DIY hide tanning

[slayer]

Pretty cool!

[bowhunter08]

Cant wait, ready for more info. I thought it was coming out of the solution today. I guess I will have to wait till tomorrow. Great thread.

[Big Brass]

Sorry for the delay. Yesterday was community garage sale day so I was busy watching my boys and trying to keep the wife from selling all of my hunting stuff. Not a whole lot of progress as the hide has just been sitting in the pickle the last few days.

I took the skin out of the pickle this morning.


And gave it a thorough rinse with the hose. The pickle is very acidic so I rinse the hide so I can handle it while thinning.


Then I spread the hide out. There is still a lot of membrane and subcutaneous muscle that need to be removed before it goes in the tan.


It takes a while because the muscle is really tight to the skin. I gradually work it and the bulk of the membrane off. In some areas I can just pull it off. Other spots take the knife. The area along the center of the back is where the muscle seems more tightly attached to the skin.


You can see the difference in before and after thinning the hide. I've removed most of the muscle and membrane. There are still some spots left but I am not worried about those. They will come off when I sand after the hide goes through the tan.


I put the hide back in the pickle after I got done thinning. This evening I will rinse and neutralize the hide and prepare the tanning solution. The lutan f kit calls for hides to remain in the tan for a specific period of time. I will time this evenings activities so that when I put the hide in the tanning solution tonight, it will be ready to come out when I get home from work tomorrow.

[Bowanta]

Where can you get that solution? Is there a web site or do you get it from somewhere like Cabelas, BPS, etc?
Great Thread.....

[Big Brass]

Where can you get that solution? Is there a web site or do you get it from somewhere like Cabelas, BPS, etc?
Great Thread.....

It comes in a kit. There is a pic of the kit on post #20. It has all of the ingredients you need except the salt. You just mix it up in water following their directions. I think you can get it at Cabela's. Not sure about Bass Pro, or Gander Mountain. You can also order it from Van Dyke's Taxidermy supply online.

[bigjohntex]

Very cool! Thanks!!

[Big Brass]

Minor setback. I need 2 lbs of non iodized salt for the tanning solution and forgot to go buy some more salt. I'll leave the hide in the pickle and get more salt on the way home from work tomorrow. Tomorrow evening I will neutralize the hide and prepare the tanning solution. An extra day in the pickling solution will not hurt.

[bowtechhunter]

good thread always wanted to know how to tan a hide.

[JP Dorris]

Keep it coming, very interrsting read

[trozy55]

so far so good, keep up the good work

[K9carlo]

interrsting, keep the post coming

[Needmo]

This is something that i really would like to try myself, keep the info coming.

[Graybow]

Van Dykes has a website. And they are now owned by Cabela's. vandyketaxidermy.com

[prkchp]

Very kewl, can't wait for the finish.

[Bluetex]

Great thread!