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Post by armando on Apr 14, 2020 8:20:43 GMT -7
I used a chemical tan (no access to brains and you can't bring it across state borders when I harvested these) on one of my hair-off buckskins and its dried up pretty nicely but I wasn't on top of working it enough during the drying. It is nice stiff buckskin now.
Other than re-wetting it to stretch it out and work it, should I apply any type of oil (do you guys use Neet's foot oil)? My thinking it, if I re-wet it and work it all soft, it will just stiffen up again when it dries.
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Keith
Hunter
Bushfire close but safe now. Getting some good rain.
Posts: 1,002 
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Post by Keith on Apr 14, 2020 14:36:27 GMT -7
I guess Armando that this depends on what you are going to use this hide for. If it were me, I think I would re wet it & work it & then treat it with neetsfoot oil.
Keith.
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Post by Black Hand on Apr 14, 2020 16:49:31 GMT -7
Look into lecithin, neetsfoot oil, egg yolk or soap as tanning agents.
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Post by armando on Apr 15, 2020 5:22:48 GMT -7
My goal with this particular buckskin was to make myself a set of leggings.
I have to other buckskins to process still that i hope to make into a buckskin shirt(?)
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Post by Black Hand on Apr 15, 2020 5:53:48 GMT -7
Please don't make a buckskin shirt either, Unless you portray a native (and even that is dicey as the natives preferred to dress in cloth if it was available), you might have a coat, leggings, pantaloons or breeches of buckskin. This presumes you are referring to your Fur Trade impression.
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Post by hawkeyes on Apr 16, 2020 4:26:49 GMT -7
You can use pork brains from the market to tan and I often use them as there is no substitute for brain tanning.
Unfortunately you can't really soften the hide any more. You can possibly give breaking a try which is a very important step. Run it back and forth across the bark of a tree, pulling it and stretching as you go. Tiring process but it should help some but it won't be completely soft. If you want a truly soft hide you have to brain tan.
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Post by agricola on Apr 20, 2020 18:49:47 GMT -7
Look into lecithin, neetsfoot oil, egg yolk or soap as tanning agents. I've had good luck with this mixture, though brains are my preference: 1/2 bar Ivory soap (99 44/100ths pure), grated finely 1/2 cup cheap (store brand) vegetable oil Mix them well, adding a cup or two of boiling water to help the soap dissolve. Then put the mixture into a 5 gallon bucket and top with a couple or three gallons of bathwater-hot water. Make sure it's no hotter than you can stand to hold your hand in: too hot for your own skin is too hot for your deerskin. Then drop the hide in, and proceed to soak, wring, and soften just as you would with brains. |
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