I've been doing European mounts for the past couple years, for myself and now for friends and family. I boil them and they've been turning out great. To get them white I use hair bleach and that has been working fine, but takes maybe 4-5 different applications to get them nice and bright white. I've heard of people using hydrogen peroxide. Anybody else use that? If so how does that turn out and how long do you leave it on the skulls normally?
I've done 8 moose and 5 bears. What works best for me is to use a pressure washer after the boil... really gets all the stains, meat and fat off the skulls. Then wash with a good household degreaser ( Fantastic, Dawn etc...) and rinse again with the pressure washer. After that I let them dry in the sun for a day or two before putting on a thick coat of 30% Hydrogen Peroxide in cream (you can easily get it the drugstore, it's the same stuff hairdresser use...) I prefer the cream because it take a lot less than soaking an entire moose head. Just apply the cream with a paintbrush and put the skull in a clear plastic bag. (The bag is to slow the drying out of the cream so it stays effective longer. You can safely leave the cream on for a full day. Rinse, dry and apply a second coat if needed, but I found one treatment is normally enough. This one was only sun bleached, that explains the grey areas...
I also use 40% Hydrogen peroxide gel. Have to have a licenses to get 50%. Most beauty stores have it in stock too.
Im sorry to hijack the thread but does anyone know a more affordable wall wood pedestal for them? Most online are $50+ with shipping.
Try a wood working hobby shop. They should have what you need if any are near you. After that reclaimed wood and a little work should fit your need too.
I make my own... but if you ask me $50 is a very reasonable price... To get a price that low, they need to be done in bulk. Individual design, custom made would go for more. Unless you have a woodworker buddy Hardwood goes for $4-$8 per board foot sometimes more, plus the time for thickness planning, cutting, sanding and stain/varnish. You can have a look at McKenzy for kicks... http://www.mckenziesp.com/Solid-Wood-Panels-C1820.aspx
Oh yeah Im not complaining about the price. Im sure it is worth every bit. Just was hoping there was a cheaper option other then the little bracket things that don't look stable to me.
I'd like to know of an easier way to do them honestly. I did my first last year. Turned out fine, but man its a ton of work and is nasty. I'm trying to convince my buddies into going in and buying the beatles to keep for our own use.
I boil, pressure wash, then dip into hydrogen peroxide. They have been turning out great and are bright white. I always let mine set in peroxide for 3 days. The more that I do the easier it gets. I did 3 yesterday in about 5 hours.
Yep, you skin it and you can also remove the bulk of the meat to speed up things a bit. If not the meat will come off easy after the boil anyway, just take a bit longer. The annoying part is removing the brain and the cartilage from the nose.... Try not to have the antlers soaking in the hot water as it will show. And definitely DO NOT put any peroxide on the antlers...
My dad does European mounts and this is how he does it. Once they are removed from the beetle bins they get soaked in water with regular dawn dish soap to remove fat/grease. Water/soap mix is emptied and refilled daily. Once done degreasing, it goes in containers full of peroxide (not sure of percentage but it's high enough to give bare skin chemical burns). Make sure to not have antlers sitting in the peroxide. Use paper towels draped over the top if the skull to whiten the area sitting above the peroxide.
You could try local high school or college. I know my high school science teacher has a ton of beetles. Never asked him to try it before but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't care.
Did my first two last year and I agree. I questioned what I signed up for after starting the process. Sounds like beetles are a PITA to maintain if you're only doing a couple every year. The pressure washer is a good idea. Took me forever to get the little pieces off even after sitting for awhile.
Peroxide is the way to go. The stuff from the beauty store. Boil them with a little Dawn dish detergent in the water.
I actually just posted some of this in a diy euro thread. I prefer the beetles because it keeps the skull all intact and its cleaned out even inside the bone. The reason I don't like boiling is because it deteriorates the bone if done too hot or too long. This can be seen mostly with the bones that make up the bridge of the nose. Also with beetles all the sinus structure stays intact which makes it a complete skull. IMO it just doesn't look right when the sinus structure is removed. The cons of the beetles are not many but the few can have bad outcomes. 1 you have to have a place to keep them indoors where you can have it climate controlled but able to ventilate. You don't want them to get over like 75 degrees because they will want to start flying. Not too cold because you want them active. 2 you have to make sure that you don't transport any inside your house!!! They eat Styrofoam and nest in it. Shoulder mounts are made of skin and styrofoam. yes they will eat it if they find it along with stuffed animals and some carpets. 3 you have to have 3000 min to do something the size of a whitetail. closer to 5000 is best. and you don't want other beetles or flys contaminating your colony. 4 did I mention they stink. If you want a room or building you don't want your wife in. they work great for that lol All in all proper precautions and taking care of them its really not that hard just don't feed them processed food the stuff they put in it will kill your colony after a while. I always try to keep the tongues and back bone to feed when no skulls. As for the peroxide. Food grade is best but the #40 works fine from a hair place. you really need to submerge the whole head otherwise you could get a rotten green in the brain cavity. I prefer the liquid because it cleans out the whole head inside and out as well as deodorizes it. The bottom of the horns that get bleached can be brought back to color with some wood stain. just get a few different colors that are close to what the horn is. remember the longer you leave it on the darker it will stain. Ive only been doing this for about 5 yrs but I have learned a lot. feel free to pm or ask if you have any other questions. Im not saying my way is the right way or the best way its just another way and the one that I chose and learned. happy hunting shawn
