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how to tan a deer hide

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Thesquirrelslinger:
Ok. so a friend of mine gave me a hide he cut off of a deer without scraping much stuff off. Virtually no meat on it, but lotsa fat, and plenty of blood.
he hosed it, and dried it without salting. it reminds me of a thin board. Hair still on. I want to keep the hair on and render it softish- enough to make a vest.

CherokeeKC:
You have to scrape the fat/membrane off.  You can dry or wet scrape.  Usually you dont dry the hide until the meat/fat/membrane is scraped off.

aaron:
Squirrel, even simple directions on how to tan a hide would be pages and pages of info. Why don't you do some searching here or on paleoplanet- once you understand the basics, then you can ask us some clarifying questions, but for now your question is just too big. It's like asking "how do you make a bow?". For now, just keep it dry. Most deer hides "cut off a deer" by someone who has no knowledge of tanning will be peppered with tiny cuts that make the process of tanning much harder. Tanners who skin deer hardly use a knife, pulling it off instead.

Outbackbob48:
Just a suggestion, hair on deerhide clothing is not very durable, deer hair is hollow and breaks easily  so usually have deer hair on everything. Brain tanned deerhide on the other hand is very durable an makes beautiful garments. also agree with others braintanning is a huge subject to explain.

stickbender:

     X 2  ;)

                                         You might want to check out "Deer skins into buckskins", by Matt Richards, and you will see what the others are talking about when they say there is too much to go into, to answer your questions.

                                                          Wayne

                             

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