Main Discussion Area > Primitive Skills
hide tanning advice
bjrogg:
Ed I love your wealth for knowledge about hides. I just kinda play around with them, you literally take the buffalo by the horns and tan his hide.lol. I've always loved hides they are a lot of very unglamorous work but just something that draws my senses to the smell, feel, texture and look of hides tanned or raw, fur or hair on or off. Always miss them when my fur collection is gone. Thanks for sharing your knowledge
Bjrogg
BowEd:
bjrogg....Sorry to sound so stern and I'm sure there are others with a lot of experience too but it's a big big project trailwalker is contemplating but if done a lifetime achievement and keep sake for sure.Back in the 80's and 90's I used to tan pretty much year round with a wood stove heated basement in the farm house in the winter time.Personally anymore I won't brain tan hides bigger than elk at my age it's that demanding but there's something about brain tan and hide work in general that draws me to it.
I've found out and always said there must be 30 different ways to tan hides.Each person does which works for them.References from books and then trial and error to satisfaction.Definitely not an overnight master status thing with a little success in the beginning.Like a lot of things.A big hide from an 1800 pound animal will take good sharp tools to make it easier and still it will take a long time to do properly.To clean it up properly before putting it into a frame I would take it to a car wash.I took a walk through of a tannery here once.The tub soaking vats/tumbling drums/sanders/and drying racks were immense to save man power.Different types of tumblers for different purposes too.Too bad the business is too far away from me.I would love to work there during retirement.
bjrogg:
Ed i understand the enormous amount of Very unglamorous work envolved in preparing and tanning hides. I guess that's a very big reason I've just air dried smaller fur barriers. I very much respect the work and experience you have with hides and thank you for sharing that information. I still have my buck hide in the freezer along with his brain and I'm trying to get the time and motivation to tackle this job. When I do I'll probably be asking you lots of questions.
Bjrogg
BowEd:
I did a build-a-long called [big fella into buckskin/smoking/lots of pics under Beadman] in the primitive skills thread.Think it's at page 5 by now.Mind you it's just my way but a tried and true common method.
Pappy:
Ya I get ask all the time , people wanting to brain tan a deer hide, I love showing people but most of the time by the time they get done with 1 , that's it. Lots of work and working out side as I do you have to work on the hide and weathers schedules not yours, some just can't understand that. I have done a couple of Cow Elk hides and that is big enough for me. A cow I wouldn't want to attempt especially brain tanning with the hair on. Good luck with you project trail walker. ;) BJ I have done the same thing with deer hides years ago and they lasted very good, only problem is if they aren't in a controlled environment they will come and go with moisture as any raw hide will, and that is what you really have is hair on rawhide. Salting them makes that even worse . Pappy
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version