At the request of one of the boushawyas I am gona post this.
If you plane on tanning anything with the hair on then you will need to do this first........................ BUY WHISKEY!!!
ok, so you already done dat, good cuz you is gona needs it.
First things first, we are presuming that you have skint the critter you will tan, dats good see cuz ifin not then ya gotza skin it eh. Now ifin da critter is dead and skint yer on the right tracks. Hopefulu like you skint it close and there is not much fat and meat on the skin, if not go ahead and salt it, either way go ahead and salt it. Yer gona need to flesh it down on a fleshin beam and remove all the fat and meat, sinews, tendons and unwanted junk at this time. Then resalt it and roll it up flesh side to flesh side and set it aside over night sos the liquid is pulled out of it.
Now that it is clean and spent the night or two in the salt lay it out and run yer fleshin knife over it again to remove any extra salt and the junk that you might have missed yestarday, or the day before. Now that it is flesh rinse it and wash all the salt outa it. I know, I made you salt it twice, toss the salt away, and then wash it, stop cussin at me, I gotz my reasons.
Now comes the tricky part.... You shoulda had on hand a LUTANF tanning kit afore ya even started, but never fear, since you got the salt outa it you can bag it and freeze it with no problem. If you have the LUTAN F kit then proceede with the safety acid pickle.
Ok, I knows there is some thats gona say well, you can use alum, or borax, or some other concocksun but I can asure you that alum will leave you wanting to burn alive the next person that says use alum. It leaches out of the leather, it rots when it gets wet, it will fall apart and your work will look like crap or hammered crap in a few short years. Spend a couple bucks on the LUTAN F and make it worth yer time and effort.
When it comes to oiling, use a GOOD TANNING OIL, avoid cheap stuff like neets foot oil, it leaches out and doesn't mix well with water so it wont penetrate the skin well. Makes breakin a pain in the neck and there is so much better stuff out there for the few extra cents.
If yer doin a lot of tanning buy a salmeter, some PH tester strips, and some good tools like fleshing knives that will last decades. Yes I know you can do it with an old butcher knife, or grannys old dentures, or some guy down the road that new a guy that had a friend, that his cousin saw ......... you get the picture. Use quality tools and you'll get quality hides. Use junk, you'll get junk.
Ok, now the acid pickle is important as it sets up the hide to tan, sets the hair to be locked in and allows the good fleshing and shaving down of the pelt, remember, thinner is softer, softer is more valuable, such as brain tan should be softer than the finest velvet anyone can buy at any price. Any thing else is a waste of time and is worthless, completely worthless, you cant sell it, no one will want it and you cant even give it away, so thinner is softer, softer is better. Shave down the hide at least once a day for the 3 days the acid is working. START AND KEEP THE PH BELOW 2.0!
After 72 hours rinse and neutralize the skin, either wash it in baking soda for 20 minutes and then rinse or rinse it twice and soak it in cold water over night to kill the acid, in the morning rinse it again. Now mix up your LUTANF as the directions indicate. FLLOW THEM TO THE T!
Place the pelt in the tan and allow it to swim around in it for the recommended time, NO LONGER!! Real important. It will burn out the stretch, no stretch means stiff hide, stiff hide means WORTHLESS!
After the recommended amount of time pull the hide out and rinse it twice in clean cold water. Squeeze as much water out of it as you can and hang it up to dry, the directions say 30 minutes but I let them go for at least an our depending upon the humidity. Once it is dry to dampness you'll mix yer oil, protal is good and comes with the kit. ½ and ½ works the best and make it WARM like a nice almost hot bath. Lay the skin out and pour the oil onto the flesh side of the skin and work it in well. Fold it over in half and then hang it over a clothes line over night. In the morning lay the skin out flat so that a lot of the liquid can drain off of it and it will start to dry. As it dries work it by pulling it back and fourth and every which way it will go. Work it over a breakin board as well. When it is almost dry you can toss it in a dryer WITH THE HEAT TURNED OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And tumble it for a period of time with some towels and some CLEAN TENNIS SHOES so that it will clean the hair and finish the flesh side nicely. When it is completely dry you can buff the flesh side with a pumice stone to clean it up and make it shine.
If yer gona tan why not do it right? If it is hard and stiff you cant sell it, it will look like hell and you wont be proud of it. Spend a little on quality goods that actually make it easier to do properly rather than rely on home concocksuns that will leave you wonderin why you bothered with it in the first place.
Thanks John! Now I have no more excuses..... hdslp
Yer more than welcome sir. LutanF is the bomb.
Thanks my friend - where do get tanning kit? Just bought new jar of neatsfoot! always thought it was supposed to be good for leather-stand corrected. Now mic, only have one problem, first he takes over the freezer and now you want him to take possession of the dryer?!!! fncg
You can get the tanning kit from here, http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/product/108099/lutan-f-kit-2-pound , I do a lot of business with this company and have for many many years. Some of the best in the business. As for the dryer, well, if you hit some yard sales, garage sales and what not you can find broken, ie, no heat, dryers for real cheap. You can wire them up to 110v and not worry about them. Hard part is tracking down which wires to disconnect the timer unit. Its a pain in the neck resettin the timers every hour. But in the absence of a tumbler the dryier will work. I use some saw dust and 2x4 blocks in it to aid in drying and breaking. Ratchet strap the door shut and walk away from it for several hours. Saves a lot of wear and tear on yer arms and hands.
By the by, neats foot oil is good for tanned, speciall veggie tanned leathers to keep them in shape and help protect them from water. It is not however tanning oil. It will do in a pinch but you'll get better results using professional grade tanning oils which contain some ingrediants that assist in penetrating the hide and aid in softening. Neats foot oil tends to leach out of the finished hides over a period of time and if they get wet they tend to fall apart. Lutan F is, from what I have found out, hydrocloric acid, which can be disposed of when done with it, unlike chrome tan, by neutralizing it with sodium bicarbinate, and once neutralized can be safely disposed of in any waste water unit. Chromium Sulfate is a heavy metal and once it is there, its there forever. Indeed there are many home tans that will work, some better than others, but having tried about everything that is out there and watching some very nice hides disolve over time, I reccomend and use the LutanF kit for all my furs and hair on rugs. Costs a little more than what you'd pay just buying alum and the rest of the magic potions but its much better. All you have to do is supply the salt and water once you have the kit.
I generally use eggs for my tanning.
Voy
Do you tan furs with eggs? I have brain tanned furs and found that although they are nice when fresh, they dont tend to stay that way for long. First time they get wet they start to fall apart.
Mic you are amazing- you keep the peace here in the toolies while supplying me with a wealth of info :-*
Havent had any problems yet.
Aint sayin it cant happen but so far I been lucky.
Voy
Quote from: Micanopy on February 04, 2010, 06:07:57 PM
By the by, neats foot oil is good for tanned, speciall veggie tanned leathers to keep them in shape and help protect them from water. It is not however tanning oil. It will do in a pinch but you'll get better results using professional grade tanning oils which contain some ingrediants that assist in penetrating the hide and aid in softening. Neats foot oil tends to leach out of the finished hides over a period of time and if they get wet they tend to fall apart. Lutan F is, from what I have found out, hydrocloric acid, which can be disposed of when done with it, unlike chrome tan, by neutralizing it with sodium bicarbinate, and once neutralized can be safely disposed of in any waste water unit. Chromium Sulfate is a heavy metal and once it is there, its there forever. Indeed there are many home tans that will work, some better than others, but having tried about everything that is out there and watching some very nice hides disolve over time, I reccomend and use the LutanF kit for all my furs and hair on rugs. Costs a little more than what you'd pay just buying alum and the rest of the magic potions but its much better. All you have to do is supply the salt and water once you have the kit.
How much of the Lutan F would you need to hair on tan 2 good sized buffalo robes?
Depends on the dry weight of the hides. Easiest way to do that is salt, flesh, resalt, and then dry. Weigh them and determine how much they weigh. The 100 pound kit would prolly do them easy enough. Dried buffalo hides are a lot lighter than wet ones, the key word when they are wet is HEAVY!!!!!!!!!!!!