Well tan my hide

[inthewids]

I have just been given a deer skin from my friend, i have looked up a few posts about tanning but they all involve removing the pelt, id like to keep the pelt on, i noticed that Toddy had done one in the washing machine, is this a good method for 1st time tanners? I should be getting a few more in a few weeks that i thought i could give as Christmas presents. any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Toddy]

Hello

Well, it works for me, but Leon_1's girlfriend, who is a very capable lady, didn't get it to work..........so maybe not for a first timer. On the other hand, if you have more coming why not give it a go ?

Happy to help if I can.

atb,
Toddy

 

[Toadflax]

I can check when I get home, but I'm pretty sure that the book Deerskins into Buckskins (Amazon.co.uk £12.99) tells you about fur on tanning as well as 'standard' brain tanning buckskin.


Geoff

 

[inthewids]

I took the skin out of the bag and it was stinkling!! I phoned my friend and it had been in the bin for a few days then tied in a bag for 5 days, i tried scraping but there wasnt much coming off, i dont think the edge i was using was good enough, there was fatty bits around the edge but the middle didnt seem to have much, anyway i couldnt manage to get the bits off and the smell was making me gag so i had to bin it i am hopefully getting a fresher skin soon to try again.

 

[rancid badger]

Hmm....I think I'll stick with this method:

I nipped ( well more like hobbled really ) into Leprevo again today and finally picked up a beautiful reindeer hide

Seriously though; I sincerely hope you get to where you want to be.
My Brother has had a roe skin, in his shed for months, it's dry enough and doesn't smell but can he still tan it do you think?

I haven't got a clue on this sort of thing
best wishes
R.B.

 

[Toadflax]

I had a look through my Deerskins to Buckskins book, but couldn't find anything about hair-on tanning, so I must have read it somewhere else. If the hide has gone really bad, you *might* still be able to use it to make hide glue. Check out http://www.braintan.com as they might have some information.

You ought still to be able to tan a dried hide - drying is certainly one of the methods (like salting or freezing) to preserve a hide prior to tanning.


Geoff

 

[Toddy]

At this time of year that stinking hide is still possible.........put it into a binful of water outside for two or three days and see if the fur slips off.
If it does, scrape the whole thing clean both sides, then try tanning just the skin.
So long as it's still in one piece and not maggoted, sorry, but the smell is just old meat. It will eventually disappear.

cheers,
Toddy........good vegetarian who lost lunch half way through scraping her first one clean threw up and stubbornly refused to be beaten so went back and finished the job

 

[inthewids]

I might give it a bucket bath or wait for the next fresh one, my friend said to try allam to treat it, i tried using a sharpish piece of metal, a bluntish knife and a piece of wood but none of them were taking anything off really? Does that mean what i was using was rubbish or was there nothing left to scrape? Where could i get a cheapish draw knife from?

 

[Toddy]

You don't need anything fancy, I've done one just using a flint scraper. Any suitably shaped knife that's sharp enough (you can sharpen a kitchen knife on the back step and that will work if needed........guess how I know ) But what does matter is that you have the skin on something smooth, a slab, a peeled log or something like that. It means that you're not cutting into the skin instead of just scraping it clean. When the hair slips off it really does just 'slip' off, clean with no fuss or bother. Cleaning it up needs running water I find though....I hate that gunky feeling of my hands covered in clumps of wet hair.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[inthewids]

Thanks Toddy, i had 2 flat clothes poles rigged up into a black and decker work bench, will try soaking it for a few days and try the firless method. I have plenty of sharp knives as im a chef but i thought you had to use something quite blunt, is it a side to side or up down movement to rid it of the meat fibres/membrane?

 

[tommy the cat]

Well funny you should mention this.....I've got one tanning in a barrel at the moment!
Yes you can tan a dried skin you need to soak it for a couple of hours some say in salt water some not Borax will help.Then pull the skin side over an edge to dry to soften it up.
Tanning with hair on is same process but being careful not to over wet the hide or soak for tooo long or the hair may slip.
Dave
This info is not from experience but form a lot of reading....so far the hardest bit is scraping the flesh which I still dont think I have got right
try this
http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_l/l-103.pdf
this
http://www.learn-taxidermy.com/deer_hide_tanning.htm
this
http://adventureonline.16.forumer.com/a/tanning-leather_post121.html
Also a gazillion posts on you tube

 

[Toddy]

Okay a chef makes this easier You know that caul that you get on the suet round kidneys ?The gunk on the inside of the hide sort of comes off like a sticky version of that. You're not trying to cut it off but work it off and a sharp knife or flint seemed to work best. Don't go deep enough to reach the hair folicles.

I'm not the best person on the forum to be trying to talk to you about this; I've done some but no where near as many as a lot of the other members.

Basically I just used a lot of patience and was careful to try to keep the work even.

The hair side doesn't need anything more than a gentle 'push' to remove the hair when it's ready to slip off.

Best of luck with it all.
cheers,
Toddy

 

[joejoe]

Hmm....I think I'll stick with this method:

I nipped ( well more like hobbled really ) into Leprevo again today and finally picked up a beautiful reindeer hide

Seriously though; I sincerely hope you get to where you want to be.
My Brother has had a roe skin, in his shed for months, it's dry enough and doesn't smell but can he still tan it do you think?

I haven't got a clue on this sort of thing
best wishes
R.B.

my only reason to go to newcastle

 

[inthewids]

Thanks very much everybody, yeah i know caul well, i shall soak it and try again, was mostly the smeel putting me off, i was almost sick a few times, i also couldnt get anything off the underside, there was some caul looking bits around the edge where the skin was thinner though, wish me luck for tomorrow i love this site