Great! I'm glad you got them skins all soft using the taut rope. A wilderness alternative would be a de-barked, knot free, seasoned sapling or Hazel pole. De-barked and seasoned because otherwise you will end up with a green tinted skin. I've made a pretty convincing rope out of Clematis bark, about 1" thick, using the same method of laying up as so often used in making nettle cordage. It's quite strong but not as strong as the same thickness of rope you would buy in a shop. It would certainly be good enough for pulling skins round though.
Brain tanning rabbit fur
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Got to say having a bit of a mare! Really struggling to scrape the hide soaked for an hour to try to rehydrate and spent another 3 hours gettin no where fast. I am using the back of an old mitre saw blade over an old ironing board. I have a had a bit of hair loss too......I would have liked to have had a go with a smaller animal first but the deer hide would have gone in the bin...cant have that.
Anyway only gonna use it as a rug so dont know whether to tan now before it deteriorates more?!?! There is no flesh on the hide just cant seem to get all the membrane off!!
What do ya think?
Ta dave
Ps well done for getting results there chaps.
Anyway only gonna use it as a rug so dont know whether to tan now before it deteriorates more?!?! There is no flesh on the hide just cant seem to get all the membrane off!!
What do ya think?
Ta dave
Ps well done for getting results there chaps.
Hi Dave, I haven't done a deer myself yet, but there's a video here on scraping off the flesh and membranes you might find useful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rvONtUYBrg&feature=related
Good luck!
Thanks for the tips Joe - the hazel pole sounds a good idea!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rvONtUYBrg&feature=related
Good luck!
Thanks for the tips Joe - the hazel pole sounds a good idea!
Gonna experiment with a different scraper although looking at that I am alot nearer than I think I thought that I was.Think the skin is too wet an I need a better fleshing beam....off to the woods for a log i think.
d
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Hi Dave,
You definitely need to be scraping over a rounded surface like an old drainage pipe or very smooth log about 6" diameter. The soaking will tend to make the hair 'slip' in some places more than others. Also, deer hairs are very prone to breaking and shedding everywhere if used as a rug so it's better that you get them all off anyway. If I were you, I would scrape all the membrane and flesh off over a rounded beam and then put it back into soak in a water and wood ash solution for a couple of days, then just 'push' the hopefully slipping hairs off with a fairly dull blade again over the rounded beam or pipe. Then follow all the usual steps for producing buckskin. Or you could stretch it in a rack and use your right angled hide scraper to remove the membrane from the skin side - I do that quite often but you need to be careful how much weight you put behind your metal edges or you could go through the hide fairly easily.
If you want to keep the hair on a deer hide next time (for a wall hanging?) it would be best to scrape the flesh off when it's fresh (or put it straight in the freezer if that's not possible) and then stretch it out on a rack to dry scrape the non hair side before braining, working, drying, buffing and smoking. Try not to soak it at all, just dampen it on the skin side only when required.
You definitely need to be scraping over a rounded surface like an old drainage pipe or very smooth log about 6" diameter. The soaking will tend to make the hair 'slip' in some places more than others. Also, deer hairs are very prone to breaking and shedding everywhere if used as a rug so it's better that you get them all off anyway. If I were you, I would scrape all the membrane and flesh off over a rounded beam and then put it back into soak in a water and wood ash solution for a couple of days, then just 'push' the hopefully slipping hairs off with a fairly dull blade again over the rounded beam or pipe. Then follow all the usual steps for producing buckskin. Or you could stretch it in a rack and use your right angled hide scraper to remove the membrane from the skin side - I do that quite often but you need to be careful how much weight you put behind your metal edges or you could go through the hide fairly easily.
If you want to keep the hair on a deer hide next time (for a wall hanging?) it would be best to scrape the flesh off when it's fresh (or put it straight in the freezer if that's not possible) and then stretch it out on a rack to dry scrape the non hair side before braining, working, drying, buffing and smoking. Try not to soak it at all, just dampen it on the skin side only when required.
Very interesting Joe thanks. Was thinking of an underblanket more than a rug. Its currently in a alum salt solution...will see how I get on......probably no hair left on it but then I guess I will make buckskin!
Ta Dave
Ta Dave
Ive made a few attempts brain smoking rabbit hides from the meat rabbits we raise, with no luck so far. I tried it with and without rinsing the hide after soaking it in brains. The first one i kept hole and smoked over woodstove pipe for hours, brought it inside. It was so soft and i thought it would stay like that but it dried rock hard overnight.
Any idea how i can reconstitute it?
Any idea how i can reconstitute it?
Sorry, I missed this. I understand you can reconstitute by going back to the brain stage. If you don't have brains, eggs will do. Work the egg in until the skin is soft again, then keep working it until it is completely dry and then finally smoke it.
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Brain tanning, according to Ray Mears (can't remember which video clip it was, as it was years ago), the hide/pelt your doing, just use the brain of the very same animal and thin it with Luke warm water.
I did a rabbit a long time ago, but my problem was drying it.
I did a rabbit a long time ago, but my problem was drying it.
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