Canadian Trappers Talk Forum

I was hoping to tan a beaver tail. I peeled the tail both sides. When I tried to scrape it the outer skin came completely off the rest of the tail. How would I tan just the thin outer skin.

Use a very sharp scalpel and cut all the way around the outside of the beaver tail. Seperate the base of the tail from the skin, just enough for the tailbone to fit into a bench vise. Clamp down on the tail and use a pair of pliers and peel the tail off of the bone. do the other side the same way. I then take a really sharp fillet knife and fillet the fat off of the skin right down till you can see there is no more fat left. Salt both side of the tail for 24 hours. Place into cold water for 12 hours to rehydrate. Now you can start your pickling process. Once done pickling, neutralise, and then paint on your TruBond 1000B tanning oil on both sides. I would give it a second coat as well. Then comes the breaking part to make it soft and pliable. YouTube is your best friend for watching something done !

Larger thick tails with lots of fat are much easier to skin out than a smaller thin tail.

Just my .02

Throw away the thin outer skin(grain) that came loose from the dermis.
Tan the white dermis(leather).
Big mistake people make when trying to tan beaver tails is not getting the black grain off the dermis.

I remember a guy from quebec who had managed to find the trick to keep black leather on beaver tail but he died and took his secret to the grave