brain tanning

[waterninja]

just curious if anyone here "brain tans" any of there pelts. i was at halfords today and they are offering 1600.00 for brain tanned moose hides. i googled brain tanning and it sure looks like a ton of work.

[philintheblank]

I tanned a deer hide with alum, but the problem I ran into was making the leather soft. You need to shave down the hide or no matter what you do to it it will be stiff. Moose hides are up to 1/2" thick in some spots so that is where the commercial tanneries shine, they have the special power fleshing knives that make short work of the thick spots.

As for Brain tanning, I read something about using eggs as a similar tanning mix, I think it was in this forum.

Anyway you look at it, soft tanning is a boat load of work. I tired a second hair on deer hide and messed up somewhere and all the hair fell out when I tried to work the hide.

[calgarychef]

I've brain tanned half a dozen deer hides, a couple elk and a moose. It's not as much work as it seems once you get going.

[Red Bullets]

Simple procedure, just time and effort for a beautiful leather that will last for years.

I am sure there is a small fortune of moose hides left beind by moose hunters every year.

[fzo]

thanks for the hints.

[antlercarver]

To get a soft leather, the hide has to be fleshed very well. It is remaining tissue that causes stiff areas on the leather. As for fleshing and thinning the hide, try stretching the hide on a frame, fleshing it well, then leave the hide dry hard. while still on the frame use a coarse belt sander to grind the hide very clean and to the thickness you want. Now you can apply the tanning solution, fold the hide up and continue with rest of the process to create leather. It is the stretching and twisting the leather through the final drying that is a lot of work. Carefull with the belt sander, you can make the belly or arm pit areas too thin.