So, you’ve gotten your hands on a deer skin and you want to turn it into leather. Take extra care where the hide is thinner, such as around the belly. Keeping it soft is why you smoke it, and smoking will also turn your hide into a lovely amber color. Two options: First, if the hide is moist enough to scrape the salt off, I will do that then put the hide into a 35 gallon plastic barrel that has 20-25 gallons of fresh water. Smoke the hide. Beneath the hair (which you will scrape off too) is a layer of grain that holds in the hair. It’s done when you can easily pull the hair out of the hide with a firm tug. Then pull it out, hand wringing it to leave as much of the solution in the bucket as you can. ). The hide is dry when it is no longer cool to the touch—it’ll take several hours, and is more quickly done close to a heat source. Brain tanning is, however, incredibly rewarding and we’re excited to teach you about it. Now, let's say you're tanning a deer hide. Scraper: an old, dull planer blade works well. So there’s hide tanning! There is no charge for this assistance for any person with a disability calling from within the United States or Canada. For a more complete run through of hide tanning, Deer hide: fresh, salted, frozen or dried, Scraping beam made from a scraped and smoothed hardwood log, or a piece of PVC pipe with some sort of propping device. Spread your hide on the beam, making sure it’s flat and not folded. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners. After 3 hrs or so I expect to have them at least pulled apart. Leave the hide for 24 hours. During the recent deer season, one of my friends had some success. The oil from the egg yolks is going to keep the hide soft, when it coats all the fibers in the skin. It’s not the end of the world—your first tanning is always an experiment. © 2021 Wild Abundance | Website Theme: Cyberian Frontier. Let this fire burn for 30 minutes to an hour (or longer), so that a good-sized bed of coals accumulates. Smoking it creates a chemical reaction that will preserve it much better in the long run. When your hide is completely dry (and soft), it’s time to smoke. While your white hide may seem beautifully soft before smoking, it will become stiff and hard again as soon as water touches it. Getting ready for your brain tanning solution: Scraping, Membraning, Wringing I lay out the fur, flesh side up and fur side down, and spread non-iodized salt liberally over the whole thing, making sure every bit of the flesh side is covered. It’s best to learn about this visually, which is one of the reasons we created the. (Salt can be re-used, too.). Allow the smoke to penetrate fully, which can take 30 minutes to 3 hours, then flip your pouch inside out and smoke the membrane sides of your hide. The more they dry the harder they will be to scrape later. It’s best to learn about this visually, which is one of the reasons we created the Online Hide Tanning Course. Real brains. These might sound like sexy dance moves. In order to avoid your hide becoming hard like rawhide, you must keep the fibers moving throughout this final drying. When you get your hide back to camp make sure you get as much meat and fat off as possible, salt it down and let cool down before you roll it up. Close this dialog to confirm you are happy with that, or learn more in our privacy policy. The soaking process will take between 2 days and a couple of weeks, depending on the temperature of the water. Let the hide dry for a bit 3. I have tanned two rabbit hides so far, with varying success, but I thought I’d add to the many voices online that explain the hide-preserving process. First, turn your hide into a pouch with one open end at the neck (temporarily), with the side that used to have hair on the inside. Jobs that involve hand work are best learned by hand work. At that point I will change the water, wash them well with the hose and return to fresh water in the barrel . TIP: If you don’t have salt in the field you need to make sure to clean ALL the meat and fat off. This article may not be appropriate for all readers. But neither do you want a dripping hide with dark, wet spots. Watch the videos below for more detailed instruction on making your own fleshing tool, and the process of fleshing a hide. 1 Overview 2 Products 3 Drop sources 4 Update history Fresh deer hide is acquired by harvesting a deer carcass, they can then be cured by leaving them indoors for 5 days (in-game). Animal skins have layers of different kinds of tissues above and below the thick part we turn into leather. Rabbit skin is very thin, and it’s easy to tear holes in it. Watch the video below for more instruction on scraping. Deer are one of the Animals that inhabit Mystery Lake, Coastal Highway, Pleasant Valley, Desolation Point and Timberwolf Mountain available in The Long Dark.Deer are non-aggressive and will run from the player if he/she gets too close. You can either soak your hide in a creek (tied to a large rock or tree so it doesn’t float away), or a bucket with a rock to weigh it down. This is the final step to make buckskin that will stay soft in all kinds of weather. Don’t remove the hide from the water until it is soft everywhere. The goal is to get the brain solution to penetrate through the whole hide. Most tanning procedures include soaking the skin in a water-based solution for a few hours up to a few weeks in order to loosen the hair. Transfer some hot coals into your wood stove, metal can or hole in the ground. There are several methods of tanning hides—you can use bark from trees, high in tannins; you can use acid to pickle the hide; or you can use a “brain-tanning” method, which is what I have been doing. In this article, the author discusses how she’s using the skins of the rabbits she butchers for meat. Let the hide dry for at least a couple days. Salt the hide. Now, place your hide over the wringing pole and twist it up in a donut (for a more detailed description of this step, join us for the Online Hide Tanning Course). » View Our Store Events - Family Fun Events Every Weekend! A rabbit hide should end up dry enough to stay flat when you pick it up. My plan is to skin it right away before it freezes. All of the videos in this post are excerpts from our, Ordering Seeds – Plus How to Store and Organize Them, How to Tan a Hide, Naturally, in 10 Steps, Favorite Zucchini Recipe – Crema de Calabacín, The Best Growing Medium for your Container Crop, Johnny Appleseed and the Story of Apples in America, 3 Steps for Irrigating Your Garden With Rainwater, Ben Marchman – Regenerative Community Building, Lloyd Kahn and a Shout-Out to Shelter Publications, 3 Tips for Avoiding a Debt Trap when Buying Land, 7 Ways to Include Community While Looking for Land. Soak the hide in this solution for another three to five days. With the tanning formula applied, spread the hide out and wait the prescribed amount of days (usually about five) for the curing process to complete. Using the same methodical approach, but way less force and meticulousness, scrape the other side of the hide to remove the membrane. Place the hide in the garbage bag and tie it shut. So, if you try this step and find it difficult, consider signing up for much more specific and detailed instruction. You can smoke the hide over a smoky fire with a skirt around it. Once you’ve tried, you will understand the textures that have been described, and the pitfalls. We wish you well with your hide tanning endeavors, and hope that our guidance helps you along your way. Re-egg as necessary! These might sound like sexy dance moves. Don’t forget the edges! After 7 to 10 days take the pelt out of the solution and wash it in dishwashing soap to get all of the alcohol and turpentine out of the pelt. It was in the 20s for few days when I shot it, but yesterday was 45 and today will be close to that. You don’t want a crunchy, bone-dry hide. Scrape a small area at a time with your scraping tool to remove all of the flesh. The key in the whole process is to take the skin of the animal, which is perishable and will rot, and preserve it by keeping bacteria away and keeping it soft and supple. We’re going to walk you through how to tan a hide in 10 comprehensive steps with the wet-scrape brain tanning method. The longer that a hide rehydrates, the easier it will be to remove the grain. Welcome to Lehman's, For a Simpler Life. A rabbit hide should end up dry enough to stay flat when you pick it up. The first four steps we listed above prepare your hide to be worked. Now, place your hide over the wringing pole and twist it up in a donut (for a more detailed description of this step, Throughout the softening process you can stretch, cable, stake, bounce, rub, and smack the hide. Click here! It will also be somewhat messy and stinky. Make handles for it with pieces of hose or fabric wrapped with duct tape. . If you are an American with a disability we offer a toll free disability services phone line at 800-438-5346 during regular business hours and one of our knowledgeable customer service representatives will help you navigate through our website, conduct advanced searches, read you the specifications of any item and consult with you about the products we carry. The salt will draw out moisture and make the environment inhospitable to the kinds of organisms that would want to eat the hide. The whole process will take you a few days, so be prepared. The soaking process will take between 2 days and a couple of weeks, depending on the temperature of the water. Animal skins have layers of different kinds of tissues above and below the thick part we turn into leather. Once it is soft and supple, your hide is finished but not weatherproof. Look out for knife marks that penetrate into the gray layer between the flesh and skin. T, o see videos that demonstrate and explain each of them, join our. Learning how to tan a deer hide is not a difficult task, but it does take some manual labor and a lot of time. When the smoke penetrates to the outside of the hide, you are done. When I do a rabbit hide, I spend about half an hour going over the hide with a spoon and making sure any membrane I can get off is off. No iodine or additives. Soaking a hide after fleshing is a process of controlled rotting. It also helps me to break away from the fast paced world I am a part of for a little while. Scrape off the salt and soak the hide in fresh, warmish water. The skin is made up of overlapping and intertwining fibers that go every direction, so in order to have a supple finished product, we need to make sure that the hide gets stretched in every direction. 1-½  gallons hot water (not so hot that it will burn your skin), 12 egg yolks, whisked or blended into very small particles, ¼ cup olive oil, other oil, or rendered bear fat. We’ve been turning animal skins into supple, eminently useful buckskin for fifteen years, and we’ve got the muscles to prove it! I am going to butcher probably tommorrow or next day. Using all natural materials and getting a hide velvety soft and pliable is a lot of work. They also have fat and lecithin, but don’t quite have the magic or grossness of brains. That helps in the future suppleness of the hide, since membrane left on the hide can harden to a bit of a crust. If you’re using a bucket, be sure to agitate the hide a couple of times a day. We show you exactly how to make a scraping beam in our. Looking to do a hair on tanning. If you’ve removed the skin using hand power rather than knife power, you’ll have very little flesh left on the skin—mostly just a layer of membrane. Then take it out, shake the old salt off, and reapply fresh. Step 3 / Graining After the hair begins to slip, the hide must be thoroughly scraped. We cover everything from fleshing the hide to breaking the leather. They’re actually different techniques to keep those fibers moving as the hide dries. Get the hide off of the animal. If you stop stretching the hide before it is completely dry, it will end up hard and not supple. Next, trim off any dangly bits and the very thickest part of the neck. Is it to late to save the hide for hair on? What You’ll Need to Tan a Hide We’re going to focus on tanning a deer hide to keep things relatively manageable but within the broad range of animals that most people hunt. Your arms: strong, or ready to become strong, Once your hide is deemed worthy and has been trimmed up, it’s time to flesh. Finally our customer service representatives will explain our privacy policy and terms of service and take your order if you so desire. They’re actually different techniques to keep those fibers moving as the hide dries. Here’s where the hard work begins! You’ll want to stir it every few minutes to make sure that every part of the hide is submerged and  soaking up the tanning solution. Unless all you want to make is lashing, a holey hide is not ideal. It’s time to get down with the brains of this operation. Now, hang your hide and its cloth extension over those same coals so the smoke is channeled up into it. If you’re using a bucket, be sure to agitate the hide a couple of times a day. These days I normally kill three or four deer per year to fill our freezer, and I do what I can to use every part of the animal. Obviously, bigger, thicker hides will take longer to soak and dry than little rabbit hides will. To create the soft and supple material known as buckskin, the tanned hide must be softened. Squeeze the water out of the hide and stretch it in every direction. To see videos that demonstrate and explain each of them, join our Online Hide Tanning Course. Deer season (gun) starts Saturday. If you skin the animal while it is still warm, you should be able to remove the skin with your hands—it is attached only by a thin nearly-liquid membrane called the fascia. Begin by stretching the hide as though you were trying to pull it apart from side to side. I've been doing leather work for several years now, but have never tried to tan my own hides. Looking for our annual catalog? 5. Cured deer hide isused for crafting or repairing deerskin pants and deerskin boots. Mix a solution of egg yolks and water. How to Tan a Deer Hide. Use either an old wood stove, a metal can with holes poked in it, or a hole in the ground. If you’re getting tired, the weather’s bad, or it’s just taking longer than you expected, dry your hide and roll it up for later. You can also find the ammonium alum at most pharmacies but Van Dykes has all sorts of good stuff for tanning. Whether you’ve dried your hide or ploughed on through, after scraping, it’s time to membrane. Now’s one of your chances to take a break, if you like, because you can dry and store a hide at this stage. Spread out the skin and flesh it. Punky (half-rotten) wood: 5-15 gallons of evenly punky wood, or a combination of punky wood and fir boughs. Swish it around to wash off the solution. Tanning deer hides involves chemical treatments to preserve them after they are removed from the body of the animal. Examine the hide for any holes. Fold flesh sides together again, roll and place in the five-gallon bucket. Using the same methodical approach, but way less force and meticulousness, scrape the. Scrape a small area at a time, with a good amount of force. Copyright © 1995-2021 Lehman Hardware and Appliances Inc, All Rights Reserved. Although the methods and the chemicals may have changed, this is something that humans have been doing since the dawn of time. Taking the time to learn deer hide tanning brings with it many benefits. Although tanning will preserve the hide from decay, it will not make it pliable. However, a salted hide can stay that way for months and months—it will be preserved and nothing will eat it as long as it stays dry. Brains: one deer brain is just enough, but more is better. This needs to be removed. After that, you scrape off what remains. Tanning a deer hide at home is not an easy task – there are a few steps involved – but it is very rewarding to have put that time and effort in yourself, and to end up with a beautiful hide to display in your home. After braining comes softening. Let the hide dry for at least a couple days. The fat and lecithin in brains make them ideal for creating your “tanning” solution. Don’t believe them. It just won’t be nice supple leather until the following steps. Build a fire using nice hardwood for fuel. This is an important step, and one I didn’t take seriously at first, for preventing bacterial growth. It’s easiest to remove the grain if you scrape from an area with no grain (that you’ve already scraped) into an area with the grain still attached. Use glue, staples, or stitching to do this. Wolves will chase and attack deer near them, and will also consume their carcass meat, leaving little for the player to harvest if given enough feeding time. Sprinkle fresh non-iodized salt on the flesh side. Build a fire using nice hardwood for fuel. I decided to take the hide and learn how to tan it myself. This is an exciting moment! Step 7 Let the hide soak for about 45 minutes, no more than an hour. You’ll find other “how to tan a hide” resources out there that claim it’s easy. Step 7: Time to Soften Up The hide will likely be stiff at the end of this process but don't worry, you can make it as soft as you like. To salt the hide, lay the fur side down on a wide surface. Salt the deer hide immediately after you take off the flesh. This allows the hair to slip, or loosen, and raises and softens the grain layer of the hide. A large garbage bag and belt or rubber apron, A good sharp knife (We prefer carbon steel as it is easier to keep sharp). It can be used as a material for crafting or repairing deerskin pants and deerskin boots. These areas can be hard to work and it’s best to just get rid of them right off the bat. Lacerations that don’t go all the way through the hide can become holes later. This is the most practical method for people who tan alot of hides. They are imposters. It not only reminds me of my ancestors, but allows me to experience the connection they had to the earth and animals. Once your hide is deemed worthy and has been trimmed up, it’s time to flesh. Vegetable tanning is an ancient method of preparing animal hides; the word "tan" comes from "tannin," which is the ingredient in vegetable matter that bonds with the proteins in the hide and turns it into leather. Rub the egg yolk solution into the softened hide. All of the videos in this post are excerpts from our Online Hide Tanning Course, which contains much, much more that what’s shown here. Wet-salted hides should feel as loose as when they first came off of the deer. If your end product is hard, just do it again and incorporate what you’ve learned into the second time around. The ideal pH of a hide for the tan to work well is between 4 and 5. It’s the meat side that used to contain the deer’s innards. Let it soak for a minimum of 15 minutes and as long as overnight (or somewhere in between). However, a salted hide can stay that way for months and months—it will be preserved and nothing will eat it as long as it stays dry. After 40 minutes have passed, use the stick to move the hide from the tanning solution to the clean water. Scrape a small area at a time with your scraping tool to remove all of the flesh. I want to try tanning a deer hide. It’s the meat side that used to contain the deer’s innards. Jan 6, 2014 - How to Tan a Deer Hide. Here’s our recipe: Submerge your hide in this warm, oily solution and stir it around a bit to make sure the whole hide is saturated. This site tracks visits anonymously using cookies. Below are the steps I followed to tan my elk hide, along with several tips. Submerge your hide in this warm, oily solution and stir it around a bit to make sure the whole hide is saturated. Congratulations, you’ve successfully learned how to tan a hide! It loosens the hair and softens the membrane layer, which will be the next part you scrape off. Using a careful, methodical approach is most likely to yield success. Veg-tanning is a labor and time-intensive eco-friendly alternative to brain or chrome tanning. Learning how to tan a hide is a lot of work, and it doesn’t make sense to undertake this effort if you’re starting out with a poor-quality hide. Throughout the softening process you can stretch, cable, stake, bounce, rub, and smack the hide. Hides should be tanned immediately after they are dried so they are not damaged by insects. Spread your hide on the beam, making sure it’s flat and not folded. You need about two and a half pounds of salt and a pound of ammonium alum for four gallons of water. You are officially a badass. Now wring out as much moisture as you can. This is another labor intensive part of hide tanning. se either an old wood stove, a metal can with holes poked in it, or a hole in the ground. Available at Lehman’s in Kidron, Ohio, Tan any home-raised animal hide! The hide must be soaked in water for up to three days. (Disclaimer: I haven’t done this part yet. Let this fire burn for 30 minutes to an hour (or longer), so that a good-sized bed of coals accumulates. We stand behind our products and want to make sure you are pleased. The hide can be removed from the pickle and then sodium bicarbonate can be added to the pickle to raise the pH to the proper level. Make a ‘pickle bath’ using equal parts distilled white vinegar and water, plus two pounds of salt per gallon of solution, and leave the skin in it, stirring it occasionally, for three days. At that point, add punky wood on top of those coals to create a lot of smoke. We like to start scraping in the middle of the hide. It will help to remove moisture and prevent flies from infesting the pelt. Then try to pull it apart lengthwise. The hair will come off easier if you work against the grain, so attach it to the post that way. A couple of hours before you plan to tan, soak the dried skins in clear, fresh water until flexible. This would be my second. It should be Goldilocks dry: soft and pliable, but just barely damp. Fat: ¼ cup olive oil or rendered bear fat, Cable: 5 feet of ⅛ inch steel cable and 2 cable clamps, Wringing beam: a pole lashed to 2 trees works well. Your hide, that is. If you’d like more detailed video instruction, plus an illustrated course manual that’s over 50 pages, and an opportunity to ask questions and troubleshoot with Natalie, the course is for you. Periodically, over the next three days, stir the hide, leaving the hair side up, and put a lid on it. It can be very tricky to get all the grain off as it is quite well attached to the hide and very hard to see. In my experience, you can read about it all you want online, but in the end it makes the most sense to just try one. When I bring home deer hides that are frozen and rolled two to a plastic trash bag, I hit them with a hose on the outside, then drop them in a 33 ga. Rubbermaid trash container for a while. This needs to be removed. Work the hide—that is, stretch it in all directions—until it dries. At that point, add punky wood on top of those coals to create a lot of smoke. Deer Hide is the hide of a deer. Leave the hide like this for about 24 hours. Next, wring it out on the wringing pole, then soak it again, wring it again, soak it again, wring it again…Do this 2-4 times, depending on your stamina, how big and thick your hide is, and what sort of mood you are in. Flesh out the inner side of the hide while stretched on a frame 2. We show you exactly how to make a scraping beam in our online hide tanning class. I have always had an interest in primitive survival techniques, and I enjoy teaching myself the lost arts of our ancestors. Even if they feel damp and pliable they may still have dried enough to affect scraping. The water is just the vehicle for getting it to penetrate the skin. How long can the hide stay on a deer, before you have to much hair slippage? It’s done when you can easily pull the hair out of the hide with a firm tug. Knowing my interest in primitive skills, he offered me the deer hides from his hunt. A dozen egg yolks will work in place of the brains, but brains are slightly superior. This step is important, as it helps prepare the skin for tanning. Ball’s Preserving and Pickling Salt is ideal to help preserve skins. Rehydrate a dry hide before this step. You’ll start by squeezing any excess egg solution out, and then you’ll stretch it, bit by bit, with your hands. For a more complete run through of hide tanning, join us for our comprehensive Online Hide Tanning Course. Leave it for 24 hours and then move on to … Slightly duller blades, like those of bone or rock, work best because they don't snag or tear the hide. If you don’t have brains, you can always use egg yolks. My adventures in livestock this past season means that I have four sheep hides and four rabbit hides in my basement, waiting for their opportunity to be put to use.
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