Hide tanning?

[hardstalk]

Does anyone tan there own deer,elk,antelope hides? I have an idea of making a large blanket. (Hair off) It may take several years. I was thinking of using 10"x10" pieces of each animal I "harvest" and eventually making a blanket of some sort.

My question is if anyone does, or have done there own hides. Is the natural "brain" technique or synthetic technique easier? Any tips or tricks I should use? I can't bring myself to pay the cost of a tannery. I think the blanket would end up costing thousands said and done if I pay someone else to do the tanning.

 

[ithunter]

I don't know that one technique is easier then the other...I am not sure if all taxidermists send their hides off or not but, one way to soften the blow of paying a taxi would be to ship the hide to a commercial tannery your self.

some place like usafoxx comes to mind...price list

I will be following the thread I have always wanted to do some tanning I just cant find the time.

 

[Hilltop]

Had a co-worker try several techniques over the past several years. He ended up quitting because he was never really happy with how they turned out and the amount of effort required to do it. I have no clue what methods he used or if he had any idea what he was doing but the end results were mediocre at best when he would bring in samples. For a nice finished product, the mail in places can't be beat IMO.

 

[hardstalk]

I'm starting to lean that way. I contacted a place in Utah, 12 bucks per dried,salted pound. I'm pretty sure fleshing and drying myself would be affordable. Then just shipping in a flat rate envelope would work. A 12"x12" dried hide can't weigh more than a pound-1.5 pounds? 12-20 bucks a square wouldn't be too bad of a hit to the wallet over the years of accumulating the pieces. I'm waiting for a return call with the details on pricing.

 

[brianboh]

I can get them tanned proffesionally for 75 dollars. Soft too. I also can tan them for you. They would be hard. I have a trick to get it soft. You would have to get your squaw to chew on it. That is how thenindians do it. Seriously though I a taxidermists and could get you some good places to send them off. It's like 100 to get it done and shipped back. The chewing method does work too

 

[shootbrownelk]

I can get them tanned proffesionally for 75 dollars. Soft too. I also can tan them for you. They would be hard. I have a trick to get it soft. You would have to get your squaw to chew on it. That is how thenindians do it. Seriously though I a taxidermists and could get you some good places to send them off. It's like 100 to get it done and shipped back. The chewing method does work too

There are a few casinos around the Riverton/Lander area....go there and run that chewing idea past a few Squaws. Been nice knowing you! LOL.

 

[Kentucky hunter]

Van Dyke's Taxidermy supply has tanning kits with videos if you want to try one $27.95. Those places may not tan a piece that small may have to pay for having the hole hide done

 

[RICMIC]

Back when I was young, foolish, and didn't know better, I tanned a half dozen deer hides and a couple moose hides. I just stretched them out by nailing them on the back side of my garage and fleshed them out. I used some fresh battery acid that you can buy at any auto parts store, dilute it to specs with water (don't ask me now, but it was a very weak solution.) A new plastic garbage can works well. Soak, soak, soak, stretch, stretch, rub, bend, swear, bitch, start over a couple times, etc. Eventually, the deer hides came out OK, but not great. The moose hides could be used for battle shields. I gave the moose hides to a friend, and he put them in the bathtub to soften up. He went to bed, and he woke up to a blood curdling scream from the bathroom. His wife had just gotten home from work, and when she went in the bathroom, she almost fainted. His only comment was, "Must be one of those woman things." Anyway, my point is; don't bother.

 

[Stay Sharp]

So this can be done and if dedicated and willing to put forth the effort you can produce a supple finished product but its going to come with a lot of effort and sweat. Stitching panels or pieces of hide together will leave seams that wont feel very comfortable but with backing and perhaps some batting you could make it comfortable.

While I don’t make blankets, I do tan my hides for a variety of projects. Normally I leave the hair on but removing the hair can be done but adds a level of work. I take the hair off to make rawhide for drum heads and other projects.

Step 1. Shoot a deer and skin it. Get as much meat and fat of the hide as you can.

Spread the hide out on a sheet of plywood. Tilt the plywood a bit so the liquids can run off. Cover the hide in a heavy layer of salt and let sit 24 hours. Scrape off and discard the salt and apply another layer.

after 24 hours, scrape off the 2nd layer of salt and poke lacing holes around the edge of the hide. Fashion a frame of wood and lash the stiff hide to the frame. Coat the hide with 20 mule team borax and set in the sun. This will make it bone dry.

 

[Stay Sharp]

When dry, you can soften the hide with a long sharpened stick.

When totally dry, vacuum off both sides of the hide and drape over a chair or tack to a wall or make a quiver or remove the hair to made drum heads.

To remove the hair, I make lye water by taking hardwood ashes from the wood stove and pack them into an 8 foot section of rain gutter that is sloped with one end about 6 inches higher than the other end. Then using rain water (or distilled bottle water) I set up a dripper or trickler to slowly pour the water into the ashes at the high side of the gutter. I use a plastic bucket to catch the lye water that come out the other end. When I have enough I soak the hides in the lye water until the air slips. You need to remove the hair if you want to make the blanket you describe.

When the hair slips and can be easily be pulled out, you need to place the hide on a fleshing beam (I use a big pice of large diameter PVC because it perfectly smooth. Using draw knife or shave (but I use the back of the blade rather than the sharp side, I slugh off the hair.

When the hair is off, you use the sharp side of the blade to remove the outer most layer of the dermis to get all the roots. If you don’t do this, the hide will never be really soft and it will feel like razor stubble.

 

[Stay Sharp]

If allowed to dry in this state, the hide will become rawhide and there are plenty of uses for such material. For your project you will need to either brain tan (God gave each animal enough brains to tan its own hide) or you can purchase a commercial soft tanning kit from van Dykes or other outlets. Each will have varying instructions but they will all agree that “breaking” the hide is the key to a soft, supple finished product. That comes with lots of effort and sweat and oil.

Here are some good commercial product for home tanning and hair removal.

http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/Tanning-Kits-C18.aspx

Purchasing soft (hair off) deer hides can be costly. See tandy Leather link below

http://www.tandyleather.com/en/category/garment-deer-elk#

I use a lot of soft tanned leather (Deer, Elk and cow) to make chopper mits. You will struggle to sew tanned leather without the proper tools. Making a blanket from squares means a lot of sewing.

Today, I find it more cost effective to buy the finished leather when I come across a deal. I developed a pattern and got a sewing machine that will sew through several layers of leather and have been making custom chopper mits for a while now.

Sewing the tumb of a mitten

A few of the pairs I have sewn.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I have a book called "Naked Into the Wilderness" Primitive Wilderness Living & Survival Skills. Written by John and Geri McPherson. It has a very detailed section on hide tanning using the brain. It also tells you how to prepare the brain to be used for tanning.
While I have not tried it, it looks like A LOT of work.

 

[jozwiak22]

Stay Sharp, so salting, borax and breaking are the only steps needed to produce a good hair on hide?

 

[Stay Sharp]

Without breaking It will produce hairy cardboard suitable for display indoors. It will be very stiff. If you break the tissue (I do it while on a stretching frame while pushing on the flesh side of the hide with a big stick that looks like an oversized pencil.) Smoking the hide over a smudgy smoke will aid in waterproofing the hide and give it that buckskin color. If you dont smoke it after breaking, it will return to cardboard if it were to get wet.