Hmmmmm. Wait until you get to the point you have to stretch and soften the finished hide. Many are glad they skipped a few hides once they hit that part.
No doubt you are right! The last hide I tanned produced two pairs of gloves - and involved eight or ten hours of scraping, dehairing, tanning, stretching and softening, EACH!!
After the hide soaked in the solution for four days, I put it in a neutralizing rinse, washed it a couple times, then took it out and scraped the hair. It was in my cold garage - and I probably should have changed the water and let it soak another night, but I still got through it. After the hair is pulled and scraped, I went back over the hide again to remove the darker membrane. Once the membrane was gone, the hide took on its cream/ white color. Next step will be rinsing, tacking and tanning....Are you going to show the rest of the process? I'd like to watch
I get that - but pretty much everything about this hobby / past-time / way of life is a labor of love. For me it is kind of like grinding my own sausage. Sure, I could drop the carcass off at the game-butcher and for a couple hundred bucks or so pick up a box of steaks and sausage in a week or two. But when I spend the time cleaning, grinding and wrapping my own - well, I'm not say it tastes better... it just tastes better. (One thing we can definitely agree on - it feels right when you can do something with the hide.)
