Pair of bobcats[may be graphic for some]

[JEB]

why do you oil the hide?

[BowEd]

Good question......To help make the leather be more supple and soft while stretching and pulling the hide while it dries.Too dry of a hide or leather can be susceptable to tearing if too dry and stiff while stretching.The fibers in the leather need to be moved to get soft.
Neats foot oil will emulsify with water and penetrate into the damp leather while the leather dries.It is made from cattle hooves.It's the best stuff for this type of tanning.
It does'nt work so well to let the hide dry first before oiling.Too much can be applied and get too oily.Then the leather does'nt have any chance of breathing corresponding itself to the changes in the moisture content of the enviornment.It can lead to the leather actually rotting and losing it's integrity.

[BowEd]

The hair is pretty much dry now so I've inverted it now to let the flesh side of hide to dry while being stretched different directions.I don't like to put the fan on it at this stage.I like to let it naturally air dry.It can dry too fast with a fan on it most times at this stage of drying.

[GlisGlis]

would hanging the hide make it dry faster?

[BowEd]

You could but not really and a person does not want it to dry too fast without stretching it.The hide needs to be stretched all directions as it dries.I would say more than 50% of the time as it is drying it is in hand and being worked.A bit like roping a brain tanned hide but not as intense.Stretching it all directions helps with the drying.It opens the fibers to the air better.If a person wants nice supple soft leather it needs to be worked and stretched while drying with this type of tanning.
Almost dried areas will be a transluscent blue color before stretching.After stretching they will be egg shell white and soft.

[BowEd]

If something comes up for an hour or so and you can't baby sit the hide stretching it you can roll it up and put it in a plastic bag twisted tightly shut to prevent it from drying too much with out stretching.

[ksnow]

So you are just stretching at out and letting it air dry? Not breaking it over a cable like braintanning a deer hide? Interesting.

[Allyn T]

Did you oil the hair side too?

[BowEd]

knsow.....Yes mostly.I did rope it a little bit for some abrasion and stretching,but mostly stretched it different directions as it dried.Drying and softening an aluminum suplhate tanned hide is a lot easier than roping a brain tanned deer hide.A hide tanned with this stuff does not have the spring back action as brain tanned leather nor the puffed up feature of roped brain tanned hides does roped but gets nice and supple yet.It's like a flannel shirt.Good enough for me.
Pictures of how the tan looks.Egg sell white.Very soft like a flannel shirt.The tan lasts for decades.Will soften if it gets wet with a little stretching.


Allyn T....No I do not oil the fur side.My girl friend Robin had some spray foam stuff to shampoo her dogs with occasionally.I tried a little on the fur side of the bobcat.It worked very well and it's shiny clean now.Better than the dawn dish washing soap clean up.
Well that's 1 down and 1 to go.I sewed it's mouth shut and ear holes shut.I will put a rawhide or veg tanned leather cup 4" deep into it's head and face.I have thoughts of making another side cat quiver out of this one and it's a real cat this time....Ha Ha.I will do that later after I finish the next cat.It took 4 to 5 hours off and on to finish this one drying and softening.It's a native scruffy Iowa bobcat.



My idea for another cat quiver I did before on a fisher colored coon and a beef rawhide quiver.It involves using a dogwood stiffener with a portal to get the arrows from.I split the dogwood and let it dry a couple days to set to make the portal.Drill 1/16th inch holes along each side of the portal to sew it to the leather opening.The leather opening on the hide I reinforced with a strip of deer brain tan for better durability.




Might need to style it after this quiver but without the beadwork as the back end or opening the arrows go into of this bobcat is rather large.I don't want to cut up this bobcat into a tube for a cat quiver.

[BowEd]

Got the other cat cleaned,refleshed,and oiled.It's a bit bigger kitty.Got the fan on drying the hair.
This one will go to it's owner to do with what he wants.

Now that the hair is dry it's back to the same process of drying as the previous hide.There is a little residual neats foot oil showing on it yet but I'm going to leave it on to soak in.

[BowEd]

While other hide is drying I decided to make that cat quiver style anyway or thought I could pull it off decently so I made a thick veg tanned cup to insert into the face of the future quiver.This will reinforce this area from field tip and broad head abuse.I do this by making a card board template first that fits just right and then transferring that template to veg tanned leather.Sewing it together.Inserting it and driving it home with a broom stick of sorts.I did contact cement the top edges of this cup to hide yet.

I skive the edges of leather first to prevent arrow tips from catching on there.


I darkened the eye holes with a magic marker.I think it looks better.

She's ready for a stiffener stick now and a strap.

[ksnow]

Thank you for the response. I may have to give that a shot with some hides next year, with fur prices being in the tank.

[BowEd]

Nice part is there's probably only 2 to 3 dollars worth of aluminum sulphate and picking salt into the hide to tan it.Just as cheap or cheaper than brain tanning.

[BowEd]

Finished last cat.Took a little longer to dry and soften but not much more than previous hide.This one a little over 3' long.The other around 30" long.That's nose to tip of tail.I'm a little surprised as to how thick the larger Toms' hide actually was.It could probably have been used for a shorter bow to be carried in.


With most other tanning baths it's wise to get ones self some PH testing papers to check alkalinity.Using them according to the instructions of your type of tan.Proper PH helps the hide get tanned more efficiently with a better type tan and to stay away from bacteria.With this type of tan I did'nt check it.I should of I guess but I'm not one for technical details but it is a good idea anyway.I guess I've done this type tan so many times with good success and I usually usually brain tan too with no technical details I disregard it.
The off set of aluminum sulphate [An alkaline] and pickling salt [An acid] in the combination of 1 to 2 is usually close enough.I think the bath is supposed to be below 2 with a test of litmus paper.
Cheap item to buy from a taxidermy supply.Less than $5.00.I used Van Dykes Taxidermy supply.

[BowEd]

Got the stiffener on.Just need a strap for it yet.

The varmint hunter was by to pick up his tanned hide.Told me to leave it on my porch outside.Said he wanted to practice distance socializing.