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braintanned elk hide....

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billy:
I was looking for the thread about braintanning but couldn't find it, so I started a new one.  Posted is a picture of an Oregon elk hide that I braintanned about a year and a half ago.  It hasn't been smoked yet, but is thick and very soft and comfortable.  After braining, this hide took 9 hours of constant pulling till it was dry.  My finger joints were sore for a week afterwards, but no matter...cause I finally have a softened elk hide, my very first!  Haven't decided what I'm gonna make out of this one, but I just can't bring myself to cut it since it's so cool just leaving it full sized. 

I used the wet-scrape method that I read in Matt Richard's book Deerskins into Buckskins .  That is a great book for anyone interested in braintanning.

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Caveman:
awesome hide my friend. I'm interested in dabbling in tanning. this being your first, what was your method? Brain tan or chemical? what kind of tools did you use and did you use a frame to stretch it or just you and a friend pulling? Alot of questions I know but its a very nice hide. I hope to make one of equal or better quality on my first try.

Pappy:
Good looking hide billy,we plan to do some deer this spring,got 5 or 6 in the freezer.Hope
they turn out that nice.
   Pappy

GregB:
That really turned out nice Billy! I'm going to be paying special attention this spring when Jesse is demonstrating the process on some deer hides!

billy:
Caveman,

I braintanned that elk hide....no chemicals.  Well, actually I soaked it in a lye solution for about a week before I scraped it, but it was commercial lye crystals, not wood ash, even though they are pretty much the same and both accomplish the same thing.  I draped the hide over a smooth, rounded wooden beam and scraped all the hair and epidermis off with a metal scraper....that took a few hours cause I Really had to wail on it to get that stuff off.  Then I brained it and let it dry and stay dry for about a year.  Then I resoaked it and pulled it soft.  I pulled it soft on my own, but one thing I really like to use is a 4x4 post sunk into the ground and set in concrete.  I hang the skin over it and pull it back and forth over the top of the post.  It really gives the hide a deep stretch and helps loosen any stiff spots.  You could even cut a 4-inch diameter tree about 6 feet up and essentially have the same thing.  I almost hang all my weight on the hide and drag it back and forth over the top of the post.  It really helps and lets a weakling like me really work that hide with the best of them.   

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