Brain tanning

[Col. Batguano]

anyone here ever try this?

 

[Archie]

Yup, it involves lye and a bucket load of scraping hide and sweat!!! Be very careful when working with the lye, it will leave a very nasty burn. Be sure to wear your PPE. (personal protective equipment).

The project I was involved in was laid out by a friend and I served as laborer and consultant on "and why are we doing this?"

When done correctly it makes some very soft washable leather suitable for comfortable clothing. You might not even recognize it as leather if you didn't know it. I ended up with a single buck skin (smallish) and have not done anything with it yet. If a guy wanted to make a set of buckskin pants and shirt it is definatly the way to go.

 

[Elnathan]

Read this first:
Deerskins to Buckskins

I have never done any brain tanning, but I did use alum to taw a calfskin once and used this book for the basics of fleshing, softening, etc. Very highly recommended.

 

[Leon/Iowa]

I have done two hides so far. Get the book "Deerskins into Buckskins" by Matt Richards. I borrowed the book last year from a friend. I got one from Amazon now.
The hardest part is removing the grain.
I used wood ash, soap, and neats foot oil. Good luck.
Leon