# DIY Antler Mount



## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

I posted this before and got a lot of reviews form it. I had so many pic's in my photobucket acct. that I had to break them up into different albums and lost all my "how to" pictures on here. 
I'm posting a Link to my DIY Antler Mount album for those interested.


http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b157/firecapt186/DIY Antler mounts/

Click on the picture for the instructions


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## Maxtor (Jan 7, 2007)

That's pretty cool. Thanks for sharing this. 

Where abouts do you get that flocking?


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

The forms, flocking and glue come from Van ***** Taxidermy supply. Everything else comes from Wally World


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## madarchery (May 28, 2003)

Just for those wanting to go outside the box. You can use a white glue and use any crushed material for the covering. You would be amazed what ground coffee with a clear coat looks. Just google inlaying. Wood workers have been doing it for some time. Granted some of the products will be cost prohibitive for this application. But if you can grind it to a sand it can be glued on.


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

Thanks Mad, I have one that my son killed some years back that I'm remounting, I'm gonna try the coffee grounds on it.


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## Maxtor (Jan 7, 2007)

madarchery said:


> Just for those wanting to go outside the box. You can use a white glue and use any crushed material for the covering. You would be amazed what ground coffee with a clear coat looks. Just google inlaying. Wood workers have been doing it for some time. Granted some of the products will be cost prohibitive for this application. But if you can grind it to a sand it can be glued on.


anyone able to find info regarding the ground coffee?


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## Wicked Tin (Apr 11, 2009)

thats pretty cool, I might try that on a couple of sets I have in the garage.


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

Maxtor said:


> anyone able to find info regarding the ground coffee?


I looked but couldn't find anything. I'm gonna try it and see how it comes out. If it doesn't look good, I can always take the horns off and remount them on another form or cover the coffee finish with flocking. You would just need to make sure that only use latex glues and finishes, the oil base stuff will probably melt the form


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## madarchery (May 28, 2003)

Here is a sample.

I have not done a skull with it yet. But have done the wood inlaying. This pic is not mine though.

You should be able to use the brown glue as with the flocking also. You will have to experiment a little. 

But I would think it would give a nice texture. If its worth the application mess is yet to be determined.


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## et1673 (Jun 26, 2007)

*three I did*

Here are three antlers I did using Fire Capt. instructions. The one on the top middle I finished tonight. I just harvested this deer on Saturday.


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

madarchery said:


> Here is a sample.
> 
> I have not done a skull with it yet. But have done the wood inlaying. This pic is not mine though.
> 
> ...


I doubt it would be any different from the flocking, just catch the excess on a piece of newspaper. Only problem that I can see is putting some sort of sealer on it.


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## madarchery (May 28, 2003)

I think any wood sealer will work fine. Probably a satin to keep the natural look and bring out the color.

I use it on the wood projects. But I use CA mix with the beans so in essence it is an acrylic when dry.


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

madarchery said:


> I think any wood sealer will work fine. Probably a satin to keep the natural look and bring out the color.
> 
> I use it on the wood projects. But I use CA mix with the beans so in essence it is an acrylic when dry.



I wouldn't use any type oil based sealer on those foam forms tho. If it gets on the form itself, I think it'll desolve it like styrofoam


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## sclampa (Sep 18, 2005)

Heres the 2 mounts I finished up last week using Van ***** forms with black flocking.


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## Maxtor (Jan 7, 2007)

Those look pretty good. I'm gonna have to order me some :thumbs_up


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

Here's some that I've done for myself.


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## Maxtor (Jan 7, 2007)

Looks good firecapt.....


These molds, do they have something on the back of them for mounting to the wall?

I've got some ordered, just waiting for my order to get shipped


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

Maxtor said:


> Looks good firecapt.....
> 
> 
> These molds, do they have something on the back of them for mounting to the wall?
> ...


There's a piece of plywood molded into the back of form. You can either drill about a 3/16-1/4" hole at an angle and hang them like I do most of mine or use a couple of screws and it to mount it to a plaque, like the ones mounted on the broadhead plaque.


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## sixjennings (Aug 5, 2004)

*I take it,, that your talkin about used coffee grounds ?right? Guys'''*


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

sixjennings said:


> *I take it,, that your talkin about used coffee grounds ?right? Guys'''*


*

I would use used grounds and let them dry out a few days.*


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## madarchery (May 28, 2003)

i have used new grounds with CA.


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## Maxtor (Jan 7, 2007)

How are you guys measuring your racks to determine which size form you need? 

I ordered 3 mediums cause it said the mediums were 5" only to find once I got them that that 5" is at the center of the form, not where the antlers go. Now I think they are too small and won't work for the racks I wanted to put on them.


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## Maxtor (Jan 7, 2007)

Here's a pic of one of my racks on the medium form:










Does it not look like this rack needs a larger form?


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## et1673 (Jun 26, 2007)

That looks about right to me


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## absolutecool (Mar 26, 2006)

I did my little spikey spike but used para cord!!! It looks horrible but dang it it is original!! I would show some pics but don't want to be laughed at...lol


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

Maxtor said:


> Here's a pic of one of my racks on the medium form:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You may want to go with the lrg form or you can grind the sides of the skull plate to get it lower that the form. I'm not sure if it's the camera angle or if the antlers aren't quite centered. You want it to where the bases look as close to even as possible above the form. Also, don't forget to sand that waxy film off, the glue will not stick to that.


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

Maxtor said:


> How are you guys measuring your racks to determine which size form you need?
> 
> I ordered 3 mediums cause it said the mediums were 5" only to find once I got them that that 5" is at the center of the form, not where the antlers go. Now I think they are too small and won't work for the racks I wanted to put on them.


This is the med form. This should give you and idea as to wetheran antler set will fit by measuring the skull plate.


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## Maxtor (Jan 7, 2007)

I was just kind of looking where the base of the antlers stick out past the edges of the form. Thought it would look better if they were even with the form edge so it looked like they were actually coming out of the form. 
It would be a lot better if they would give you the measurements where the antlers actually sit. Hate to order 2 or 3 large forms and find out they're too big, cause if they're too big for these antlers, then not likely I'll ever shoot anything big enough to use them,......lol

** and thanks for reminding me about sanding off the waxy film, had forgotten about that


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

That was the reason that I took the pic of the the med form with the tape measure, it's very decieving. It takes doin several before you can look at them and rell what size you'll need. Try grinding the skull plate down to get it to fit inside the edges of the form. As for having the bases right at the edge, don't worry if they are a little above the form. If you look at the elk mounts, that all boney part between the bases to the form. I have some white-tail mounts that are simular, just not as pronounced. Here's one that they're above. Just like everthing else, no two deer have antelers the same. Sometimes you just have to do the best you can to make them look even, sometimes you just can't tho.


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## Maxtor (Jan 7, 2007)

Okay, finally got my first one done and it didn't turn out too bad. On the next one I'll be able to correct things I should have done with this one but I must say, they look pretty sharp. I've got 3 large size forms on the way for a few of my other antlers.

Thanks for sharing this with us all Firecap!!


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

Maxtor said:


> Okay, finally got my first one done and it didn't turn out too bad. On the next one I'll be able to correct things I should have done with this one but I must say, they look pretty sharp. I've got 3 large size forms on the way for a few of my other antlers.
> 
> Thanks for sharing this with us all Firecap!!


Thats not bad for the first time. You can still go back and sand what you need to, add some bondo to and re-flock it. The more that you do, the better you'll get. 

Keep up the good work. Glad that you enjoyed the thread


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## nathanm74 (Apr 28, 2007)

Maxtor said:


> Okay, finally got my first one done and it didn't turn out too bad. On the next one I'll be able to correct things I should have done with this one but I must say, they look pretty sharp. I've got 3 large size forms on the way for a few of my other antlers.
> 
> Thanks for sharing this with us all Firecap!!


Was all that tree materaial on the rack when you shot? Wow.


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## Maxtor (Jan 7, 2007)

nathanm74 said:


> Was all that tree materaial on the rack when you shot? Wow.


 Yes, I tried to leaving everything exactly as it was when I shot the deer. Thought it added some nice character to the antlers :wink:


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## Sasquatch74 (Sep 9, 2007)

I just finished flocking an anlter mount on Sunday and while I was attempting to place the mount on a board I removed some of the flocking. No big deal I thought, I'll just apply glue to the damaged areas and reflock. Well..that didn't turn out very well. The flocking stuck, but you can clearly see where I repaired it - it left a darker ring around the outside edge. I think when I reapplied the glue that some of it was on existing flocking. Anyway, at this point, I think my best course of action is to sand down the entire mount and totally reapply flocking. Has anyone else had a problem like this?


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

Sasquatch74 said:


> I just finished flocking an anlter mount on Sunday and while I was attempting to place the mount on a board I removed some of the flocking. No big deal I thought, I'll just apply glue to the damaged areas and reflock. Well..that didn't turn out very well. The flocking stuck, but you can clearly see where I repaired it - it left a darker ring around the outside edge. I think when I reapplied the glue that some of it was on existing flocking. Anyway, at this point, I think my best course of action is to sand down the entire mount and totally reapply flocking. Has anyone else had a problem like this?


The only time I've had this to happen to me was when I first started doing them, this is how I found out that the entire form needed to be sanded first. They come with a waxy film over them. It comes from the mold, they spray the mold so that the form will release when they take it out. 
If you didn't sand the form before, chances are, the glue will slip in other areas. 
As for repairing an area, I've had some that people have dropped their's, I'll do as you did, sand the edges to blend them and then I'll come back and reflock the whole thing again


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

This is a very important step in making sure the glue sticks to the form. The right side has been sanded and the left hasn't. And, you have to get it all off, any small spot left will cause the glue to peel off over that spot.


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

Beings it's at or near the end of the season for most, TTT. Just another idea that I've came up with. I've probably done 50-60 of these and have learned a lot through trial and error along the way.


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## KYHeadhunter02 (Sep 6, 2010)

I have done several myself, I have covered a lot of them in sheets of scrap leather though. One thing I do different is I use plaster to put over the skull cap instead of bondo. The plaster is a lot easier to work with, especially sanding. It is a lot cheaper than buying the bondo as well.


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

KYHeadhunter02 said:


> I have done several myself, I have covered a lot of them in sheets of scrap leather though. One thing I do different is I use plaster to put over the skull cap instead of bondo. The plaster is a lot easier to work with, especially sanding. It is a lot cheaper than buying the bondo as well.


I used plaster when I first started doing these, but found that it's not as durable using this method. It works fine if you're covering it, as you do yours. Bondo sands easier if you sand it just as it sets.


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## Omegafoo (Sep 19, 2007)

I use fish fill for mine, available through the taxidermy sites instead of the bondo. Dries hard and sands nicely.

I also use brown paint instead of glue to adhere the flocking with, it just takes more time for it to set.

I also use forms 328902 and 904 from McKenzies. They've come out with an arrow head mannikin this year but I can't seem to find a picture of it. It's 328901

Other than the differences in technique, they look essentially the same! Nice work!


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## firecapt186 (Oct 31, 2004)

Omegafoo said:


> I use fish fill for mine, available through the taxidermy sites instead of the bondo. Dries hard and sands nicely.
> 
> I also use brown paint instead of glue to adhere the flocking with, it just takes more time for it to set.
> 
> ...


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## ckrich (Oct 14, 2009)

Would a textured spray paint adhear to the sanded form?


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## WooleyBooger (Aug 24, 2009)

How much glue and flock is required for one mount?


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## Hartley1998 (Nov 14, 2004)

Anyone have a picture of the 328901?


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