Tan-A-Long

[recurve shooter]

so it would work for squirrel too?

good lord man you got it out for the skwirls dont you? lol

[Fried Pie]

Is the 8 oz salt and 4 oz baking soda pickling solution measurement weight or volume?

Nice information.  You did a nice job on the "build-a-long".   It's appreciated.

Thanks, Doug

[HoBow]

Thanks FriedPie. I do it by volume.

[Broken Hand]

    Great how to on tanning, really enjoyed it. you do good work, thanks for sharing.    Brokenhand....Aho.

[KShip85]

Will the aluminum sulphate from a garden supply store for changing soil ph work?

[HoBow]

Thanks Broken Hand.  Kship- that will work just fine.

[Ohio John]

where did you come up with the aluminum sulfate?

[HoBow]

Ohio John- any chemical distribution company will have it....bulk food places may have it as it is added to pickling jars to keep the food crunchy.  Wal Mart sells it but only in very small quantities and it is very expensive compared to buying a 50 lb bag from a chemical company.  I have some if you'd be up for a trade...I'm moving and don't want to take all my tanning chemicals with me. 

[KShip85]

Ok, well my first endeavor did not fare so well...not really sure what happened but I had some unexpected results.  For starters when I first mixed the ingredients for the tan itself I ended up with a chemical reaction that caused water and foam to come rolling out of the top of my bucket and down the sides of the cabinet and onto the carpet in my parents laundry room ( was at their house to do all this as they have much more room for such things than I do).  Best way I can describe it is the reaction you get from doing the elementary science experiment with the volcano from vinegar and baking soda.  I'm wondering if anyone else has had this happen or if perhaps it was just me and a problem from the aluminum sulfate I used.  I do not believe it was vinegar from the hides as I am fairly certain it happened before I put the hides into the bath.  Plus after I thought it was over I stirred the water some to make sure everything had dissolved and it had the reaction again but this time even more than before.  I'm not a chemist by profession but do enjoy it some and best I can figure is the aluminum sulfate mixed with water created an acid that reacted with the baking soda like vinegar would.  Pretty sure there was a large release of CO2.  Anyway enough about that...after I finally got it all settled down I put the hide pieces in and left them in there for a week.  After a week I took them out and left them to dry out.  Upon drying I went to start working a piece and it just snapped in half, stuff was SUPER brittle.  So I am fairly certain I did something very wrong.  Any advice on what happened would be awesome as I would really love to try this again but do not want to ruin the hides I get.  Thanks a ton!

Kip

[HoBow]

I should have put the warning about the chemical reaction    When I get in a hurry, it happens to me.  You do have to mix the alum slowly as it will  bubble up.  As far as being brittle.  It sounds like it dried out to much before you started working it.  I wring the hide out really well and depending on my timing and schedule either start working it immediately or set it to the side, but not for too long.  The more you stretch it and work it, the softer it will be.  I've let them set to long and had them come out as hard as rawhide.  Simply wet them again and work them really good.   Hope this helps!

[Keith]

I stumbled on this thread a while back ago and it has been bothering me.  While you intentions are good..trying to describe how to tan items, you are misinformed about some of the chemical processes involved.  I have been doing taxidermy and tanning for 27 years.

While using borax has its place in preservation qualities.  It is caustic and will cause hair to slip the way you are using it here.  Skip the borax step.  Rinse your hides in regular water before adding to your pickle that you are making with the alum. 

For your pickle, in the steps you describe, it has you mixing alum--an acid, and baking soda--a caustic,  together.  Of course your going to get a chemical reaction of fizzing.  You are neutralizing the acid.  You need to keep the acid at a pH between 2 and 3.  Even  3 is somewhat high for tanning.  I personally like to keep it below 2.5.    After the hide becomes white from being in the pickle or tan as you call it, this will occur in a few days, then you can neutralize the hide with the baking soda solution. 

If   I were to use household chemicals to tan a hide with the hair on, this is what I would do:

Flesh hide
Put hide under salt for a couple days
Rinse out hide with water to get excess salt off

Mix Pickle or Tan in this case,  adjust amounts equally enough to submerge hide, this will bring the ph to about 2.5
use the 5% vinegar found in the grocery section
 2 Qts. of White Vinegar
       2 Qts. of Water
       1 Lb. of Salt


Let soak for a few days

Take hide out of pickle and drain letting it become damp dry, do any final fleshing at this time to get any remaining meat and fat off.
 
Place back in pickle for another day.

Take hide out from pickle, drain, and place in enough  clean water to submerge with 4 ounces of baking soda
This will neutralize the vinegar.   Let soak for about 20 minutes.  Agitate every 5 minutes. 

Take out hide and once again rinse in clean water. 

Let the hide dry until it looses about half of its moisture.

Oil with neatsfoot oil, but try to find the bisolfianted (sp) or
Go to the drugstore and get some lanolin...this is also known as wool oil.  Heat this up until its a liquid and apply to the hide on the flesh side only.  Just use enough lanolin that the hide will soak in.  The hide will also need to be somewhat worm also

Let the hide dry , working it as it is drying to keep it soft.  You can use sandpaper to give the hide a velvety swede feel. 

There you have it.  All these steps are chemically compatible with each other. 

[HatchA]

Jeff, thanks for all the work and effort you've put into this thread, it's much appreciated.

Lots learned and lots confirmed.

Thanks also to Keith for his input.  I'd tend to agree with you on the acid - alkali neutralisation.

You guys have just made my humble attempts seem less daunting.

Thanks again.