Someone who tans hides

[Notchy Bob]

I puttered around with fresh hides some when I was younger. I attempted brain tanning once, but didn't exactly have user-friendly instructions fifty years ago and it did not go as well as hoped. I was able to turn out some pretty good rawhide and even parfleche after some practice, but just proper graining and fleshing takes some skill. Hide preparation is like so many of the things that interest folks like us. It's simple... Just not easy.

Here is a link to Bucks County Fur, mentioned by @Thingamajiggy in post #6, above. They look like a good outfit, but in their price guide it indicates they only tan deerskins hair-on. I could be wrong.

Another very informative website for people interested in traditional tanning is Brain Tan, the website for Traditional Tanners. I don't know that they do custom tanning, and they are in Oregon (not Pennsylvania), but they seem to know their stuff. Their website is informative, and they provide lots of resources online.

Good luck, @Arrowhead124 ! Please let us know how it all turns out.

Notchy Bob

 

[Jim K]

Thanks for all the info. Much appreciated

I’m a PA taxidermist and don’t know where to tell you to go. It’s getting hard to find tanneries that do buckskin anymore I believe it’s because of the chemicals used and proper disposal. You can try calling Keystone or East coast and ask them if they know where. But they don’t do it. Wish I could be more help.

 

[Sun City]

That's what TRUMP is gonna do!!

 

[Mad L]

I puttered around with fresh hides some when I was younger. I attempted brain tanning once, but didn't exactly have user-friendly instructions fifty years ago and it did not go as well as hoped. I was able to turn out some pretty good rawhide and even parfleche after some practice, but just proper graining and fleshing takes some skill. Hide preparation is like so many of the things that interest folks like us. It's simple... Just not easy.

Here is a link to Bucks County Fur, mentioned by @Thingamajiggy in post #6, above. They look like a good outfit, but in their price guide it indicates they only tan deerskins hair-on. I could be wrong.

Another very informative website for people interested in traditional tanning is Brain Tan, the website for Traditional Tanners. I don't know that they do custom tanning, and they are in Oregon (not Pennsylvania), but they seem to know their stuff. Their website is informative, and they provide lots of resources online.

Good luck, @Arrowhead124 ! Please let us know how it all turns out.

Notchy Bob

I know you said it was a long time ago but did you Smoke your brain tan after tanning?
Brain tan is just half the process, if not smoked after the it will return to raw hide if it gets wet.

 

[Mad L]

View attachment 266559
https://www.pcsoutdoors.com/trappershidetanformula.aspx

I saw a video on the "red bottle" for use on coyote hide (fur on) but was wondering how the final hide would hold up if it gets wet?
It seems like an easy, and quick, process and from the video her hide appeared nice and soft!
(Of course even smoked brain tan needs re-softening if it gets wet).

 

[Notchy Bob]

I know you said it was a long time ago but did you Smoke your brain tan after tanning?
Brain tan is just half the process, if not smoked after the it will return to raw hide if it gets wet.

Thank you for your interest.

No, I did not smoke it. I was actually trying to braintan a coonskin, using hog brains from the butcher, if I remember correctly. It may be hard to believe now, when I routinely see deer in my neighborhood every morning, but they were actually pretty scarce where I lived back then. At the time, I figured a skin was a skin, and I'd start small. However, I later found that certain animals (like raccoons) have "greasy" skins, and for best results, some of that grease needs to be gotten out of them. I know some of the Indians in the northwestern plains and Rockies had a taboo against handling skins of some of these types of animals, including bears and wolverines, and they didn't even try to tan them. Some tribes tanned bearskins and other furs, though, and I don't know how they did it.

Anyway, for my braintanned coonskin, it was obvious pretty quickly that the brain mixture was not going to "take," and I eventually just abandoned that project. I had Larry Belitz' book about braintanning deerskins, and an article with an interview of an old Kiowa woman from an issue of Powwow Trails, but that was about it for instruction. I tanned another coonskin with alum, and it turned out alright but after some years the hair began to slip. I'm not much of a tanner. However, I will say there are a lot more resources available now for folks who have the wherewithal to try it, and I would encourage anyone to give it a go. I learned a lot, even if I was not very successful.

Notchy Bob

 

[Mad L]

Thank you for your interest.

No, I did not smoke it. I was actually trying to braintan a coonskin, using hog brains from the butcher, if I remember correctly. It may be hard to believe now, when I routinely see deer in my neighborhood every morning, but they were actually pretty scarce where I lived back then. At the time, I figured a skin was a skin, and I'd start small. However, I later found that certain animals (like raccoons) have "greasy" skins, and for best results, some of that grease needs to be gotten out of them. I know some of the Indians in the northwestern plains and Rockies had a taboo against handling skins of some of these types of animals, including bears and wolverines, and they didn't even try to tan them. Some tribes tanned bearskins and other furs, though, and I don't know how they did it.

Anyway, for my braintanned coonskin, it was obvious pretty quickly that the brain mixture was not going to "take," and I eventually just abandoned that project. I had Larry Belitz' book about braintanning deerskins, and an article with an interview of an old Kiowa woman from an issue of Powwow Trails, but that was about it for instruction. I tanned another coonskin with alum, and it turned out alright but after some years the hair began to slip. I'm not much of a tanner. However, I will say there are a lot more resources available now for folks who have the wherewithal to try it, and I would encourage anyone to give it a go. I learned a lot, even if I was not very successful.

Notchy Bob

Ah yes, must remove all that oil even on fur bearers like coyote and rabbit.
Making buckskin most gets removed when de-hairing but even then I have read that the acidity of the water plays a part in final product.

The only experience I have had was rabbit and squirrel. My father used to take me rabbit and squirrel hunting and back in the 60s/70s we raised Rex rabbits. He taught me and old home brew solution he learned as a boy growing up in Kansas and I do remember him having me "wash all that critter oil out" before putting into the solution...then rubbing the heck out of it with Corn Starch to remove the petroleum smell, even then my mother made me hang them on the clothesline (old fashion Clothes Dryer of us poor folk) before bringing them inside. Made for some fine furs, but never tried smoking them or testing what would happen if the got wet - I do know that if the final key in brain tanning (probably other modern methods but i do Love the smell of Smoked Hide!)

 

[DixieTexian]

View attachment 266559
https://www.pcsoutdoors.com/trappershidetanformula.aspx

I tanned a deer skin hair on years ago with this. I didn't soften it well, but it worked. I used some of it recently in a shooting bag, so it didn't need to be soft. It turned out nicely.