Tanning wild-caught sharkskin

[acowpounder]

I live very close to the Texas Gulf Coast. There are sharks out there in them waters. Once caught, does anyone know how to go about properly tanning a sharkskin so it can be used to make a finished leather project?

[DrizztFan24]

I live very close to the Texas Gulf Coast. There are sharks out there in them waters. Once caught, does anyone know how to go about properly tanning a sharkskin so it can be used to make a finished leather project?

While I do not know how to tan shark skin, I suggest using it with caution on a purse or wallet...or anything that will suffer much handling. Shark skin does contain denticles which can cause severe irritation is rubbed the wrong direction. Check out the wikipedia article on denticles. Not to say don't use the skin, just be aware that it has a grain.

[Mach]

I live very close to the Texas Gulf Coast. There are sharks out there in them waters. Once caught, does anyone know how to go about properly tanning a sharkskin so it can be used to make a finished leather project?

I'm also on the gulf coast and was looking at doing the same with stingrays. I did some research a year ago on how to tan and remove the denticles but never did anything with it. Stingray and shark can be handled similarly but most references were to shark.

On the topic of denticles, acid, either hydrochloric or sulfuric, was at one time used to remove them. See US patent 1,412,968 for description of the process. Once removed, handling can follow normal curing/tanning methods. Some forum posters recommend a fish leather kit (I'll have to dig out which one). References that were handy were Tanikawa, E. 1985. Marine products in Japan. Koseisha Koseikaku Co. Ltd., Tokyo. 506 pages.

Interesting links:

http://www.fao.org/d...0E/x3690e1d.htm

http://www.flmnh.ufl...ssg/EFMT/14.pdf (picture on how to skin a shark)

Edited November 30, 2009 by Mach