tanning small hides

[whipit]

Hi! Thanks to everyone for their comments. Just to answer one question about sheep skins with the wool left on. This is one I haven't tried. I have taken the wool off and tanned it like leather. The skins need to be scoured too allow the tanning to place. This is another subject and I will have to leave it too the end. So if I forget please remind me so I can explain. I have just required a calf hide so I will start too take some photo's of some of the steps. The following solutions are for small hides so if you are doing a large hide just double or even triple the amounts. At no stage should the hide smell like it is rotting. If you get that smell it is likely something has gone wrong and the hide will become useless. Their are 3 ways to take off the hair.

1. Hot water:- I will not go into this as it is covered in the Braiding Forum under making raw hide.

2. Hard wood ashes:- I did use this one when I lived in town. The main reason is that the water, hair, and ashes and be put into your compost heap. As stated their shouldn't be a rotten smell so it shouldn't upset the neighbours to much. All countries have some type of hard wood. I use the ashed out of my wood fire. When I say ashes, I mean the fine stuff not the big charcoal size peaces. Into a plastic container put 50L (10gal) of water, 5 to 7 kgs (5pound) of ashes, and 1kg (2pound) of fine salt. Mix it all together and add the hide or hides. This amount should do 2 to 3 calf sizes hides. The hides needs to be handled at least 4 times a day for the first few days. Then twice a day until the hair starts to slip. This should take about 5 days. If the hair doesnt slip then you should dump the ashes and a make up a fresh batch.

3. Lime:- This is what I use as I always have it on hand and I know that is is going too work. You must use hydrated lime not agricultural lime. Into a plastic container put 50L (10gal) of water, 2kg (4pound) of lime, and 3kg (6pound) of fine salt. As with the ashes the hide need to be handled as much as possible for the first few days. You should find that the hair will start too slip within 3 to 5 days. If you take the hide out and find that their patches that won't just put the hide back into the lime bath for another 24hrs. You should always wear gloves as lime will burn your hands over time.

I don't do much fleshing until after the hide has been in the lime bath. I find that the lime helps when fleshing. I do however put the hide across a beam just to take off big peaces of meat and fat before putting it into the lime.

Hydrated Lime can be obtained from a builders supply store and is very cheep.

I get my fine salt from a agricultural store.

Tanneries use lime and sodium hydro-sulphide and the process only takes half the time. Here in Australia I can not use it unless I have a permit from the E.P.A. It is bad for the environment. On that so is a lot of lime, so if you use this method don't put it around the wife's plants as it will kill them. Then the wife will kill you. Been their and done that. I need to go so I will cover what too do next soon. Please ask if you have any questions.

Bob