Author Topic: salmon skin yolk tanning help  (Read 4481 times)

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Offline GlisGlis

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salmon skin yolk tanning help
« on: December 26, 2020, 07:49:43 am »
so I decide to have a go on yolk tanning on a piece of salmon skin
I cleaned the skin, took off the scales, rinsed, heavily washed in dish soap to degrease and rinsed again.
dried with towels (not really dry as in raw hide) , applied the water/yolk mixture and let in fridge overnight soaked .
in the morning I took off all the yolk with paper, let it dry a bit (half an hour)  and started working the inner side of the skin on a rounded piece of wood (you can see in the image)
now the skin is a bit transparent, very light, a little bit oily at touch, very pliable but definitely not with that falling behaviour of fabric or light leather.
fish smell is almost completly gone and at present there no other smells. no sign of decay
do you think I made something wrong?
use of salt and maybe drying completely before reydratating and yolk are necessary?
Do I needed a more strong degreasing before yolk?
I guess time will give the answers but i'd like to have your critics
thankyou
« Last Edit: December 30, 2020, 04:02:42 am by GlisGlis »

Offline Fox

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Re: salmon skin yolk tanning help
« Reply #1 on: December 29, 2020, 11:18:27 am »
I have never tanned fish skin. So take my advice with a grain of salt. I probably would have started stretching right after you got it out of the yolk... you can always re yolk it and try again, if your not satisfied with its texture...


-Fox
Why must we make simple things so complicated?

Offline GlisGlis

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Re: salmon skin yolk tanning help
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2020, 04:01:54 am »
thankyou Fox. that make sense.
it's likely that is the stretching that pulls the oil inside the skin more than the simple application
I think I'll leave this one as it is and try on another one to make a comparison

Offline Pappy

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Re: salmon skin yolk tanning help
« Reply #3 on: December 31, 2020, 07:11:39 am »
I have never done fish skin other than just turned into rawhide to back a bow but I would think you could tan it like snake skins if you want them soft, I use glycerin and alcohol , never tried yolk tanning but I would assume penetration is the problem.  :)
 Pappy
Clarksville,Tennessee
TwinOaks Bowhunters
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Offline GlisGlis

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Re: salmon skin yolk tanning help
« Reply #4 on: January 01, 2021, 07:06:21 am »
ty Pappy
do you apply glycerin and alcool on fresh or dried skin? and start working the skin immediatly after applying ?

Offline Pappy

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Re: salmon skin yolk tanning help
« Reply #5 on: January 01, 2021, 08:25:04 am »
After it is dry, and yes just start working it in,2 or 3 times will soften it nicely, some folks use to use antifreeze, guess it has some of the same stuff in it, :-\  I never tried it, afraid my dogs might get hold of the skin. ???  I use Glycerin alcohol mix if I want it soft for projects such as hat bands or to display but not if I plan on putting them on a bow as backing. :)
 Pappy
Clarksville,Tennessee
TwinOaks Bowhunters
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Offline GlisGlis

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Re: salmon skin yolk tanning help
« Reply #6 on: January 03, 2021, 07:01:39 am »
thankyou
will try it

Offline GlisGlis

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Re: salmon skin yolk tanning help
« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2021, 11:03:40 am »
just to add an information
after a year the skin is as good as when I did it
no sign of decay, same pliability, no color changes, no smell at all
it seems that the preserving method works