheers:

I did use a screwdriver for alot of it, but I didn't bend it.:smile: and I didn't think about aluminum foil.. haha I was wanting to protect it from heat hence the towels, and then I was afraid of any die getting on the antlers from the towel and makin them pink.... hence the tape and paper, then the plastic for moisture! hahahahahaha I just wanted to keep all that cool cedar bark in his horns too... 

But I also forgot to write that I used a garden hose and my air compressor to blow it out between scraping sesh's and simmering sesh's.. that was a big help.

and thanks again because this is exactly why I started this thread... I know that I was lookin for one when I decided to take on the challenge, and maybe this can help along the next guy! 

all in all I"m happy for my first attempt.. what's the worst that could happen ya know.. I'd have to cut off the skull plate.. ya know?

anyone else have any suggestions or comments?? 78 views and 2 poeple comment? No taxidermists on the board?
LOL


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## turkeytom

I have been doing taxidermy work for over 20 years.If you need any help on other projects,shoot me a p.m.


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## BigDoggDarren

boiling skulls is a real pain in the *****. I have been doing taxidermy on the side for over 10 years and hate doing skulls. I am thinking of investing in a colony of beetels and just specializing in european mounts. They are alot cheaper and look very good when done right, with the price of shoulder mounts rising these are a nice way to display your trophy's. You did a very good job on that skull, you definatley did your homewrok before you started it which is very wise. I have seen alot of people tackle projects and totally destroy them, LOL....nice work


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## jstuntlocke

Thanks guys!! it was a pain to simmer off the meat.. but still doable. I wouldn't want to do several of them at one sitting that's for sure!
And I'm sure I'll be hittin you up sometime in the future also turkeytom.
:cheers:


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## M.Magis

Just a little tip, leave the baking soda out next time. It doesn't really hurt anything, but it doesn't help either. 
Also, do NOT spray with clear coat like polyurethane. They will all yellow over time, and there's nothing you can do but paint the skull after that. You can coat with a 50/50 mixture of Elmers glue and water, or just leave like it is. I prefer no coating, but that's just me.


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## antlrcolectr

jstuntlocke said:


> Once I got all the flesh and tissue off, flicked it everywhere all over,



That's an understatement.
I recovered my buck last Friday morning. Sunday before football I spent 20-30minutes caping the hide and lower jawbone off the skull with as much of the larger portions of meat that I could. Tool of choice is about 5 surgical scalpals, they get dull constantly hitting bone. 

Last night I set the canner on the stove at 6:30, water(only) boiling by 7:00, put the head in for 10 minutes...Remove, then do the scraping and peeling gig for 15 minutes or so and mess up the double sink with the aforementioned tissue and flesh flicked all over.
Then dunk it in again for another 10 minutes, remove and do some more flicking and scraping. My tool of choice for this job is a Boy Scout pocket knife that has the very tip broken off, so its like a knife and a flat screwdriver all in one - works great.
After second scraping I head to the local carwash and $2 later and at 9:00 PM I was done. 
All I'll do now (when I get time) is bathe it in high potency peroxide, set in sun 20 minutes or so, rinse, bathe, sit in sun, rinse, then spray 2 coats of clear laquer on it. I'll post pics when I'm done. 

I usually only have about 3 hours of actual work involved.


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## jstuntlocke

Thanks for the tips!! :cheers:

I own my own business as a professional painter. Poly won't yellow.. Laquer will...
I probably won't actually put on any clearcoat to be honest, but if I did, I was going to use the same stuff I use on my motorcycles. 
And why would I leave out the sodium bicarbonate if it doesn't hurt anything? Just curious is all...:smile:


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## jstuntlocke

antlrcolectr said:


> That's an understatement.
> I recovered my buck last Friday morning. Sunday before football I spent 20-30minutes caping the hide and lower jawbone off the skull with as much of the larger portions of meat that I could. Tool of choice is about 5 surgical scalpals, they get dull constantly hitting bone.
> 
> Last night I set the canner on the stove at 6:30, water(only) boiling by 7:00, put the head in for 10 minutes...Remove, then do the scraping and peeling gig for 15 minutes or so and mess up the double sink with the aforementioned tissue and flesh flicked all over.
> Then dunk it in again for another 10 minutes, remove and do some more flicking and scraping. My tool of choice for this job is a Boy Scout pocket knife that has the very tip broken off, so its like a knife and a flat screwdriver all in one - works great.
> After second scraping I head to the local carwash and $2 later and at 9:00 PM I was done.
> All I'll do now (when I get time) is bathe it in high potency peroxide, set in sun 20 minutes or so, rinse, bathe, sit in sun, rinse, then spray 2 coats of clear laquer on it. I'll post pics when I'm done.
> 
> I usually only have about 3 hours of actual work involved.



haha yea.. first time I flicked some crap in my mouth I was upset but laughing! good job on gettin your buck!

and heck yea! Post pics! I love to see threads with lotsa pics!!


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## M.Magis

> I own my own business as a professional painter. Poly won't yellow.. Laquer will....
> ...


 I've seen plenty of skulls coated in polyurethane, and they have ALL been yellow. I did one myself when I first started taxidermy, and it turned yellow.


> And why would I leave out the sodium bicarbonate if it doesn't hurt anything? Just curious is all


The same reason you don't add strawberry jam, because it doesn't help.  What can be added is sodium carbonate, but as you see, you don't need it.


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## jstuntlocke

M.Magis said:


> I've seen plenty of skulls coated in polyurethane, and they have ALL been yellow. I did one myself when I first started taxidermy, and it turned yellow.
> 
> The same reason you don't add strawberry jam, because it doesn't help.  What can be added is sodium carbonate, but as you see, you don't need it.


oh.. hahaha can you tell me what the differnce is in bicarbonate and carbonate?

Ive never had poly yellow on anything I used it on before... but I have never used it on bone admittedly.


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## M.Magis

Sodium bicarbonate is baking soda, but sodium carbonate is washing soda. They are quite different. I've* heard *that heating can turn sodium bicarbonate into sodium carbonate, but I'm not a chemist.  You can get Arm and Hammer Washing Soda at most grocery stores if you ever want to try it. It causes the meat/blood to turn into a gel like substance. It would be in the laundry detergent department.
I've never noticed poly turning yellow on anything wooden myself, but I've always assumed it was because of the color of the wood hid the yellow. I do know it will turn yellow on bone.


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## trykon_buck

*Sodium Carbonate*

I use Sodium Carbonate from Van ***** taxidermy supply. Mix the sodium carbonate w/ water, and boil/simmer for a few hours, and your left with a very nice white skull.

BTW - great job on your first attempt!

:cheers:


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## Double S

+1 for Vandykes products.


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## tresleggos

awesome post


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## 2arrow1

i use a product at wally in the laundry section called sun cleaner(ripoff of oxy-clean)a tub is $3.sodium carbonate just a generic brand.i also drill a 1/4 hole in botom of brain cavaty and use a blower to remove brains,pre-boil.
great looking work you did.


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## jstuntlocke

Thanks everyone! I'm really happy with it myself.

Keep the tips and comments comin! They're great!:smile:
:cheers:


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## docrich52

I have used Flat enamel spray paint on two skulls that I have done and they both sitll look pretty white to me. But it has onlt been one year for the one buck and about two weeks for the other.


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## Chris888

Any pics of it on display? Did you put it on a plaque? Good job.


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## GreggWNY

I give you credit for doing it yourself but I chickened out and sent mine to an outfit that have the beetles strip the flesh, degrease it, whiten it and clear coat it for $60.00. I'll let you know how it turns out when I get it back.

http://wildlife-artistry.tripod.com/thestripjoint/index.html


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## Louisianaboy

The reason for the skulls turning yellow over time is that they have to be DEGREASED! It is the most important step in doing a skull mount.

I normally put 3 skulls in a tupperware tub with either Dawn Dishwashing liquid and water, ammonia and water, or a mixture of the Dawn and ammonia. I also have an Elite aquarium heater in the water to keep it warm and speed up the process. I change the water about every 2 days. You will actually be able to see the fat deposits floating on top of the water. I degrease for about 10-14 days and then whiten.

Over time the grease will leak out of the bone and turn it yellow. I have seen it happen in a week or at times take over a year to come out.

Hope this helps.


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## JWT

*volume 40*

If you know a hair dresser she can get a peroxide product called volume 40 at the beuty supply, Super strong and whitens like a dream. I usually brush it on and let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes. then rinse let dry and re-apply where needed.


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