The skins were originally glycerin tanned. As you know, glycerin is water-soluble so by soaking in several changes of water you can effectively remove it. The advantage of the tanned skins is that they are supple and won't crack like the air-dried ones can. I tried to find glycerin at the Walgreens but couldn't find a product with it so I settled on baby oil with is a mineral oil, thinking it'd do about the same. maybe if I'd dried the skins and pasted the oil on, it would've not rotted.
We glued the skins on with an Elmers carpenters glue, diluted with water. I've used that and hide glue and both seem to work fine.
I lied about the head lock, Jimmy is strong as a bull so I wouldn't pick a fight with him by accident. But I did headlock him in my mind.