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Green Buckskin..?

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TTNZJaydon:

--- Quote from: Pappy on October 29, 2025, 06:43:40 pm ---Here is a few pictures of some of mine. Some without final smoke because i wanted the white color, some with smoke, I smoke most because I plane on clothing and such and will be used outside. The smoke makes them easy to soften if they do get wet. Some scrolls of rawhide ready to tan when I get around to it, usually do 12 or 15 a year  to use for tanning/other projects and trade or give away. First one in the rack for this year, got one more I will probably rack up this weekend, I dry scrape all mine. You are right about waste, I can get all I want most years but limit it to ones I can skin myself, most people make a mess out of skinning so rather do it for them if I am to get the hide. :)
 Pappy

--- End quote ---

Hey man.  Gahd dayum, your buckskin is damn soft, can tell just by looking at it aye.  That's awesome stuff man, made any clothing out of the buckskin?  I'm looking to make myself a shirt, pants & jacket over the next 6 months hopefully.  I want to make a dress & vest for my partner, but also just make lots to sell to a fellow over in Australia.  He's keen to make old school tunics aye, gonna be damn interesting.

I've been finding that I need to soak my hides in a diluted vinegar solution to lower their pH.  Red deer & Fallow seem to be damn dense compared to white tail aye.  I think drying hides out into rawhide (Which is what I do all the time) must make them harder to absorb brains right? I hear the curing of rawhide has a bit of resistance to brains & smoke.  Do you struggle with dressing the brains? How many softening sessions do you do? I'm trying to do 1 single softening session now as the fiber structure of reds really likes to pull apart when softened too much aye. 

Jaydon

Pappy:
I find that seasoned raw hide easier and usuall use the oldest, fresh raw hide works OK also but seems to me some a couple of years old do a little better, I keep a back stock all the time so use the oldest first. I do soak it in warm water before I put it in the brains until it is very soft and pliable then in the brain slurry over night the first time, ring it easy the first time because it is like wet rawhide and can rip easily, then back in the brains for a few hours, ring a little harder then back in the brains and by that time it is beginning to feel a lot like buck skin, I ring it good/stitch it up and presmoke it, 1 side for about and hour in good cool smoke the reverse and do the other side, then back in the brains at least 3 more times ringing/ stretching and working it on a rope or cable between each soak. Then just stretch and rope/cable until dry, then if I plan on using it for clothing or anything that will be in the weather I stitch it up and put a final good smoke on both sides. I don't do sewing very well so I trade hides to a good friend [Becki Parker] to do the lay out and sewing, trade 1 hide for her to make a shirt, It take 4 to make a shirt so I give he 5 hides and she gets 1 and all the scrap.  :) I have also found that if you will fold it up good and put in plastic bag before it is dry, maybe after the the last few soaking after the pre smoke and freeze it , then pull it out and let it thaw  it seems to really help, sometimes if the weather isn't the best for drying or I just get tired of working on it I will do this and found out it really helps I think the freezing and thawing help the penetration of the brains and shows you the wet spots and areas that need a little more work. Lots of good ways, maybe even better ways to tan a hide but this is just how I learned and do it.  :)
 Pappy

White Falcon:
Nice work all !

TTNZJaydon:

--- Quote from: Pappy on November 02, 2025, 10:26:42 am ---I find that seasoned raw hide easier and usuall use the oldest, fresh raw hide works OK also but seems to me some a couple of years old do a little better, I keep a back stock all the time so use the oldest first. I do soak it in warm water before I put it in the brains until it is very soft and pliable then in the brain slurry over night the first time, ring it easy the first time because it is like wet rawhide and can rip easily, then back in the brains for a few hours, ring a little harder then back in the brains and by that time it is beginning to feel a lot like buck skin, I ring it good/stitch it up and presmoke it, 1 side for about and hour in good cool smoke the reverse and do the other side, then back in the brains at least 3 more times ringing/ stretching and working it on a rope or cable between each soak. Then just stretch and rope/cable until dry, then if I plan on using it for clothing or anything that will be in the weather I stitch it up and put a final good smoke on both sides. I don't do sewing very well so I trade hides to a good friend [Becki Parker] to do the lay out and sewing, trade 1 hide for her to make a shirt, It take 4 to make a shirt so I give he 5 hides and she gets 1 and all the scrap.  :) I have also found that if you will fold it up good and put in plastic bag before it is dry, maybe after the the last few soaking after the pre smoke and freeze it , then pull it out and let it thaw  it seems to really help, sometimes if the weather isn't the best for drying or I just get tired of working on it I will do this and found out it really helps I think the freezing and thawing help the penetration of the brains and shows you the wet spots and areas that need a little more work. Lots of good ways, maybe even better ways to tan a hide but this is just how I learned and do it.  :)
 Pappy

--- End quote ---

Ah seasoned rawhide eh?  I'll definitely have to keep that in mind.  Yeah I've found that if I am to soak rawhide in a diluted vinegar solution to lower its pH, I'll need to fully re-moisturize it.  I never thought about soaking it in warm water, that's really a good idea, I'll give that a go.  I frame soften all my hides, I'm trying to figure out how to most efficiently go about preparing it so that I can get it cleanly softened first time round.  I definitely gotta check out how to pre-smoke with cool smoke, I have no doubt that would help out tremendously.  I find sewing holes after after I've softened it a good bit, once it's dried about 60-70% will make for a much cleaner sewing job.  Where as sewing up holes earlier on stretches the holes where the needles go through quite a bit.  That's a damn good trade you got there with your friend, good stuff. 

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