The work begins
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Boiling day, for the water I am looking at 185*-190* constant temp. If you get into the boiling range of 213* and above the skull will start to split and separate. I will check water temp and water level every half hour. This could take upwards of 6 hours to do.

twilliams You are spot on for the temperature, to keep the cartilage in place. A pressure washer a time saver for cleaning them up. I use 36% hydrogen peroxide for the whitening at a 50/50 mix with water, for about 5 days. There are other products available to whiten them, although I get out dated peroxide from my brother and the free price is right.
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twilliams Keeping a vehicle for that long is actually one of the best things you can do for the environment and your wallet! Good job planning that far ahead! I told my wife what I said on the livestream about my truck keeping me “grounded” she called me “stupid”
PS my source for that is Top Gear so dont take me too seriously!
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twilliams Keeping a vehicle for that long is actually one of the best things you can do for the environment and your wallet! Good job planning that far ahead! I told my wife what I said on the livestream about my truck keeping me “grounded” she called me “stupid”
PS my source for that is Top Gear so dont take me too seriously!
Jonathon well the payment of this truck is definitely keeping me “grounded” since I can not afford anything else or go anywhere fun….lol. Then on top of todays living costs, well let’s not even start on that subject.
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Going slower than anticipated, 6 hours in and first power wash. Gonna do another 2 hours and hopefully all meat will be loose. Only about 5% meat left.

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Going slower than anticipated, 6 hours in and first power wash. Gonna do another 2 hours and hopefully all meat will be loose. Only about 5% meat left.

twilliams Looks like good progress.
Did you flush out the brains with the power washer yet? That’s always the fun part.
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twilliams Looks like good progress.
Did you flush out the brains with the power washer yet? That’s always the fun part.
processhead yep a lovely white cream with added chunks….lol
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After having to work a couple Saturdays in a row I am back to the skull today. Today is just merely a heated soak in a degreasing detergent. I am using an absolute clear Palmolive dishwashing detergent. I am gonna stay around 160* to not heat it back up too bad. Maybe keep it in for two hours. I watched videos on where they say they put the degreasing in at time of boiling to get flesh off and others say to soak it for three weeks in the detergent after the boiling and meat removal. The end results I seen from the videos gets it to the same point. The one video I am following mostly is using a 40% by volume cream peroxide developer by lightly brushing the peroxide on to whiten. Others are using regular peroxide and putting it in the original boiling water then soaking skull for 10-15 minutes. Not sure which is better, one step that is added by doing that method is it will bleach some of the antler so you need to stain it to match the antler color, maybe I will try the second skull the other way. I’m happy with results this far in the process.

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I think you know this. Whichever whitener you use, be sure it doesn’t get on the antlers unless you want to get rid of their natural color. One time when i was practicing on a nothing special skull I had some bleach in the boil kettle and it got on the bases of the antlers.
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The inevitable happened, the main upper snout bones separated, don’t be alarmed I took off the lower snout bones. Glad I did, there was a lot of cartilage and meat between where they sit. It’s just a simple super glue to reinstall. I will also try to super glue where the upper snout separated to get them back together. Out sun drying right now and hopefully will get the peroxide applied before bedtime.

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The inevitable happened, the main upper snout bones separated, don’t be alarmed I took off the lower snout bones. Glad I did, there was a lot of cartilage and meat between where they sit. It’s just a simple super glue to reinstall. I will also try to super glue where the upper snout separated to get them back together. Out sun drying right now and hopefully will get the peroxide applied before bedtime.

twilliams It is coming along nicely.
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The hardest part behind you now.
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The inevitable happened, the main upper snout bones separated, don’t be alarmed I took off the lower snout bones. Glad I did, there was a lot of cartilage and meat between where they sit. It’s just a simple super glue to reinstall. I will also try to super glue where the upper snout separated to get them back together. Out sun drying right now and hopefully will get the peroxide applied before bedtime.

twilliams I use the 40 volume clear liquid. That way it also bleaches inside the brain and nasal cavities.
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twilliams I use the 40 volume clear liquid. That way it also bleaches inside the brain and nasal cavities.
cdavis ya I just seen that on another video I watched after I bought the cream….ugh
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twilliams the cream still does a good job. You’ll do fine and it will turn out great
. I know how much attention you pay to detail
. You’ve got it looking good so far. Can’t wait to see the end product. Nice buck by the way. Congrats. -
The two lower nose bones went back on nicely. Now taped the upper nose bones that split and super gluing inside to see if they will stay closed, if not that is ok as they did not split as wide as others I have seen, they did come back together a bit from the last photo I posted. The whitening is pretty decent, it’s not a super bright white that you would have with a soak bleaching and has some darker spots on it. I’m kinda digging it as it makes it look realistic in my opinion, I also left the teeth alone and did not bleach them a second time like the skull to remain it’s life like tarter line.


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The two lower nose bones went back on nicely. Now taped the upper nose bones that split and super gluing inside to see if they will stay closed, if not that is ok as they did not split as wide as others I have seen, they did come back together a bit from the last photo I posted. The whitening is pretty decent, it’s not a super bright white that you would have with a soak bleaching and has some darker spots on it. I’m kinda digging it as it makes it look realistic in my opinion, I also left the teeth alone and did not bleach them a second time like the skull to remain it’s life like tarter line.


twilliams Looks good, Tim. Personally, I think too bleached white looks kind of unnatural.
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The two lower nose bones went back on nicely. Now taped the upper nose bones that split and super gluing inside to see if they will stay closed, if not that is ok as they did not split as wide as others I have seen, they did come back together a bit from the last photo I posted. The whitening is pretty decent, it’s not a super bright white that you would have with a soak bleaching and has some darker spots on it. I’m kinda digging it as it makes it look realistic in my opinion, I also left the teeth alone and did not bleach them a second time like the skull to remain it’s life like tarter line.


twilliams Very nice job.
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The two lower nose bones went back on nicely. Now taped the upper nose bones that split and super gluing inside to see if they will stay closed, if not that is ok as they did not split as wide as others I have seen, they did come back together a bit from the last photo I posted. The whitening is pretty decent, it’s not a super bright white that you would have with a soak bleaching and has some darker spots on it. I’m kinda digging it as it makes it look realistic in my opinion, I also left the teeth alone and did not bleach them a second time like the skull to remain it’s life like tarter line.


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Very happy with the skull so I am considering it complete. Upper nose bone at this point is closed up nicely and holding. Now to get started on the back drop to set it all off and make a complete piece of art……stay tuned

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Very happy with the skull so I am considering it complete. Upper nose bone at this point is closed up nicely and holding. Now to get started on the back drop to set it all off and make a complete piece of art……stay tuned

twilliams Sure is looking good.
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