Recently I received a phone call from a prospective tanner in Tennessee. He's been following the videos and is now at a point where he was curious about tearing in his hide. He is at the point of nuetralizing the hide (see video on neutralizing) but on the finishing of the graining process he noticed alot of tearing. after further explanation of the situation, it sounds like he got a thin hide with alot of nicks and knife cuts on the hide. These weak spots on any hide spell disaster. For the beggining tanner it can be quite disheartening. Fret not. Next time, if you are the skinner, remember to pell your hide off, only use your knife for the openeing cuts, then put your knife away LEAVE IT ALONE!!!! and now Pull your hide of the deer, this ensures a clean skin, no weak spots on the hide and leaves the natural membrane on the carcass to protect it if you want it to hang (like natures saran wrap).
The key to tanning thin hides is a gentle touch. gentle yet repetative graining, gentle yet multiple wringings. That's it, no secret, just remember on thinner hides you have to go gentle. it's about repition, with the small guys, beacause brut force alone wont do it like it could for the hefty deer!
This site is educate and inspire those who wish to learn about primitive cultures, skills and arts
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
hide tanning, when is it really chemical tanned?
the following was a post to a youtube video I had done but I wrote so much I thought I should share it here as well...
see, chemisrty is everything, and by definition, even the brain is a chemical, what we use from the brain is an emulsified oil (mixes with water). now enough of that, on with the show.
you see the idea behind basic brain tanning, whether doing wetscrape( using and alkali in forms such as Hydrated lime, Wood ash or even KOH), or dry scrape (no alkali), is brain penatration.
to understand that, think of a bunch of hide fibers like a bunch of pipe cleaners all twisted together... now take this mass and soak it in glue.
this would be the hides natural state. fibers intertwined and coated with the mucus membrane.
now picture your brain solution as a glass of milk mixed with near a gallon of water.
now your job is to make that watery milk penatrate that gluey mass of pipecleaners, forcing out the glue completely by multiple dressings.
tough huh?
this is why dry scrape is less popular.
now with wet scrape add alkali, we'll say it's a hot soapy solution and completely cleans out all the glue but DOES NOT AT ALL hurt the fibers-because that's what alkali does.
now you have the pipe cleaner mass easily and ready to accept the milky water with no glue left! YAY!
ok now to the second part.
natural veggie tanning;
will take to long to type, I work two jobs father of twins and I have finals, so I'll be brief this time,
think tea
put a bag in your mouth, seriously, do it. makes ya pucker huh? coagulates blood too, reason why? it's hydroscopic, like brake fluid, absorbs water!
so any ways a series of baths are made weakest to strongest, slowly allowing the hide to soak in each bath of weeks to months leacheing out water and replacing it with tanic acid( stuf in the tea, you'll also find it in bark, nuts, etc, more on this later...
well yeah it's wet so don't get confused, it does have water in it, just like A cup of strong tea made from 5 bags of tea, but it's still bitter and makes you pucker right?
ok so anyways, the tanic acid, basically what you did is preserve the hide like this, it's taken out of the baths and left to dry, som ancient european, and native american cultures (pacific northwest and north east coast were known for this) would break the hide down as it dried so it was somwhat pliable, think commercial suede to saddle or belt leather.
not buck skin soft, but pliable.
why?
Because of the lack of oil, no manipulation till the very end, and the use of a chemical (tannic acid) to extract water and mucus from the hide.
is it better or worse?
well you wouldn't want a belt or saddle out of braintan, nor would you want a shirt or coat out of commercial or vegtable tanned hides, each have their own purposes, and each animal speicies exhibts different traits good for something like elk doesn't make good moccasins due to the coarse grain structure, but better for coats, moose is better for mocs anayways, tighter grain and thicker, and so on...
want a cooler summer shirt of buckskin? try antelope, very thin yet strong as or morse than deer, plus the breathability factor of braintan is a plus "Sweat all you want!"
hope this helps some...
see, chemisrty is everything, and by definition, even the brain is a chemical, what we use from the brain is an emulsified oil (mixes with water). now enough of that, on with the show.
you see the idea behind basic brain tanning, whether doing wetscrape( using and alkali in forms such as Hydrated lime, Wood ash or even KOH), or dry scrape (no alkali), is brain penatration.
to understand that, think of a bunch of hide fibers like a bunch of pipe cleaners all twisted together... now take this mass and soak it in glue.
this would be the hides natural state. fibers intertwined and coated with the mucus membrane.
now picture your brain solution as a glass of milk mixed with near a gallon of water.
now your job is to make that watery milk penatrate that gluey mass of pipecleaners, forcing out the glue completely by multiple dressings.
tough huh?
this is why dry scrape is less popular.
now with wet scrape add alkali, we'll say it's a hot soapy solution and completely cleans out all the glue but DOES NOT AT ALL hurt the fibers-because that's what alkali does.
now you have the pipe cleaner mass easily and ready to accept the milky water with no glue left! YAY!
ok now to the second part.
natural veggie tanning;
will take to long to type, I work two jobs father of twins and I have finals, so I'll be brief this time,
think tea
put a bag in your mouth, seriously, do it. makes ya pucker huh? coagulates blood too, reason why? it's hydroscopic, like brake fluid, absorbs water!
so any ways a series of baths are made weakest to strongest, slowly allowing the hide to soak in each bath of weeks to months leacheing out water and replacing it with tanic acid( stuf in the tea, you'll also find it in bark, nuts, etc, more on this later...
well yeah it's wet so don't get confused, it does have water in it, just like A cup of strong tea made from 5 bags of tea, but it's still bitter and makes you pucker right?
ok so anyways, the tanic acid, basically what you did is preserve the hide like this, it's taken out of the baths and left to dry, som ancient european, and native american cultures (pacific northwest and north east coast were known for this) would break the hide down as it dried so it was somwhat pliable, think commercial suede to saddle or belt leather.
not buck skin soft, but pliable.
why?
Because of the lack of oil, no manipulation till the very end, and the use of a chemical (tannic acid) to extract water and mucus from the hide.
is it better or worse?
well you wouldn't want a belt or saddle out of braintan, nor would you want a shirt or coat out of commercial or vegtable tanned hides, each have their own purposes, and each animal speicies exhibts different traits good for something like elk doesn't make good moccasins due to the coarse grain structure, but better for coats, moose is better for mocs anayways, tighter grain and thicker, and so on...
want a cooler summer shirt of buckskin? try antelope, very thin yet strong as or morse than deer, plus the breathability factor of braintan is a plus "Sweat all you want!"
hope this helps some...
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
secret project
A friend of mine does very similar work, So I said I would not sell this style of sculpting on my website, instead, I will come up with my own style, though he's ok with whatever I'm sure, it's still about my own ethics and morals, so instead, I thought I'd just share the photos...
Let me know what you think!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Click on the follow link, if you'd like to keep up to date...
For those of you visiting for the first time, don't forget to become a follower to this blog. I am always adding more to this blog. I just started this up in November of 2010. For a while I have had a web page and a you tube channel, but now I am moving all of my "tips and tricks" "hints" " tutorials" "build-a-longs" and others to this site.
I have taught classes in almost all forms or north american primitive cultural arts and/ or skills, don't claim to be a know it all, never will, many more who know more, and I love to learn too, I'm just here to pass on what I know and what works to you
ok I'm already bored talking about my self, enough of that.
You will find to main topics in this blog; Bows and bowmaking, and you wil also find buckskins, and tanning.
I'm sure I may add more subjects if popularity demands for it, other subjects to include may be, porcupine quillwork embroidery, Scrimshaw, Flint knapping, Primitive weapons, survival, basketry, stone sculpting,etc. basically primitive and cultural arts and skills, but we will see. for now, basically this will be a how to, and Q&A site for those that have followed the youtube channel, website, seen me in the magazines, or are just plain curious to how a certian thing to work.
in order to keep up date on this, best to click on the follower link on the side bar to your right.
I have taught classes in almost all forms or north american primitive cultural arts and/ or skills, don't claim to be a know it all, never will, many more who know more, and I love to learn too, I'm just here to pass on what I know and what works to you
ok I'm already bored talking about my self, enough of that.
You will find to main topics in this blog; Bows and bowmaking, and you wil also find buckskins, and tanning.
I'm sure I may add more subjects if popularity demands for it, other subjects to include may be, porcupine quillwork embroidery, Scrimshaw, Flint knapping, Primitive weapons, survival, basketry, stone sculpting,etc. basically primitive and cultural arts and skills, but we will see. for now, basically this will be a how to, and Q&A site for those that have followed the youtube channel, website, seen me in the magazines, or are just plain curious to how a certian thing to work.
in order to keep up date on this, best to click on the follower link on the side bar to your right.
Preserving fresh hides CHEAP!!!!!
Forget freezing, Stop Drying, don't worry about rot, this article I wrote is very helpful, and will save you ALOT of MONEY and freezer space. Not to mention if you're married it'll with keep you significant other happy "out of sight out of mind".
DID YOU KNOW?
A common belief of storing fresh (green) hides is drying and freezing. Although these methods will work they can be costly or change the quality of you hides. In addition, if they are done incorrectly they can make the whole tanning process a mess or near impossible for the tanner. This guide offers suggestions to each method, plus introduces the method of Wet Salting ( my preferred method).
Freezing:
When working with any hides or even large portions of meat the idea is to get it cool as quick as possible so bacteria doesn't start making your hide or meat into a rancid mess. Bacteria is a hides worst enemy, next to unchecked dogs and rodents. Multiplying every ten minutes if not arrested these organisms ruin the hopeful tanners ambitions.
Usually hides are hurried into a bag and thrown in the freezer, this is WRONG! “Well it's frozen right? It will be ok... right?” Yes and no. The out side is frozen, because this surface is exposed to the cold air (think warm house in the winter, cold on the outside right? Snow on the roof?) ok same difference, except the bacteria now case frozen in the hide are have a party! Now depending on the size of the hide (deer-Buffalo) a hide can take from 6- 24 hours to completely freeze. This of course all depends on many factors but your common white tail in a chest freezer set to 30 Degrees F, will freeze in about 6 hours or more.
What this means is the bacteria that is breaking the hide down has plenty of time to consume the proteins allowing the dermal layer to separate, and the hair slips, so your hide, though frozen has the potential of mangy compost at the end.
If you are really set on freezing then allow the hide to remain open for an hour or so in 40 +or- degree weather, then roll bag and freeze. It's that simple, the key ingredient is patience and observation.
Drying:
Drying a hide seems pretty easy right? Just hang over a fence and let the sun and wind do the work! WRONG AGAIN! Meat and fat on a hide will turn rancid, seep into the fiber network, and begin to solar cook the hide (buffalo are famous for this). The hide will also rot while drying. Bugs canine, felines and rodent cannot resist this rancid treat, and then you're and instant favorite with the local wild life, though you may not have to worry about entertaining friends for a while.
The best way to dry a hide with no preservatives, is to completely flesh the hide clean of meat and fat , open up the hide, so no skin is rolled over or touching, and allow to dry, preferably on a frame in the shade.
Wet Salting:
Wet salting is basically pickling the hide, which will preserve the hide for a very long time. When done properly the process is CHEAP and WORRY-FREE. No freezer needed (more space for Wild game meat now) No worry's of critters messing with your hide, or losing friends!
WHAT YOU NEED TO GET STARTED:
Salt. A fifty pound bags runs about $4-$5 at your local grain elevator/feed store.
Flat surface. Plywood works great for this.
An air tight container. Plastic only, metal cans rust with salt , staining your hide.
Step I:
Spread hide out on ground, opened up fully, uncurling edges
Step II:
Put heaping amounts of salt onto hide and spread evenly all the way out to the edges (make sure to uncurl all edges, and get salt in there). The object is to get at least a little bit of salt all over the hide.
Step III:
Allow the hide to stay in the shade for anywhere from 3-6 hours. This allows any excess moisture to drain away from the hide.
Step IV:
Fold up the hide flesh side to flesh side, along the spine. Don't need to be pretty just like you would fold a towel or blanket.
Step V:
In your air tight container, place some blocks on the bottom to keep the hide elevated above the bottom, so it doesn't sit in any moisture. This moisture would rot the hide if it sat in it, because you have kept it raised above, you are ok., after a few weeks you can pull the hide out, drain the moisture out of your container, put the blocks back in and your hide back in the container, seal the lid.
I have stored Hides like this for decades and they still came out wonderfully soft and strong, as a matter of fact, the salting actually helps the hides become even softer, in my own opinion.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Giving a bow for Christmas
What better than to give a bow for the archer in the family? Though the intentions may be good, some times a few items are over looked in the selection. First whether they are right or left handed or whether they preffer to shoot off the hand ELB style. Then you should know their draw weight and length it doesn't do the would be recipient of the new bow much good if you give them a bow that shoot 60# @ 28" if they are more comfortable with a 45-50 pound, especially for longer draws (than 28"). Then the issue with bows is getting the correct weight and spine. Most bowyers can help with this or direct you to others who can. It is best to know these things before you go and order a bow. if this would spoil the surprise, many stores and website have gift certificates availible (like mine *S*). But in any case, bows are not your only option for the archer, there are also arm guards quivers and tabs, or even points, and knocks, feild repair kits. The point is, make sure to know your archer before you buy, and when not possible (to not ruin the surprise) there are other options...
Saturday, December 4, 2010
how to make a bow string part 2
I know, it seems like cheating, but when you make as many bows and strings as I do, your thankfull for all the tips and tricks, this really saves alot of time, if you like though, the same thing can be done with a drop spindle, which would be more appropriate, for the period correct purists and re-enactors out there... and at a few rendezvous, I have done 'just that'. Kinda hard to convince folk that this drill was pre 1840's so, there ya go...
how to make a bow string making part 1
I will be coming out with a ersion on 'endless loop' soon too
Friday, December 3, 2010
Primitive archery, tips and tricks
This is one of my videos on correcting limb twist for hickory bows, this applies to many wood bow scenarios, and is a pretty simple, but all to often over looked fix. Most people just shave wood and deepen the nock on one side, this actually shows you what was missing, and why things don't work now and go wrong later...
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