I will be making my first attempt at tanning a hide next month. I bought some commercial tanning solution for the actual tan but the instructions don't really cover hair removal very well, any suggestions or tips from those with experiance? I'd sure appreciate it.

S Brogdon-

Hi! I do A LOT of this. Just got back from teaching a class on the topic. Proceed as follows;

1) Procure one large plastic garbage can and one bag of agricultural lime.

2) In garbage can, mix one pound of lime with six gallons water. Use wooden stick/rod to mix well.

3) Immerse fleshed hide in solution. Weight down hide with water-filled jug, rock, etc.

4) Stir once or twice a day to keep lime in solution.

5) After two or three days, begin checking state of hide by tugging on hairs. Ambient temperature will affect needed time. Warmer temps. will speed reaction. Can take up to 6-8 days. When hair detaches easily, toss on fleshing beam. Most hair can be removed by "pulling". Finish of with beamer. Wear latex gloves. Note- After a few days the "tank" will develop a bit of an odor. It's not that bad, but some ladies may object. Best to do this somewhere other than the basement!

6) After hair is removed, rinse thoroughly in clean water.

7) Using clean container, mix one quart white vinegar with five gallons water. Immerse de-haired hide in solution for twenty-four hours. This will neutralize the alkalinity of the lime. When done, rinse thoroughly with clean water.

8) That should do it. Traditionally, wood ashes were used instead of lime.

Can answer in more extensive detail on tanning process if needed.

Good Luck!

North:
Thanks for the help. I wish that I'd known about this site last year when I siaoked an elk hide for just over a week then threw it out because it started to smell, I thought it had gone bad. I'll take you up on your offer for more info, it's good to have an experts advise, noone I know has ever tanned a hide. Thanks again

S Brogdon-
You're most welcome. Just glad I can assist!

Howdy Gents,
I was just reading some of your discussions. North, I'm going to try to tan some hides, but I am using a wood ash solution to try to get the hair to pull. Once the hair pulls and I get the skin clean, how long should I flush the hide with clean water? What's the easiest way to flush the hide? I was thinking of possibly using a plastic garbage can with clean water and dunking the hides repeatedly until it appears that the solution is out of the hide. Is there a better way? I was also reading one of your comments about salting the hides. Well, I had a gentelman give me a couple of hides and one of them was pretty rank. I went ahead and flushed it and I'm soaking it now, but will the hide turn out ok? Will the stink go away once the tanning process takes place? Thanks for any help you can give me.
Sawdust

North, I meant fleshed the stinkin' hide, not flushed. My wife was typing for me and she thought I said flushed. That's what she says I oughta do with all of 'em anyway.
Sawdust

Sawdust - Just got in from field research and have to teach an early class tomorrow, so will have to be brief!

1) Make sure your ash solution is strong enough. It should float an egg.
2) For flushing, I would recommend putting it in a five gallon bucket (plastic) and using a garden hose/outdoor tap to rinse until clear. Then mix one quart of vinegar to five gallons of water. (I often can cut this recipe in half on small to medium hides). Soak hide in this solution for 24 hrs. Stir occasionally. This will neutralize any remaining alkalinity. Then rinse thoroughly in clean water. Sew up any holes and put on stretching frame.
3) Yes, odor should go away in the course of tanning. However, beware that the hide may end up with weak spots due to the enzymatic breakdown of the hide. Avoiding this is one of the many reasons to salt them.

Will have time to go into more detail this weekend if you have more questions, so don't hesitate to post if you need clarifications or additions. If you are not well versed on graining, be sure to ask, as this is one of the VITAL keys to a good brain tan.

Carry On!

Thanks North for the info, I'm not well versed in any of this so any info would be greatly appreciated. I've tried to read as much as possible on the internet, I get what they're saying but don't know the best way to go about it. Graining would be one of those areas. What do you personally use to sew holes, thread or artificial sinew? Thanks for the help
Sawdust

Sawdust -
Graining - O.K., you've got all the hair pulled and scraped off. The hide is also thoroughly fleshed, neutralized and rinsed. Now, toss the hide on your fleshing beam, hair side up. Using your beamer or large butcher knife begin scraping the hide in the neck/shoulder area. Use a pretty firm pressure. Keep blade just a bit shy of knife sharp. On the leading edge of your beamer you will observe a grayish-white substance about the consistency of Elmer's Glue. This MUST be removed. It is a protein that is present on the epidermal surface of deer hides and, if left in place, will prevent you from achieving a good, flannel-like, finished product. Continue scraping until the substance on the leading edge of the beamer is of a thin watery consistency. Proceed to do entire hide in this manner. Pay particular attention to the neck, shoulders and hips/flanks as these are the most problematic areas. Be thorough!

Sewing- A good nylon sewing thread or dental floss will work fine. Artificial sinew can be a bit putsy to work with and doesn't like to knot securely. Remember that your sewing at this stage is just to prevent holes from stretching, and can be redone later if cosmetics become a factor.

When the above have been executed, the hide is ready to lace to your stretching frame. After the hide has been on the frame for two or three days it should be dry. Now take some coarse grit sandpaper (say 80 grit) and go to work on the hair side again. Sand and scuff well. This will remove any remaining protein. Be careful not to sand through thin areas like the belly or the little "warps" that will appear on the dried hide.

Hope the above answers your questions. Feel free to continue to post questions as you proceed. Should be able to "talk" you through the process!

Carry On!

Thanks North, sounds like I have enough work ahead of me to keep me busy for awhile. I'll get back with you soon to pick your brain some more, thanks again.
Sawdust

Sawdust - Yes, brain tanning is labor intensive. I've calculated that it generally takes me between 10 and 16 hours of actual labor per hide (depending on size, gender and age). It is a subject of study to extrapolate associated figures in regards to life in the past, i.e., with an average traditional family size of six or seven times six hides per medium weather outfit times harvest expenditure times processing labor times tanning labor... Well, you can see where this leads! Divisions of labor, necessary animal procurement and hunting time, etc. Play with the numbers and concepts and you will find some interesting insight into past realities!

Again, glad to help! Will try to check in regularly to assist if needed.

Carry On!

Hey North,
I was thinking of something that I had seen on one of the brain tan websites. It was a picture of a hide on a beam. The hair was being removed and it seemed like they were taking a layer of the skin (for a lack of better words) as they were dehairing it. On my hides I have the hair pulled with a few whiskers here or there, but I'm wondering if any more of the hide has to come off on that side. I remember reading an article saying that both sides of the buckskin would be somewhat of a rough texture. Just wondering if I missed something somewhere.
Thanks,
Sawdust

Sawdust - I am guessing the photo you saw was an example of dry scraping. There are two ways to remove the hair, dry scraping and wet scraping. In dry scraping the raw hide is worked without any soaking and you "dig in" pretty hard with your beamer, removing what is known as the "scarf skin" in the process. This accomplishes essentially the same thing as the processes described above for the wet scraping process you are using (the graining steps). Both methods remove that critical protein layer. I prefer wet scraping, especially as most of the hides I do are "winter" hides. There is a notable difference between a summer hide and a winter hide due to the increased vascular flow and thickening of the hide that occurs with the build up of the winter coat. Summer hides are thinner (and somewhat stronger) and seem to dry scrape easier.

When you have done a good job of graining and breaking you should indeed end up with a hide that has a nice nap and the feel of a heavy flannel. A smooth or "glossy" exterior surface (or patches there-of) indicates that the protein laden scarf skin was not properly removed. Such a hide would not be considered "garment grade". Should this occur on your initial attempt, you can always re-wet the hide and repeat the graining, stretching, and sanding steps. I once had to do this on a really knarly old buck (285 lbs!).

Remember that there are actually a number of different approaches to brain tanning, and it seems like everyone (myself included) has their own little "tricks".

Bottom line - I don't think you've missed anything, just had two different methods tangled up.

At the ready for more questions!

Carry On!

I always used thew dry scrape method, I had 9' poles lashed together in the upstaits of the shop and stretched the hides inside a square of poles wity hog rings out till they dryed then used an old plane blade which I rounded off and attatched a handel to and shaved the hair off, I have used the wet slacked lime or ash method but like the dry method better.

Thanks North,I did have another question. I had a guy I work with give me another hide. It appears to have quite afew ticks on it as did the first two hides I receaved. How do you go about getting rid of these nasty little buggers before you start working on the hides? Did I mention I absolutly hate ticks. I think they are worse than the blood sucking leaches that try to take our guns away from us.

Sawdust- I can certainly appreciate your revulsion in regards to worthless, bloodsucking parasites. I can also understand your dislike of ticks!

In regards to the ticks- You wouldn't like this neck of the woods. During spring forays for 'schrooms, etc.,it is not uncommon for me to have to remove 50-100 of the little rascals when I get back to the shack! No, that is not, in any way, an exaggeration!

On your specific query - Are the ticks still alive? Usually when I encounter them on a hide, they are attached, but dead. Live ones tend to depart a dead animal as their food source is no longer viable. If you still have live ones, I would suggest freezing the hide for a couple days, thaw enough to flesh the hide, and then immerse in "hair tank" as per regular procedure. The tank solution will quickly kill any that may still be active.

Though I've never had to try it, you also might be able to seal the hide in a garbage bag along with a commercially available, dog type, tick repellent or vermicide. Most ticks are attached on the back of the neck, so make sure this area is exposed to what ever you use.

Let me know how you come out on this aspect. Will be interested to hear the outcome!

Carry On!

P.S.-Trivia- Did you know that the male ticks (of most species) feed three times in their life-cycle?

North,
I'm needing to pick your brain a little more. I got my hides stretched and dried, but when I took them off to break them, I can't get them to break. I did like you said...I sanded the hair side, but on the outer edges, especially on the one hide, it seems to be translucent. So then I started worrying that I had scraped them too much and now I'm wondering if I have two big chunks of rawhide. When I started graining I didn't pay close enough attention and started on the flesh side. I got all the grayish goo off of them, but when I went to the hair side, I didn't get much off. I believe that what you call the scarf skin is still on there. I can see in a couple of places where some of it started to come off. I know you said you can resoak these hides. I'm assuming you mean in a wood ash solution. I'm not sure if it's worth my time now. Not even sure if these hides can be saved. I'd like to be able to use them if I can cause I've put alot of time into them. Maybe I could just hang them on the living room wall just as they are, lol. Now that I think about it, quite a bit of the hair on one of the hides was pulling by itself when I was fleshing it. Once I soaked it in the wood ash solution, the rest came out fairly easy, but maybe my wood ash solution was not strong enough. I didn't check it by floating an egg because I figured it was strong enough. If it was too weak, maybe it didn't break down the scarf skin so that all of it could be removed. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated at this time. I'm disgusted and distraught.
Sawdust

I used to pick uop dead deer from road kills and skin them and give the meat to a Raptor recovery center, I put the hides in a large heavy garbage bag(contractors type) and spray Raid or someother bug killer in it, shake it up and let it set for 2-3 hrs shaking a couple of times begfore taking it out, seemed to work pretty well.

Thanks tg, I'll try that next time. Man those little critters give me the willies.

Sawdust- Sorry to be slow in answering. Have been out in the bush for the last 10 days (hunting). Really a rough one. 45 mph. winds, snow, sleet, rain. Just got in and am wiped out. Will go over things tomorrow after I recuperate a bit. Don't give up on the hides!

Soon...