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Though I have not tried this one, here is an old method for tanning buckskin.........
Use a fresh.green hide........ Drape the skin over a peeled pole..........straddle the pole while working......use a broken scythe blade ior 'drawing' knife to grain off the hair....take the deers brains and rub them on both sides of the skin, paying most attention to the inner side. Smoke over a rotten bark fire..........Then wash in soapy water, then squeeze out well, twist the moisture out in the manner of a turniquet, using a stick. sew the hide in a frame and work with a dull chisel until soft and dry. If it dos not soften, smoke and repeat the washing and twisting and frame work, repeat until the buckskin is as soft as velvet.
Or so the recipe goes.................... :)
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You may want to check out some of the techniques our world famous tanning guru uses.....OK....he may not be world famous yet....
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...mplicated)-way
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Yeah, YCC seems to have the tanning thing down pretty good. Take a look at some of his posts. Ooops. I mean YourComfortingCompany (YCC)
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when it comes to hides................i have a cure for them................dig a big hole and bury them deep enough so that the Pitbull Pearl cannot dig them out after a week or so and roll all over them and then come in and sit on my lap.
:)
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Thanks for the creds guys. I'll get some pics of the live oak tan up soon. It's so purple it's almost black. It's been currying for 3 days now and is ready to be staked.
Were I living off-grid, I wouldn't waste perfectly good material. Each to his own I guess.
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One can only do so much work. :) So yes I agree, to each their own.
I have tanned hides many times, but not big huge ones, too hard for me to do, so they get buried along with the head and any innerds that i do not harvest for tripe for my dogs.
I have a really nice calf hide rug, it was my first attemp at tanning many years ago and it still looks like new!