There are a number of other methods, including the use of synthetic chemicals, though often these are neither good for the tanner nor for the environment (see below). Bark tanned deer skin – the bark also gives the skin its rich colour. The skin is then oiled and worked soft (physical / oil process). Once the skin is tanned through – a matter of days for small skins like rabbits, to months for deer or even years for large cows – it is then removed and rinsed. The solution is made by boiling high-tannin plant material (such as certain tree barks, nuts and leaves) in water and producing a tannin-rich, acidic tea. This process involves immersing the skin in a tannic acid solution (chemical process). This creates a soft, shammy–like leather.īark tanning, or vegetable tanning. This skin must then be smoked, at which point formaldehyde enters the skin (chemical process) and ensures that even if the skin gets wet, it will retain its softness. This process involves using an emulsifiable (mixes with water) oil such as brains or egg yolks whilst working the skin soft (physical / oil process). In traditional (or natural) tanning there are two main techniques:Įmulsifiable oil tanning – sometimes called brain tanning, or smoke tanning. Finished buckskins – brain tanned and smoked. ![]() This process generally takes the form of a chemical stage and a physical manipulation with lubricants such as oils. This means that after the tanning process, the skin should be a stable material, and not rot or be overly attractive to animals and insects. Hide tanning is the process by which a raw skin becomes preserved. Skin is made up of a number of layers, and is predominantly a fibre network of interlocking spiral proteins. I think I remember reading that this is why chrome tanning isn't technically tanning, it's just the salts stay in really well.“Tanning a deer hide is a rite of passage, cementing blood ties to our hunting forebears who depended upon skins for warmth and who respected slain animals by never letting any part go to waste.” – Kevin McCafferty What is skin & hide tanning?Īll animals have a skin covering their flesh and fat. Then they would be rawhide and stable unless they got moisture and the salts came out. You could heavily brine, salt and dry them. If you tan them you aren't making rawhide, you are making leather. I was being lazy and putting it off and it wreaked because of it. It was tanned last fall.Īlso, don't leave the skins in the egg for 4 days, two is fine. I got it soaked the other day going through the brush after a rainstorm, it is fine. It is not pliable because I did not work it, Didn't need it to be for a sling pad. I have only egg tanned and have no brain tanned items to compare it to. The shoulder pad on my rifle sling is squirrel I egg tanned. I still have two frozen cowhides in my freezer that I'm going to make rawhide out of, "when I get time". If I could get someone else to do the work up to that point, and NOT think about what I was really using, I think I would someday like to try it. I remember talking to a guy who did some brain tanning, and he said he'd put the brain in the blender and make a "brain shake". How does the skin end up? Is it similar to a brain tan? And do the skins have an odor after they are finished? I never knew you could tan hides with an egg! I have, at times through the years, really wanted to try a brain tan, but I also, get a little queasy at the thought of cracking the skull open. The rabbit will be mittens for my middle son and the squirrel will be my youngest sons first marble bag. My next step will be a light rinse and drying between paper towels and the stones again.ĭepending on what I choose to do with them I will work/stretch them to make them pliable and then apply kiwi leather preservative. This gets put in the pantry/extra oven to soak up the egg, roughly 2 days or until it smells funky. I rinse the salt off, wring them out and rub them with whole egg yolks in a tupper ware containers. In my current batch I am at the egg stage. This then gets put between two patio slates to dry for about 2 days. ![]() Then I Rinse them well, wring them out, lay them flat on paper towels and heavily salt the inner with table salt and put some salt on the fur side. 2 Days, agitating when I pass the bucket. ![]() I use cold/tepid water and add some citrus juice as our water is heavily alkaline, this helps to stop the hair falling out. Really hoping to get some chipmunks, a red squirrel, a black squirrel, and maybe a young woodchuck at some point too.Īfter skinning I rinse and brine the pelts in a bucket with rock salt. I shoot, skin, and egg tan squirrels and now a rabbit for their furs.
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