Hide Tanning Advice

[dangerranger5143]

Hey guys I just had a few questions I was hoping someone could answer for me on tanning hides...Me and a buddy are kid of interested in tanning a few coyotes hides this winter to make into rugs or hang on the wall...I am wondering how hard this would be to do for someone who has never done it before..From what I understand you skin the animal, flesh the hide, salt the hide but after that I am lost...I know you have to soak the hide in some kind of brine solution and stretch it but im not sure where these steps come into the process or what kind of brine solution to use...If someone could quickly describe the steps to me in point form that would be awesome...Any info will heplp me to decide wheter or not we want to take on this task.

Thanks guys

[Double Shovel]

1.Skin
2. Flesh
3.Salt to almost dry
4. Place in pickle solution
5.Neutralize
6.Tan it
7. hang to almost dry
8.break it and then oil it
9.Hang til almost dry
10.break it and re-oil it
11. hang til almost dry
12.break it again and then place in a tumbler for final cleaning and then hang to final dry.

It is quite the process to home tan these but this is they way I have done it and they have turned out really well.I did a coyote and a fisher last winter and they are beauties.

[GRUNTCALL]

I've tanned fox, raccoon, beaver, possum, deer & cow hides at home. If you have the interest, time and some basic knowledge it's worth it. A professionally tanned hide is a thing of lasting beauty and well worth the expense for a special hide. You may want to try that and experiment with a smaller animal. Rittel's Tanning Supplies (here's link to retailer closer to you: http://bit.ly/9Ukgyv) is good place to start for DIY'ers. While you think about it let me list some steps to initially preserve your hides.
1) Wash to get dirt etc out with mild soap + some kind of disinfectant
2) in fleshing, make sure you get it down past that membrane that allows hide to slide over the muscles, tricky but vital for proper penetration of your pickle (acid/salt solution) and tanning chemicals. Also, if you're good with the sciving knife, this is the best time to get the skin down to an even thickness, but very challenging by hand.
3) Salt liberally & evenly with coarse salt. After folding over make sure
the liquid has a way to drain off.
4)Acid bath: you want to soak & agitate your hide in a salt bath @ 1# salt / gal water. This will protect it from acid swelling so make sure it penetrates thoroughly. Your acid / salt bath is 1#salt / 1 oz battery acid / 1 gal water. Agitate, agitate. Remove and drain.
That kills bacteria, opens up leather fibers (collagen) and prepares the hide for tanning chemicals. There are many ways to tan. These are first steps I've used for eventual zirconium (white leather) and vegetable (tannin) tanning of hides. Softening and oiling your hides are the last steps.
Check out these also: http://amzn.to/cKht2k.
Hope this helps.

[dangerranger5143]

It does sound like quite the process to do at home but sounds worth it to if the hide looks good...a couple more questions i had were how do i make the solutions...i am not sure what ingredients to use and how much of each...the other is what is meant by tanning the hide...this may sound stupid but i think it means to put it under some kind of intense light...like tanning in a tanning bed...and also what type of oil do you use?..if i have anymore questions i will post them on here and hopefully you guys can answer them for me...thanks guys your info is greatly appreciated

[GRUNTCALL]

DR, You'll need enough of the brine and pickle solutions to fully immerse your hides. Tanneries use less and more precise amounts (based on green hide weight) because they have drums that do it fast.

As for the tanning chemicals, the beginners Rittel's kit says 1 kit is enough for 3#'s (dry weight I assume) of hide. I'm guessing your well fleshed wolf hide is at least 6#'s, so plan accordingly. Instructions are included I'm sure but I never tried theirs.

"Tanning" is the process by which an animal hide is rendered useful and long-lasting. That's the simplest definition I can think of. And its history goes way back (Garden of Eden?). Who knows, ancient men probably found carcasses lying in murky puddles stained with oak leaves and saw that it preserved the skin. Far as I know it isn't done with light yet but nothing would surprise me. Modern tannages are of two types 1)mineral (eg chromium, zirconium & synthetics) & 2)vegetable (tannins extracted from trees) and combinations of the 2 classes. All have their unique characteristics and are best suited for particular end-products.

All kinds of oils are useful in softening leather & furs. The trick is to penetrate the fiber-complex and not be greasy in the end. The type in the Rittel's kit sounds good.

Double-Shovels steps are right on the mark. Wish I had his gift for making it simple.

Feel free to ask any questions. You should try making buckskin too. Its amazing to watch the grain structure appear before your eyes and it has 1000 uses.