"The grain is fragile" was playing over and over in my head while de-graining 4 mature mid-west whitetail bucks to make smoked "buckskin." That two hour job ended up taking 6. I have very much enjoyed your tanning related videos enough that I followed your steps the best I could doing 3 deer hides in Sumac and black walnut hulls. The leathers turned out better than I could have hoped. Nearly black while supple and soft.
Good tip on the gloves. I've been wearing short ones and they always fill up. I've been doing this stuff for a while and I learn a lot each video. Thanks for keeping it going!
+Dennis Lanigan Yeah, short gloves are almost worse, because then your hands are soaking in whatever it is with no air. There may be better gloves out there, but these seem pretty good and affordable. The lining is nice, it's some kind of thing that keeps your hands pretty dry, maybe cotton.
So I know this is several years later but I have just been getting into your videos the last day or so and I am just soaking (no pun intended) this information up on making leather from raw skins. I love the idea of it, I hunt ear in the fall/winter and love the idea of using that raw skin to produce something of good quality that I can use to make something. Great content my friend and I look forward to going back through all these different videos and compiling this information into a usable note book to have as I try these things out myself.
Do you recommend prepping to de-hair by just soaking in water until the epidermis starts breaking down naturally and the hair slips? I've heard some people say that it's the superior method if you have the time.
It is complicated. Usually when that is done traditionally it seems to be in cold running water, like in scandinavia. More common in old school tanneries was sweating, where fresh hides were stacked in layers in warm damp rooms. But they have to be watched very closely and dehaire as soon as they are ready or they start taking damage. It is pretty smelly and gross too and is more likely to lead to infection from handling rotting skins. It is also less reliable. It is an art that I'm not very familiar with. I've done something like it in plastic bags, but not very consistent. Best to start with lime, then do some research and explore sweating or soaking. I have a section on my website called free stuff that has a tanning books section where you can download tons of old tanning books. www.skillcult.com/freestuff
+Anne Brasher thank you. It is hard to do everything at once! I never thought it would be so challenging. I"m getting better though. Thanks for the nice comment.
Really looking forward to try tanning some of my own hides, I think your videos will really help. I've been waiting for more videos and also really looking forward to that tanning book your writing. Thanks.
+Kyle Humpherys Unfortunately I haven't got enough out for anyone to actually finish the process. Not sure about the book. might not happen too soon...
That is impossible to say. It will depend on how strong the ash is and how easy the skin responds or not. Basically until it is ready and the hair comes out easily. If it is not strong enough, the skin may rot in the meantime. Ashes are notoriously variable. Usually I'll use a thick batter of ash, but it is not always strong enough.Ive also had it so strong that it damaged the skin overnight.
Unless your soils are very alkaline, it is a valuable fertilizer. People use lime to improve soil all the time. Lime from dehairing is also full of nutrients, including a lot of dissolved nitrogenous material. Just dilute and spread it around plants, garden beds or trees.
Hi Brittany. Wood ash is notorious for being unpredictable in strength. You almost always have to use a fairly thick batter of ashes and water if you keep the ash in it. Often that is not even strong enough. A way to strengthen it that is easy is to drain the liquid off of the ash, then use that liquid to start another batch with new ashes. You should see the hide swell after that long. If it is not reacting, you need to strengthen the solution. It is cleaner to mix the ash with water, let it sit for a while and then drain it. But it can't be just some ash, it has to be a lot of ash, maybe like pancake or crepe batter. On rare occasions that can even be too strong, but it is more likely to be too weak. Also, you have to use fresh ashes. If they have gotten wet, the chemicals you want will leach out. Good luck!
Hey i am trying to soften a elk hide with eggs i am in the buching stage i let the hide rest in lte water for a few days the hair slipped and i removed grain but im finding it more rubbery than ide like even after ive leached it in fresh water for 2 days and did a vinager nutralization and it started smelling a bit like the begining of rot i dried to rawhide to kill bacteria and am re moistening it now to leach more lye because its pretty rubbery still i was wondering if you think i over bucked with lye? Or any other ideas?
Two possibilities. One you didn't rinse enough. I like to rinse and scrape betwee rinsings. At the very least, change the water several times a day. Other possibility is it is counterswollen by too much acid. Acid will swell a hide the same as alkaline substances. Try rinsing and scraping it over a couple times a day, with at least three changes of water. If it is alkali swelling, you ought to be able to drop it back to a naturally flaccid state.
I don't know of any local sources for materials to make lime, but I can make wood ashes. What has your experience been with wood ashes compared to lime? Know about the egg float test to determine strength for hardwood ashes, what I'm wondering is it any easier or harder to work with? I could also buy a bag of Oldcastle masons lime, might be better than making a large fire just to get the ashes.
ashes work fine, but they are inconsistent and it does take a lot of wood to make a little bit of ash. I would never want to discourage anyone from experimenting, but it's easy to be consistent with lime, so it's better to learn with. the egg float test seems unreliable. Almost every braintanner I've seen that uses bucking now uses potassium hydroxide instead of wood ashes, I gather because results are so inconsistent with wood ash. My theory is that it's because they contain sodium, potassium and calcium hydroxide. I'm not sure how they interact, but I had a hide destroyed overnight in wood ash solution that measured weak with the egg test. I'm sure that is uncommon, but it shows how all over the place they are. Masons lime should be the stuff. It's cheap and you can store it for a long time if you seal it up in a bucket tightly.
Alright, well mason lime it is. Next time I'm coastal I'll haul back some oyster shells, love the videos on firing the lime. Thanks for sharing all the knowledge, tanning book is on the christmas list..
Is there any chance you can make a video showing how to preserve a pelt with hair on, such as a rabbit or rat? Can tanic acid be used or is it an entirely different process?
I may do that in the next year, but don't hold your breath waiting for it lol. You can use tannic acid, but it can tint the hair color. Cook up some tannin and throw in a small piece, like the end of a leg or something, even just an inch square and see what happens. get the flesh and fat off, but you don't have to get it super clean if it's not very greasy. For lubrication, see my video on fat liquors. You can use just egg yolk and water.
@@SkillCult Yeah I seen all your tanning videos, they are easy and enjoyable to watch and give me inspiring ideas (allthough I'm not sure my ideas will work due to my lack of experience but they are worth a try + I can learn from my mistakes). I also appreciate you making the videos and giving advice. I have some polysorbate and lecithin around the house so I don't need to use eggs for an emulsifier but an olive oil and fat liquor would be good.
It is a real problem to get calcium hydroxide here in Norway, and I have no possibility to produce it myself now. So I am keeping fight with a hair on a moose skin. But... Do you think it could be reasonable to finish with fleshing, soaking-washing-membraining (to get completly clean flesh side) and to put hide in a weak tanning solution (bark) to soak for de-hairing ? They say tannin helps to slip the hair. Even when we brain-tanning fur, we spread tanning solution on the flesh side only, to not to damage a hair.
That is surprising to me. Here most hardware stores have it. It's easy to make, see my vids on burning lime. You can use wood ashes, but you need quite a bit. You can also use lye's, both potassium and sodium hydroxides, but they are more dangerous to you and the hide, so look up recipes and make sure to get the concentration right. They aren't truly poisonous, just caustic until diluted enough. If you could use bark solution, it would be completely used up bark solution. Tannins actually set the hair into the skin if applied to the skin side. If the reference you have is valid, it would refer to completely spent liquors. Those were sometimes used to pretreat the hide before tanning to neutralize dehairing agents, acidify, or even plump the skin a little. I don't recall ever reading about using them to de-hair, but I could easily have forgotten too. I'll ask a friend about it that has a better memory than me and reads the same stuff. I think he has a better memory than me, I can't remember for sure... I have heard quite a bit about soaking hides in cold streams in the north for dehairiing, like among the Sami. Sweating is another method, it just refers to a controlled breakdown by bacterial action. If it works right, the bacteria attack the hair roots and epidermal stuff first and most causing the hair to slip. It is frequently done by piling the skins in layers, often in a shed, sometimes with steam or heat. There is the risk of it going too far, getting the wrong bacteria, having colonies attack parts of the dermis, which is what you want to keep and of course infection, but it was very commonly practiced in some places and claimed sometimes to make a firmer, stronger leather because if done right, less of the skin is dissolved away than in treating with alkalis.
I've been tanning goat hides for the first time in the past year, and have had a lot of trouble getting all of the hair to slip. The bulk of the hair will slip, but there are always fine hairs scattered here and there that won't budge, especially around the neck and thicker parts of the hide. Bucking in KoH. On a sidenote, I also found that rinsing in the creek behind my house after bucking actually set the hairs more firmly on account of the tannins in the water. They tannin content was high enough to start discoloring the hide. I left one hide in a fresh batch of KoH for 2 weeks at 50-60 degrees, and there were still lots of stubborn hairs that wouldn't come out on the beam. Any goat specific pointers? Thank you, enjoying the videos, and very much looking forward to your veg tan book!
+Mickey Hey Mickey. Goats can be tough that way. Sometimes you just won't get all the hairs out. This was a problem in traditional tanneries too and they had ways of dealing with it, though i'm not recalling what now. Probably basically shaving them off. Have you tried lime? My experience with KOH is zero. I've used woodash of course, but it's not the same both because it is of unknown strength (thus the popularity of KOH) and because wood ash contains somewhere around 30% lime and some sodium hydroxide along with the KOH. lime is probably cheaper than KOH, and has a long history of use. I'd sure be curious how it compares for you. I get stubborn hairs occasionally, but it's not a major problem as it sounds like it is for you. Check out my new lime burning videos. it is easy to do if you have the materials, but a bag of type S lime is probably only about 8.00. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
+Mickey and don't go by time, it just varies a lot with temp and all that. Go by skin feel and slippage if you can and just call it when you're pretty sure it's getting to be long enough to affect the skin negatively.
So pleasing to see how easy the hair comes off! :-) I've used woodashes, but the flesh side of the skin gets greyish from the solution. Do you have any suggestions concerning this? Can I maybe flesh the hide after slipping the hair off or is this a bad idea? Thank you in advance!
Yes, it is very satisfying work :D Wood ashes are fine, but they are less predictable than lime. If you flesh only a little or not at all before the ash, there will be a protective layer of tissue on the skin that will come off later, leaving the skin clean. Often even a good fleshing will leave a whole extra layer that should be removed later, but it depends on the skin, thoroughness, tool sharpness etc. You can also make a solution instead of a batter of ashes. Just drip out all the liquid in a bucket with holes in the bottom and a layer of straw or something to filter, let the ash settle out until you have a clean liquid. But that really should not be necessary, just do the deep fleshing after dehairing.
@@SkillCult Thanks a lot for the advice! I will give it a try. I usually work with goatskin for drumheads. I saw your video where you make lime puddy. But I don't have those huge shells in my country (Suriname- South America). So I bought a bag of small shells and burned them together with some wood. I can't get the temperature high enough, but I did see some bubbles when I poured water into the mixture of woodashes and shells :-) Will give it another try very soon! Do you recommend pouring some bleach into the woodashes for bacteria? I'm a little bit confused, because I the bacteria also help with dehairing right?
@@ShifarAbdoelaziz Look for limestone to try burning. It is very common. Shells should be easy to burn. Just use more wood. Also, always slake shell lime with hot water to start the process. Cold water usually won't work until the process gets started. Boil some water and add to the shells a little at a time. You can also use eggshells if you can get a lot. Don't worry about bacteria in ashes. If they are strong enough, that won't be a problem and only a few species can grow in that alkaline environment.
@@ShifarAbdoelaziz Flesh just the very easy stuff off your goat skins before liming or ashing. Then once dehaired, washh the skins well, then flesh and keep rinsing in clear water. They should be very clean on both sides that way. for the African Djembe, they use fresh skins, dry them on, then scrape off the hair dry with a sharp knife. I always wanted to try that.
@@SkillCult If you can make leather, putting a Djembe head on would be very easy for you I think :-) I will consider all the things you advised. Keep up the good stuff and thank you once again! ✌️
hey there! I've been watching your videos alot, thanks for all the shared knowledge! I've tried to tan a deer hide - hair on - with egg tanning. i left the hide for too long and now my hair is slipping. do you have any advice or videos i could watch to turn my skin into buckskin leather? would I just start the process all over again?
You might consider going back an liming it and trying a bark tan process. Best bet, cut off the neck and a couple leg ends and run them through to see how it turns out. Dont get attached,, there will be more hides. Probably best to just start over. You might also be able to lime, dehair, delime and use it as rawhide. Watch my strops from scratch series. for process.
Thanks for doing these videos, I share when I see question of tanning and the answers are all over the board. I have a new deer skin soaking and the hair is just not slipping nicely, some spots are then there is that layer under the hair that is being super stubborn. I didn't do ashes or lime on this one, for some reason, thought I would just try time in water. I have some lime from Virginia Lime Works, will that work? Proportions? I am also fighting freezing temps and ice in the bucket. I left one a few years ago in a local brook and it froze in and could not get it out, our waters are very tannic from rotten debris, it came out stained and not white. It is just dry at this point, I need to re soak it and get it going again. Lucky my dog has not found it.
It can be tricky to slip hair without alkali. It's usually done in a somewhat controlled way in a process called sweating. Virginia Lime Works should be lime putty, which is very good. Only issue might be impurities in the limestone,but I'd just go for it and worry about it if it doesn't work. I can't give you proportions, but maybe start with a pint of lime in a tub large enough for the hide to not be crowded, like a 15 to 20 gallon one maybe (not necessarily full. Stir it occasionally. drying and restarting probably not a great idea, but might work out okay. Make sure that you scrape, stretch etc enough to get the hide 100% soaked through or the lime won't be able to work. Try not to let it freeze. Maybe set the tub in a pit? Or just move it inside. If you mean the thin dingy colored skim of material just under the hair, often dark colored, that is the epidermis. It is dissolved and broken down by the lime. It is only a few cells thick usually. The thicker stuff under that is the grain, which if you take that off you'll have a nappy skin, like buckskin. Either is okay, but you want to either leave all the grain, or take it all off clean.
Thanks! The feed back is greatly appreciated. The hide I'm trying to slip hair on is still fresh and not dried. When I have the time I will rehydrate the older one to see what comes of it.
+durable1988 Yes, thank you! I do to. I never shop amazon without using a bloggers affiliate link. maybe I should post it in every description. amzn.to/1ZCrNYI
I recently pickled a deerskin with acid and I was giving it a final wash, but never got to taking it out of the water and drying it. It’s been about 2-3 weeks, and the water has been freezing on and off. It also smells terrible and all the hair just comes out really easily, but it looks fine. Should it be okay if I just pull all the fur and finish it? If so, should I use the method you explained, or could I just pull it by hand while it’s in the water?
I would wear gloves just in case to prevent potential bacterial infection. I don't know anything about those acid tans. Deer skins are usually easy to come by, you might want to start over. Procrastination may be the tanners worst enemy. If you want to dehair, I would try something like I am doing. if you don't have the tools, any smooth rounded surface with the edge of a small wooden board should work.
Probably. They are usually tanned with the fur on. Wild rabbit skins, both true rabbits and jack rabbits are way too thin to tan at all. At least all the ones I've ever dealt with. Some domestic rabbits might survive I suppose, but still quite thin.
No, that would be worse. It will tear for sure unless the hair is slipping badly. Usually they are tanned with the hair on. You could probably bark tan it with the hair. Too many options to go over. Learning to tan is a bit of a journey.
SkillCult thanks for the replies! I have been salt/alum tanning them but I want to try a more natural method. I am definitely going to try the bark next! btw your channel is fantastic. I love your leather working videos. I have probably watched them all at least 10 times just because it is so satisfying to watch :P keep up the awesome work! you are appreciated!
Thanks :) You can do bark with the hair on, though it can stain the hair. One possible solution might be to just tan briefly in a solution to set the hair in the skin (yes, tannin sets the hair just like alum!) then use a ground bark paste on the flesh side to finish it to avoid staining the hair too much. Like grind the bark up, apply with water to the flesh side, roll it up and set it in a bag for a day or two. Eskimos and northern indians did this kind of thing sometimes. Working it open and reapplying new bark might be a good idea too. If you can tan it all the way through, it will be easy to oil and soften. I'd use something like egg yolks blended with a little bit of oil in water to condition the whole skin and possibly apply an extra time or two on the flesh side. Brains would be good too, similar to the eggs and oil, so either one or the other will work. I don't do a lot of furs, but that is about what I'd probably start with if you were trying to work up a system for doing rabbit hides with natural tanning materials. Alum can be found naturally, but it's not common.
Dear Skillcult Maby you know the best way to put away the hair off the cowhide, without chemicals... So the cowskin could save all properties to make a taiko drum, that we do here. Maby shaving?
Shaving should work. You want a very sharp tool. We have a special tool in tanning called a dry scraping tool, but a rounded part of a knife might work if very sharp. African Djembe are made that way. they kill the goat for a feast, put the skin on fresh, then scrape the hair off carefully. It will help to shave it down some first so the hair is less in your way. And only scrape as much as you need to, not too deep. The tool is held at more or less of a right angle, not like slicing or shaving with a straight razor. YOu are not trying so much to cut the hair, but scrape off a thin layer of skin. I would do a small test, but nailing out a piec of leg to a board and then scrape it to get your tools and technique dialed.
"The grain is fragile" was playing over and over in my head while de-graining 4 mature mid-west whitetail bucks to make smoked "buckskin." That two hour job ended up taking 6. I have very much enjoyed your tanning related videos enough that I followed your steps the best I could doing 3 deer hides in Sumac and black walnut hulls. The leathers turned out better than I could have hoped. Nearly black while supple and soft.
It's easy to damage grain, but taking it all the way off can be a different thing altogether lol. Glad to hear your stuff is turning out!
I just passed my trapping course and your videos are invaluable.
Wonderful. I appreciate your time to help us, out there... one Kiwi, down under.
Good tip on the gloves. I've been wearing short ones and they always fill up. I've been doing this stuff for a while and I learn a lot each video. Thanks for keeping it going!
+Dennis Lanigan Yeah, short gloves are almost worse, because then your hands are soaking in whatever it is with no air. There may be better gloves out there, but these seem pretty good and affordable. The lining is nice, it's some kind of thing that keeps your hands pretty dry, maybe cotton.
Thank you for these videos. They really helped us to start tanning our first sheeps skin. we will probably ruin it but that's fine :)
So I know this is several years later but I have just been getting into your videos the last day or so and I am just soaking (no pun intended) this information up on making leather from raw skins. I love the idea of it, I hunt ear in the fall/winter and love the idea of using that raw skin to produce something of good quality that I can use to make something. Great content my friend and I look forward to going back through all these different videos and compiling this information into a usable note book to have as I try these things out myself.
The best start to finish vids are in my strops from scratch series. There is also a tanning playlist that has all tanning videos.
@@SkillCult I appreciate your comments and feed back. Really means a lot thank you.
Thank you for the explanations you provide
Great information brother very well received as well as delivered.
Do you recommend prepping to de-hair by just soaking in water until the epidermis starts breaking down naturally and the hair slips? I've heard some people say that it's the superior method if you have the time.
It is complicated. Usually when that is done traditionally it seems to be in cold running water, like in scandinavia. More common in old school tanneries was sweating, where fresh hides were stacked in layers in warm damp rooms. But they have to be watched very closely and dehaire as soon as they are ready or they start taking damage. It is pretty smelly and gross too and is more likely to lead to infection from handling rotting skins. It is also less reliable. It is an art that I'm not very familiar with. I've done something like it in plastic bags, but not very consistent. Best to start with lime, then do some research and explore sweating or soaking. I have a section on my website called free stuff that has a tanning books section where you can download tons of old tanning books. www.skillcult.com/freestuff
Great stuff! Just discovered your channel, it's awesome!
+Tyrog thanks! ! !
Thanks for the videos man! Always educational.
Very interesting. And a good video. Not everyone can communicate, film and work at he same time. Thanks
+Anne Brasher thank you. It is hard to do everything at once! I never thought it would be so challenging. I"m getting better though. Thanks for the nice comment.
How long did you soak it? And did u add anything to help soften it?
Really looking forward to try tanning some of my own hides, I think your videos will really help. I've been waiting for more videos and also really looking forward to that tanning book your writing. Thanks.
+Kyle Humpherys Unfortunately I haven't got enough out for anyone to actually finish the process. Not sure about the book. might not happen too soon...
Thank you very much.For how long do you have to soak the hide for the hide off.
I love your "Ducky" towel.
Thanks man!
Thank you
Thanks for the great content bro.
How long would you reccomend soaking deer hide in stove ash to remove hair
That is impossible to say. It will depend on how strong the ash is and how easy the skin responds or not. Basically until it is ready and the hair comes out easily. If it is not strong enough, the skin may rot in the meantime. Ashes are notoriously variable. Usually I'll use a thick batter of ash, but it is not always strong enough.Ive also had it so strong that it damaged the skin overnight.
How do you dispose of the lime water after you are done de-hairing the hides?
Unless your soils are very alkaline, it is a valuable fertilizer. People use lime to improve soil all the time. Lime from dehairing is also full of nutrients, including a lot of dissolved nitrogenous material. Just dilute and spread it around plants, garden beds or trees.
hello from new Zealand! im having trouble with the hair slip process. been in wood ash for one week, minimal slip thus far. any suggestions? cheers
Hi Brittany. Wood ash is notorious for being unpredictable in strength. You almost always have to use a fairly thick batter of ashes and water if you keep the ash in it. Often that is not even strong enough. A way to strengthen it that is easy is to drain the liquid off of the ash, then use that liquid to start another batch with new ashes. You should see the hide swell after that long. If it is not reacting, you need to strengthen the solution. It is cleaner to mix the ash with water, let it sit for a while and then drain it. But it can't be just some ash, it has to be a lot of ash, maybe like pancake or crepe batter. On rare occasions that can even be too strong, but it is more likely to be too weak. Also, you have to use fresh ashes. If they have gotten wet, the chemicals you want will leach out. Good luck!
Wow that's so cool, never seen it before ! Thumbs up and Greetings from Ireland :)
+Drone Girl Thanks!
Can you please send me the link to the video using oyster shells to make sodium hydroxide ?
Thanks
Just search skillcult lime. You aren't too old to learn to use the internet :)
ua-cam.com/play/PL60FnyEY-eJBTMfy9Bl5QRmBKUAvLLCwp.html
@SkillCult Thanks so much!
I hope you're doing well man
What solution you put the goat skin into to get the hair off
Lime. It has to be hydrated lime or lime putty, not just ground limestone like they use in farming. Look up my video on what lime to use for tanning.
love the videos and the gloves!!!
+James Johnson Yeah, right, the gloves!
Hey i am trying to soften a elk hide with eggs i am in the buching stage i let the hide rest in lte water for a few days the hair slipped and i removed grain but im finding it more rubbery than ide like even after ive leached it in fresh water for 2 days and did a vinager nutralization and it started smelling a bit like the begining of rot i dried to rawhide to kill bacteria and am re moistening it now to leach more lye because its pretty rubbery still i was wondering if you think i over bucked with lye? Or any other ideas?
Two possibilities. One you didn't rinse enough. I like to rinse and scrape betwee rinsings. At the very least, change the water several times a day. Other possibility is it is counterswollen by too much acid. Acid will swell a hide the same as alkaline substances. Try rinsing and scraping it over a couple times a day, with at least three changes of water. If it is alkali swelling, you ought to be able to drop it back to a naturally flaccid state.
good stuff, Man!
I don't know of any local sources for materials to make lime, but I can make wood ashes. What has your experience been with wood ashes compared to lime? Know about the egg float test to determine strength for hardwood ashes, what I'm wondering is it any easier or harder to work with? I could also buy a bag of Oldcastle masons lime, might be better than making a large fire just to get the ashes.
ashes work fine, but they are inconsistent and it does take a lot of wood to make a little bit of ash. I would never want to discourage anyone from experimenting, but it's easy to be consistent with lime, so it's better to learn with. the egg float test seems unreliable. Almost every braintanner I've seen that uses bucking now uses potassium hydroxide instead of wood ashes, I gather because results are so inconsistent with wood ash. My theory is that it's because they contain sodium, potassium and calcium hydroxide. I'm not sure how they interact, but I had a hide destroyed overnight in wood ash solution that measured weak with the egg test. I'm sure that is uncommon, but it shows how all over the place they are. Masons lime should be the stuff. It's cheap and you can store it for a long time if you seal it up in a bucket tightly.
Alright, well mason lime it is. Next time I'm coastal I'll haul back some oyster shells, love the videos on firing the lime. Thanks for sharing all the knowledge, tanning book is on the christmas list..
Burning lime is lots of fun. You can visit oyster bars for an easy supply of shells.
Is there any chance you can make a video showing how to preserve a pelt with hair on, such as a rabbit or rat? Can tanic acid be used or is it an entirely different process?
I may do that in the next year, but don't hold your breath waiting for it lol. You can use tannic acid, but it can tint the hair color. Cook up some tannin and throw in a small piece, like the end of a leg or something, even just an inch square and see what happens. get the flesh and fat off, but you don't have to get it super clean if it's not very greasy. For lubrication, see my video on fat liquors. You can use just egg yolk and water.
@@SkillCult Yeah I seen all your tanning videos, they are easy and enjoyable to watch and give me inspiring ideas (allthough I'm not sure my ideas will work due to my lack of experience but they are worth a try + I can learn from my mistakes). I also appreciate you making the videos and giving advice. I have some polysorbate and lecithin around the house so I don't need to use eggs for an emulsifier but an olive oil and fat liquor would be good.
Always love the videos my friend, good stuff! Liked.
+River Valley Survival and Bushcraft thanks!
It is a real problem to get calcium hydroxide here in Norway, and I have no possibility to produce it myself now. So I am keeping fight with a hair on a moose skin. But... Do you think it could be reasonable to finish with fleshing, soaking-washing-membraining (to get completly clean flesh side) and to put hide in a weak tanning solution (bark) to soak for de-hairing ? They say tannin helps to slip the hair. Even when we brain-tanning fur, we spread tanning solution on the flesh side only, to not to damage a hair.
That is surprising to me. Here most hardware stores have it. It's easy to make, see my vids on burning lime. You can use wood ashes, but you need quite a bit. You can also use lye's, both potassium and sodium hydroxides, but they are more dangerous to you and the hide, so look up recipes and make sure to get the concentration right. They aren't truly poisonous, just caustic until diluted enough. If you could use bark solution, it would be completely used up bark solution. Tannins actually set the hair into the skin if applied to the skin side. If the reference you have is valid, it would refer to completely spent liquors. Those were sometimes used to pretreat the hide before tanning to neutralize dehairing agents, acidify, or even plump the skin a little. I don't recall ever reading about using them to de-hair, but I could easily have forgotten too. I'll ask a friend about it that has a better memory than me and reads the same stuff. I think he has a better memory than me, I can't remember for sure...
I have heard quite a bit about soaking hides in cold streams in the north for dehairiing, like among the Sami. Sweating is another method, it just refers to a controlled breakdown by bacterial action. If it works right, the bacteria attack the hair roots and epidermal stuff first and most causing the hair to slip. It is frequently done by piling the skins in layers, often in a shed, sometimes with steam or heat. There is the risk of it going too far, getting the wrong bacteria, having colonies attack parts of the dermis, which is what you want to keep and of course infection, but it was very commonly practiced in some places and claimed sometimes to make a firmer, stronger leather because if done right, less of the skin is dissolved away than in treating with alkalis.
Love it
I've been tanning goat hides for the first time in the past year, and have had a lot of trouble getting all of the hair to slip. The bulk of the hair will slip, but there are always fine hairs scattered here and there that won't budge, especially around the neck and thicker parts of the hide. Bucking in KoH. On a sidenote, I also found that rinsing in the creek behind my house after bucking actually set the hairs more firmly on account of the tannins in the water. They tannin content was high enough to start discoloring the hide. I left one hide in a fresh batch of KoH for 2 weeks at 50-60 degrees, and there were still lots of stubborn hairs that wouldn't come out on the beam. Any goat specific pointers? Thank you, enjoying the videos, and very much looking forward to your veg tan book!
+Mickey Hey Mickey. Goats can be tough that way. Sometimes you just won't get all the hairs out. This was a problem in traditional tanneries too and they had ways of dealing with it, though i'm not recalling what now. Probably basically shaving them off. Have you tried lime? My experience with KOH is zero. I've used woodash of course, but it's not the same both because it is of unknown strength (thus the popularity of KOH) and because wood ash contains somewhere around 30% lime and some sodium hydroxide along with the KOH. lime is probably cheaper than KOH, and has a long history of use. I'd sure be curious how it compares for you. I get stubborn hairs occasionally, but it's not a major problem as it sounds like it is for you. Check out my new lime burning videos. it is easy to do if you have the materials, but a bag of type S lime is probably only about 8.00. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
+Mickey and don't go by time, it just varies a lot with temp and all that. Go by skin feel and slippage if you can and just call it when you're pretty sure it's getting to be long enough to affect the skin negatively.
So pleasing to see how easy the hair comes off! :-) I've used woodashes, but the flesh side of the skin gets greyish from the solution. Do you have any suggestions concerning this? Can I maybe flesh the hide after slipping the hair off or is this a bad idea? Thank you in advance!
Yes, it is very satisfying work :D Wood ashes are fine, but they are less predictable than lime. If you flesh only a little or not at all before the ash, there will be a protective layer of tissue on the skin that will come off later, leaving the skin clean. Often even a good fleshing will leave a whole extra layer that should be removed later, but it depends on the skin, thoroughness, tool sharpness etc. You can also make a solution instead of a batter of ashes. Just drip out all the liquid in a bucket with holes in the bottom and a layer of straw or something to filter, let the ash settle out until you have a clean liquid. But that really should not be necessary, just do the deep fleshing after dehairing.
@@SkillCult Thanks a lot for the advice! I will give it a try. I usually work with goatskin for drumheads. I saw your video where you make lime puddy. But I don't have those huge shells in my country (Suriname- South America). So I bought a bag of small shells and burned them together with some wood. I can't get the temperature high enough, but I did see some bubbles when I poured water into the mixture of woodashes and shells :-) Will give it another try very soon! Do you recommend pouring some bleach into the woodashes for bacteria? I'm a little bit confused, because I the bacteria also help with dehairing right?
@@ShifarAbdoelaziz Look for limestone to try burning. It is very common. Shells should be easy to burn. Just use more wood. Also, always slake shell lime with hot water to start the process. Cold water usually won't work until the process gets started. Boil some water and add to the shells a little at a time. You can also use eggshells if you can get a lot. Don't worry about bacteria in ashes. If they are strong enough, that won't be a problem and only a few species can grow in that alkaline environment.
@@ShifarAbdoelaziz Flesh just the very easy stuff off your goat skins before liming or ashing. Then once dehaired, washh the skins well, then flesh and keep rinsing in clear water. They should be very clean on both sides that way. for the African Djembe, they use fresh skins, dry them on, then scrape off the hair dry with a sharp knife. I always wanted to try that.
@@SkillCult If you can make leather, putting a Djembe head on would be very easy for you I think :-) I will consider all the things you advised. Keep up the good stuff and thank you once again! ✌️
hey there! I've been watching your videos alot, thanks for all the shared knowledge!
I've tried to tan a deer hide - hair on - with egg tanning. i left the hide for too long and now my hair is slipping. do you have any advice or videos i could watch to turn my skin into buckskin leather? would I just start the process all over again?
You might consider going back an liming it and trying a bark tan process. Best bet, cut off the neck and a couple leg ends and run them through to see how it turns out. Dont get attached,, there will be more hides. Probably best to just start over. You might also be able to lime, dehair, delime and use it as rawhide. Watch my strops from scratch series. for process.
Thanks for doing these videos, I share when I see question of tanning and the answers are all over the board. I have a new deer skin soaking and the hair is just not slipping nicely, some spots are then there is that layer under the hair that is being super stubborn. I didn't do ashes or lime on this one, for some reason, thought I would just try time in water. I have some lime from Virginia Lime Works, will that work? Proportions? I am also fighting freezing temps and ice in the bucket. I left one a few years ago in a local brook and it froze in and could not get it out, our waters are very tannic from rotten debris, it came out stained and not white. It is just dry at this point, I need to re soak it and get it going again. Lucky my dog has not found it.
It can be tricky to slip hair without alkali. It's usually done in a somewhat controlled way in a process called sweating. Virginia Lime Works should be lime putty, which is very good. Only issue might be impurities in the limestone,but I'd just go for it and worry about it if it doesn't work. I can't give you proportions, but maybe start with a pint of lime in a tub large enough for the hide to not be crowded, like a 15 to 20 gallon one maybe (not necessarily full. Stir it occasionally. drying and restarting probably not a great idea, but might work out okay. Make sure that you scrape, stretch etc enough to get the hide 100% soaked through or the lime won't be able to work. Try not to let it freeze. Maybe set the tub in a pit? Or just move it inside. If you mean the thin dingy colored skim of material just under the hair, often dark colored, that is the epidermis. It is dissolved and broken down by the lime. It is only a few cells thick usually. The thicker stuff under that is the grain, which if you take that off you'll have a nappy skin, like buckskin. Either is okay, but you want to either leave all the grain, or take it all off clean.
Thanks! The feed back is greatly appreciated. The hide I'm trying to slip hair on is still fresh and not dried. When I have the time I will rehydrate the older one to see what comes of it.
Can you post your plain Amazon affiliate link? I always like to support someone when I'm shopping on Amazon if I can.
+durable1988 Yes, thank you! I do to. I never shop amazon without using a bloggers affiliate link. maybe I should post it in every description. amzn.to/1ZCrNYI
I recently pickled a deerskin with acid and I was giving it a final wash, but never got to taking it out of the water and drying it. It’s been about 2-3 weeks, and the water has been freezing on and off. It also smells terrible and all the hair just comes out really easily, but it looks fine. Should it be okay if I just pull all the fur and finish it? If so, should I use the method you explained, or could I just pull it by hand while it’s in the water?
I would wear gloves just in case to prevent potential bacterial infection. I don't know anything about those acid tans. Deer skins are usually easy to come by, you might want to start over. Procrastination may be the tanners worst enemy. If you want to dehair, I would try something like I am doing. if you don't have the tools, any smooth rounded surface with the edge of a small wooden board should work.
SkillCult ok, thanks! I’ve got everything I need, and will definitely wear gloves
would rabbit skin be too thin for this process?
Probably. They are usually tanned with the fur on. Wild rabbit skins, both true rabbits and jack rabbits are way too thin to tan at all. At least all the ones I've ever dealt with. Some domestic rabbits might survive I suppose, but still quite thin.
SkillCult yeah I figured.. so should I just try to scrape the hair off without lime
No, that would be worse. It will tear for sure unless the hair is slipping badly. Usually they are tanned with the hair on. You could probably bark tan it with the hair. Too many options to go over. Learning to tan is a bit of a journey.
SkillCult thanks for the replies! I have been salt/alum tanning them but I want to try a more natural method. I am definitely going to try the bark next! btw your channel is fantastic. I love your leather working videos. I have probably watched them all at least 10 times just because it is so satisfying to watch :P keep up the awesome work! you are appreciated!
Thanks :) You can do bark with the hair on, though it can stain the hair. One possible solution might be to just tan briefly in a solution to set the hair in the skin (yes, tannin sets the hair just like alum!) then use a ground bark paste on the flesh side to finish it to avoid staining the hair too much. Like grind the bark up, apply with water to the flesh side, roll it up and set it in a bag for a day or two. Eskimos and northern indians did this kind of thing sometimes. Working it open and reapplying new bark might be a good idea too. If you can tan it all the way through, it will be easy to oil and soften. I'd use something like egg yolks blended with a little bit of oil in water to condition the whole skin and possibly apply an extra time or two on the flesh side. Brains would be good too, similar to the eggs and oil, so either one or the other will work. I don't do a lot of furs, but that is about what I'd probably start with if you were trying to work up a system for doing rabbit hides with natural tanning materials. Alum can be found naturally, but it's not common.
Consider using a quebec knife - an aluminum knife used by trappers
Never heard of it. Is it for fleshing or dehairing? Must be fleshing. trappers don't dehair much I wouldn't think.
there is no tan oak where I live
Any oak should work and lots of other trees and leaves and roots.
Cool
Ledge
Dear Skillcult
Maby you know the best way to put away the hair off the cowhide, without chemicals...
So the cowskin could save all properties to make a taiko drum, that we do here.
Maby shaving?
Shaving should work. You want a very sharp tool. We have a special tool in tanning called a dry scraping tool, but a rounded part of a knife might work if very sharp. African Djembe are made that way. they kill the goat for a feast, put the skin on fresh, then scrape the hair off carefully. It will help to shave it down some first so the hair is less in your way. And only scrape as much as you need to, not too deep. The tool is held at more or less of a right angle, not like slicing or shaving with a straight razor. YOu are not trying so much to cut the hair, but scrape off a thin layer of skin. I would do a small test, but nailing out a piec of leg to a board and then scrape it to get your tools and technique dialed.
He's cute