I have been reading about tanning hides, it look messy and complicated. does anyone know where I can go to learn tanning? or can someone do some for me.
Tanning Hides
- Thread starter Globetrotter.uk
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Attleborough Accessories do kits - http://www.attacc.com/acatalog/NEEDLES__THREAD___LEATHER.html about halfway down the page
I wish you had asked this yesterday as I could have made a tutorial
. Any way this is the way I do it. it make it quite hard ( like cardboard) but it does not smell and can be worked to make it softer. I scraped the skin clean of the flesh and fat and then covered it with salt. leave it until it goes crispy and then paint and alum mixture on it and wait till it dries it may take several coats. then you can work it over the back of a chair to soften it. The other alternative is brain tanning I hear it makes it softer but I have never tried it sorry maybe some one else can tell you how to do it that way.
. Any way this is the way I do it. it make it quite hard ( like cardboard) but it does not smell and can be worked to make it softer. I scraped the skin clean of the flesh and fat and then covered it with salt. leave it until it goes crispy and then paint and alum mixture on it and wait till it dries it may take several coats. then you can work it over the back of a chair to soften it. The other alternative is brain tanning I hear it makes it softer but I have never tried it sorry maybe some one else can tell you how to do it that way.I actually tanned a small rabbit-hide a while back. Only mixed up some liquid soap and olive oil in roughly equal quantities, it goes a long way, and massaged it into the skin.
(The hide was scraped pretty well, and was dried thoroughly. I think it might`ve been easier if it was soft.)
After having done that, i placed the hide, hair and all into a plastic bag, and left it in a warm place overnight. Then i started working it a bit, while massaging in some more gunk (oil/soap) until it soaked into the hide. And then it was all a question of working the hide to softening it.
And i never thought that rabbit hide was so thin! It rips almost like tissue-paper!
Edited to add: Oh, and i forgot to mention that all is left to do with the hide, is to smoke it. As that somehow impregnates the hide with some chemicals in the smoke, and as such makes it more water-resistant, and less likely to act like rawhide.
(The hide was scraped pretty well, and was dried thoroughly. I think it might`ve been easier if it was soft.)
After having done that, i placed the hide, hair and all into a plastic bag, and left it in a warm place overnight. Then i started working it a bit, while massaging in some more gunk (oil/soap) until it soaked into the hide. And then it was all a question of working the hide to softening it.
And i never thought that rabbit hide was so thin! It rips almost like tissue-paper!
Edited to add: Oh, and i forgot to mention that all is left to do with the hide, is to smoke it. As that somehow impregnates the hide with some chemicals in the smoke, and as such makes it more water-resistant, and less likely to act like rawhide.
Does anyone know any simple and easy ways of tanning hides, from a stone age perspective? I'm keen on doing it in the woods with only the most primitive of tools (no salt or tannin or anything like that). I gather it can be done with oak bark chips but I'm not entirely sure how to go about it.
Is it possible to simply dry a hide using the smoke from an oak fire, once it has been scraped down? Sure I read that somewhere...
Is it possible to simply dry a hide using the smoke from an oak fire, once it has been scraped down? Sure I read that somewhere...
Brain tanning is your best bet. Its not easy actually its probably the most physical method but result really pays off. Its pretty much the universal method among stone age people.
These two sites are worth looking at for brain and bark tanning advice.
www.Braintan.com
http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/forums/5/t/Leather-Hides-amp-Tanning.html
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