tanning supplies

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Syble
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tanning supplies

Post by Syble » Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:34 pm

where is a good place to get bulk stuff? I have friends looking for lots of alum and mink oil.... thoughts? directions!?
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WLLady
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Re: tanning supplies

Post by WLLady » Fri Dec 18, 2015 5:02 pm

Bulk barn for alum powder....
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Re: tanning supplies

Post by Bart Nagel » Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:26 pm

I am new to tanning and looking to try a recipe with alum and salt. So many options online. Who can share experiences with a fairly straightforward method?
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Re: tanning supplies

Post by WLLady » Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:06 pm

this is how i have done many furs....this recipe is for deer...for bear double it, for moose quadruple. half for coyote and coons....
sorry, cut and paste from a word doc if the formatting is weird

This will do one deer hide, or 1 coyote hide or about 20 rabbit pelts (you can scale up or down depending on what you are doing). A moose hide will take at least triple this recipe, and a bear will usually take 2 times the recipe.

Remove all the fat from the skin side of the hide using a fleshing knife or your hunting knife. Be careful not to cut too deeply or you will shear the roots of the hair and it will fall out in processing. To help the curing process salt the back (skin side) of the pelt liberally with table salt. Fold with the skin in and fur out and freeze in the freezer for 2 days. (Alternatively you may proceed with the tanning immediately, but after you’ve butchered your deer/bear/moose/etc you probably want a break). Thaw the pelt by running under COOL (not warm) water in the bathtub. Make sure you get all the mud, leaves, bark, dirt, whatever, off the hide prior to salting and freezing it-and for sure before you start to process it. It is VERY important to get all the fat and any muscle off the skin side. If there is any fat or muscle left, the tanning solution will not penetrate into the skin through it and these areas will not tan.

In a small plastic bucket, dissolve 1 pound of alum powder (buy at bulk barn in the spice section) in one gallon (4 liters) of warm water. In a plastic garbage can (or freezer chest if you are doing a smaller deer hide or coyote hide), dissolve 2 1/2 pounds of salt (i buy this at costco) in 4 gallons (16 liters) of cool water. Pour the solution from the small bucket into the garbage can and mix thoroughly-it will smell exactly like the neocitran that is in the yellow box at this point. Put in the hide, skin side up (hair side down). You may need to weight the hide so that it doesn’t float up and onto the top if it’s a large hide. Immerse the skin and soak for 6 to 8 days. Stir the mixture (slosh the hide around) 2 times each day to make sure that all parts of the hide are exposed to the mixture. If it starts to smell BAD (it will smell a little bit like salt water, or like ocean water after a few days, but shouldn’t smell BAD-you’ll know BAD if you smell it!) change the solutions, and wash the hide with soap (sunlight dish soap works well) and cold water. If you notice hair slippage-a LOT of hair coming off then wash with cool water and dish soap thoroughly and replace the solutions. After the soaking period, remove the skin and drain it thoroughly. Rinse the skin with running water for approximately 15 minutes-a shower works really well for this....use cool water get all the salt off and make sure you thoroughly rinse the hair side. It is normal for a hide to lose some hair, but not handfuls of hair. Usually if you will get slippage the hide will STINK, and the part slipping will show as patches of bare skin and the hairs will strip out if rubbed-this is bad, get the hide washed ASAP with dish soap and cool water and get new solutions into your bucket. If you do not catch slippage early the entire hide will be unusable. Usually slippage is caused by a part of the hide not being submerged in the tanning solution (alum plus salt), or an air pocket under the hide preventing the solution from contacting the hide.

Tack the wet hide to a flat surface such as a sheet of plywood-use screws! Nails will pull out of the board as the pelt dries. Tack it to the board with the hair side towards the board, the skin side out. Do not put in direct sunlight. A cool basement is good. To speed the drying you can put a fan blowing on it. There should be virtually no smell to the hide at all. If you have opted to leave the hair on the hide, tack the skin on the surface with the flesh side facing out. The skin will stretch as it dries and go a whitish colour. When the skin is almost dry, rub it with a light coating of warm neat's-foot oil (buy this at any country store or horse tack store and then warm it up by putting in a sink of hot water for 20 minutes before using). Don’t soak it in oil, but just give it enough that is sinks in. Allow it to dry again overnight. Reoil (warm neet’s foot oil) the next day by first dampening the skin with a moist damp warm cloth, then rub in the oil again. Let dry again, oil again, dry again. Do this for 3 consecutive days-by the third day the skin should not be drying all the way because of the oil (which is exactly what you want). Next day dampen (not soak!) the skin with a moist warm cloth. Rub the skin over a dull edge such as a saw horse until it is supple and soft like a chamois cloth-your arms will want to fall off....it usually takes about 2 days of breaking the hide and if it gets too stiff just rub with more oil. By the end you should have a soft pliable pelt that stays soft. As the softening progresses SPARINGLY apply some warm neat's-foot oil to the hide. BREAK ONLY THE SKIN SIDE! DO NOT RUB THE HAIR ON SIDE OR YOU WILL LOSE THE HAIR!

After you are finished breaking the hide and it’s all done rub some fine grit sandpaper over every square inch of exposed skin to smooth the surface and get off any rough spots or little knotlike pieces from the breaking. Throw on the floor as a rug or hang on a wall (warning the oil may mark drywall if not painted with an oil paint). If the hide stiffens over time just rub in some more neet’s foot oil. I touch up the hides I’ve done usually once a year.
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Farrier1987
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Re: tanning supplies

Post by Farrier1987 » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:46 am

For defatting/fleshing the hide, I like to spread it flesh side up in the yard and let the chickens peck the fat, flesh off it. They get almost all of it and save me a lot of work. Will still be some connective tissue and some flesh, but loosened way easier to handle with a knife.
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Farrier1987. South of Chatham on Lake Erie. Chickens, goats, horse, garden, dog, cat. Worked all over the world. Know a little bit about a lot of things. No incubator, broody hens.

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Re: tanning supplies

Post by Farrier1987 » Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:04 am

I also do rawhide. Can of lye in a barrel 2/3 full of water then put the hide in (after fleshing) and soak for about a week. Stir and move it around once a day or so. Then I use a log about a foot across, smoothed down so no knots or bumps and use a draw knife to peel the hair off. Can do it with the log on the ground, or cut one end of the log about a 60 degree angle and lean up against a wall, pinch the edge of the hide between the log and the wall to hold it in place, then move the hide as required at the pinch point to get the whole hide. You can stand up then, saves a lot of stooping and backache.

After scraping, spread it out flat on the ground on a cloudy day so it doesn't dry too fast in the sun. Turn it in a few hours so both sides dry. When it is dry to a point that it is not wet but still supple, sharp knife or good scissors and cut it into strips. I hang them on a nail to dry hanging down straight. When I want to use them I soak them so they will bend easily and the lace whatever I want to with it. Be sure when you soak it that you don't over soak it or it gets week and will break when pulled too tight. If you did over soak it, no problem, just let it dry some before you use it. Should be supple like a medium leather. Not soft like a noodle. It dries hard and tough. I use it for lots of stuff. Like wrapping an axe handle by the head so the rawhide takes the beating not the handle when splitting wood. Fix lots of things. Deer, moose elk, beef are great. Goat for finer thinker stuff. Middle of the back is strongest. Flanks and legs thinner, less strength. Width of strip then makes a big difference, wider is stronger, but if thin it wont be as tough. Depends on the use you want to put it to. Can also make strips by going around and around the edges with scissors and peel off a strip a hundred yards long if you want to.
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Farrier1987. South of Chatham on Lake Erie. Chickens, goats, horse, garden, dog, cat. Worked all over the world. Know a little bit about a lot of things. No incubator, broody hens.

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Re: tanning supplies

Post by Bart Nagel » Wed Jan 27, 2016 3:27 pm

Thanks guys! Great tips and recipe!
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Re: tanning supplies

Post by Farrier1987 » Wed Jan 27, 2016 7:26 pm

For Alum, check with a water treatment plant. They use it all the time, and possibly have a broken bag, or can tell you where you can get it. Don't know for sure about mink oil. Check with a saddlery, you will be able to get it, but bulk, not sure.
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Farrier1987. South of Chatham on Lake Erie. Chickens, goats, horse, garden, dog, cat. Worked all over the world. Know a little bit about a lot of things. No incubator, broody hens.

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