Trina
Six pointer
Posts: 61
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Post by Trina on Oct 16, 2004 9:39:48 GMT -5
To make a long story short nephew got a deer, and hubby brought the hide home, wanting to tan it... I guess thats it, he want to keep the hair on... could anyone enlighten us how one might go about doing this... anythoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Trina
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Post by Tenbears on Oct 17, 2004 8:32:35 GMT -5
The first step is to flesh and salt the hide. let drain overnight. then shake out, and re-salt. lay out on a rack to dry. once dry the hide will not spoil.
the best tanning kit in my opinion is Bysentan-DLE. It comes with instructions.
The kit is enough to do about 100 pounds of dry hides. You will also need plenty of salt. Each phase of tanning requires about 15 pounds. and there are 3 phases.
Pickling, neutralizing, and the Tan.
After tanning, the hide will need to be oiled, and worked to make it supple.
Now let me go on to say. what you are probably in for. tanning kit $40.00, salt 50 pounds. $10.00. although the kit does 100 pounds of hide. unless you do that much at once. you will need to mix each batch, so your salt will run about 30 pounds per hide. after fleshing and salt drying. you will re-hydrate the hide in the pickle solution. after this step, you will have to re-shave the hide to thin it a bit, and remove any excess membrane. Then it will go into the neutralizing bath, then the tan. After tanning you will need to hang to drain. then stretch it on a rack, and oil. When partly dry, what we refer to the threading stage. ( when the hide is pulled, you see, a threading appearance if the skin) at this point the hide is not totally dry. But now is the time to do your initial staking of the hide. a blunt stake is placed in a vice, and the hide is drawn over it. This breaks the fibers, and softens the hide. another application of oil, and back to the streatching/drying rack. when the hide is dry, it is staked until soft and supple. after one deer hide, you will find this an awful lot of work, and most likely never use the remainder of the tanning kit. you will have in excess of $50.00 and a great many hours of hard work In a single hide.
On the other hand, you can flesh and salt the hide as described above. wile drying. just before the hide gets rock hard. fold it up and allow to finish drying. place it in a plastic bag. and box it up. send it to a tannery. they will charge you around $30.00 to tan the hide. plus return shipping. with shipping both ways you will still have the $50.00. in the hide. but you will have saved yourself a lot of time, and work. and the hide will be top notch.
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Trina
Six pointer
Posts: 61
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Post by Trina on Oct 18, 2004 19:38:12 GMT -5
Thank you for your response Tenbears, it was enough to scare me off ;D but dunno if it will hubby. Oh well guess he will be the one doing the work
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Post by Hisshooter on Nov 10, 2004 10:21:40 GMT -5
Trina,
I just finished tanning my sons deer hide. I used the Lutan kit from Cabelas. It worked great and was less than $20.00. Hope this helps.
Cal,
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Trina
Six pointer
Posts: 61
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Post by Trina on Nov 15, 2004 16:16:43 GMT -5
Thank you Cal I will pass that info onto hubby... he didnt lose interest quit the opposite:> Right now he is on a week long elk hunt...maybe he will have more hides when he gets home:>
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Post by Douglas Blair on Nov 15, 2004 20:16:58 GMT -5
Anyone here ever brain tan a hide to make moccasins or buckskins out of? Now there is your work.  |
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