There's a lot of interest in making leather and making products for sheaths, and holsters.. lots of things. But where does that leather come from?
Likely, you got it from a store, who got it from some industrial tannery, that uses chemicals and produces massive amounts of waste and pollution. It is likely stiff, or greasy, or rubbery and not very "natural" feeling.
How would you like to make your own leather from things you probably already have around the house? You can do it with natural materials that will return to the earth naturally. This is somewhat of a lost art in today's "I wan't it now" society.
I am no history expert, but I think it's safe to say that skin is probably the first thing our most ancient ancestors ever wore for coverings. Very likely they found some carcass and discovered the warmth provided by the fur of the critter. The earliest skins were very likely un-tanned, sloppy, stinky, stiff, hideous creatures to behold. Most of what we know about tanning was (like most other things) discovered by accident. With a whole lot of trial and error (and more the latter) the art was perfected to a science.
This post is intended to be a primer on skin so that you understand what we will be accomplishing with bark tanning. I will touch on the bark for now but will hopefully as the post progresses and other tanners contribute, have more information.
There are also different types of tanning that produce different types of leathers. Buckskin is a soft wearable leather that is washable, comfortable, stretchy, and durable. It is soft and supple.. not something you want to carry a sharp object in.
Furs are utilizing the animals hair as a layer of insulation, or as decoration. They are treated totally different from buckskin and produce a different quality of leather.
We are going to be talking about what I call "utility leather". the tight-grained tough abusable leather that you guys use for sheaths and boots.
So lets get the skinny...
the attached picture shows the layers of the skin. it is composed of 3 main layers. the primary ingredients are collagen, protein strings that comprise the fibers, and mucus, mostly made of hydrogen-based compounds. It is the organ responsible for keeping out bad stuff, and keeping in good stuff. A little bit more about skin and we'll move on.
The outermost layer of skin is simply dead epidermal cells, filled with keratin, that provide the initial barrier for external harm. scratch your arm and you'll see it flake off. The epidermis has 2 layers. the inner layer is living cells that reproduce simply for the function of dying to make an new outer layer (more research may prove more uses).
The middle layer of the skin is called the dermis, and contains all the living tissue and most of the fibers we will be working with. It contains the hair follicles, sweat glands, etc.
The main thing we notice here is that the epidermis and dermis have no clear definition of separation. they fit together like egg crates.
The inner layer of skin we call the membrane. It is mostly mucus and serves the purpose of allowing the skin to move freely across the muscles and bones without much stretching or tearing.
We will be working with the outer two layers, the epidermis, and the dermis.
Furs leave the whole skin intact, hair and all. This is outside the scope of what we are trying to accomplish so we'll leave that for another time.
Buckskin utilizes the dermis. By removing the tight-fibered epidermis (grain layer) and the loose fluffy membrane layer, you are left with a very fibrous dermis. Hereforth I will call it the "fiber network" or the "network". Buckskin is much more involved than the scope of this article, so we'll leave it out too.
Grain leather, on the other hand, is much less work than buckskin, and only a little more work than a fur. you can handle it pretty roughly and when it's done it's super tough. For grain leather, you utilize the epidermis to be the shiny outer surface, often textured, and the fiber network which is the bulk of the leather. This is what we typically call "Leather".
In bark tanning, you make use of tannic acid which tightens the skin, shrinks it and makes it much tougher than buckskin or fur. The astringency of the bark liquor keeps the skin from rotting, prevents bacterial decay, and keeps it "clean" (although you might disagree once you smell year old bark liquor). To my knowledge the only thing that can grow in bark liquor is mold, which floats on top (not submerged) and feeds off the sugars in the liquor. We call it liquor because it actually does ferment, getting a sweet, pungent cider flavor. Vinegar is acidic, so is bark liquor, and the fermentation only provides more acids.
additionally there are mineral "stains" in the bark that color the skin.
Is that enough to absorb at one time? wait.. I have a little more to say..
To do bark tanning, you will need a few things that you probably already have.
Bark source from a tree that is high in tannins. There are fruits that are high in tannic acid as well, like hickory nut hulls, though I have no experience with that. I use laurel oak, which we cut for firewood.once a tree is cut it will no longer produce tannic acid (logically). It is imperative that you keep your bark source DRY. Water will leach out the tannins and your bark will be of no use.
Wood ashes to make a lye solution. My ash source and bark source are the same. you can use hydrated lime in a pinch. It's called "pickling lime" at the grocery store. It's chemical name is Calcium Carbonate or CaCO3.
A container to boil bark in. Do not use metal containers with exposed surfaces or rust. It WILL turn your liquor black. Ceramic coated cookware or enamelware is the best to use, although you use what you have.
A bucket with a lid to store the hide in while it tans.
A container to store extra liquor in. It will take several doses throughout the process to keep the strength of the liquor up.
a wood dowel, a drawknife (dull), or piece of flat metal for cleaning the skin. The hair and membrane are removed for grain leather.
of course, you need a skin to tan
there are a few other things you might need along the way and we'll cover those as we get to them.
now a brief rundown on the process, and I'll let you take a break.
The skin is prepared by fleshing, then bucking in lye solution, then mild scraping, and rinsing out the alkali
The bark is prepared by removing from the log and boiling.. pretty straightforward.
the bark liquor is mixed and diluted.
put the skin in and wait..
curry, or "dress" the skin.
enjoy
thats all there is to it, and when I get more time, I'll post up details about each of the steps involved. Most of which will deal with the skin itself. So .. when you are out cutting firewood, take your tree ID field guides and locate one that is high in tannins. Chinkapin Oak was the original bark tan in the US valued for it's high tannin content and beautiful tan color.
I posted before about proper skinning, so if you don't have a skin, you should be able to offer a hunter a free skinning in exchange for the skin. My knowledge only encompasses deer skin due to it's availability to me. Cow hides take considerably longer to tan, and smaller animals are so thin that I haven't warranted any use for "thin leather". I prefer to keep the hair for furs on smaller animals.
Ok I'm done.... For now!
More coming soon!!
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