More hidework

[Will B]

Thanks for the detailed photos Ed.  Those are really well made scrapers.  I can see I’ve been using too wide of a scraper. I will be making a couple like yours before this fall.

[BowEd]

OK...Show me  what you come up with for a scraper.I would of sent you a scraper if I'd known you were in need of one.I have sent them to other members before showing interest in brain tanning.
Right now I'm dehairing this big doe which is being tougher to get done than the larger buck I did.
It's taking quite a few strokes to get every bit of epidermis and hair roots off.
In the thinner areas its wise not to push too hard and look out for any scars along the way.
Some deer can be like that.Older deer many times can have thicker epidermis.That's why a very sharp dehairing blade is needed.Takes the epidermis off narrow enough without much pressure.
After all is dehaired though I usually give it a good sanding to be sure.I don't like to use any more coarse of sand paper than 60 grit on deer.Usually 80 grit is used.
Thicker hided animals like elk,buffalo,and beef 40 grit can be used on them.

[Will B]

Ed, I used a fleshing knife on a fleshing beam my buddy let me use. It worked really well on the flesh side of the hide. I then soaked my hides in lye (made from wood ashes) and then scraped the hides with the fleshing knife.  I then put the hides on a frame to dry.

[BowEd]

Ahhhh yes.I've fleshed and dehaired them that way before too after fleshing them good on the same beam.Makes for a smooth hair side surface.Many quillers and bead workers like that type of surface to work on.They usually call that the wet scrape method.Just like fleshing a coon.
Here's a picture of my beam fleshing tool.I've had this tool for 40 years.The outside 2" on each end are sharp while leaving the center 10" to 12" dull.


A semi dull scraper in that case is the best to use.One that you can run your finger across length wise with no fear of cutting yourself.Many times just a good soaking in water is enough.Don't even need to lime it and then delime and rinse it.

Frankly the flank leathers' usefullness is'nt much more than used as fringe anyway.Very thin and very stretchy.

I've removed those slight peppered hair root remanants before after dry scraping by soaking the hide in water and using a dull fleshing knife on a beam too.Then if the brains are ready I brain it and rope it dry right then without reframing it.
Dry scraping leaves a fuzzier surface.

Finished the stubborn to remove hair roots on the older big doe up with a lot of sanding.Nice smooth surface then too when finished.Used to do that by hand.Nowadays I use a palm or orbital sander.Suprisingly I used 40 grit on that doe and it worked.Right around 13 to 14 square foot there.Should end up with at least 10 square feet of brain tan from this one.Perfect for shirts and such,or even a shorter legged full lengthed pants pipe.Notice how narrower the necks are on these does.

1 more 1 and 1/2 year old doe to do and then I'll start braining and roping them all dry.

[BowEd]

Got this 1 and 1/2 year old doe framed and fleshed this nice cool morning.
Sidenote....It's always nice getting up at dawn in the summer.Many songbirds rekindle their mating rituals with song ready to raise another hatch and the woods sound pretty nice.
This doe was one that squirted right underneath my stand running away from a buck and I spine shot her.Less than 5 yards beneath me.She dropped on the spot.
Very nice clean hide.Free of scars.

[BowEd]

After letting the hide set in the 85 degree F. sun 4 to 5 hours the hide is well on it's way to getting dry and dry enough to sand.Not much membrane will be taken off if the fleshing was done properly.Usually remnants by the edges of the hide,but I still give it an overall sanding.
Picture will show the beginning of the sanding.
I use 80 grit sanding disk on my orbital sander.This serves 2 purposes.Getting rid of every bit of membrane and raising the nap of the rawhide to accept brain oils.
I then turn it over to the sun on the hair side.Letting it dry further through the afternoon.


This is the time table for a 1 and 1/2 year old doe of about 10 square feet.Larger thicker hides will take slightly longer as well as yearling deer under 1 year old will take less time yet.

[Buckskinner]

Very interesting topic.  I think I might give this a go, usually I donate my hides or trade for a pair of gloves.   Used to be able to trade for a nice pair of leather choppers or gloves, now they give a cheap pair of gloves made in china, so not worth the trip.

[BowEd]

That is a good option too.At times I used to use a company in Minnesota [Huber glove company] send me a few pairs of deer hide gloves and mittens from my hides also.They made a neat mitten called the 1 finger mitten that I still use to this day while hunting or driving tractor.Nothing like deer skin gloves.
They are chrome tanned and dyed a light tan.

After another 4 to 5 hours of drying this hide is already ready to be dehaired.The first place to check if the epidermis is dry enough is at the thickest part.The mid section neck.If it's dry there it'll be dry everywhere else.
It's best to let it dry a little extra amount of time to be sure.It can make the job easier."Beware of scars".

In times past I've demonstrated at town celebrations,rendezvous's,and bow making gatherings deer hides taken at dawn and had soft brain tan leather by dusk.Smoking them in the tipi into the dark to finish them up or smoking them the very next day.

[bjrogg]

It’s definitely a labor of love Buckskinner. I hope you give it a try. You’ve got the right username for it to.

It really does produce a beautiful product. I take a couple of my brain tanned hides with me when I do presentations. People are alway surprised at how soft and subtle they are. They have a very hard time believing that I tanned them with the brains of the animals I got the hides from.


Of course Ed is really good at it and makes it look pretty easy. Truthfully it’s a lot of work and some people might even think it’s kinda messy. Like Ed I find working hides very rewarding. Otherwise I would just send them out to have someone else do them.lol

Thanks again for posting Ed. You really do some beautiful work

Bjrogg

[Digital Caveman]

I really only found it messy when I think of it as dead animal parts from the woods.  The yuck factor goes way down when you look at it as meat and wet dog chew -- which of course it is.   

It is definitely very labor-intensive.  I agree that BowEd does make it look easy.  I wish I had the time, space, tools, and materials to do it right... 

[BowEd]

I've never needed to convince myself of anything else other than it's a resource.A replenishable one at that over the last 50+ years.
Things get easier the more you do them.Taking less time.

[bjrogg]

I’m sure they do Ed. I know I have picked up lots of ideas from watching you post. I’m sure I would pick up a bunch more from watching you do the whole process in person. I can tell you have been using this renewable resource for many years.

Bjrogg

[BowEd]

Noone took the time to show me besides looking at a book.I figured things out pretty much on my own.I've seen different versions of getting the job done though later.
At 1 rendezvous at New Ulm,Minnesota I saw the prarie wolf.....John Mcphearson do a hide.He heated his brains up with hot rocks in a deer hide hung from a tri pod,just to show how primitively it could be done.
The breakdown of time totals to around 8 hours into each hide.With the whole process not needing to be done all at once.You can pick and choose when time is available to do the steps leaving days inbetween them if you like.
Frame and fleshing takes around 1 hour.Sanding 15 minutes.
Dehairing takes around 3 hours.Sanding 15 minutes.
Braining and stretching around 1 hour.
Roping dry around 3 hours depending on size of hide.

[BowEd]

Getting hotter again every day.4th of July today.Happy Independance Day!!!!!I'm not one to buy any fireworks.No kids around.Many pops and booms going on around me though in the distance.
I'll try to finish up this hide today dehairing.Slight chance of rain with it getting more humid.Rain looks like it'll go by to the north of us though.If not there's always another day....ha ha.This one's hair roots are being stubborn also.
If I'm lucky it looks like I'll have around 45 square feet of rawhide to brain tan and smoke from the 4 deer.
I might smoke 2 of the smaller ones together in a tube.Then smoke each larger one seperately.
Got around 15 to 20 pounds of pig brains in the freezer to use.

[BowEd]

I have a bad habit about not mentioning every problem solving remedy about this type tanning.

Weather....It's best to dehair during low humidity times.50% or less is ideal.Above 70% and on some older deer with thicker epidermis the epidermis can become rubbery or kinda gummy and not come off in a clean swipe from the scraper.It can chatter then also.Letting it set in the sun during high humidity will help also.
It can be dehaired during high humidity periods though.Just with a bit more tedium.Rescraping a different direction and then sanding usually solves the epidermis removal problem.

Scars.....After fleshing and sanding and before dehairing take note of all scars that are visible from the flesh side.Knowing then while dehairing where they are to avoid punching or tearing a hole.Those type scars will be completely through the hide.The flanks and belly are where most occur.Foul shots from seasons past etc.Always dehair with the line of the scar.Never crosswise.Scars do not smoke clean through and will show up white after smoking.Sometimes it can be easier to cut a hole with the scar and sew it up after braining but before roping.The sewn hole will be darn near invisible after smoking.
I use a no. 10 sharps needle and nymo beading thread to first sew the hole just before roping it dry.During the roping process if your sewing is good the leather will conform to the stretching and appear fixed and flat.Then after roping dry I resew it completely shut with real sinew before smoking.
Barbed wire marks down the spine line are usually not seen from the flesh side.Because they are not all the way through the hide.They usually don't bother at all.
All in all it really is'nt that hard of work.You can go at your own speed to finish it up.