Flat skins

[schmijar]

I will report back.

 

[schmijar]

A vast improvement! Thank you @buck wild and everyone else. Hartebeest is currently getting the same treatment.

 

[Sabre]

A vast improvement! Thank you @buck wild and everyone else. Hartebeest is currently getting the same treatment.
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Massive improvement! Good job. Maybe do a short writeup of everything you did and what you felt worked the best. Did you end up brushing out the hair? Or did just laying the towel on it get it to flatten the correct direction?

 

[buck wild]

Massive improvement! Good job. Maybe do a short writeup of everything you did and what you felt worked the best. Did you end up brushing out the hair? Or did just laying the towel on it get it to flatten the correct direction?

You can send me the taxidermy consultation fee Seriously, I’m glad to help. It will get better over time just laying flat.

 

[Dogone]

Could skins be rolled for shipping? Might take more room but perhaps not.

 

[Dogone]

Could skins be rolled for shipping? Might take more room but perhaps not

 

[schmijar]

The hide is a bit damp yet, I have it over a railing to dry all the way before I declare victory. The hartebeest is currently under the plywood. If I get them both dry and looking good I'll write up what I did with before and after pics.

Massive improvement! Good job. Maybe do a short writeup of everything you did and what you felt worked the best. Did you end up brushing out the hair? Or did just laying the towel on it get it to flatten the correct direction?

 

[schmijar]

You can send me the taxidermy consultation fee Seriously, I’m glad to help. It will get better over time just laying flat.

Seriously, how much money did you just save me?! Much appreciated.

 

[schmijar]

Alright. Here's the report. After doing a test portion of a hide with a steam iron method and not getting great results i did as @buck wild suggested.

I took an old towel and got it damp, but not soaking. I laid the skin down on the hardwood floor and draped the towel over it. Once flat on the skin, I slid the towel down toward the tail, (in the primary direction of the hair). I then put plywood/boards over the towel and added some weight. I checked them every day but didn't wait till the towel under the board was totally dry, I gave them 2 or 3 days. After that i took everything off and they looked pretty good. Still a little damp, so I hung them over a railing to dry better (i was afraid of them starting to smell or get damaged if they were wet too long). They really turned out as good as I could have expected. The deep creases on the skin side are all gone and the hair looks so much better. The "after" pic of the hartebeest looks like there are still ridges but those were where the board edges were and already disappeared.

Thanks again to all and especially buck wild!

 

[schmijar]

One note for your safety.

I don't currently have a wife to tell me which towels I can and can't use. Please be careful out there fellas.

 

[buck wild]

They will get better over time as they lay flat. I’ll ad a big PS here for future folks reading with the same issue.
If you remember, this first fact I asked sbout was whether the skins were stiff or soft. You replied soft, thus my recommendation. If the answer had been stiff, then a more aggressive approach would have been needed with potential additional bad results in some cases.