Rev, I would recommend using sumac leaves in the spring, rather than a dark colored bark, primarily because they will stain the fur. Sumac produces a very light yellow tan that might not be so invasive on a beautiful fur.
Rev, I would recommend using sumac leaves in the spring, rather than a dark colored bark, primarily because they will stain the fur. Sumac produces a very light yellow tan that might not be so invasive on a beautiful fur.
Freezing is FAR BETTER than heat when dealing with things that will rot!
Nice tut YCC.
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This is very close up with the flash on. It looks black in the bucket or under normal light, but this shows that the stain really is only on the surface at 4 days.
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After 7 days the hide is significantly more stained. I have not cut into the hide yet to see about penetration. I'll probably let it go at least another week before I do a check. This photo is very close up with the flash on also. You can see that the stain is much deeper after 4 more days.
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Remember to stir it every day!! This seems to be tanning much faster than I had anticipated, BUT I have not cut into the hide yet. Only time will tell!
Did you do different pourings or just straight into the dark stuff? It looks like used motor oil it's so dark.
I used two boilings, poured both into the same bucket, then filled my tanning bucket about halfway and diluted with 2 more gallons of clear water.
This stuff was as dark as motor oil BEFORE I boiled it. just pouring water over them turns the water black. Since this is my first time with this material I really didn't know what to expect, so I'm pretty much going on intuition alone. If you notice how thin it looks on my fingers in the first pic.. that's what I was guaging by. What is in the storage bucket is thicker, like syrup. Notice how it clung to the stick and didn't really run off. That would be much too strong for a first bath.
Yes I see, it looks way richer than my oak bark liquor that's for sure.
Great thread!
This year the squirrels got my nuts (and I thought my ex wife had a pretty good hold on them)
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Now that right there is funny!
"Neck check" done on a rump quarter today, day 18.
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The color and texture are amazing!
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Day 14 I needed to strengthen my liquor, but I've been busy, so I'll do it tonight while the weather is bad. It's still strong enough that the hides aren't spoiling, but the temps are high again today, so I might have to move it somewhere cooler.
It's basically a waiting game, with a few checks on score. The larger of the two pieces will become my hunting powder bag.
That looks awesome!
An update
I don't think the walnuts had much tannins left in them. I think I only accomplished a dying of the skin. But it is completely struck through. I do believe the husks need to be GREEN in order to get the most out of them.
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That means it has taken some color in the center of the hide. In this case I don't necessarily think it means it's tanned.
I have confused myself with this one. See.. I went to do the neck check about a week ago and the hide had a bad odor. Very reminiscent of rotten things.
I immediately removed them from the liquor and put them in a bucket with running water to rinse.
I figured the liquor was no good so I poured it into an old tree stump hole in the yard.
A few days ago, I was rounding up all the buckets I could from past and present projects. I ran across the bucket of walnut hulls that apparently never got dumped. A hide had never been in that bucket.
OMG it smelled like the 6th level of hell. So... the rotten hulls smell really bad after being wet and stored.
So I wasted all that liquor, whether it was any good or not.
Yesterday, while fleshing a small hide, I started a fire and boiled some live oak bark. I filled a 55 gallon drum last year with bark from a tree my co-worker had removed.
I used a metal bucket to boil some, and took a sample when it got warm.
I hope the black walnut that is already in the cow hide doesn't ruin the color of this liquor. Oh well.. I expected this to be a sacrificial batch.
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I'm going to soak the two pieces of cow skin in this liquor and hope for the best. Either it'll tan, or rot.
Guess we'll find out!
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Hmm, this scares me. I wonder if that's what's going on with mine as the oak wasn't alive, although it seemed very astringent.
But, mine is very dark on the outside and barely penetrating the inside. I haven't noticed any rank odor yet though and had a buddy over showing him and he said it smelled weird, but not rotton or bad in any way.
I really think yours is good to go. It would most likely have started to get a smell by now if it wasn't tanning. This was a totally bad smell. It's supposed to take several weeks.. like more than 3-4 to tan a hide. I tasted a small piece of this oak bark and it was still really strong, even after being stored.
This cow smelled NOTHING like "fermented wine".. It was definately a rotting smell.
Since your tree still had leaves attached, it had to be pretty darn fresh.
Do you wring it at all or squish it around as with the brain tan, or do you simply stir it every day and let it soak?
the first 30 days flew by because I was busy with other things, now it just seems to be dragging. LOL!
wringing is pretty vicious on a fragile soaked grain. I just squeegee (scud), and resoak.
The shortest amount of time I've veg tanned one is 45 days and the color from both edges still didn't quite touch, BUT the middle was colored, so I figured that was good enough. It holds up well on my moccassins, so I must have done something right lol.
YCC - how would laying it flat (plywood?) and using a rolling pin to get the liquid out work?
That is basically the same as scudding, but the wife refuses to let me use her rolling pin to I just use an old wood dowel or painters blade. In days of old, special wooden tools were used, where one edge was round, like a dowel, and the other was narrow, so that in cross section, it looked something like a teardrop.
Also, I like to use wood that has been either sanded on one side, or has been finished with shellac or the like. Usually I use an old slalom ski I found out in the old barn. I just removed the hardware.
You can take wet leather, roll (scud) it on unfinished wood, and the grain will take the texture and pattern of the wood grain.
If the hide is marbled with color, this can give a very interesting effect.
I don't know if this helps speed up the tanning tho, if done intermittently between soaks. Seems like I tried it on the last laurel oak tan I did and it took and extra 15 days. I believe you have some of that leather, crash.
Can't say if it helped or not, really.. it's hard to tell what's happening in the bucket other than to check it every so often.
I know when I checked the black walnut that last time, something was wrong.
Remember, your hide should never smell rancid, and there is a clear distinction between rotten and "fermenting", that I'm not sure I can describe with words.
I think I'm gonna start another piece of cow in some of the Live Oak, so be on the lookout for that thread and pictures!
This is the pouring from the second boiling of the first batch of live oak bark. You can see it is still quite dark for a second pouring. Hopefully not too strong.
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This was the piece that had the worst smell, though I'm not so sure anymore that it was the hides that smelled so bad, or the walnut liquor itself. The wet hulls smelled like (insert gag reflex here). It is a long piece that is pretty knifed up and is the piece I was intending to share, so keep your fingers crossed!
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This smaller piece is going to be part of my powder bag and I aim to top it off with a red fox roadkill I saved last year (I knew I was saving it for something good hehe)
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The bucket on the left is just a rinse, and the bucket on the right is the new bark liquor.
Please remember to put lids on your buckets. Please!!
I have never tanned a hide before, though I am going to try tanning a fur in a few weeks when I can find a decent roadkill or something. And I know this is too little too late, but I always used black walnut husks to dye my traps with when I lived in Michigan. I have always found the green husks to be significantly better. Also I usually keep them in an onion sack with a piece of wire attached to it hanging outside the pot. That way I can easily pull out the husks after a while and put in new green ones without having a bunch of sludge at the bottom of the pot.
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