Deer skin

[Toddy]

HWMBLT has just given me a tutorial (and a neatly printed out crib sheet ) of how to post photos from my picassa thingie.
So, I'm going to try it out.

The deer skin came from the one that my friend, a butcher to trade, showed me how to take apart in joints I recognise, not just as amorphous bits of venison

It was left in a black bag in my freezing cold shed for a week until I got time to finally open it out and think about dealing with it.
The original intention had been to make rawhide from it, and smoke tan it at the Scottish New Year meet at Wiston Lodge.
However, having opened it out, and the pelt is lovely and it feels sound, no holes since it was a high neck shot that felled the animal, that seemed a bit of a waste.
I'll see how it goes, and will post my progress, but for the present I'll give the washing machine method a try.

Firstly, remove all the visceral tissues from the inside of the skin.

Easier said than done. They don't want to come off
I could scrape them off, but that can damage the skin with little nicks and scars. I could cover the entire insides in salt and stretch the skin out and leave it to dry. This makes a very fine salty crumbly surface which just rubs off, but it doesn't always lend itself to keeping the pelt.
I'm hand working the skin clean.

Here's as far as I'd gotten by 9 am this morning. Bitter cold and numb I gave up and made like a taxi for my Uncle for the rest of the day No daylight to do anymore today and it's not a job you want to do in the warm

Sika deerskin, about three quarters peeled.

Sika deerskin, with most of the visceral tissues peeled from the hide.

Easing the fine layer off the hide.

The aim is to remove the thin tissues while leaving the hide intact without damaging the underside of the hair follicles.

It's hard work because it doesn't want to peel, and if it's scraped it can damage the hide

Often there's a very thin (this one's about 1mm thick) meaty layer lying directly under the skin. Butchering doesn't remove this, so it has to come off with the rest of the cawl.

Easing back cleanly, and at this point I decided to see if I could manage to keep the pelt sound too.

 

[Toddy]

Okay, well that no workie

And my tech refs are totally engrossed in the bowels of a dead computer

Anyone know how to fix this so that the images show ?

Pretty please ?

Toddy

p.s. How come I had to add the caption to the first photo by editing it in here ?

 

[rancid badger]

There's certainly one image there Toddy

R.B.

 

[British Red]

Hmmm


Lets see

Is that visible?

 

[British Red]

Yep that works,

right, I think you have pasted in the URL and then added the img tags

The trouble is the forum software has abreviated the URL. Next time click the mountain image thingy when making the post and paste the full URL into the pop up dialogue box.

That'll work

Red

 

[Toddy]

Ah you're a gem
So I need to go and repost them ?

Why did the first one work ?

cheers,
M

 

[British Red]

Not sure Toddy,

I clicked the link, grabbed the "full" URL and then pasted it in using the dialogue box....

Seemed to work

 

[Toddy]

For some reason the forum seems to have inserted into the start and end of my link ... Thanks for the help :You_Rock_ cheers, M

 

[Cyclingrelf]

I'm hand working the skin clean.

:notworthy
I just brain tanned some sheepskins, and scraped them all with a metal scraper. It knackered my hands. You must be quite a lady Toddy!
Susannah

 

[DavidJT]

Really interesting, hope to hearing about the rest of the method now the gremlins are fixed.

 

[Toddy]

I think it really helped that it was soooo cold.
I really was frozen by the time I stopped. I think the cold stops the tissues stretching quite so much and that helps them seperate.
You're right though, my hands and forearms fair got a work out

cheers,
M

 

[Toddy]

Finished removing as much as I could of the visceral tissues. Tiny fatty bits at the rump were a real pain
I don't know what the bloody bit just below the shoulders is, might be bruising, it certainly seems to be in the skin rather than on it. We'll see how it turns out after it's washed.

Deer hide with visceral tissues removed

Still 'looks' kind of messy, but it is ready for the wash now.


I've put it into the washing machine, on the ordinary daily wash programme 40 oC with double load of biological washing liquid (Persil )

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Toddy]

I've taken it out of the washing machine and there's a fair amount of loose hair. Then I thought about it, the pelt still seems sound enough, and there's no more loose hair than I would expect if I'd brushed the animal.
I still think this one is worth trying to keep the pelt.

Straight out of the washing machine, looking good so far.

On the whole I'm quite pleased with it

The pelt is dense, beautiful and even wet feels wonderful.
I've got the washing machine washing itself out now with nothing in it. Give the drains a chance to clear
I'll put the hide back in when it's finished but with loads of fabric conditioner.
Then have another look and see if I still think the pelt is worth trying for.


cheers,
Toddy

 

[Cyclingrelf]

I do hope it works out - the pelt looks lovely!

 

[Toddy]

I thought that this skin had hung around a bit too long for this method to work, but it *seems* sound enough so far.
It's been very cold, and that's slowed down the rotting thankfully.
HWMBLT says it was stinking, but I didn't think it was that bad tbh, and I'm the vegan

I knew that if the fur started to come free during the wash it wasn't worth worrying over. Just get the hide into a bucket of cold water for a few days and let the rest slip off. The skin could then be rawhide tanned using the handcream and smoke method.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Everything Mac]

that looks good Toddy.

is that the skin you had hanging up at Galgael?

i always mean to have a go at tanning some rabbit skins but never get round to it.

andy

 

[Toddy]

No, this is the one from the venison last week. The stuff that got made into Lorne sausages.

The one in Galgael is being salted, Ian's doing that one to make the skin for a bodhran.

This method is suppoesed to make good skins from rabbits

cheers,
M

 

[Everything Mac]

cool - i shall follow with interest then!

many thanks

andy

 

[tommy the cat]

Dont let it dry out and then put in the washing machine as the hair will slip been there done that.
Looks good so far!
D

 

[Toddy]

That sounds like it could be disastrous for the drains

I've done a few this way and thankfully they've never shed much when in the machine

The last one I did was Roe, before that it was a Red, the hair that did come off seemed much finer than the stuff that's come from this Sika. It's almost like stiff guard hairs that have come free.

cheers,
Toddy