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DIY Euro

crappyice

By crappyice,
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crappyice Grand Master

crappyice

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Here's the result of me cleaning up my buddy's buck from this bow season.

4f96172d6f8ac004c5dfb2dc9f87a4cf.jpg

Process:

Fleshed as much as possible

Boiled for 1 1/2 or so. Picking rest of meat and fat and tissue. Re-dunked in boiling water a few times to loosen tough spots.

Soaked in straight peroxide from the dollar store for 2 days - found I could get the most out of the peroxide by placing skull in zip top bag with antlers sticking out the top and then that bag went in a plastic container.

Air dried.

I'm happy with it but there are a few things I wish I was more carful with. I broke one of the eye socket bones and the nose bone. But for $5.00 of peroxide and some time dinking around, I can't complain- he better not either!!!

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crappyice Grand Master

crappyice

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I honestly can't remember if I cracked the eye socket when scrapping meat or if it showed up after peroxide bath. I know I busted the nose. Can "over soaking" in peroxide "break/eat through" the bone.

Superglue is a good suggestion I will offer to him. Kind of look nice with some "natural" cracks.

Still feels a bit oily. Anything I can do about that?

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Zem18 Apprentice

Zem18

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Don't think peroxide breaks it down. Overheating weakens the bones especially on younger deer from what I've read. When I heat mine or "boil" it, I use dawn dish soap in the water. Then when it is all clean, soak it in degreaser or water with dawn dish soap for a few days.

Another member here uses zep degreaser from Lowe's. Check out the DIY section or the taxidermy section in the forums here. Bunch of great ideas and methods guys use.

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  • 3 weeks later...
wolc123 Grand Master

wolc123

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post-5805-0-44932300-1449358295_thumb.jp

 

I did this one that my buddy killed on opening day with a 3000 psi power washer.  It took 40 minutes total, 10 minutes to skin with a sharp knife, then 30 minutes to blast out the eyballs, brains and other soft tissue.   His kid did one for me a couple years ago using the conventional boil & scrape method.  That took several days, and was a smelly job with a messy cleanup.   There was no smell at all blasting off this fresh head with a power washer.   I also used it to clean off a smaller buck scull plate during archery season and that only took 10 minutes.  I wore goggles and rain bibs and did it on a concrete pad.  Cleanup was easy: the birds and vermin had every bit of the mess gone by the following morning.  I wrapped the lower part of the horns with duct tape to keep the natural antler color.   My buddy was very happy with the job.   It was the least I could do for about 75 pounds of boneless venison. 

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crappyice Grand Master

crappyice

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Wolc said "I did this one that my buddy killed on opening day with a 3000 psi power washer."

Wait! He killed it with a 3000psi power washer? Now that's impressive!

Looks good too!

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Edited by crappyice
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wolc123 Grand Master

wolc123

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post-5805-0-89762700-1449370691_thumb.jp   The nozzle I used is adjustable.  I had it set to the high pressure/pencil position.  I have a couple of buddies who have been using this method for a few years.   There is a youtube video where a guy says he did one in 10 minutes with a 3000 psi washer.   In the daylight, with enough experience, that might be doable.  That was my first one.  At night, under a floodlight, it took 1/2 hour to blast clean.    Hopefully I will get to try it on another one or two in the next couple weeks and I can try to shave a few minutes off my time.  The warm weather this season has cut deer activity a bit, but is great for the "water-blast" euro method.     

 

This picture shows it next to the one the kid did for me two years ago with boil/scrape method.   His dad's power-washed 2-1/2 year old buck scull held up a little better than my boiled 3-1/2.   The kid did his own 1-1/2 year buck at the same time as that one, in the same pot, but it got busted up pretty good by the boiling water.  

 

Sorry about the confusion on his dad's buck's demise.   He killed it with a Marlin 30/30.   I found the bullet in the neck while butchering.  I will have to give it back to him, maybe he can attach it to the scull somehow.    There is no doubt that power-washer would be lethal from close enough range.   I accidentally killed a couple other "deere" parts with it, including the vinyl seat on my big tractor, and the drive belt on my mower.   I also blew some paint off my truck.             

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dbHunterNY Proficient

dbHunterNY

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I've done a few.  had last one break and ended up going the fake plastic skull route.  came out good.  years late it's got some dry cracks in the painted epoxy but is definitely fixable.  I'm in the process of doing this last one.  had a minor set back with a knife.  if I had a pressure washer right now I'd be using that.  some mild dish soap soaking and a soft bristled brush will is what I use to "degrease" it once it's cleaned of soft tissue.  I try to stay away from bleach as it'd make bones brittle and eat into them a little.  peroxide paste at a beauty store whitens things up nice.  few coats seems to work.  I keep the nose bone off the bottom by putting resting the anlters on wood blocks on the pot edge so it doesn't get too much heat.  plus the water isn't boiling but a slow simmer for hours while I get stuff done outside or in the garage.

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Zem18 Apprentice

Zem18

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I've posted this before but thought I would share my "cheap" version of a buck boiler or skull boiler. I used an old waste paper basket from a shredder that didn't work anymore. I bought a 1 inch water tight conduit hub with 1" NPT threads ( fancy talk for being able to screw a hot water heater element into the hub) Lastly I bought a 150volt, 1500 watt electric hot water heater element.

I drilled a hole in the waste paper basket so I could insert the hub and then I used some epoxy to seal around it so it wouldn't leak. Then you screw in the heater element and connect a cord to the two terminals. That's it. Fill the bucket with water before plugging in or you ruin the element( $9.95 at Lowes)

Here are some pics. Let me know if you have any questions.

I wanted to add that this does not actually boil but will simmer and gets the job done quite well. Looking forward to trying the pressure washer after using the boiler. I hate scraping by hand.

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Edited by Zem18
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njg0621 Newbie

njg0621

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I have done several now with Van Dykes skull bleaching kit.  It comes with Sodium Carbonate, you mix this with the boiling water and the flesh literally comes right off the bone.  I flesh it best I can and then boil for 1 hour total with the Sodium Carbonate.  I can literally take a head with nothing done to it and have it totally done in 4 hours.  1 day start to finish including bleaching (let it sit overnight).  

 

http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/Skull-Bleaching-Instructions-W377.aspx

 

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  • 5 weeks later...
Zem18 Apprentice

Zem18

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Here are a few pics of my bow buck from this year. Finished awhile ago and just around to taking pics. Still need to figure out what I'm doing for a plaque or backer for this and the one I did last year.

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post-287-0-89949000-1453335370_thumb.jpg

Edited by Zem18
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