Big fella into buckskin/Smoking/Lots of pics./Items made

[BowEd]

I've seen deer hides just in books though where the complete length of legs and even the face of the deer has been used and possibly softened.Never actually handled any though.That to me is the ultimate.I feel though that the face would be rather stiff.
My tailoring skills are fair here and usually conform to the mountain man look most times so the extra appendages on a hide are not needed.Cooking over a campfire can burn those extras I've found too.

[Aaron H]

Ed, I personally would love to see a demonstration of this at Mojam this year. 

[BowEd]

I won't get to shoot much then.....lol.We'll see once.I like to have an extra yearling hide around for those demonstrations.Don't have one at the moment.Tanned them all.I usually just come down to Mojam on a saturday and go home.I live 3 hours away from the event.That cuts my time quite a bit.

[lebhuntfish]

Ed,  if your willing to do a demo. I have a couple of yearling hides. I would offer one for you to work on.

Patrick

[Aaron H]

Yes! Come and stay an extra day with us Ed!

[BowEd]

Oh my God.....Say I don't trust someone elses' skinning.....lol, and my hired help to take care of my animals is gone while I'm gone.Is that a gaurantee you'll both do a hide or two in the future?I'll see what the boss says here once.

[lebhuntfish]

I'll guarantee the only holes in the hides that I skinned are from bullets! Lol

I currently have about 8 or 9 hides I'm my freezer not counting the 2 opossums, 1 otter,  2 skunks a small wild boar and a hand full of snakes. I think it's about time to learn how to tan them.

Patrick

[Pappy]

 Bullet or arrow Holes aren't the problem, it's the knife work some do while they are skinning. I usually won't take a hide someone else skinned unless I see they doing it. If I plan on tanning a hide I never use a knife after the first cuts and at the end to cut it loose.  A hide tanned in a day is a very busy day for sure and the weather has to cooperate to boot.
 Pappy

[Aaron H]

If you wanted to do a demonstration, I would guarantee I would be watching, if you didn't, I totally get it.  Sorry, I didn't mean to pressure you into anything.   

[BowEd]

Thought I was putting this show along thing on here so people could try to do it themselves.Free & easy.A demonstration like Pappy said is a weather related project,and I'm not excluding the invitation either.
I'm sure your skinning is good too Pat even though I did'nt see it done.
Way back 30 years ago when I caught the bug to tan hides the surrounding public would bring hides for me to do since I did them really cheap.I had to get an Iowa taxidermy license to accomodate all of the hides through the door.Not to mention the freezer space needed.I just wanted to tan my own hides.Not go into the business of it.Back then I was just tanning with aluminum sulfate/pickling salt/neats foot oil in the beginning and went to strictly brain tanning soon after,because I could keep dry rawhide around indefinitely to be worked later.
Once news gets around that you like to tan hides there will be yahoos showing up with illegally taken outlawed fur for you to tan.Letting you hold the illegally gotten fur or hide.Not a good idea.I'm sure I'm not the only one this has happened to.Send them way.I tell them I'm not your black market tanner here.....lol.
Now I know I mentioned money into the equation of brain tanning but that was just to try to inspire people to try it,but the real reason to tan is something I can't really explain.If it's in a person it is.Making something out of what most people like to think is nothing or too hard to do I guess.Along with the interest in the Indian way of life/fur handling/ buckskinning & bow & arrow projects of interest that relate to it.
I'll get to this big old buck in time here and show the way to make A1 first class brain tan out of it.Bend or bust and the easiest way I know.It takes a while to get the feel of things doing hides to get consistent success.Like I said maybe someone can comment a way to do it easier with the same quality.The more the merrrier.

[Chief RID]

I just had to watch this thread. Thanks for posting it Beadman and to all the folks commenting.

[bjrogg]

Thanks again for posting Beadman. I think I know what your saying about why you tan. I haven't tanned many hides and none brain style but I love to work with fur and hides. Most people would think it's hard, messy, stinky work certainly not glamorous. To me I love the end product and the steps it takes to get there, the smell of dried hides looking arround the fur shed when the streachers and nails are full gives a real seen of satisfaction. But most people are right. Lol

[BowEd]

Yes....I think it all started for me wanting to tan coon hides from coonhunting and deer hides for going to buckskinning rendesvous.From there all the other projects come to mind.Not a glamorous occupation but self satisfying for sure.
A retired fella was on the yard here just a couple of weeks back wanting me to tan one of his cattle hides[hair on].From a 1300 pound animal.Wanted it for his bedroom.Told him I used to but not any more.Too much work.I found him a tannery about 2.5 hours away that would.I drove up there with him and the owner was very receptive and gave us a tour of his operation.It was quite enlightening with all of the huge tumblers etc.The beef he does for 10 dollars/sq.foot.He even did elephant hides.Talk about thick.Not a super big operation so he would do specialty items one at a time.Even 1 otter.The name of his business is Specialty Leather from Boone,Iowa.He's got a web site.

[BowEd]

OK I last let off that the rawhide was ready for brains.
First I'll take the 3 pounds of brains[way more than enough but I want to be sure] and thaw them out in a big steel pot of water to get ready to put them in the blender with a little water to make a pink milkshake after hitting liquifey.

I then boil the brains for 10 minutes.I lay the rawhide out on a plastic sheet.Take the hot solution and apply it to the rawhide with a paint brush.This does'nt hurt the hard rawhide any.Do not try to immerse the rawhide in sculling hot solution.It will emulsify it as I have found out in the past.

I'll cover each side completely.


Now I let the solution cool enough that I can stick my hand in there for at least 10 seconds.The hide will be somewhat loose.enough so that it can be immersed into the solution into plastic bucket.

The hide is pulled and massaged around inside bucket till it is very loose.Then it is wrapped around the rope I'll will use to rope it later and with two sticks wrung out as much as possible.It is then put back into bucket to soak up brain solution again.A big hide like this I will wrung out close to a dozen times.Yearlings will get brained most times with a couple of wringings.
The hide is stretched in all directions after wringing also.I think you can get the routine here.It's to get the brain oils to penetrate every fiber in this hide.I then will leave the hide in bucket overnight in frig.I will then try to rope it dry the next day if weather is favorable.



Now at any time here if weather is'nt favorable it can be refrigerated or even froze if something comes up.Won't hurt a thing.

[BowEd]

Done