DIY hide tanning

[stan v]

Did I miss a funeral?

[snimmo]

great idea

[snimmo]

great idea

[buck_wild]

Guess I missed this first time around. Kevin, only other time I've seen a brine used before skinning was in Africa. I guess it works but like you I have never tried it. Only thing I do different is flesh cape down BEFORE salting. On small thin skinned animals like cats this might work, but on heavier skins with more meat, salt won't penetrate to do the job without fleshing first. Only other difference, I send them off to tannery

[coonazz]

what happened?

[Big Brass]

Hey everyone. I am back. Sorry for the delay. Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. I have been traveling a lot the last couple of months for work and with the family and just lost my head of steam on this project. The hide is tanned and dried. I need to stretch the skin and break the hide. This part is not tough to do it just takes some time and elbow grease. I'll try to work on it some and get some photos updates up this week.

[ROCK88]

can't wait to try this myself

[trozy55]

how do you go about stretching and breaking the hide Big Brass as i have a hide i am trying to do this on now, i used the same tan you did.

[Big Brass]

I grab the hide with my fist and literally stretch it in sections. The skin has a yellowish color to it and as the fibers break you can see the skin color turn from yellow to white. I just continue working it until the whole thing is stretched. It is tough on the hands. I will also take the hide and work the skin side back and forth over the edge of a board or broom handle in a sho shine motion. After I get the hide stretched so that it is not so stiff anymore I will put it in the clothes dryer (make abolutely sure the heat is OFF on the dryer) with a few tennis balls and let it tumble for a while (usually until my wife finds out what I am doing). After the hide is thoroughly stretched and softened I will use some 120 grit sandpaper on the skin side.

[stan v]

That's what I'm talking about!!!

Good to see this thread coming back to life. I've got 2 foxes in the freezer that I want to mess with when it cools down......

[Sporty87]

Depending on the size of the hide you can run it over a piece of PVC pipe to help stretch and break fibers, use 4 or 6" for deer size or bigger and 1 1/2 or 2" for smaller. Split both ends of the big one so that I could put a piece of 2x4 in each end with bolts thru to hold in place - then I can put it between two chairs or other like height items to work from while doing the shoe shine motion. Seems to work. I like some of your other ideas too. Good job. Waiting for more pictures.

[badkarma]

Sporty,
Can you throw a pic of your shoe shine idea on here?

[stuntriderant]

Cmon!!!! I really wanna see the final product!!!!

[Huntin*Honey]

Awesome! I've been waitin for a thread like this! I have been wanting to tan an axis hide!

[Kodiakk]

This is a cool thread.