So everyone here has been very nice and helped me so much I wanted to try to give something back. Before we start please be careful and wear the appropriate safety equipment so you don't get hurt.
I don't have any feet to show you pictures of how I dry them , it's the way a lot of people do it. I will add pictures later when I do some more. I wanted to focus on the cap mainly.
First I take the fresh removed foot and wash it with dawn dish soap and water, mainly to clean the fur, then I dry them off as best as I can and let them air dry for and hour or 2.
After the fur is dried I put them in a jar filled with 91 percent isopropyl alcohol which is easily bought at Walmart or Walgreens. I leave it in there for 48 hours or longer. You can reuse the alcohol as many times as you want.
Next I take the foot out of the alcohol and wash it in a solution of water and borax, dry it as much as you can by squeezing it and using a towel, let them air dry until they are hard and dry, takes a few days up to a week.
While you are waiting for them to dry or soak you can make the caps, I had a hard time finding ones to use and when I did they were too small or really cheap, and I didn't really like the jingle bell look. So I came up with the idea to use 1/2 copper plumbing caps and scrap 12gauge solid copper wire. These caps are like .29 cents at the hardware store.
Here's a couple pictures of the caps I use, they do make other shapes styles too.
So first I put the cap in the vise
Then I find some scrap wire
Strip it with a utility knife or wire strippers(please be careful!)
Then I wrap it around the cap in the vise, there are many designs and ways you can make the loop.
I use channel locks to bend the loose ends around so they don't stick out.
Next I use a propane or mapp gas torch, lead free solder, and lead free solder paste flux.
Apply some flux to the copper, the flux cleans the copper and allows the solder to bond to the copper.
Heat the cap and the flux will melt into the copper.
Once you have been heating it for 30 seconds or so it should be hot enough to melt the solder when you touch it to it.
Let the cap cool and you have the finished cap!
Wash the cap really well with warm water and dish soap so the extra flux and oils will come off.
To hold the foot in the cap I use 2 ton epoxy glue.
Mix the epoxy and fill the cap a 1/3 of the way with the epoxy, if you use too much it will push out and get on the fur.
Then I trim the fur off the top of the foot about 3/8 of an inch so it has the bone sticking out on top. I dab the bone with a damp paper towel and roll just the bone part in dry powdered borax. Then I put it in the cap and twist it back and forth a couple times to make sure the glue is spread good.
Then I let the glue dry and here is the finished product.
I don't have any feet to show you pictures of how I dry them , it's the way a lot of people do it. I will add pictures later when I do some more. I wanted to focus on the cap mainly.
First I take the fresh removed foot and wash it with dawn dish soap and water, mainly to clean the fur, then I dry them off as best as I can and let them air dry for and hour or 2.
After the fur is dried I put them in a jar filled with 91 percent isopropyl alcohol which is easily bought at Walmart or Walgreens. I leave it in there for 48 hours or longer. You can reuse the alcohol as many times as you want.
Next I take the foot out of the alcohol and wash it in a solution of water and borax, dry it as much as you can by squeezing it and using a towel, let them air dry until they are hard and dry, takes a few days up to a week.
While you are waiting for them to dry or soak you can make the caps, I had a hard time finding ones to use and when I did they were too small or really cheap, and I didn't really like the jingle bell look. So I came up with the idea to use 1/2 copper plumbing caps and scrap 12gauge solid copper wire. These caps are like .29 cents at the hardware store.
Here's a couple pictures of the caps I use, they do make other shapes styles too.
So first I put the cap in the vise
Then I find some scrap wire
Strip it with a utility knife or wire strippers(please be careful!)
Then I wrap it around the cap in the vise, there are many designs and ways you can make the loop.
I use channel locks to bend the loose ends around so they don't stick out.
Next I use a propane or mapp gas torch, lead free solder, and lead free solder paste flux.
Apply some flux to the copper, the flux cleans the copper and allows the solder to bond to the copper.
Heat the cap and the flux will melt into the copper.
Once you have been heating it for 30 seconds or so it should be hot enough to melt the solder when you touch it to it.
Let the cap cool and you have the finished cap!
Wash the cap really well with warm water and dish soap so the extra flux and oils will come off.
To hold the foot in the cap I use 2 ton epoxy glue.
Mix the epoxy and fill the cap a 1/3 of the way with the epoxy, if you use too much it will push out and get on the fur.
Then I trim the fur off the top of the foot about 3/8 of an inch so it has the bone sticking out on top. I dab the bone with a damp paper towel and roll just the bone part in dry powdered borax. Then I put it in the cap and twist it back and forth a couple times to make sure the glue is spread good.
Then I let the glue dry and here is the finished product.
