where/how much buy pelts calgary (gloves)
 

Hello,

I'm thinking about trying to make a set or two of gauntlets, one of my friends and neighbors does high end hand sewn leather work, if I get some material ill hang out in his work space on a couple evenings and learn how to stitch some stuff together, have a bunch of buckskin already, might find some sheerling as well for the inside.

This forum looks like a good place to find/buy pelts, I don't see much listed in the EE which is probably a more appropriate place to post.

• Any recommendations on where to source a beaver pelt and maybe coyote pelt(s)?
• What is a reasonable price to pay for these?

I'd rather support someone on this forum and within the AOF community. Located in Calgary, open to suggestions (I know Tandy leather is in town, may go there if nothing else local)

Halford hides Edmonton.

Ive got a fox and couple big ole momma coons forsale ..but thats about it

PM sent

I have lots of everything tanned and ready to sew black diamond Longview area.

Go with a quality tan like Rod produces not some back yard orange bottle garbage tan

Please explain, why are they garbage?

Orange bottle is not an actual tan ..more of a preservative

They aren't garbage. He's just trying to promote his buddy SWT's fur by spreading misinformation. :lol:

The main differences are that the hide may not be as supple with a home tan and it is a lot cheaper. The quality of the fur doesn't change.

IMO a $30 home tanned beaver pelt is a better choice for someone that is just learning to make mitts, etc than a $150 factory tanned pelt that you may screw up on.

Here are the mitts that an Inuit lady made for me from my home tanned fur. See any difference? :)

https://i.imgur.com/jTchsgd.jpg

I actually have never met him but have bought some tanned fur that came from him, you can’t compare the quality of a professional tan vs some guy pretending to know what he is doing in his fur shed, the orange bottle tan is complete garbage get it wet and it goes as stiff as a board it’s not a real tan , don’t waste your time with it

Hey, I sent you an email to your site looking for pricing but Ill send a PM as well.

I mentioned to this a friend and he's interested as well, might be looking at 3 or 4 beaver pelts all together, and maybe some shearling and fox or coyote to redo the trim on some jackets.


I appreciate all the info gents!

So is there something a person can do when home tanning so it doesn’t go stiff after it gets wet. Let’s put aside the politics of who’s friends with who and who’s tanned fur is best and let’s give some quality advice, since it’s maybe not feasible to send a fox fur away for 150$ to be tanned when like Dave said a kit can cost 30$.

If you want fur sometimes there can be an assortment at a value village/goodwill type of store. A couple years ago I bought a nice silver fox fur woman's coat for 35 bucks. Was most likely a very expensive coat when originally bought. I took it apart and used some of the fur for trim and still have enough for another project.

Also look online for used fur coats.
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-women-other-...ationFlag=true

Dave why dident you sew them yourself? My guess is you needed a hammer to get the needle through. Are you getting a kick back from the orange bottle people Their new promoter mabe 🤔. I don’t know how many times I have seen you endorse this product. Mabe you could come up with a catchy slogan like Jim Shockey does. “ My name is Dave an I trust my life on the orange bottle “. Seriously though you could get a decent tan with some research an a trip to home depo better than the orange bottle lol. Marty Senneker Canadian coyote company is selling home tanning kits called true bond that I have heard real good things about other than I was told it’s expensive, not sure on cost at all. I can’t Waite for Dave to respond with his new slogan or some nasty comment back :argue2:

How petty.

One of us is willing to share home tanning info with other Trappers to help them save money and provide people with a cheaper alternative to the high price of factory tanned goods. The other, owns a small tanning business and would happily see them pay a ton of money for his own benefit. How bad must business be to be scared to death of an orange bottle and have to spew misinformation about it and anyone that uses it?

I think that most people can see things for what they are. :sad0020:

Business is doing real good Dave I did suggest a way for guys to tan their own. I have seen what the now famous orange bottle produces an it’s junk it’s not a tan at all mabe a preserve.

Tru bond is about a close as you will get to a commercial tan i have used it and it is definitely worth the money you get what you pay for

I’ve used several.

I had a decent experience with the orange bottle tanning a couple beaver, however they’ve just been hangers. The biggest issue with beaver hides is they need to be thinned for garment use. Quite frankly I would put mitts into this category.

I would guess that 1% of home tanners have a hide thinner, so unless if commercially tanned you are pushing you’re luck to make mitts.
I’ve brained tanned beaver as well. I’ve made mitts that I consider very good, but have been selective of the “best of the batch” hides I’ve tanned. I don’t have a thinner, so to do yourself is a chore.

All that being said, its rewarding if you make yourself from start to finish. I have no desire to do so for commercial sale. If I was looking for hide for someone to make for me I would look to commercially tanned hide. If you want to do pursue yourself from start to finish then I would consider researching brain tanning first, and orange bottle second.

When I think of “make myself” I think traditional, so would do some research on traditional methods.

Brain tan project


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Your right with the fleshing wheel(hide thinner) but there is also more to it than that if you want the same luxury as the commercial guys like the tumblers, stakers and industrial sanders etc.. it is a process that most will not do which is why the tanneries charge what they do. I also do my own brain tanning and although its the most work its also the most rewarding! I personally would not recommend the orange bottle preservative at all for DIY there is WAY better products out there that don't cost that much more....

Ive done a very few hides, beever and deer, and have really tried to go simple and cheap by doing home solution crap, all hides are stiff and are simple wall hangers. Fur looks great that way but thats it. Did some reading that a wire wheel set low speed on a drill can thin hides...way too agressive, made for a lot of sewing. As I slowly learn by trial and error by myself (mostly error) my next attempts (two deer, elk, coyote, and hopefully some beaver to come) I’ve picked up a product called liqua-tan, its a 40$ kit with a preservative, tanning oil, and citric acid.
I have been recommended to stretch the hide and as it’s drying/tacky take some sandpaper to it. Will also be picking up a softener agent and sawdust (if someone could further explain the purpose of sawdust and how to drum...?) all supplies are ordered from AAA taxidermy in Calgary. Hopefully that gives some idea.


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A wire wheel will not thin hides very good(they are ok for taking membrane off if your careful) you need a fleshing machine(round knife) to thin it or by hand when it’s dry with a scrapper...sanding helps when the hide is almost completely dry. In order to break a hide with a drum and sawdust you will need a drum with a min of 6ft drop preferred 8ft and 4ft wide with 100lbs of hardwood sawdust. Thin hides like coyote fox and deer etc you don’t need to thin more just flesh really good and follow instructions on the tanning kit. To get beaver tanned nice and soft you need the proper gear or be ready for tons of elbow grease and disappointment lol

Sure is, the same thing you'd do to commercial tanned goods to waterproof them. Dubbin or another water proofing.

I've done my own tanning and bought a lot of commercial tanned products as well as native tanned products. They all get stiff if they get wet and aren't waterproofed.

No doubt an armature done tan is an inferior product but to claim all home tanned products are junk is just plain wrong.
Fact is some of the commercial stuff is junk too.

An experienced home tanner often puts more effort into making sure his or her product is the best possible. Most commercial operations can't afford to spend the extra time so they may take shortcuts (chemical solutions) to make thier products last and appear better then they actually are.

Some also waterproof their leather before selling it but that doesn't make it superior. All that does is save some people some work and make that leather unsuitable for some projects.
That's neither good nore bad. It just is, what it is.

I agree. Nothing wrong with most commercial tanned goods but home tanning has it's place too.

Nothing wrong with the Orange bottle method as a way to start the learning process either.

No one ever did a perfect job the first try on anything, be that setting, skinning, tanning or sewing.

My did used to give me low value pelts to practice on. It was a great way to learn and a great way to utilize the small damaged pelts.

I would not trust anyone who suggested that the only way to learn is to use top quality materials to practice on.

Cody, Rob has a price list on his site.

I have 10 large tanned beaver 780-970-3720

Thanks!


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I’ll bump up this old thread.

I ended up finding someone on kijiji selling beaver and muskrat pelts for cheap. Some lady in Calgary and they had bought them years ago for some reason and not done anything with them. Cheap, like $10 a muskrat and something like 50-70 for a beaver pelt. Made some gloves with them, they turned out great and now I’m wanting to do some more.

If anyone around calgary has tanned muskrat I’d be interested, send me a PM.

Also thinking about coyote or fox around a couple hoods on jackets. I know I can get them for like $150 or whatever in the city, I’d be looking for something about half that in price, doesn’t need to be big or fancy, fine with some holes blown in it as I’ll be cutting it up.

Some pics of them almost finished.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...876409a2_k.jpgIMG_0498 by cody c, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d0900ba1_k.jpgIMG_0539 by cody c, on Flickr