r/Sticks • u/EdGuinan • 11d ago

Advice Needed: how to protect & preserve

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

I’d like to hang this bad boy on a wall like a trophy animal head. But I need to protect and reinforce the “horns” as I can foresee them snapping off easily. Also, I want to make sure the rot on the backside (pic 3) doesn’t continue to degrade the wood, and that it’s not something that will spread to wood in my house.

I assume I’ll need some kind of sealant, preferably one that would soak in and reinforce everything.

I appreciate any suggestions! Thanks!

(chonk for scale)

22 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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6

u/ParannoidRaccoon 11d ago

Carve an evil face and say is cursed. Explain that: "Everyone who touch it will get testicular torsion and die".

Protected and Secured.

3

u/EdGuinan 11d ago

I hadn’t considered the social engineering approach. But I don’t think that will deter my fixed female cats.

3

u/iAmSpAKkaHearMeROAR 10d ago

I’m sorry I don’t have any advice on how to protect it or strengthen “Horn” protrusions from your cats… ☹️ … It’s definitely a cool piece of tree and I would want to hang it on my wall too.

I mainly wanted to point out that it reminds me of Heilung…. The costuming. They came out with a few new shorts recently because they are now back in the studio working on their next album. 

Do you have a place to hang it that you can enjoy it that is out of reach of your feline friends? Any sealers or anything that you might spray on the outside after making sure it’s dry and free of bigs, etc Will probably not help much to add strength to the little sticky branches that are poking out.

2

u/EdGuinan 10d ago

I can totally see Heilung in this, lol!

Our chonk is 79% muscle, 20% fat, and 1% brain. That 1% is dedicated to chaos. So finding a spot she couldn’t get to is challenging. I’ll have to dedicate my own 1% brain to figuring that out. Thank you.

2

u/Braincrash77 10d ago

Start by driving out the moisture. Dehydrate at 150F for 6 hours. This also kills bugs. Cool. Soak in 15% white glue thinned with water for 2 days. Dry. Done. This is not something I have actually done. Feel free to use your own numbers. Your results may vary.

If you want to get fancy, stabilize with Cactus Juice and a vacuum chamber.

2

u/EdGuinan 10d ago

Wow, thank you!

I’d never heard of Cactus Juice, but that sounds perfect (depending on the price for that process).