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 Post subject: tanning?
PostPosted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 2:30 pm 
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Veteran Fur Harvester
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Location: New Brunswick
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i finally found a way to tann my furs good now but i was wondering if there is a less labor intersive way to break the fibers of the skin down after you take it out of the tanning solution to make the skin softer.
any help would be appreciated thanks


matt

( yes i am that lazy :lol: )


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 Post subject: Re: tanning?
PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 9:44 pm 
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Hi Matt, One suggestion I've heard of is running a rough rope back and forth over the pelt. Not sure if that qualifies as not being labor intensive though....


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 Post subject: Re: tanning?
PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 10:45 am 
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Veteran Fur Harvester
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Dealer for Caribou Trapping Knives & Cold Steel Knives.
I did alot of research on this and came up with: make your own breaker barrel minimum of 4ft wide and use inside tennis balls or old sneekers when turning, the bigger the barrel the more furs you can put in depending of course on the size of your motor. Good luck.

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 Post subject: Re: tanning?
PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 10:12 am 
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Veteran Fur Harvester
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thanks a lot i think i will try the rope thing first

thanks a lot

matt


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 Post subject: Re: tanning?
PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:22 pm 
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Veteran Fur Harvester
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No easy less intensive way to break a tanned hide. Unless you own a staking machine.

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Steve


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 Post subject: Re: tanning?
PostPosted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 11:52 pm 
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Veteran Fur Harvester
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The original "staking machine" was an axe head type of blade on a post in the ground. The back of the axe head was "welded" to a post with the cutting edge pointing up. The "operator" (lol) sat at the post and scraped the leather side to side over the axe, breaking the fibres into soft leather. You can also connect a cable to a vertical post and drag your leather side to side to soften it. Same principal


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 Post subject: Re: tanning?
PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 12:50 am 
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Veteran Fur Harvester
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That is labor intensive and when your done you will wish you had sat on the edge of the axe , because it literally is a pain in the butt either way ! :mrgreen:


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 Post subject: Re: tanning?
PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 2:19 am 
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Veteran Fur Harvester
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"That is labor intensive and when your done you will wish you had sat on the edge of the axe , because it literally is a pain in the butt either way ! "

That is FUNNY! ROFL

Yup, I wanted to tan a few skins for the cabin. When I found out what it takes to get the leather supple, I put up a few pictures instead. lol

There is a tanning kit that does actually leave the leather soft, but there are so many different kits I don't know which one it is.


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 Post subject: Re: tanning?
PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:56 am 
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Veteran Fur Harvester
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I'm not sure if there is a product that tans and breaks the hide . Dont think it is possible. Small items like rats and mink can be just crumpled into a ball while watching tv to make soft . Fox cats and yotes are not to bad to break in a beam Beaver are hard .

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 Post subject: Re: tanning?
PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2011 2:21 am 
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if you want to just hang a hide up on a wall, or use it as a rug, you dont really have to soften it all that much.. for wall hanging i use a fat liquor tanning technique, dry stretched on a frame, oiled when mostly dry, staked for 20 minutes or once over, then smoke the hide to finish it off.. give it a wash, and pin it up on the wall, or lay it on the floor as a rug...

if you put the hide on a stretcher and hand stake it once over, when it's dry, and you take it off, the hide will still roll up and be plyable.. it just has a crinkly sound to it and doesn't flow like a fabric leather.


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 Post subject: Re: tanning?
PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:38 pm 
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Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2011 8:34 am
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Location: Grand Falls-Windsor, NL
Province/State: Newfoundland and Labrador
City/Town: Grand Falls-Windsor
Organization Membership: North American Falconry Association, S.P.A.W.N., NLTA
About 20 years ago I mounted about 30-40 mink and some foxes. I used a degreaser and "liqua-tan" sold by renouned taxidermist Forest Hart whom was my boss' son-in-law. Forest revolutionized the taxidermy industry and has done pieces for national museums - so I kinda figured he knew what he was doing...lol. A few skins I kept and still have 20 years later. Soft, supple, and no grease or smell.

Some points to consider.

Use a good de-greaser and make sure you take notes so that when you do it "right" you can repeat it and when you do it "wrong" you don't to it again.

Fleshing and Degreasing are the critical steps. Squeeze, roll, and otherwise twist the skin to get the solution into the skin. If you simply let it soak it won't work as well in my limited experience. Be sure to turn the ears and spit the lips and otherwise get all the flesh and meat off.

After it is tanned you can tumble a bunch of pelts at once to make them supple if not using "soft tan" from the same company that makes the "liqua-tan". Its can be as easy as visiting your local appliance repair shop. Ask for an old drier that has had the element burned out and is of no use. Put a "pounding agent" in the drier that is NOT synthetic (so as to limit static). Wood balls work well. Put in pelts and turn on the "drier".

I'm tanning fox and coyote and mink and otter this year.

Cheers;
Silverleapers


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