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hide tanning advice

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Outbackbob48:
Trail walker, first off I have no experience with cowhides, I have done quite a few braintanned deer hides and have done a lot of reading on different hides and such, Domestic animals such as cattle ,horses and such have short type fibers and don't stretch as easily as wild animals , just about everyone I have ever talked to or read has said cattle hides are extremely hard to braintan and and most recommended bark tan for cattle, I know this is not what you wanted to hear but just my .02 worth. Either way let us know how it went and best of luck with your endeavor. Bob

bjrogg:
Trail Walker sorry about your cow but I'm sure you know it's part of the game. I never tanned a cow hide but when I was younger we butchered a couple Holsteins that had calving problems. My brother and I scraped the hides power washed them both leather and hair side. If I remember right we just nailed and stretched the hide to our wooden wall in the barn. I don't remember if we even salted for sure but we probably did. They stayed nailed to the wall for many years even did a calf. They always looked kinda cool pinned to the wall like a coon hide. They had to be there for at least 10 years and the hair stayed in great, of course they were as stiff as a board and in the barn not thinking my wife would let me put it in the house.lol. I'd probably take Ed's advice and haul to a tannery. But if you have a wooden wall in a clean dry place it works pretty good for a stretcher for rawhide.
Bjrogg

Hawkdancer:
Trail walker,
Might try looking online for info on brain tanning buffalo hides with the hair on.  The Native American women made mankind beau coup buffalo robes and rugs.   I think I will save my pennies and shoulders and find a commercial tanner to do my cow hide, but the hair is already off.  If the hide is fresh frozen, and not tainted, you can probably proceed, I only found one mention of pickling hides, using vinegar as the agent.  Couple gallons should be enough.  Good luck and let us know how it comes out
Hawkdancer

tipi stuff:
A recommendation that I would suggest, after you have fleshed it, you need to thin it a lot. You almost need to get to the point where you can see hair follicles from the flesh side. Remember that you are only braining it from the flesh side, so you don't have brain penetration from the hair side at all. With bison, if you are doing a robe thinning is essential also, but the fiber qualities of bison and cattle are completely different. The cattle fiber structure is really tight, compared to bison. In fact, bison are much more likely to start pulling apart if you over work the hide. Almost all of the old-time tanning recipes from American Indian women list grease or bone marrow grease as an ingredient. Neetsfoot oil is bone marrow grease, just as Knox gelatin is hide glue. Those old women were mixing the bone marrow grease with the brains to make their tanning solutions. I will tell you, you have your work cut out for you.  Curtis

BowEd:
The 2 buffalo I did were a lot of work and did come out soft and I still have them.Only measuring 30 square foot apiece.The fiber structure is different on cattle like said.Horses too.I've tried them.It is tighter.I had access to a rendering plant near me and knew the workers there so I'm speaking from hand on experience.There are all kinds of possibilities and projects yet using hair on rawhide if you are'nt completely set on having a tanned robe.
The only way to get a good stretch on that hide is to lace it into a sturdy 2"by8" frame.Like said inside dimensions 6'by7' and it will still fill that area to the hilt.1800 pound animal is big.That's bull buffalo size.Over 40 square foot.War shields were made from the forehead and shoulder plates on those guys.I steam heat shrunk some once to 1/2" thick dried rawhide.

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