Another DOC Auction

[crashdive123]

We're having another auction (2nd of many to come) to auction off some items that have been donated by YCC. The items are: a beautiful piece of buckskin, sinew and a child safety lock. YCC will give you the particulars about the items, but it is my understanding that buckskins go for about $15 to $18 a square foot. The value of this skin is in the $150 to $190 range. (YCC please correct me if I am wrong) For reference, the plywood that it is sittin on is 4' X 3'. There are a whole lot of projects that this material can be used for. The auction will open Thursday evening (time dependant on when I get home from work) and remain open for 24 hours. If you would like to bid, but won't be around - you can send me a pm to authorize the amount you want to bid. The bidding will open at $45. Bids will be in $5 increments up to $100 and then $1 increments there after. Just as with the knife, your bid can exceed the minimum increments. Here are a few pictures.

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[Pal334]

Awesome looking. Thanks YCC.

[nell67]

Beautiful work YCC!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!

[Justin Case]

Wow, Thats Beautiful, But what is the child safety lock for ?

[crashdive123]

Wow, Thats Beautiful, But what is the child safety lock for ?

Sorry - didn't show a good picture of it. It's the cable style lock that comes with hand guns.

[your_comforting_company]

The short and sweet.. My Aunt sent us all some gun locks since the kids run around at my house, the uncles, grandparents, etc. You can never be too careful with curious kids, and since I had extra gun locks (I don't know why she sent so many!) I thought that whoever won the auction could use one. Kind of a deal sweetener, if you will. If your gun uses a clip it will lock it, and it fits almost all handguns. the breach won't close with it in place. Safety First!

The backstrap sinews have just been cleaned and dried. It's ready to be frayed and stripped for thread. Since the buckskin is all natural tan, I figured it would do the deer an honor to be sewn together with the sinew that came from it. All natural Thread for an all natural material.

Ok the dirty on the skin:
My uncle took this deer in December. Not a very large deer, but we're not trophy hunters. We hunt for food. This particular deer had some scarring on the front of one of his back legs, and I broke open the scar tissue a little when scraping, and then made the hole a lot bigger staking it in the frame. OOPS!
There are two holes from the gunshot, low in the chest so maybe not too invasive on the hide. you will notice a lot of scarring from the deer going under a fence that seperates the management land from private land.
I don't really know what purpose barbed wire serves when seperating woods from woods, but for some reason landowners use it. I just consider it giving the hide "character" and it adds to it being unique.
Of course the hole in the leg made it difficult to soften the area around it so it's a little stiff toward the rear of the hole. It was already in the frame so it was too late to take it out, sew it up, and reframe it.. down here when the weather is right, you gotta work it when you can.
The hide has been being used as covers for my youngest son's bed. It hasn't been washed yet, so you can easily stretch the small stiff area soft after washing. As it starts to dry, just pull it to and fro and it'll soften right up.
It was smoked with laurel or post oak punk. It's hard to tell when it's rotten wood exactly what tree it is, but I'm certain it was oak. The Church next door allowed me to remove it from the nearby pond. It was a blessing for us both!
You will notice some tick scars around the neck, adds more character. Scars don't take smoke as well as the rest, but it's still soft for a neck. The neck, straight down both sides of the spine, and the rump are the thickest areas. Depending on what you are making, you might want to incorporate that into your design.
Almost all of this deer is being used, as food, the horns are some of my knapping tools, the sinew is included for your sewing, FVR got some of the leg sinew, I have made some tools from the leg bones, The other bones have been macerated and are waiting to become tools. The skin was softened with the brain from the same deer.
You'll also notice I labeled the neck "Vern". That's what we call my uncle lol. "Know what I mean, Vern?"

I prefer to hand wash my skins with lye soap in the tub, and dry them laying flat in the sun. You can put it in the machine with your regular washing powders if you don't have lye soap, or any skin-conditioning soap like dove. It's like a sham-wow and really will hold water in it, so even after the spin cycle, you'll still need to hand wring it before laying it out to dry. As it dries, pull it to and fro in all directions and it'll be just as soft as it is right now. The stiff spot behind the hole might need a little more attention, but it'll soften up too. The skin won't require constant attention, but maybe stretch it two or three times as it dries. Not a lot of work, really, just a few minutes each time. Washing it will make the dark spots fade a little, but will even out the tone overall. The water will look dirty, but it's just smoke.

I have easily put 18 hours into this skin, not counting wait time for bucking and rinsing. Just a wild guess, it's probably around 8 or 9 square feet. I really hope folks show interest and remember it's for the DOC fund. At the lowest going price for braintan (a #2 "scrap" hide) at $12, it's easily worth $96. I personally hope it brings more than that to the DOC because they've helped me immeasurably. It's easily large enough for a childs shirt or dress, but there's a LOT of possibilities!

Did I leave anything out? Oh yeah. DO NOT PUT IT IN THE DRYER! If there are any questions, I'll be glad to answer them.

So, Crash, Is it as chamois soft as I've portrayed buckskin to be? I kinda want to know what QC thinks about South GA braintan buckskin

[your_comforting_company]

I might add the "green factor" here. ABSOLUTELY NO CHEMICALS OR POLLUTION WAS CREATED AS A BY-PRODUCT OF IT'S MANUFACTURE. Hardwood ash was used to remove the grain and hair, and when it was used up, went into the garden to sweeten the soil. The hair got tilled into the garden because it helps hold in moisture. Brains were used to soften the skin, NOT store bought chemicals like alcohol or glycerin. All my tools are refurbished junk and scrap wood, etc. (well, I did buy the stuff to make the frame.. cut me a little slack ) My beam is recycled irrigation pipe scrap.. In other words, I used stuff that was already waste and put it to good use.

[Boker]

That is the absolute worse tanning job I have ever seen. You forgot to take the picture of the 'Made in China tag'.

Wow, absolutely awful.


I'll start at $75.00



(folks should read my critque before bidding against me)


Edit: Plus shipping.

[crashdive123]

Ummm Boker - bidding starts Thursday. If you'd like that to be your opeing bid, I'll mark it down and open with that (please no other bids until it opens)

[Boker]

I got so excited, after I wiped off the monitor, I didn't read that part.


My bad.

[your_comforting_company]

Ok, Ok.. the PVC pipe I used to scrape was probably "made in china".
sorry I should have disclaimed that

[Justin Case]

Ok, Ok.. the PVC pipe I used to scrape was probably "made in china".
sorry I should have disclaimed that

ha ha, lol,, thats really cool (buckskin) ,

[crashdive123]

Bump.........

[your_comforting_company]

I thought I'd give the thread another bump and mention that the cable is long enough to lock up other stuff besides guns. bicycles, toolboxes.. all sorts of things. Seems like the cable was about 5 or 6 inches long.

[crashdive123]

Bump. The auction should open around 6 pm east coast time.

[crashdive123]

The auction for the buckskin, sinew and lock is now open. It will close at 6 pm east coast time tomorrow.

[crashdive123]

I have been authorized to enter a bid of $75 from Boker.

[crashdive123]

I have been authorized to enter a bid of $150 from Hunter63.

[crashdive123]

The auction wil close in 10 hours and 48 minutes.

[your_comforting_company]

WOW! Thanks Hunter63! This will help the DOC help many folks!