Ya know............

[Micanopy]

Dehairing and graining deer hides sure is easier when its warmer. Took 3 hours just to do three hides today. Maybe I'm just gettin old?

[hungryjohn]

That reminds me. Since I wasn't able to go hunting this year, does anybody know where I can get some braintan at a price that wont break the bank?

[old salt]

Why not check with your deer processing center and see if you can but a raw hide. That way you can save money and be able to say I did it my self.
Just the way I would try it.

[Micanopy]

That reminds me. Since I wasn't able to go hunting this year, does anybody know where I can get some braintan at a price that wont break the bank?

Brain tan that wont break the bank? No such animal exists! LOL! Sorry man just hada do it. Hard to find real honest to gosh brain tan that is cheap. It is all labor intensive from start to finish.
Fleshing is labor intensive, especially when you have to keep from cutting holes in the hide, the holes have to be sewn up so that they dont leave a sign of a hole being sewn up.
Graining, the removal of the hair and epidermos, is physically the hardest part of the entire process, every bit of the epidermos has to be removed, if you dont get it all you'll not only get hard spots but it wont take the smoke either and it will look like trash.
Braining, the introduction of the brains into the fibers is the easiest part and takes very little time. It has to be done twice.
Wringing, wringing the hide so that the brains pass thru and coat each and every fiber in the hide, is labor intensive and has to be done twice.
Breaking, this is the actual softening of the hide, your married to it until it is done, you cant leave it for any length of time, especially if the humidity is low and it is drying fast. You have to pull and stretch the hide until it is completely dry and as soft as velvet. This can take hours upon hours if it is a big hide. Average for a buffalo is 36 hours.
Smoking, this is the most crittical part, one flare up can ruin 16 hours worth of work in a matter of seconds and then its useless.
I dont wanta sound like a butthead but at $12.00 a square foot its a bargen.

[hungryjohn]

Thought that since I haven't been able to get any hides around here I might just buy. Guess I should have just kept my big mouth shut. 

[old salt]

hungryjohn

Please do not take that additude. If you do not ask, you can't learn. Some timesyou may not like the answer, and some times you will find that there is nothing hadr about doing things.
Answers like Micanopy gave helps some of us know what is involved in doing some thing and lets us know what it take to do some of the projects that we may have thought about doing, a whether we can do them.

[hungryjohn]

Sorry if it sounded like I was getting an attitude. Not my intention at all.

[Micanopy]

Sorry if it sounded like I was getting an attitude. Not my intention at all.

Sorry man, wasnt trying to sound like a butthead just letting peoples know that it takes buku work to make them so yes, they is expensive but worth it. I have some raw skins I can sell for cheap, plus shipping so you can give it a whirl if you get the itchins.

[voyageur1688]

  Braintan is alot of work and when ya have done it ya know why the tanner charges what he does but you have a far superior hide than you will get with any commercial leathers. 2 years ago we had our tanner smoking a hide at the Harvest Moon Fest up here and it flared up. He was crushed becasuse he had been distracted and didnt see it. and found the hide to be shriveled and puckered. He was gonna throw it away but I talked him into saving it. and using the puckered parts for inlays on some of his bags etc. He kept it and for some reason decided to drop it back into the brains and try retanning it--still dont know why he did it but fortunately it worked and he was able to save the entire hide. Not likely to be able to do it again but it worked that time.
Voy

[hungryjohn]

Sorry if it sounded like I was getting an attitude. Not my intention at all.

Sorry man, wasnt trying to sound like a butthead just letting peoples know that it takes buku work to make them so yes, they is expensive but worth it. I have some raw skins I can sell for cheap, plus shipping so you can give it a whirl if you get the itchins.

Let me know what you'll be wanting and I'll see what I can do to gat the money together. Might have to egg-tan them, but what the heck.

[KHickam]

Dehairing and graining deer hides sure is easier when its warmer. Took 3 hours just to do three hides today. Maybe I'm just gettin old?

Micanopy - Well, my first deer hide is fleshed - I still have 6 or 7 in the freezer, and I have it in a solution of oak ash and water - so when do you know the hide is ready to be de-haired?

Dan'l

[Micanopy]

K, the hair will slip with out tugging on it but I usually start graining them down a little before that so the grain resists just a bit. Keep in mind that you have to get every bit of grain off or it will show up when you go to smoke it. If you dont have the brains you can use eggs, about a dozen yolks to 2 cups of water, or you can use LEXOL, which is a combination of several different types of tanning oils that will leave the skin in great condition and wont stiffen up up on you if it gets wet, shouldnt any how.

[Red Badger]

Fleshing is a great way to stay in shape!  I know know I have muscles I never knew existed thanks to a few hours on the beam.   

[Micanopy]

I get $7.00 apiece for fresh frozen hides plus shipping. They are good hides, very little fleshing will needa be done, very few holes.

[hungryjohn]

Micanopy, would you be able to hang on to two or three of those hides until January? If not don't sweat it.

And I don't plan on taking any vacations for a while. Except for the "mental vacation" I went on some time ago.