Author Topic: Winter tanning  (Read 1768 times)

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Offline iowabow

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Winter tanning
« on: December 30, 2012, 01:18:47 pm »
I started these hides last year with osage bark tanning and ran out of time to finish them. I then pulled them from the solution wet scraped them. They were then rolled up and put in the freezer for a year. I pulled them out and tried to break them and had very poor results. I did not give up so I made a solution of neatsfoot oil and soap as a dressing and went through the process again. This time the hide puffed and was very soft in the end. I have not smoked them yet so the color is from the bark. What I learned was if it did not work just do it again.
« Last Edit: December 30, 2012, 01:22:11 pm by iowabow »
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Offline iowabow

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Re: Winter tanning
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2012, 01:20:04 pm »
Couple pictures
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Offline Josh B

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Re: Winter tanning
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2012, 01:48:18 pm »
Very nice! Way to stick with it!  Josh

Offline richardzane

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Re: Winter tanning
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2012, 03:15:14 pm »
bark tanning is something i haven't tried....would like to learn more! does it still require the same stretching and pulling over a cable?

yours is a similar conclusion about a recent brain-tanned skin. One had spots hardened up when i thought everything was fine.
resoaked in brain solution wadded it up loaded with brain soup,and stuck it in a ziplock in the frig for several days. After working it over a cable again, now it's fine.
try try and try again...
when i'm working on things my ancestors worked, singing the songs my ancestors sang, dancing the same dances, speaking the same language, only then  I feel connected to the land, THIS land, where my ancestors walked for thousands of years...