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Author Topic: Help with tanning  (Read 19016 times)

Offline TheChad23

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Help with tanning
« on: January 19, 2011, 05:43:47 PM »
So I've been working on tanning a coyote hide. I cut off a small size piece from the big hide. I wanted to test on this piece of skin but it was a huge failure.  First everything was fine and everything except when I finally tanned it using Deer Hunter's and Trappers Hide Tanning Formula.  It came out pretty good except the skin was still really greasy and then on the second day of it drying, a huge patch of hair fell out.  The skin stayed there but hair fell out and most of the hair left looks good. I'm doing the big skin next and I want to know what I did wrong so any suggestions would help just in case i pass the step I messed up on.

Thanks

Offline BIGINNER

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Re: Help with tanning
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2011, 05:46:27 PM »
marking this thread for later  :)

Offline Kuduman

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Re: Help with tanning
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2011, 09:44:39 PM »
TheChad23:
 OK Lets start from the beginning. Once the dog is down you must freeze it asap. The longer the dog stays out of the freezer the more opportunity bacteria has to damage the skin. The only reason hair falls our of a skin is due to  excessice bacteria growth on the hide.
 The proper way to preserve the skin starts with thawing the hide and when thawed you will flesh the meat and fat away from the skin. If not all the fat is removed bacteria can build up and damage the hide.

Next Salting.
Use allot of salt and thoroughly rub it into the hide. This is probably the most misunderstood step in the tanning process. Did you salt your hide????? How long did you allow it to dry?????
Once salted you will notice allot of moisture seeping from the hide.. This is normal and the hide should not be allowed to "soak" in this moisture. Use a piece of plywood and prop one end up allowing this juice to run off the hide.
Normally two salting is adequate but three may be necessary changed after the salt gets wet looking.

Next dry the hide.
 I have a rack and I drape the hide  skin side out" over the rack and allow it to thoroughly dry until it's white and hard. This will "SET" the hair and your all ready to tan. I allow most of my hides two weeks to achieve the white hard stage. Most taxidermist's will ship their hides in various stages of white hard but since I do my own tanning on deer and elk I allow them to thoroughly set before introduction to a pickle.

Pickle:
 I'll bet you didn't all a bactericide to your re-hydration bath. which is necessary before introducing your hide to the pickle. I use a Lysol or other commercial bactericide to kill off any bacteria before I pickle a hide that way the dormant bacteria doesn't play hell with the PH of the pickle. a re-hydration bath consists of water and Lysol and one handfull of salt per gallon of water. Remember this stage should only last one hour. If your hide takes longer to re-hydrate than use a relaxer like enzol b to help soften the hide. The reason this should go no longer than 1 hour is because it is harder to control the PH in this environment.... Rinse and than pickle.
Keep the pickle PH below 2,5 with the skin is in the pickle. Adjust the water, salt and acid accordingly and test every 12 hours until stable. NEVER allow the PH to go over 2.5 or your asking for trouble.

Degreasing
 This is mandatory with any carnivore like a coyote. If you didn't add a degreaser to the pickle and even the tan that's why the hide came out greasy.

Neutralize:
after shaving neutralize in baking soda and water until the pH is 6.0 or higher. That way the skin will accept the tanning agent.


Tanning. I'm not sure what method you used so all I'll say is follow the manufactures recommendation to the letter and all should go right.

Let's review
Freeze
Thaw
Flesh
salt
dry
re-hydrate
pickle... keep pH below 2.5
shave
neutralize
tan
wash rinse and tumble dry to break

If you did all this you should be in good shape. If you skiped even one step minus the washing you probably caused excessive bacteria growth and that's why the hair slipped.

Good Luck

Kuduman

Offline Lunatic Fringe

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Re: Help with tanning
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2011, 11:05:43 AM »
Kuduman,
You seem pretty knowledgeable about tanning.  I've been doing buckskin for a few years now and I think I have that down.  Now I'm trying to tan a hide with hair on.  The question that I have is when would it be OK to comb the hide?  Currently I have had my hide soaking in a vinegar salt solution for a couple months and the hair seems to be holding pretty well.  I'm sure there are lots of tics still in the hair that will need to be removed sometime, but I'm worried about combing out hair if I do this before it's time.  Should I do that at the rinsing step or wait until after the hide has had tanning solution thoroughly worked into it?  This is one step I haven't found much reference to in my research.

Offline Kuduman

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Re: Help with tanning
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2011, 09:45:52 PM »
Lunatic Fringe:
 I would comb after tanning. Better to be safe than sorry. remember to watch the P.H. when starting to pickle. All that hair can hold lots of bacteria.
Good Luck

Kuduman

Offline Lunatic Fringe

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Re: Help with tanning
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2011, 03:37:56 PM »
Thanks.  I know my PH is down below 3 but I've had a hard time finding a PH meter that reads below 3.5.  The one I got is from home depot.  I may have to order some PH strips online in order to read down to a ph of 1.  I'm using about 90% vinegar 10% water (just enough to make sure the hide is covered) and about 4 lbs of salt.  So far It seems to be looking good.  No hair slippage.  Thanks again for the advice about combing after tanning.

 


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