Fur tanning without chemicals, pt. 1 The bushcraft or Woodsmans method... except I'm a Townie!

[Mr1kyle100]

i let it sit in the sun to speed the tanning process

[SuperApurdy]

how do you know when to stop scrapping it with a knife?

[SuperApurdy]

so thestuff that ur peeling away is what you want to happen?

[jozzilion]

@SuperApurdy Hi, Yeah, its the membrane & bits of flesh that if left will make the hide stiff & unusable.

[SurefireWoodsman]

Considering how much time, and energy is involved in gathering, cleaning and breaking hides, it seems that some form of preservation (at minimum, egg, brain, oil, smoke) would be worthwhile.

In your experience, if the untreated hide gets wet, does it stay soft after it re dries or do you have to re-brake the hide/fur each time it is exposed to moisture? How long does it take for the fur to slip or the untreated hide to deteriorate or possibly become infected with bugs?

[jozzilion]

@SurefireWoodsman Hi, they are oak smoked & squirrels have a large amount of natural oil in them, a good starter hide some would say.

Eggs.. hmm, to be honest, I've not seen a good one yet, I may be wrong, I have little experience with eggs & hides, brains work though.

If the smoked hides get soaked, a small amount of work, maybe five minutes softens em back up. As for hair slip, I have some now that are going on 8/9 years old & are in excellent condition.. Bugs, what like?

[huntermark1160]

Another method to soften the fur once it has been cleaned is to put the end of a wooden handle from a shovel or something in to a vice. Then gently run the skin side of the fur over the handle. It helps to break the fibers and soften the skin. It saves your hands a little from the work.

[jozzilion]

@huntermark1160 A good piece of advice here, but be careful with the smaller hides using this method, especially at first when they are stiff & dry, they easily tear. Thanks Hunter.

[ItsDtownMayn]

wow did the math and it took you 30 minutes or so to soften that skin. nice patience man, but i thought most people moisten it with egg and water or something instead of doing it by hand?

[jozzilion]

@ItsDtownMayn Yeah, at least 30 minutes, I would double that for a really fine finish. If it is very dry when You start, a quick spray of water can help, working it before its completely dry works well too. I have never used egg so cant comment, but I have done brain tanning which does work.

[ItsDtownMayn]

@jozzilion yeah i salted mine for a day. its stiff but bendable at the same time. feels quite dry, i dont feel any moisture at all. should i start working it? i trimmed it too. only thing is i accidentally put my knife through the fur and theres a hole but its too stiff to sew.

[hunter5105]

I plan on keeping and tanning all of my game animal's fur from now on, as a hobby. However, with the breaking of the skin after it's dried, do you have to be somewhat gentle? Won't all the fur rip out?

[jozzilion]

@hunter5105 Hi, once its dried the fur is very durable, however the dried skin, initially & especially on Rabbits/squirrels.. smaller game etc. can very easily tear, I have ruined two or three by tearing them nearly in half accidentally.

[ModernMan316]

@jozzilion one question how do u clean the squirrel or skin the squirrel is a better question like tht?

[MrBrandon2589]

So do you split the tail?

[jozzilion]

@MrBrandon2589 Hi, yes the tail was split on this occasion, You can do it without splitting it though.

[TThhs2011]

how do u brain tann it?

[Mr420rush]

what kind of salt do you use?



[iabboy98]

what kind of salt do you use? would regular table salt work?

[jozzilion]

@iabboy98 Hi, I use sea salt, its bigger granules seem to soak up more moisture, but regular table salt does work, keep it somewhere warm too, with circulating air.

[PhilipYeung123]

Do you put elbow grease on the hair side as well or just the skin side?

thanks in advance,

Phil

[jozzilion]

@PhilipYeung123 Hi Phil, only a wash, trim & some thorough brushing.

[heatedhonda1]

whats "brain tan" mean?

[jozzilion]

@heatedhonda1 You use the animals brains to tan its hide.

[heatedhonda1]

@jozzilion you mean use the brain instead of salt?

[jozzilion]

@heatedhonda1 You could use salt still too, after You've preserved it using the salt & its in dried state, You add brains until it is soft & moist again, then work it till its dry, it does leave a softer finish, especially on larger thicker hides.

[heatedhonda1]

@jozzilion cool thanx

[Tubz101]

Brilliant 3 parter lad, been looking at videos for tanning for awhile and this is the best, simplest method I've seen so far, the best of all, not a single trace of any dirty chems. Will be follwing ya closely and have some cathcing up to do with your videos. All the best fella, keep up the learning and sharing.

[jozzilion]

@Tubz101 Hi, thanks, not a fan of chemicals myself, not saying they dont work, just like to try & do it without. Hopefully gonna get round to uploading some new videos in the next week or so.

[HomeMadeGunNut]

Do you make them into anything? if so what? :)

[jozzilion]

@HomeMadeGunNut Hi, I've made knife sheaths, bags, attempted gloves once.. more recently I used one as a shoulder pad on a crossbow I made for My son, made a quiver for the bolts too, will post a few vids soon of that. Cheers, Joe.

[HomeMadeGunNut]

@jozzilion awesome can't wait to see that.

[dieselchucknorris]

could you please post a video showing how you skinned that squirrel to keep its head on an also split the tail?

[jozzilion]

@dieselchucknorris I may have a vid already, not sure if its any good though, I will take a look for You.

[jozzilion]

@dieselchucknorris I've added the video,its not great, i will do a more detailed one in the near future.

[dieselchucknorris]

@jozzilion thanks,it helped

[paintballhead03]

wow that looks very nice, i never knew softening it made it look so much cleaner. i always de-fat the animal and then salt. i never soften mine but now i will. thanks so much

[deairriusmcclain]

How do u clean the fur

[jozzilion]

@deairriusmcclain Hi, once skinned I wash it with dog shampoo & flea comb it, once its stretched & dried I will comb it heavily again to remove any debris in the fur & give it a fluffy coat, while working it I continue to comb it too.

[777jec]

i have had mine salting for 2 days now and it is still moist and soft ! what am i doing wrong ?

[jozzilion]

@777jec Hi, it could just be because its cold, try making sure You have plenty of air circulating around it, maybe add more salt & keep it somewhere warm like the house or a heated garage, mine dry quickest in our boiler cupboard.

[countryboy57148]

your not really tanning it. your drying it. i use alum and salt

[jozzilion]

@countryboy57148 Hi, You know as I wrote the title I thought 'is this actually tanning it?' My opinion is Yes, It isn't just dried out rawhide, its stretched, salted & dried, scraped, worked then smoked. It is tanned when You see it like that, not just because of its light golden colour, but as a physical change to the skin. Over time the smoky fragrance has left it now with just a light pleasant smell of regular leather. Try it, I'd be interested to see Your opinion.

[liv4daoutdoors]

do you have to smoke it?

[jozzilion]

@liv4daoutdoors It will last a lot longer & provide more durability if You smoke it.

[S0XF0X]

If you don't have brains, you can rub the hide with a mixture of eggs and mayo, or just mayo. Then stretch the hide. It's best to leave the mayo on for several hours before stretching, so it doesn't dry as quick, and to make sure the oils penetrate the hide while you work. It won't soak in if you still have the thin membrane on the hide, so make sure you get it all off! I'm going to use an angle grinder to so that for my deer hides. Thanks for the video up load!

[liv4daoutdoors]

@S0XF0X how long would you let the eggs and mayo sit on it and after that could you wash it and rub in some neatsfoot oil?

[S0XF0X]

@liv4daoutdoors If you're tanning a buckskin (hide without fur), than you can soak the entire hide in mayo/eggs overnight in a cool place. Then quickly rinse off the majority of mayo/eggs, and begin stretching. Don't rinse too much, because you want the hide to dry slowly, but you don't want too much mayo mix either. No need to rub extra oils in until after finishing the tanning process (ie after smoking the hide). Even then, use very very very very sparcingly and evenly over the hide.

[S0XF0X]

@liv4daoutdoors Also, if you're using it on a hide with fur, just use a cloth to dip it into the mayo mix and rub it over the skin side of the hide. Be fairly generous with it, then let it set somewhere cool for several hours/overnight. Make sure no critters can get to it. Then wipe off the access, and begin stretching.

[TheMojavegreen1]

Good job, I am off to pt2. I got some Chukar in the freezer to give this a try.

[pilkoso]

now make a coat off it :D

[jozzilion]

@ghostfacepatriot Hi, if they are very dry I spray a small amount of water onto the inside of the skin, just so it doesn't tear or anything while I initially work it, I started to work these before the skin was 100% dry though, I worked them till they dried.

[maxinpains]

sounds very gnarly....

[HYPOspeed]

sea salt right?

[jozzilion]

@HYPOspeed Hi, Yeah I used sea salt, the bigger granules seem to soak up more moisture.

[wjlacey]

Really Good video man, i like to see the full think! m uch better that explaining, stopping, then coming back 2 hrs later and explaining how you did it

[jozzilion]

@wjlacey Cheers. Part 2 of this is much better, I just narrated what I was doing as I was doing it on the following vid rather than writing it in.