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Ashes/water ratio for brain tanning

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Pat B:
I think I read if an egg floats in it it is ready to go.

PrimitiveJay:

--- Quote from: Pappy on December 05, 2023, 09:00:23 am ---Just FYI, Shawn and I just finished wet scrapping a deer hide, we use 2 or 3 shovel scoops of hard wood ash in about 5 gallons of water, stirred it daily and checked for the hair slipping, it took about 4 days and the hair came off clean, a little longer around the neck area, then rinsed in clean water, no real formula just some ashes and water, turned out clean , now ready to dry as rawhide or put in the brains to tan. Pretty simple, it is my first wet scrape and although a bit messy worked really well and probably easier than the dry scrapping I usually do.
 Pappy

--- End quote ---

Glad to read that your first time worked well! In my case, I left the hide soaking for way too long, it was freezing outside so I put the bucket in the garage where it was a bit hotter so that the water would not freeze and I was waiting for a warmer day to rinse it properly and to remove the hair and the membrane. But the skin got a greyish color from the ashes. I don't know if it will prevent the brain and the smoke to do their job properly, but I just dried the skin and I'm waiting for the weather to be warmer to do the next steps.


--- Quote from: Pat B on December 15, 2023, 12:36:49 am ---I think I read if an egg floats in it it is ready to go.

--- End quote ---

In the book Matt Richards say that if the egg float sideways then it is too strong, it should float si that an area the circumference of a quarter to a half dollar is exposed. If it is allowed in the forum, I could put a picture of the pages where it is explained (with images), english is not my first langage so he probably explained better than me. I read the book a while ago so I could be wrong, but if I remember correctly if the solution is too strong it could damage the hide, and if it is not strong enough it will not be as effective as it could.

Pappy:
Not sure if it was the way we did it or just the hide but it took a lot of work to get it brained and stretched, it turned out soft after a lot of pulling and roping but never really got that fluff feel like most of mine do, it was more of a slick finish on the hair side, a little different leather. I think maybe we left it in to long, going to try it again and just leave it long enough where the hair will pull and then wet scrape the hair and see how that dose.  :)
 Pappy

Piddler:
I've done what few I've done as described in the book you mentioned. Turned out fairly good in my opinion but i would need to compare them to somebody else's like pappy's done a different method.
These questions makes me wonder whatever happened to Bow Ed. Knowledgeable fella when it came to hides.
Piddler 

Pappy:
Not sure what happened to Ed, I think he got mad over something, :-\ ya he knew his stuff on brain tanning for sure. :)
 Pappy

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