The yearly Skull bleaching forum. Pics are on!

[Noel]

Hey everyone. The season is upon us, for those who cannot afford to send everything to the Taxidermist, or just plain enjoy doing dirty jobs that take awhile. I fit both categories.

I was talking with a local taxidermist about the skull cleaning process and he found the powdered dish washing detergent to work well. Baking Soda works too, but froths like a rabid dog and makes a heck of a mess.

I scammed some Cascade detergent, got my cauldron rolling to a real good boil with the tiger torch, dumped in a small measure of the powdered soap and set in the rack.

Please note that before putting it in the hot water I had already gone over the skull for three good hours cleaning it as much as I could, soaking it in cold water when I had to leave it.

The nasal area is the toughest with those fine bones to work around. I usually keep them intact but broke them on one side this time. They look really cool if you can keep them in.

Anyway, that soap stopped the fat that came off the skull from melting and re-attaching to the skull and then staining it. You could see all the little drops of oil/fat molten on the surface, just like when you put your dirty frying pan in the sink! They gathered in the still corner while the water and soap continued on its merry way. What a beauty job it did, by far the best sucess I have had in the half dozen or so jobs I've done. I have also been using a copper air line placed appropriately to keep the water agitated.

The water only had to be changed three times and it has come out white enough I doubt I will even need to use peroxide! My fingers will be so happy!

One question I do have: Some of the bone has an oxidized look to it. Do you use molten wax to coat the skull after you are done the project? I thought I had heard that once but don't want to screw this one up. I will post pics tonight if I can.

Also if someone has a way to clean the teeth it would help. The stains are real hard to work with, I usually just end up leaving them to accent the dark brown on the main beams.lol

She is open to any discussion boys. If you have points, questions whatever, let's help eachother out!

Thanks,
Noel

 

[grouseman]

sounds great..my problem is finding a pot that will cover the whole skull yet not touch any of the antlers...
Im actually scraping peices of dried flesh off of the skull of my buck( I did a cross cut, instead of keeping the whole skull)

 

[Noel]

From past experience it is near impossible to get the top of the skull submerged without dunking the antlers. To tell you the truth, I didn't worry about it this time at all, and let them go under a bit. They look just the same as before they went under. The Cascade detergent doesn't foam up at all, so as long as you have most of the goo off nothing should collect on the antlers that cannot be cleaned off easily.

grouseman, sometimes that last bit of membrane comes off easier if it is saturated, if you are having grief. I was trying to take mine off once it was dry and had a hard time. As soon as it soaked for an hour or so in COLD water, it was just like fresh to take off. The cold water also seemed to draw the blood out of the nooks and crannies. Before I only used hot water and as you'll see soon, the blood stuck in the little skull plate joints areas, leaving it dark.

Are you doing up the Buck you just got? That is a sweet Deer!
Your going to have to change your avatar location now!
Noel

 

[grouseman]

yes, I am doing him right now...I will soak him in cold H2O later tongiht for an hr

10-4 on the location change

 

[ckc123]

Hey.. Just in time.. I was going to be starting my first skull tomorrow..

Any other tips for a newbie's first time/?

 

[savage17hmr]

The first coyote skull I did, I boiled it in water to soften the meat. Then took a power washer to it to clean it up. Worked very well and quick. I then soaked it in peroxide (from drugstore; only 3%). That didn't work real well, but made it white after sitting in the sun for a week.

Now how do you seal it?

 

[dingus]

Heres a pic of my sun Bleached Sea lion skull

This sucker was like 9 ft long and way bigger around than a 45 gallon barrel.
No i didnt kill it!
But dragging the Skull with part of the neck home almost killed me.
The two Dogs tugging on it in the wrong direction did not help

Oh and Stink man you got no idea how bad this thing stunk!
But my neibours sure know HaHaHa

Click on pics to enlarge.

 

[grouseman]

my next question is, should I leave or remove all of the bits of shredded bark that is packed into the nooks and crannies in the rack?

what about painting the skull to hide the bit of dried blood in the joints?( squiggly lines)

 

[Quiet]

The one set of antlers I did a few years ago came out pretty nice. I did it in a sort of european style with most of the skull mounted on the plaque.

I sawed the skull though from the neck to the nose while the animal was freshly killed and then kept this piece in the freezer. I only took it out of the freezer whenever I was working on it. It seemed that the tissues just peeled away from the bone fairly cleanly when it was semi-frozen. I did the final cleanup with a stiff brush/plastic scouring pad and a mixture of laundry detergent and warm water. I've found that detergent is less harsh on bone than bleach. I like keeping some colour in the bone, so thats another reason I didn't use it. I cut down the nose a bit more and then filed the bottom open cavity of the skull with a rasp and coarse file so that it fit flush on the plaque.

Once the clean skull had a couple of months to dry, I took a soft wire and formed it lengthwise along the inside of the skull. I traced the profile of the wire onto another piece of wood and cut it out with a jigsaw and cut it so the back of the wood is about 1mm beyond being flush with the bottom of the skull when it is inside. After roughing the inside of the skull with sandpaper, I glued the wood into the skull with epoxy. The next day I then ran 2 wood screws through the back of the plaque into the wood that was glued to the skull. Done!

 

[zebra26]

In the past I have used Lepage white glue to coat bones whish were in poor condition. I just rubbed it on with my finger to get a light coat all over and let it dry. leaves a nice protective finish
I got the tip off of a museum site which used the glue to consolidate bone.

As for those hard to reach areas you could always try the do-it-yourself version of this
http://www.customosteo.com/custom_osteo.htm

Z.

 

[Elk man]

In the past I have used Lepage white glue to coat bones whish were in poor condition. I just rubbed it on with my finger to get a light coat all over and let it dry. leaves a nice protective finish
I got the tip off of a museum site which used the glue to consolidate bone.

I gotta try the glue deal...never heard of that . I have normally used Varathane Satin Finish and would evenly brush on 5-6 coats over a few days...maybe a light sanding in between and has worked great.

 

[Noel]

my next question is, should I leave or remove all of the bits of shredded bark that is packed into the nooks and crannies in the rack?

what about painting the skull to hide the bit of dried blood in the joints?( squiggly lines)

First rule is you always try to leave what he put on there. Bark is cool, don't let anyone tell you different. The rack on mine has several holes in the main beams, one with a piece of goo hanging out (old velvet maybe), I was going to rip it out but decided against. If down the road a year or so you still don't like it you can take it off then. It adds character in my books.

I had a guy do my first bull moose skull for me, he painted it with Tremclad even when I told him not to! It looked like crap in my books, And dirty stinky crap at that. Your Deer deserves to get done up right. Clean him up like mentioned here, use some Cascade detergent and you'll be impressed!

Dingus, that Sea Lion Skull is insane!

I am fighting the good fight with crap lighting conditions and a digital camera still, will post pics in a bit or in the morning bright and early! So help me, they will work!

I am thinking my molten wax idea was way out to lunch. That was for sealing a specific type of metal finish on a rifle action! oops.....

I was thinking I should have done a play by play picture post to show each step. If I am brave, I will pull my wolf skull from the freezer and do it for that one.

When I got home I compared this years job with the ones from years past and there is no comparision, they look as good as the $300 jobby buddy did on my ram!

Talk to you soon!

Noel

 

[gitrdun]

Very informative thread, I'll put it to good use for sure. I've heard of putting the skull in an ant hill (gotta wait till spring of course), coat the horns with lard. I'd be worried about critters knawing on it though. Has anyone heard of this?

 

[dingus]

I just Boiled my sea lion head in a 45 gallon barrel (not fun at all ) the flesh just turned into tough Rubber so then i left it out under the 45 gallon barrel till the neibours started to Whine as it rotted!
Stupid Lesbians ya think they would be used to that fishy rotten smell

Anyway i finally gave in and just burried it. 4 month later i dug it up and it just Stunk even worse but all the meat was rotted off eaten by all kinds of weird bugs and maggots.
After blasting it with a hose (watch out cause some teeth will fall out.)
Then set it on the Roof to bleach in the sun.
I used Polyurathane calking to stick the teeth back in. (the Tan colour works ex) And after this summer its nice and white and dont stink at all

 

[Noel]

Hey.. Just in time.. I was going to be starting my first skull tomorrow..

Any other tips for a newbie's first time/?

#1 Skin it as soon as possible while it is soft and workable, try to take off all the flesh in one pass, with the hide, right down to the bone.

When you get to the eyes, do the same, keep all the surrounding hide intact so you have something to grab onto while working it out with a small bladed knife ( fish filletting sort of shape is ideal, but no needed).

#2 Be very careful in the eye socket as the bone structure there is very fragile. Same for in the nose,There are four quadrants of spiralled nasal bones that support the flesh. They are as strong as a wet Kleenex so be careful if you want them intact!

#3 Be patient, try to enjoy it, and get every last bit of goo off before it hits the hot water. Redunk in the cold water if it seems to be getting dry on you. You will see the blood settle to the bottom of the pail ( I used a five gallon pail for Deer) overnight. I changed it out to keep away any chance of it staining the skull. It seemed to work too.

I hope to get these pics posted so you can see what I mean. If you want the nasal bones intact it may be wise to do the basice fleshing and then look close at the pics to see what you're working with.

Talk soon,

Noel

 

[Noel]

The one set of antlers I did a few years ago came out pretty nice. I did it in a sort of european style with most of the skull mounted on the plaque.

I sawed the skull though from the neck to the nose while the animal was freshly killed and then kept this piece in the freezer. I only took it out of the freezer whenever I was working on it. It seemed that the tissues just peeled away from the bone fairly cleanly when it was semi-frozen. I did the final cleanup with a stiff brush/plastic scouring pad and a mixture of laundry detergent and warm water. I've found that detergent is less harsh on bone than bleach. I like keeping some colour in the bone, so thats another reason I didn't use it. I cut down the nose a bit more and then filed the bottom open cavity of the skull with a rasp and coarse file so that it fit flush on the plaque.

Once the clean skull had a couple of months to dry, I took a soft wire and formed it lengthwise along the inside of the skull. I traced the profile of the wire onto another piece of wood and cut it out with a jigsaw and cut it so the back of the wood is about 1mm beyond being flush with the bottom of the skull when it is inside. After roughing the inside of the skull with sandpaper, I glued the wood into the skull with epoxy. The next day I then ran 2 wood screws through the back of the plaque into the wood that was glued to the skull. Done!

I found Bleach to be a big no no. I used it on a Bighorn ram Skull last fall to try and get the final stains out. It had winter killed and was in a sorry state of affairs. It went yellow right away and I swore I saw smoke rise off of it!
Nothing I did after that helped, the bone even got soft. I spent most the summer in my backyard, letting the sun do the work.

The rest of your methods have worked for me too, I just cant handle having cold fingers.

Noel

 

[Noel]

Very informative thread, I'll put it to good use for sure. I've heard of putting the skull in an ant hill (gotta wait till spring of course), coat the horns with lard. I'd be worried about critters knawing on it though. Has anyone heard of this?

I have heard of this being done. I also have the same fears as you. Even the mice chew on shed antlers to get the minerals out of them. Heck, I have a Moose paddle that had been gnawed by a Wolf or Bear! Big chew marks all over punching right through.

Okay, I give up with the bloody camera, sign me up for a course!
50% of them suck, the glass is half full though, right?

Here is one of the first ones I tried, back in 95+/-. He was shot through the head at a very long ways away, not intentionally, so I thought it would be neat to try to salvage the skull. The bullet had gone just below the eye and there was alot of bloodstain. A 19 year old has alot of other things to do with his time and I quickly gave up all hope, it ended up as you see here. I would boil a kettle of water, and pour it over the skull plate until I figured I had had enough. You can see where the blood stain (grey areas) are in the bone still.

grouseman, if I understand you right, this is close to your goal?
If so it will be very easily done and they look cool sitting on top of the television this way too.

I didn't bother doing anymore skulls until 04, I had gotten the biggest Whitetail in a few years, thought I'd do something with it so I welded up a rectangular pot, leaving three inches all around the skull to the edge of the pot and about five inches of water between the bottom of the teeth and the pot base. There I mounted a 6" pipe on the bottom with a hook to hold the tiger torch in place. It is still the same design I use now.

I let it get too hot though, and had the slender bones that support the roof of the mouth touch the edge. They pretty much turned to ashes! Also, I had basically only taken the hide off the head, the eyes out and the jaw. I figured the rest would just fall off like a boiled piece of meat falls from the bone. Wrong again, it turned to hard rubber just like our friend here with the Sea Lion skull had happen. I called it a lesson learned and hung it up in our welding shop for the staff to enjoy....

Jump ahead a couple years. Some friends found a dead buck by their haystack. Their only worry was the coyotes would be tasting meat right by the cattle, they have no use for a deer rack! Their loss, my gain!
Well it had been there four days or so already so it was stiff as a board.
I called up the C.O., got the okay to get it and boy did I get it, well that's another story, but the pics will tell!

Stiff , stinky, gross. That sums it up well. I managed to get the hide off, thank goodness it was froze so it wasn't rotting yet for my weak stomach to enjoy! I stuck it in a bin of warm water. Having read on the net this would encourage the bacteria to start growing, and in turn loosen the greeblies sooner. Well if she didn't stink before, she did now! Time to go to the pot!

I fleshed most of it and boiled, and boiled, and.............
For two or three days I boiled that sucker, while adding baking soda to the hot and airated water, it made for quite a mess. You can see where the blood stained the plate joints. I needed to clean it more before the boiling. I don't want to boil it anymore because too much will make the joints loosen up and it will fall apart in worse cases!

The one thing I was careful with this one was to use a piece of 1/8" copper line with a ball valve and air supply. Bend as needed. The hot water being gargled in the sinus area is just what the doctor ordered to get the flesh loose. From time to time you can unroll the blanketing flesh from around the tunnel frames. I think this part is a sort of heat exchanger, used to warm the air as it is breathed in. Then use one of those spring loaded claw, grabby things that you use when you drop your wrench in a tight spot on your car. MIG pliers also work well.

At the time I was really happy with the outcome of this one, it was the first real success I had up to then.

The next year I got an Elk and another Deer so I wanted to see if I could do any better. I also had a three quarter curl Ram I found, which after getting the permits I finally got it back. It was real rank rotten. By now, I had figured out that fleshing it as soon after it dies, the better. But I was still fighting with the Baking soda. Looking back I don't think it did anything but make a mess.

I finished the Elk but it took so much boiling again that it started getting weak, also little rust spots began to show in the bone. While it was drying a guy at the shop dropped a big chunk of steel on it even after I warned him to keep away. Words don't explain those kind of feelings justly. The Antler plate is intact still but the rest grenaded, hence no pictures of it.

Deer went by the same process and it came out pretty good. You can still see some of the fat trapped in the joint of the plates:

I had never worked with a ram before, nor a rotten stinky skull. It only had hide on the top of the forehead, hard as a brick. I had to boil it to get it cut off, the smell could have knocked you out! I had trouble getting the stains out and tries a little bit of bleach, just to see, well the pics speak for themselves. The bones got weak too, almost mush when wet so I took it out to dry and set it in the backyard for the summer. Some yellow is still left behind from the bleach. Not very happy with this one. I soaked it over and over again with off the shelf peroxide too.
I should mention this was done with most the other heads as well, they did not look very white coming out.

And now, the one you've been waiting for! I shot this one only six days ago and did half of the fleshing on it that night. Once at work on Monday, it sat in a steel five gallon pail full of cold water. I would whittle away on breaks and after work, leaving it to soak overnight. In the morning, the blood had settled to the bottom of the pail, being drawn out of the fresh surfaces I had exposed, a nice suprise! Almost 90% of the goo was off this morning when I heated up the water. I had forgot my baking soda at home, but had brought the detergent so I just put maybe five tablespoons in each of the three charges of water I used. Heated to a hard boil, set in the rack and put the heat back on for a couple minutes, then used the copper air to gurgle a spell.
A half hour later, pulled it out, scraped of some tid bits and repeated. The fat would melt into drops and float at the surface. They never seemed to bother sticking to the skull as it was never oily to the touch. The last time I pulled it out, there was nothing to do but blow it dry with the copper line, be careful, it can knockout those sinus bones very easy.

Well how's that for a bloody blog!
Long winded but I sure hope it helps you out.

I should note that I haven't been able to get the cartlidge out from around the little ear canal, leading to the ear drum. I find it easiest to clean around the ear drum to establish its edges, then I pop them out with a screwdriver to throw them in the bush. Same goes for the canal and the little bones under the drum, inside the brain cavity. Be very careful not to try and smack the wrong bone structure! This way I can get at the brain cavity easier and there are three holes to use for figuring out a wall mount.
If I get a chance I will edit out the yellow shaded pics. I have been up 23 hrs straight now and need to try and sleep.

Any other info is more than welcome, or trouble your having too!

Take care, and best fo luck with your trophy!

Noel

 

[Noel]

Here is the bottom view to show where the ear drums used to be. This is the hardest area to fleshout and it will take a couple to get onto it. You can see the three holes to access the brain cavity now.

Here is what the air tunnel bones look like intact:

Here's what they look like when Noel uses a screwdriver to try and get the flesh out too fast.

 

[grouseman]

Noel, that looks amazing...next buck I shoot, I will do it like you did...im just paranoid about the antlers getting stained from the process....you did a great job!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BCWILL]

Some Nice looking Euros ! Well done