Main Discussion Area > Primitive Skills
Big fella into buckskin/Smoking/Lots of pics./Items made
BowEd:
jimmi....I hear what your saying about the stretching process you described,and if you had good success with that good.Restretching a time or two while fleshing never really bothered me much.When I'm done my hide is stretched to it's complete max it can handle solidly to dry.I really don't think rubber bands would do that.The shrinking leather will be stronger than the rubber bands if let to dry.You may not have meant that I don't know.Part of good brain penetration is to get the hide stretched to the max while drying.My method of brain penetration is pretty simple really.A brain slurry in a bucket with the hide being wrung out several times.I adopted the method the old Praire Wolf John Mcphearson does.It works most times.Nothing's ever guaranteed completely though that's for sure.
I used to have a pair of traveling frames I took with me to rendesvous and demonstrations.Ahhh the good old days.Making trades of all kinds etc.Don't travel much any more doing that.Used to demonstrate a hide being fleshed in the early morning.Left to dry by 3:00 then brained and roped dry by dark proving to doubters that a hide can be made to white brain tan in a day.
Made my girlfriend a dress last winter here too.A 3 hide dress.No beadwork yet.....lol.She's got three dogs in our house here too.No white brain tan laying around for sure.....lol.,but the smoked stuff they leave alone.
Those Buckskinning weddings are noisey are'nt they?Muzzleloaders shooting off in salute.I belonged to the Cherokee Ridge runners from Cherokee,Iowa.
lebhuntfish:
Great job so far Ed! I'm definitely keeping up with this one! Thanks!
Patrick
jimmi the sammi:
I actually have had good luck with using the rubber bands keeping the hide stretched really tight for a thin hide, Beadman. Guess I am lazy when it comes to continuous stretching. ;)
The method of braining that my mentor taught me uses pig brains also. Put the brains in a blender then fill the blender with WARM tap water. Blend until it looks like a strawberry milk shake. Put the "shake" in a 5 gallon bucket, wash out the blender with more warm water added to the bucket then add more warm tap water until the bucket is about 2/3 full. Immerse the now prepared dry hide into the bucket. The hide will soak up the brain slurry like a chamois. When completely soaked, remove the hide and wring out as much fluid as possible. Tie the hide around a solid item ( I use a porch post or solid upright pipe of some sort ) in a big half hitch knot. Take a broom handle and wring out the hide completely. Go through the same process of resoaking and wringing at least 3 times. This seems to help break down the hide fibers and get the brain slurry completely saturated through the hide fibers. Then off to the rope for the pulling, stretching, drying process. I found that if I couldn't or didn't want to complete the roping in one session, I could put the still damp hide in a plastic bag and freeze it until the next time I could get back to the roping process. Pull the frozen hide out of the plastic bag before thawing and the hide has lost some more of the unwanted moisture during the freezing process.
Yep, it was a big wedding! Had my tipi set up. Lots of good food and drink. Even had a barn dance!
Thanks for letting me share what little I know about this process. It is very rewarding to have end uses for ALL of the animal.
BowEd:
jimmi......Thanks for sharing.That's exactly the way I brain my hides too.Cool.We must have read the same book......lol.Your right the softening process does not need to be done all at once.Nor does the dehairing.The fleshing does though.The old Praire Wolf strikes again.I actually met him in New Ulm,Minnesota once at a rendesvous.He was cooking deer meat in a fresh deer hide on a tripod for a pot using hot rocks to heat the water.Nothing but the highest praise for him from me.He has a series of how-to books out there that complete the gambit of primitive skills.All tried and proven by him.He is the real deal here.I communicate with him every so often emaling.He's over in Kansas yet if I'm not mistaken.Others on this site I'm sure know of him too.
A note here and different view too....I've softened a few hides after braining with success this way too.After braining the hide is relaced back into the frame and then using a stick the hide is probed and stretched in all directions till dry.[Your rubber bands/quick attachment style would work well here].This way will work but needs to be pulled and scuffed over a rope afterwards.The leather will actually be thinner then too.All knife slits and hole repairs have to be very sound then too.As they should anyway even roping it alone.
Brain tanning is cool in my book and tougher than a hickory knot.All it is,is softened rawhide really.
BowEd:
I'll show the way to repair holes nice and flat with no plug insert where you won't even be able to hardly see the repair after smoking is done.I only have one hole in this hide.A zwickey arrow head did that from my winged elm self bow.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version