Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Cave Men only "Oooga Booga" => Topic started by: mitchman on January 12, 2008, 10:03:55 am

Title: egg tanning
Post by: mitchman on January 12, 2008, 10:03:55 am
is the process for egg tanning the same as with brains i was going to do brains today but eggs seem a little nicer to work with. any help quick would be nice. todays the day i have time to do it. ;D
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: DanaM on January 12, 2008, 10:23:25 am
As far as I know it is, do a search for "egg tan" its been discussed before.
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: Hillbilly on January 12, 2008, 10:35:12 am
Same process. Any kind of emulsifiable oils work-brains, eggs, a mixture of soap and pure neatsfoot oil, etc. I think brains work a bit better than eggs, maybe, but I've tanned one deer hide with eggs and it came out pretty good. Make sure you wet the hide, wring it out thoroughly, and stretch it good in all directions before you put it in the eggs so that it's opened up and will soak them up. You may have to apply them more than once to get complete saturation of the hide.
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: mitchman on January 12, 2008, 10:41:37 am
sweet thanks
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: ozark caveman on February 03, 2008, 03:16:07 am
All I ever do is egg tan. It works awesome. One dozen per hide. I can help you through the process if you need any help!
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: uwe on February 03, 2008, 08:18:39 am
Do you smoke them after tanning and stretching?
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: ozark caveman on February 03, 2008, 04:24:00 pm
Yes! I prefer a heavy smoke. I like the hide to be really dark and kinda tacky from the pitch. The tackiness goes away and your left with beautiful color and smell :)
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: jamie on February 03, 2008, 07:16:59 pm
love eggs i find it works just as well as brains. and with an abundance of hides from hunters and an absence of brains, the deers not mine, you can get a nice natural tan.
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: El Destructo on February 03, 2008, 11:31:45 pm
OK........Dumb Question.........but dont the Eggs make the Hide stink to high heavens??? ::)
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: Hillbilly on February 04, 2008, 09:39:50 am
Nope. Tanned hides actually smell good, even better after smoking.
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: uwe on February 04, 2008, 04:02:41 pm
Another question in the process: does warmth play a role? Zhe process is familar to braintanning. Here the brain is boiled up to the state of a soup.
My feeling says its not the way with eggs.
And do this tanned hides behave as braintanned hides after they got wet and then dried?
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: jamie on February 04, 2008, 04:48:57 pm
the process is identicle , place eggs in the hottest water you can put your hands in. ive never boiled brains for dressing a hide. and now that as ive said that, brain tanning is not tanning at all. tanning requires tannin from a plant/tree source. you are really dressing the hidebut brain dressing sounds wierd ;D
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: uwe on February 04, 2008, 04:56:58 pm
All I ever do is egg tan. It works awesome. One dozen per hide. I can help you through the process if you need any help!


Which size of hide would this be good for and which other ingredients do I have to mix with the eggsß
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: jamie on February 04, 2008, 05:54:10 pm
some diced onions, ham and shredded cheese tastes good.  >:D sorry couldnt help myself. depends on how you do the hide. i wet scrape so i dont use a drying rack till the hand. just soak the hide in warm water if its dried up. wring the hide out to remove as muchh water as possible then put the hide in the bucket with the egg mixture and squeze it around , remove it and wring out the moisture again, then put it back in the bucket and do it again. make sure wring it out over the bucket so the egg mixture goes back in the bucket.i do this 3 or 4 times to make sure the mixture is thoroughly soaked through. rack it and start stretchin. if you use the dry scrape method and are not getting the softest hide you can get try wet scrape. a dry hide that is then resoaked doesnt absorb the way a fresh hide does.
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: PeteC on February 05, 2008, 10:51:20 pm
Will this method work for the "hair on",or will it cause the hair to slip? Thanks,and  God Bless,  PeteC
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: jamie on February 06, 2008, 06:49:30 am
hair on is a dry scrape. the eggs should be rubbed into the prepared flesh side after getting the hide damp again.
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: RidgeRunner on February 06, 2008, 10:24:18 am
Can most any type of hide (fox, bobcat, beaver) be tanned using this method??

David
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: jamie on February 06, 2008, 11:29:56 am
yes but a lot of the small game hides need to be degreased.
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: RidgeRunner on February 06, 2008, 12:15:20 pm
Thanks Jamie:

Hardwood ashes are good to slip the hair from hides, are they also a good degreaser?

David
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: DanaM on February 06, 2008, 12:31:29 pm
David bob said they are a good degreaser, and I tend to believe him ;D
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: uwe on February 06, 2008, 03:26:35 pm
I have the Book: The complete Bookof Tanning Skins and Furs" by James Churchill. One of degreasing solutions says: caution, Skins should be partially dried before degreasing, as water will prevent the solvents from working properly, Use extreme caution when using these flamable solutions.

4 tablespoon of Tide or liquid Ivory, 1 Gallon warm water. Wash and soak the skins in the water for 10  to 15 minutes. This will work best for skins with light grease; however, several baths with drying periods between them will degrease most skins.

What is "Tide" or what is" liquid ivory"? I only know hard ivory  (elephant teeth etc.).

More solutions- ask!
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: DanaM on February 06, 2008, 03:30:08 pm
Tide is laundry soap and liquid ivory is just liquid soap.
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: ozark caveman on February 06, 2008, 03:42:20 pm
The best book you can get because it's so simple is Deerskins into Bucksins by Matt Richards. It will tell you everything you need to know step by step. By the way here are the steps to wet scraping hides. #1fleshing, #2bucking, #3 graing, #4 rinsing, #5 braining, #6 softening, #7 smoking. If you would like I can walk you through all the steps. I consider myself very experienced in this skill ;D
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: uwe on February 06, 2008, 03:45:14 pm
Okay! Wanna test ya! ;D
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: Andrea S on March 07, 2008, 04:01:43 am
Looking at tanning some otter hides here soon, so I've got a question. I'm planning on egg tanning, hair on (obviously), so what should my egg mixture amount to when applying them to the fleshy surface of the skin? As in, how many eggs to how much water in order to make it able to soak in but still thick enough to stay on the hide?

Also, once the eggs have been applied and then let to soak in overnight, how should I remove the eggs before working the hide?

Thanks!
Title: Re: egg tanning
Post by: Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive on March 10, 2008, 10:32:06 pm
for an otter i would use 5 eggs, whites and yolks.and a cup of water and mix well, rub it in good and it will dry, you dont need to remove the eggs.  it soaks in, the mixture is rather runny.  i apply once and let dry in the sun for an hour or 2 and then apply again and then let dry overnight inside and then apply again in the morning and let dry while at work and then when i get home, work it.  tanned hide in  2-3 days.      from "popular demand"  ;)  i'll be doing a tan a long on a muskrat very shortly, i started it today but havent posted yet, i probably will post it tomarrow-  Ryan