DD here is how i did mine. my info was gathered from this forum thru some searching and asking a few ??? of my own. Here it goes. skin hide and as much meat as possable from skull as soon as possible. remove eyes and lower jaw bone. be very careful around nose area, its very fragile. some use dermastid beatles to clean the skull ( they are flesh eaters and i have never tried them) . I boiled mine in a big pot that i used to boil traps in. I did not boil for long, mabey 15 minutes just to help loosen some meat. if you boil to long the bones will become loose and teeth might fall out, mine did not. you can glue these back in.I then put mine on the ground and put some fencing around it(staked down) to let mother nature care of it. about once a week i would take it out and remove some more meat. a coat hanger with a hook is good for fishing brane matter out and an occanisonal rince with the garden hose. When all clean, soak in dawn dish soap and water for several days to degrease. now get some 40% peroxide from the beauty shop. i made my wife go in.
I used a plastic container to set the skull in. mix the peroxide with water (i used two bottles of the 40%) take paper towels and fold two strips about 3/4" wide and wrap around bases under the bur to wick the peroxide as it will not cover the whole skull without getting on the bases of the antler. wrap bases with aluminum foil or something to keep peroxide off the bases because it will foam up. pour solution around skull just till its under the bases. part of the skull is still high and dry so fold some paper towels in a triangle and lay on the front and rear of the exposed skullcovering all bone and wet it down with solution. i had to weight my towels down because they will float when it gets foamy. i let mine soak for about 5 days rewetting the towels every day. then took it out and blotten on some solution straight from the bottle and let set overnight. rinsing off the next day. now take it out side and place in direct sunlet ( thanks nctaxi) for about three days witch really starts to whiten the skull. go to the craft store and get a bottle of MOD PODGE it looks like elmers white glue but dries clear. i used the Gloss. i put on three coats with a sponge brush but you can put on more for a greater shine. If i left anything out feel free to add fellas. I know some like to do different. hope this helps.
Dan
Euro mount and hand made plaque pics
