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Four deer hides fleshed

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BowEd:
At rendezvous demonstrations of brain tanning I used to just mush and squeeze brains between my hands in pail after cooking them and letting them cool.Immersed hide then.Worked just as well.5 hides will do a lot of projects.
That old beetle has been hard on your ash.At least you got something out of it.I see ash here yet but many red elm are dead.

bjrogg:
Thanks again Ed, I'm not afraid to give em a squeeze. I really do want to get back at em. Maybe I can get some time this weekend. Ground is frozen now and no snow so working in woods is going pretty good right now.
Bjrogg

BowEd:
Cool.Striking the iron while it's hot so to speak or getting things done when conditions allow it.I'll do a couple of hides when it gets warmer.Have ideas of making another pants and shirt here myself.Doing 2 maybe 3 a week is plenty for me nowadays.I got more tanned coon hides to make pouches from too.Want to donate at least one at Mo Jam.
A cheap blender to emulsify brains from a thrift store does'nt cost too much.I use mine for everything else too after rinsing it.Robin does'nt mind....lol.

Outbackbob48:
Ed, have you ever had blood poisoning from cuts on hands and  bacteria from brains or possible bucking solution? I have had it twice , first time was sewing lots of big holes and going faster than I knew how. Trying to get them sewed up before hide dried out to much. Real small puncture from a #12 needle and then neglecting to make it bleed immediately. Second time was not as bad had a cut on a finger that got a little infected but I got after this one early. I think this could also be one negative of wet scraping. Dirty hides mixed with  warm water and KOH and allowed to set for 3 or 4 days sounds like bacteria to me, Maybe there is enough lye in there to keep bacteria at a minims. Seems that I got infection both times at brain stage, I now make sure and heat brains real well before using. A friend of mine that does and enormous amount of hides cooks his brains and then dehydrates and uses them as a dry powder. Sure doesn't effect his hides they are really nice. Finished 2 hides up this week, one came out real nice and the second one is boardy in spots :( May smoke and do again. Bob

bjrogg:
That's good to know Outback. I did have a few little cuts on my fingers. Seems I always have always cuts on my fingers. I did put peroxide on them last night. I brained my big hide yesterday. I tried wringing it a several times. It was really slippery and hard to hold ends. It seemed to absorb most of the solution. I left it in fridge and brains overnight. Hoping to work at it some more today.
Bjrogg

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