Beaver Tail I Phone Case

[Oldtoolsniper]

As a trapper I remove a lot of nuisance beavers around here for farmers. These are corn fed beavers so some get quite large. I've never found a maket for the tails. I've started to learn leather working. Here is my first go at using something that would otherwise be wasted. I tanned the tail and laminated it onto some 2-3 oz leather. The tails go from thick to thin and so you have to adjust thread tension as you stitch around the case.

I was not really sure it would even work so this was an experiment.

[Rohn]

That is so cool!!! I love it. Really great idea for using a piece of an animal that would otherwise go to waste. I'll bet you could have some buyers for them if you decide to market them. Did I mention, that is a really neat project.

[Avgvstvs]

That's really nice!

Have you shrunk the grain?

What's the thickness of that leather? How much leather does a tail yield?

I got to say you really got me curious about beaver leather!

[bgl500]

Looks great! I've always liked beaver tail. I know of people that use it for grips on longbows and recurves. Have been contemplating getting a couple tails from Sheridan Leather and trying it on a few projects.

[alysay]

I like the looks of that a lot. Nice texture.

[MonicaJacobson]

That is incredibly awesome.

[capsterdog]

Very nice. Your stitch work looks awesome and I love the beaver tail..I have seen those for sale on someones website. The texture is great

[Oldtoolsniper]

Thanks everyone. In the next day or so I will add more to the post from what I've learned working with the tail. That little project was pretty straight forward but there a couple of curve balls. The tail changes thickness both ways. Front to back and side to side. It presents a challenge for stitching. More later when I have time.

[camano ridge]

Old tool sniper, there is a market for beaver tail. Here, also over on cascity.com leathershop forum. If you do a search for beaver tail you will find beaver tail medicine pouches and other projects. ALso the muzzleloading forum http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/ , I see people there that have made projects out of beavertail and some trying to find beaver tail.

Edited December 14, 2014 by camano ridge

[blueblazer]

That grain though. So good. Nice job.

[Alvetjarn]

Wow nice!

Can I buy beaver tails from you, and to what price ?

[Oldtoolsniper]

No plans on selling the tails. It takes about three hours time to process one over a few days. Not counting the price of tanning chemicals they would be expensive tails even at minimum wage.

A commercial tannery would be the cheapest route if you can find one who does it.

Bear in mind as well that here in Iowa some counties pay a $50.00 bounty for the tails. They really do a lot of damage to farmland. The pelt is only worth about $14.00.