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finishing a braintanned hide

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deersled:
Can someone tell me their time frame of working a hide after it has been brainned and wrung out. I did a couple last year and I would frame it and CONTINUOUSLY work it with a broom stick handle. It takes about 4-5 hrs to get it completely dry. I guess what I'm asking is do you work it continuously (until its dry) or......stretch it good for a few minutes and then let it sit for a while(10 minutes, 30 minutes, whatever) and then work it again? I tried one by hand  but, MAN!!!! my hands got wore out (continuos working til dry), then resorted to the frame, which is a little easier.

eorr:
you don't have to work it constantly.  You can work it for 15 minutes or so and walk away, and then start again 15, 20, 30 minutes, etc. later.  The interval depends on how wet the skin is and how much stretching it needs.  If the skin is really wet leave it a while longer.  You'll need to really start paying attention as the skin gets close to drying.  It takes a lot of practice to figure out when to stretch and when to walk away.  The best thing to do is stretch as constantly as possible on your first skin or two.

Softening a skin can take as little as 45 minutes or as much as an entire day or even longer depending on humidity.  Where it's really arid it's hard to keep up with moisture loss and get the skin soft before it dries, but on a thickly humid day in the Southeast you could spend a couple days stretching.

deersled:
thanks eorr. I've finished 3 since I posted this question and I am starting to see what you are talking about. I still prefer to frame the hide vs. doing it by hand. The frame lets me see what I am working and I can be confident that I have worked every inch of the hide. I actually started putting a small space heater in front (8-10 ft away) of the frame. I will work it real good for 5-10 minutes and then go take a 15 min break. As it begins to dry I can feel the areas that are not softening with my stick. The stick will suddenly slip over these areas and it just tells me to work a little harder on these spots. The more hides you do the better they turn out. The three are very soft and I am beginning to do a better job with the edges. I still lose a little but not as much as before. Thanks

eorr:
I'm with you on frame softening.  It's much easier to lean into the skin with all your body weight to really get it stretched.  It also makes a better skin for making clothes...  lies flatter and less likely to stretch. 

leapingbare:
Pappy and me pre smoke our hides. This way we can let them set for 15-20 mins and pull erm for 5 mins and let them sit again. By using presmoke method we can brake up to 3 hides at a time.

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