Tanning

[gunn]

I got a deer this year with my new muzzle loader. Now I need a goof proof method to tan it. I would like to turn this and last years hides into buckskin. I have seen a few ideas on the net, but it needs to be something that I can get the chemicles for. :hmm: Any and all infor is greatly appreciated. Gunn
AUT PAX AUT BELLUM

 

[paulvallandigham]

Tandy leather sells " Tannit " in a bottle, and is perhaps the easiest tanning solution to use for your purpose. Get the How-to information from books on tanning, or on the web. You should be able to find Tandy Leather Co. on the web. There may be a Link here, also.

 

[Falco sparverius]

Gunn,

Check out Rittel's EZ tan. [url] http://rittelsupplies.net/.[/url] He sells a kit on that webpage with everything you need to do a hair-on tan. Deer are great hides to mess around with. I have done quite a few on my own.

Good luck.

Falco

 

[Bill Austin]

Braintan.com is a good site for learning to tan with traditional methods. The book or DVD deerskins into buckskins by Matt Richards is also very informative. Braintanning is more labor intensive but doesn't require much money to get started. Good luck.

 

[greytop13]

I tanned last year's hide with a Van Dykes kit and am real happy with the results. I wanted a hair-on hide to drape over my camp chair and it works great. You didn't mention what type of deer you got, which you have to take into account. The kit said it would do two hides but they must have been talkin' about small whitetails cause it was just enough to do my one blacktail hide. [url] http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/product/01001975/[/url]

Good luck and have fun.

 

[gunn]

Greytop: Thanks,I could not remember Van Dykes name for the life of me. The deer we have here are smaller than my dog. I remember the first time I went hunting here with my cousin, he kept asking me what I was waiting for. I told him a full size deer. He said they were. I am originally from Idaho, they get to be a good size there. Gunn
AUT PAX AUT BELLUM

 

[scott fellows]

neatsfoot oil, about a 1/4 bar of ivory soap shaved down so it will disolve, and some water that is just hot enough for you to be able to stand to put your hand in. soak the hide in that overnight stirring occasionally. then you have to stretch the hide and work it until it's dry. thats the hard part. real labor intensive but very cheap. if it doesn't all get tanned the first try then repeat the steps again.
pieman

 

[tg]

You can alum tan (taw) a hide with a type of fertilizer aluminum sulphate I believe it is made for rhodedendrons, this will work for as hair on tan as well smoking the hide will increase the life span considerably, there should be so detailed procedures at some of the sites you can search for, I used to have three methods I used detailed out but I think they are on my old machine.Tanningis very sinple it just takes time and labor

 

[wildeagle]

Don't want to hijack the thread but have a question. I wanted to do a few braintan hides this fall. A friend use to work at a meat packing house, I asked if mayebe he could get me some brains. He said, that is the only part that is tightly controlled, they all go into barrels and dye is poured on them. They are collected every couple days and tested for Mad Cow Disease. This got me to thinking about CWD. Maybe alternatives to braintan are in order. Any thoughts about this?

 

[omarick1948]

We can till buy beef and pork brains at most meat counters in my neck of the woods!

 

[Rod Lassey]

As a rancher, I've got to note that BSE (mad cow) is still NOT found in US herds--and we try to keep it that way. I'd have no qualms about using brains from my cattle, and in fact I do. So, I believe that you are entirely safe--by the way, to braintan the brains are boiled first, and you don't eat them either!

By the way, my wife just said that the only reason they named it PMS is that Mad Cow Disease was already taken.

 

[BillinOregon]

Gunn: You cracked me up with the comment about "waiting for a full-sized deer." These west of the Cascades blacktails can be pretty small indeed. I have packed them out of draws on my back, and I'm no Errol Flynn.
Wildeagle: You can use raw egg among other things to braintan with.

 

[wildeagle]

Thanks guys I appreciate your replies! I read that it was may be amino acids that give braintan their unique quality. Also NAs used some liver added to brains to make the paste. Again thanks for your replies :thumbsup: