Tanning a hide- 10 easy steps to a well cured pelt or hide.

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Tanning a hide- 10 easy steps to a well cured pelt or hide.
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Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 06 2:23 pm Post subject:

if you are doing rabbit skins you might be able to stretch them on a sort of emproidery hoop type thing........saw some old cowboy do something of a similar nature to a beaver hide on the ray mears survival programme

he used a metal hoops i think

i still have 3 deerskins in the freezer waiting for the good weather to take them out and scrape them so have plenty to keep me busy for a while

are you going to make a davey crockett inspired treaco hat with the skins?

go on................you know you want to

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 06 2:25 pm Post subject:

Nanny wrote:

are you going to make a davey crockett inspired treaco hat with the skins?

go on................you know you want to

I did manage to get two skins off with the tails still attached. I think it's best to see how well they tan before making anything but someone did mention underwear patterns a while back....

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 06 2:29 pm Post subject:
of course if you leave the tails on you could then have some playboy bunny briefs............

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 06 2:37 pm Post subject:
It's a good job I don't like my photo taken. But the fur is strokeable

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 06 3:29 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

It's a good job I don't like my photo taken.

But the fur is strokeable

oh i say......................

bugs?

are you there?

this could be your moment.................

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 06 7:52 pm Post subject:
Hello hello hello. We've only got four skins. I'm not sure my prioritising skills can cope with that conundrum (and no, there's unlikely to be an article and if there is there will be no photos )

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 06 5:31 pm Post subject: Re: Tanning a hide- 10 easy steps to a well cured pelt or hi

sally_in_wales wrote:

Two: The hide may well still have small scraps of flesh, or a whitish membrane with tiny blood vessels in it adhering to the skin. You MUST get as much of this off the hide as possible before curing it. The easiest way seems to be to use a section of log or similar as a support, stretching the hide hair down around it, and working over small sections of the skin side at a time, picking or scraping off the bits to leave a smooth surface underneath. You will find that the membrane will pull away in sections if you work at it patiently. Do your best to clean up the hide properly, but if you really have a small stubborn bit, don't panic, you will have another chance to scrape it once its been in the pickle- but you need almost all the skin clean for the stuff to work properly. If you are lucky, a hide sometimes needs hardly any work at all, but have a good scrape at it anyway just in case you haven't spotted the membrane.

I'm having a go at a few rabbit skins which have been kept in salt water for a few days whilst I gathered the other items. They still have a layer of membrane with a little flesh attached and I'm finding it difficult to clean up. In places it can be peeled away from the skin but this can cause holes. Scrapings doesn't seem to have much effect, could it be because the soaked skins were too soft?

I've rinsed them now and letting them dry for a bit to see if that helps, any tips for rabbit skins? I have nothing planned for them, I just thought it would be worth practising on something free.

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 06 8:11 pm Post subject:

i find the scraping the hardest thing to do. it takes me a very long time on a deerskin and sometimes i have two or three goes...i think you should be able to do it all in one but i can't

i use a paint scraper among other things and lay the skin on either the stone bench in the garden or a fence post that i lan my chest on to and then work away from, i know what i mean but it reads a bit backwards

if ther eis too much salt you could try rinsing them a bit before scraping again to make it a bit softer but it is elbow grease in the end i think

unless sally can say differently of course...............

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 06 7:13 am Post subject:
Thanks Nanny, I'll try the paint scraper this weekend.

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 06 2:44 pm Post subject:
to quqlify that just a tad, it's the type of paint scraper that comew with a heat gun that has several different edges on it if you get a chance to have a look at a copy of deerskins into bucksins, it shows you how to use a pole or log to rest the bigger skins on and angle it to make any scraping easier i have started to do that as well as it saves your back from hurting

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46245
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 06 5:35 pm Post subject:
oak wasp galls shredded to into very strong tea make a good tanning mix (after a 3 month dry salting ). stand the skin in the brew for 3 days and wind dry .the tea may be unnesscessary .

sally_in_wales
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Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 06 6:07 pm Post subject:
Hey dpack, when are you going to do us an article with all these alternative tanning suggestions that you have tried in? Would be really useful to be able to compare pictures and instructions.

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 06 7:27 pm Post subject:

Nanny wrote:

to quqlify that just a tad, it's the type of paint scraper that comew with a heat gun that has several different edges on it

Yep, that's what I thought and I have one.

Any more tips to remove the flesh from the skins everyone? I can see scraping is going to be the main reason for not tanning/tawning skins until I get some more free time, seems a shame.

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 06 7:34 pm Post subject:
that's why i have a couple in the freezer....until i am really good at it and quick, i set aside a morning or afternoon, so some then put it back in the pickle until i can get to it again. i think that if you can get the skins really fresh, like straight off the animal it is easier, i have never been that fortunate

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 06 7:37 pm Post subject:

Nanny wrote:

i think that if you can get the skins really fresh, like straight off the animal it is easier, i have never been that fortunate

I thought that, next time I skin a rabbit I will remember to take more care. That's a good reason for having a go now when it doesn't matter, I'm always learning what to do which I quite like.

It would be good to watch someone who's done it many times.

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