Tanning hides???
09-01-2008, 07:33 AM
#2
Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location:
Posts: 92
RE: Tanning hides???
first thing you need a lot of patience, then there are a few books to inform you on th process it is lengthly. the hide has to dry then you have to remove all of the fat. It is very time consuming. I have tried it once it is not for me. Good Luck
09-01-2008, 01:10 PM
#8
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: mt. airy nc USA
Posts: 572
RE: Tanning hides???
I have tanned deer and bear hides with the hair on with this mixture, for a deer 5 gallon hot water,dissolve 5 pounds salt and 1/2 pound alum, the alum sets the hair. Scrape all meat and soak for 2 weeks stirring daily, you will have to put weight on to keep it under, when you take it out stretch it out and nail it down to something, when dry you can leave it stiff or put a dull axe in a vice and saw the skin side breaking down the fibers. To hang on the wall or make a rug this works and it don't cost a arm and leg.
Martin
Martin
09-01-2008, 06:47 PM
#9
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Gleason, TN
Posts: 1,327
RE: Tanning hides???
There is some stuff that comes in an orange bottle called "hunter's hide tanning formula" and is also sold as "trapper's hide tanning formula", and that stuff is easy to use and makes a nice hide. All the directions are on the bottle. The hide comes out soft and with a nice tan or khaki color.
You could also use the deer's brain or hog brain from a butcher, soaked in hot water. Dunk the hide in it and wring it around a few times to make sure the brain/water solution is saked all the way through the hide. Then work the hide back and fourth (keep it moving) until it's totally dry. That takes about 8 hours from what I've seen. After the hide is totally dry, it should be soft and white. If it's not soft, you need to do the brain solution over again. Once it get's soft and dry, you can smoke it to give it some color and make it more water resistant. To smoke the hide, you can sew the hide into a tube form and set it over the smoke of a fire away from direct heat.
Make sure you use a wood that smells good when it burns. Hickory and oak smell nice. You want to use punky, rotten wood that gives off a lot of smoke. I smoked a possum hide one time using an unknown wood, and for some reason the hide smelled like hotdogs
I washed the hide with shampoo and water and reworked it until it was soft again and now the hide smells like head and shoulders.
You could also use the deer's brain or hog brain from a butcher, soaked in hot water. Dunk the hide in it and wring it around a few times to make sure the brain/water solution is saked all the way through the hide. Then work the hide back and fourth (keep it moving) until it's totally dry. That takes about 8 hours from what I've seen. After the hide is totally dry, it should be soft and white. If it's not soft, you need to do the brain solution over again. Once it get's soft and dry, you can smoke it to give it some color and make it more water resistant. To smoke the hide, you can sew the hide into a tube form and set it over the smoke of a fire away from direct heat.
Make sure you use a wood that smells good when it burns. Hickory and oak smell nice. You want to use punky, rotten wood that gives off a lot of smoke. I smoked a possum hide one time using an unknown wood, and for some reason the hide smelled like hotdogs
I washed the hide with shampoo and water and reworked it until it was soft again and now the hide smells like head and shoulders.
