Brain tanning

[Dryball]

With all the craftsmen on this forum there is bound to be someone who brain tans. What about a how to post?

Ned

[RoaringBull]

I got no brains.....I is in college

[Lady of the Woods]

I will gladly chime in on the subject but am more of a laborer than craftsman.

key points (THIS IS NOT a complete  "how to" in and of it's self - just a few hints and suggestions)

1.use a very sharp knife very little when skinnin out yer deer; preferrably pull the hide off with a truck, a lift or some other means than whittlin away and scoring the hide.
next step is fleshing them then putting on a stretcher (I don't do these things and have no input)
2. to scrape the hair off use very sharp but well rounded scrapers of varied width, wide scrapers for the back and large areas, thin scrapers around the "armpits" for lack of a better word.
3. don't use the wife's blender to mix up the brains and water (go with bounty hunters idea - 5 gal bucket with a paint stirrer on a drill) oh just in case ya didn't know - use pig brains - not yer kid's, yer wife's or yer neighbor's (they say every animal has enough brains to tan their own hide - every animal except man)
4. especially don't cook yer brains inside the house! oooohwwwweee it do stink.
5. cool the brains before throwin the hide in the brain water mixture.
6. soak and work the brain matter into the hide twice or three times more than you think you need to. ( I know it ain't primitive, but a wringer washer works GREAT for this)
7. once the hides are finished being worked with the brains you can wrap them up in a plastic grocery bag and put them in the freezer until you have time to finish them. (be sure to mark the package very clearly so the wife don't pull it out and cook it up fer yer supper -in fact - git yer own dang freezer!)
8. you can also soak them in a walnut solution at this point too either before freezin or after(I sure like the color of the walnut dyed hides)
9. when you have adequate time to thoroughly work your hides dry pull em out of the freezer - but only one or two at a time unless you have a lot of help or a lot of time. throw the frozen bundle on the grass in the sun, but check it frequently, turn it over and be sure it isn't cooking in the sun, just defrosting (this won't take very long on a nice warm (LOW HUMIDITY) sunny day.
10. start pullin the hide. two folks grab the edges of the hide, pull and then turn the hide about 3 inches, pull, release, turn, pull release, repeat over and over and over and over. (about the time the skin on the tops of yer fingers starts to come off yer gettin close to done) the other options to stretching the hide are to take a rope or cable tied to a limb and the base of a tree, wrap the hide around the rope or cable and pull back and forth. this works well for one person. OR find a kid about 3 to 5 years old, make em sit on the hide while you and one or two others toss the kid up and down on the hide - great fun for all involved.
11. when you think the hide is thoroughly dry and stretched, spend about another half hour to stretchin and pullin. the hide should bounce back when stretched if it is thoroughly dry. (think chamois cloth at this point)
12. smoke em if ya got em. build ya a small fire, gather up a bunch of punky wood then go get twice as much more punky wood, then get just a bit more. while your fire is burnin pretty hot you can either be sewing the hides into tube shapes  or I had a smoker box (looked like a little outhouse) I hung the hides in (about a doz at a time) once yer down ta coals on yer fire, heap the punk on top then either put yer smoker box over the fire (thereby trapping all the smoke) or hang yer hides over the smoke (this takes longer and wastes a lot of smoke) the longer ya smoke em the darker they get, but I've heard they only "Need" about 10 minutes of good smoke, personally I like dark hides and they take longer.

Well, folks there it is. The probably very incomplete but basic process. I hope never to do it again. it is hard work virtually every step of the way. The results almost make it worth it. I've sold hides for hundreds of dollars to some of the most famous knife makers and their wives, I've made leggins, dresses and shirts out of em and I can honestly say they just don't hardly ever wear out. the more ya wear em the better they get and if they start gettin funky take a pumice stone, scrape off the worst grease or stains, re-brain em, smoke em and bingo they're good ta go again. (ya probably don't have to rebrain em but I did).


If you are at all interested in this subject, read the following:
Naked into the Wilderness by John and Geri McPherson (their other books and videos are great too) and Matt Richards book Braintain Buckskin.

Zan who doesn't miss brain tanning even one tiny little iota...

[Dryball]

Lady of the Woods,

Thank you Zan, that was a beautiful write up - exactly what I wanted!

Ned

[Lady of the Woods]

glad I could oblige sir, I hope a few other more talented individuals will add their two cents worth here.
z

[Mr Woodchuck]

She's purty handy forra gurl Ned...
   nothing feels as nice as a brain tanned hide ...

[Micanopy]

I wrote this for another forum I am a member of. Tossed in some comical liberties, you can use scotch or rum instead of whiskey.

I'm going to teach you how to brain tan. Yes, thats correct, brain tan. Once you figure this out you'll toss every hide you have in the trash and scream AAAAHHHH at the top of your lungs! You'll kick the dog, snatch the tail of your cat, and basically have a bad attitude towards fur'd things all together.

Step 1. Kill somthing. Easy enough, but make it big enough to bother with, like a deer or somthing.
step 2. skin it, try like heck not to use the knife to much and leave any marks, flesh or fat on the skin.
step 3. Salt the skin down and hang it over night. Ya, ya, I know, salting sets the hair. But it also makes the knife grab the membrane better and makes it easier to peal off.
step 4. Invest in a bottle of whiskey, yer gona need it.
step 5. After you have all the membrane, flesh and fat off the inside of the skin, take a bucket and dump like 10 gallons of water into it. Add about a pound of hydrated lime. You can use wood ash but it takes longer to do it with wood ash.
step 6. for about 3 days to a month keep stirring the bucket with the stinky nasty, smelly, ugly hide in it until the hair will slough off by just wiping your hand against the grain. use a glove or your hand will smell like dead stuff for a very long time.
step 7. Now that the hair has started to slip, and your nearing retirement, lay the skin slick side down and use your dull  knife to scrape not only the hair off, but also the epidermis, or however you spell it, at the same time. The reason you do this is so you can tell people "Heck ya, I can brain tan like a pro, and I get lotsa stretch outa my hides. Kinda like the IRS gets lotsa cash outa our wallets.(you'll need a fleshing beam)
Go over the hide a few times, after all, it will only take you about four hours to get all that crap off of the skin the first go round, whats 8 more hours?
step 8. Now that you are crippled and have carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, take the hide and rinse it in cold water. Then take about 10 gallons of good water, the stuff we aint got much of and is sinful to waste, and dump it in the bucket. No wait, rinse the dang bucket out first. ya, like that. Now, pour in about a pint of viniger. Stir it up good and let the skin swim around in it over night.
step 9. Take the brains you saved,... whatya mean ya didnt save the brains? Geeze, they call it brain tanning for a reason ya know.
Come up with some brains from somewhere, anywhere, no not your next of kin, or brotherinlaw, and put em in a blender. Then add like a cup or two of hot water and turn on the blender. WAIT Dangit! Put the lid on first.Slurry it up real good.
step 10. Take the skin outa the viniger water, no, you cant use the water to mix a salad dressing afterward, thats pushing it don't ya think? Anyway, rinse the skin again in water you don't have enough of to waste, and then wring the skin out real good, twist it up, wrap it around two sticks and twist it so it's like damn near dry.
step 11. Then take the dried up shrivled thing that used to be a deer hide that was as big as a buick and place it it the warm brain slurry. Squish it around real good and then make sure you squish it around again so the brains get sucked up into it real good.
step 12. Let it sit in there over night, after wringin it out you'll start drinking heavely and will need the night to recover from the hangover you'll have. Your brain will hurt, that way you'll know your doin it right.
step 13. Now, take the hide out of the brain slurry and wring it about again, ya, I know you did that, but you have to do it again. Heck, I don't know why, just do what yer told.
step 14. Ok, now you have this dried up shrively thing that again used to be a deer skin, and it looks like a dried up piece of thing that used to be a deer skin, so it must be a dried up shrively thing that is a deer skin. Now you take it and start pulling it in all directions and watch it stretch and turn white. You keep doing this until it is nice and soft and your whiskey bottle is about 1/2 empty. Keep pulling and stretching the hide until it is nice and soft and your bottle of whiskey is empty, and yer done!

Next time we'll go over why you need to smoke the brain tanned hide and why you'll be a member of AA by the time your done! Until next time, always remember, A beer is a terrible thing to waste!

[William]

LOL! 

[Bear Medicine]

Cool, I just dragged a salted buffalo hide outta the shed and am getting ready to scrape and braintan it.

[Red Badger]

Awsome instructions.

[Micanopy]

Bear, Good luck on the buffalo. I do a couple of them a year and it takes me about four days to recover from breakin one down, however I am up in years and have torn rotator cuffs which burn like damnation during the process. I have discovered that building a frame work, lacing the big hides into the frame, and then using a small trappers spade makes things much easier. You can really lean into them to break them down pretty good. Have a wooden louisville slugger on hand and reall lay into the rump and shoulder areas and work out all your frustrations. Keep in mind that while the hide is wet you really cant do much to it. As it starts to get that "Parchment" look to it, kinda a crusty yellow color, then you start really laying into it. If by chance it does start to stiffen up you can work more brains into it. Adding some really good tanning oils to the slurry, like protal from vandykes taxidermy supply, will aid in the penetration of the brains and help coat the fibers with the oils. Its still brain tan, due to the fact that your using brains, and cod liver oil has been used for centurys in traditional tanning, along with corn oil, bear fat, and other natural oils. Good luck with it.
Dont become discouraged if it isnt exactly baby butt soft. Just keep after it.

[Micanopy]

Thanks Jim, I am looking for the one I wrote on smoking buckskin to post as well. Glad ya liked it.

[Red Badger]

I am getting ready to learn more about brain tanning, beaudro, a member here is only about 1/2 an hour away from me in Oklahoma and does a lot of tanning, so he volenteered to show me what I need to learn.  Went down there the other day and helped him strech a pelt he was working on and am looking forward to learning more.  I feel we should never stop educating ourselves, and to let this knowledge be lost would be a crime. 
  Who knows maybe Einstein was right and after WWIII we will need these skills again....

[Micanopy]

I think you may be right.

[Bear Medicine]

I've already had one shoulder operated on.  The other one is getting close to needing it so this buffalo will probably put me over the edge and under knife again.  Fortuantely, it's more calf-sized than bull or cow.