Skull Turned out great!

[Recurve-Elk]

Did my first skull job this last week.  I boiled it, then soaked in hydrogen peroxide for about 36 hours.  Turned out pretty nice!  Just thought I would share.  Skull measures 7, 3/4 inches from end to end.  The canine's are nasty looking!

[aer212]

I was wondering, how long do you boil a skull?

[bugs n bones]

i can see grease in the lower jaw still, once it completely dries more grease will show up. Boiling skulls is like painting a car with can of krylon

[Recurve-Elk]

I boiled this one for probably around 3 hours or so cleaned it up a bit, then boiled for another hour or so and cleaned again. 

Hatchetjack -  Out of curiosity, what technique do you use?  This was my first try at cleaning up a skull.  Would like to know how I could do better if I ever end up getting a bull or big deer.

[bugs n bones]

Dermisted beetles..... a degeasing tank.....and alot of patience! 

[Recurve-Elk]

Oh I gotcha.  Beetles, I read about those little guys.  Well ill have to read up on that process in the event that I harvest a big old bull!

[bugs n bones]

you can just bring it to me, and save yourself alot of trouble

[bucklucky]

Or maceration and a good  degreasing tank. 

[Jordanskylery]

I was curious about this process too.  I got my first deer last year and butchered, skinned, tanned the hide and tried to boil and bleach the skull. 

I boiled for several hours to clean it up before the bleaching process but found it made the bone very brittle.

 If you boil is it better to do it at very low temps or not good to do at all?
 I've heard of the beetles too what is the degreasing tank all about?

[Recurve-Elk]

I was curious about this process too.  I got my first deer last year and butchered, skinned, tanned the hide and tried to boil and bleach the skull. 

I boiled for several hours to clean it up before the bleaching process but found it made the bone very brittle.

 If you boil is it better to do it at very low temps or not good to do at all?
 I've heard of the beetles too what is the degreasing tank all about?

From what I have researched if you go with hot maceration (boiling) Excuse me, wrong definition, boiling is different than maceration. (see below).

Anyway if you want to boil, you really want to simmer.  I don't know why they use the word boil actually lol.  If you boil too hot the skull can fall apart and teeth can crack.  I just cooked it with a good simmer, not a rolling boil.  What did you use to bleach?  Don't actually use bleach, it too will make the bone brittle.  Use peroxide instead. 

Funny how they use the terms boil and bleach when in fact you shouldn't boil or bleach... 

FYI - I am no expert on the matter. 

[bucklucky]

Maceration IS NOT BOILING !  Its using bacteria in warm water ( 90 degrees works well) to eat the meat off of the skull. Usually takes a week to clean a skull. When you pull it out it will be nice and clean and the nice thing is the degreasing process has already started. Simmering / Boiling is not a good way to clean skulls. It never will unless you dont care about quality .

[Recurve-Elk]

Maceration IS NOT BOILING !  Its using bacteria in warm water ( 90 degrees works well) to eat the meat off of the skull. Usually takes a week to clean a skull. When you pull it out it will be nice and clean and the nice thing is the degreasing process has already started. Simmering / Boiling is not a good way to clean skulls. It never will unless you dont care about quality .

My bad I will edit the post, I must have been confused.

I guess it all depends on what you want for quality though.  I am personally pretty pleased with the results I had, pleased enough that I will for sure do it again.  But look into a degrease process as well.  I had a few spots show some minor darkening but that's about it. 

Being on a budget and a DIY kind of a person I am a happy camper.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.   

[Jordanskylery]

I made both those mistakes my first year and only have a poor remnants of my skull due to that.  I boiled to hot and used too high concentration of bleach to water. 

From what I have heard, using fly larva, or warm water with bacteria is the way to go. 

What do you use as far as bacteria goes for the warm water?  Any good methods of warm water without having to cook it in the house?  Also what is degreasing all about?

Last year I used a turkey fryer thing on low but it still got too hot and boiled. Never heard of a degreasing stage....

[Recurve-Elk]

I made both those mistakes my first year and only have a poor remnants of my skull due to that.  I boiled to hot and used too high concentration of bleach to water. 

From what I have heard, using fly larva, or warm water with bacteria is the way to go. 

What do you use as far as bacteria goes for the warm water?  Any good methods of warm water without having to cook it in the house?  Also what is degreasing all about?

Last year I used a turkey fryer thing on low but it still got too hot and boiled. Never heard of a degreasing stage....

I read about people using fish tank heaters to keep the water in the 80's or 90's for good bacteria production.  As far as degreasing is concerned I have no experience, better ask the guys above on that one.  Ive heard of people using tons of different kinds of chemicals and soaps.   

When I cooked my skull I just kept a close eye on it and never let it go above a simmer. 

[bucklucky]

Try macerating or Beetle Cleaning  a skull and compare it to the one you boiled and let me know what one looks nicer . The problem is when a skull is boiled it seems to  lock grease in the skull and is harder to get degreased. For a fast instant gratifacation you can boil all you want. Sure it can look nice and white when you get done but I can say ( I have plenty of experniance as I USED to boil / simmer / cook and ruin skulls) over time the grease will leach out of the skull leaving one nasty looking skull. You take a chance on chalking too . Youll be surprised had how much more work you put into a boiled skull than you do a macerated or beetle cleaned skull.  It does take alot of time to degrease properly, the issue with any skulls is people wanting them done fast . Fast dont happen , patients is key when degreasing. What happens with a boiled skull, the super hot water (200 plus degrease, water boils at 212) it will get the grease off the surface and for a while it will look ok for awhile but soon the grease that is in the skull will leach to the surface. There is alot of grease in skulls.

I dont know if you read through this thread but its a good one  on macerating skulls. The only dofferance in a Macerated skull versus a beetle cleaned skull is one uses beetles to clean , the other uses maceration. The degreasing and whitening process is the same.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?topic=16008.msg181209#msg181209

There is also alot of info on Taxidermy.net  on skull cleaning / degreasing.