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Behemoth
Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 17688
Location: Leeds
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 Posted: Fri May 13, 05 7:46 am Post subject: |
 
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| sally_in_wales wrote: |
| Ah- but strictly 'nitpickingly' speaking this is 'tawing' not 'tanning'- so get pickling and stuff the deeds! |
OK - suitable material is in short supply - would it be wrong to skin a scrote?  |
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Sally
Guest
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| Posted: Fri May 13, 05 3:27 pm Post subject: Re: tanning |
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| Nanny wrote: |
skin now in the pickle
should i weight the skin down as it is floating a bit............. |
Could do, or just poke it with a stick every now and then. As long as most of it is under the brine it ought to be ok. |
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Nanny
Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales
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| Posted: Sun May 15, 05 5:56 pm Post subject: tannin |
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seems to be pickling away quite nicely at the moment.....haen't bothered to wietght it down but give it a good swish every evening
looks good at present................
i imagine i could take it out and give it another scrape whenever i like really couldn't i, as i can see the bits i missed?
then put it back for the rest of the time so that the newly revealed bits get a good pickling or is that not the way to do it? |
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sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20207
Location: sunny wales
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| Posted: Sun May 15, 05 7:04 pm Post subject: |
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Sounds perfectly reasonable to me, also lets you check that nothing is going 'funny'- so why not, hook it out onto a bit of wood over the bucket (so the pickle doesnt escape everywhere) and just work at the bits that were being obstinate perhaps? |
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footprints
Joined: 26 May 2005
Posts: 234
Location: North Wales
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| Posted: Tue May 31, 05 6:25 am Post subject: Curing skins |
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My wife is a shepherd on a farm so we have access to fresh sheep skins from home killed. Years ago I did a few skins (I'm sat on one now) Very similar methods to your own, clean fleece,scrape.
I however didn't use any salt , just used a strong solution of alum. I would remove the fleeces when they had changed from pink to a greyish colour, usually a week. Washed in the bath, washing powder and fairy liquid. Hung on the line on a windy day to start the drying. brought in at night and hung on a ceiling type clothes airer. As it starts to dry worked across the back of a kitchen chair each time I thought it had dried a little more until completely dry and soft. Bought neats foot oil to apply, but never used it.
What I did find that may or may not be of interest to people is that there is a chemical (from the states I think) that allows you to cure skins in something like 3 days, but perhaps more importantly it makes the skins machine washable.
I know that you can order the chemical through boots the chemist, so it cannot be too hazardous can it?
I don't have the name of the chemical to hand, but if I find it I will post it here. |
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Nanny
Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales
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| Posted: Mon Jun 06, 05 7:12 pm Post subject: tanning a hide |
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all looks pretty good.
took it out of the pickle last friday and did all as you suggested sally.
i have washed and stretched it a bit (no frame i'm afraid) and am now in the process of oiling it
i have to say i am quite proud of it even though i doubt that it would pass the quality control test.
i have taken a couple of pictures and will photograph the finished product in a day or two
i still think that george's hide will just be too big for me to handle but am definately going to try some more deerskins and maybe work up to something big.
i am intrigued as to what i will be able to do with the finished product |
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sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20207
Location: sunny wales
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 05 12:53 am Post subject: |
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I'm so pleased its looking good! Will look forward to seeing the pictures.  |
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 41473
Location: Essex
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 05 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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Glad it worked Nanny, it'd be great to see the finished skin. |
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Nanny
Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 05 2:10 pm Post subject: tanning |
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i have definitley used more than 1 tablespoon of oil i must admit but it just seems to soak in so i have oiled it 3 times now with neats foot..................(who was mr neat and why were his feet oily?)
in the end i laid it on our stone garden bench and scraped the last bits off with a paint scraper that came with our heat gun and should be used for scraping windows having also used a normal paint scraper, my bestest kitchen knife and the bread knife 
i wonder what the sammi in sweden use on the reindeer hides as shown in the ray mears prog?
didn't look like they needed many paint scrapers |
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sean
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 37934
Location: North Devon
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 05 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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Aha, neat is an archaic term for oxen. Hence neat's foot oil is an oil obtained from their feet.
If you need any other useless information just let me know. |
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Nanny
Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 05 6:58 pm Post subject: tanning |
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well i go to the foot of our stairs sean.............
learn something new everyday
so it is basically made from the squeezing of a cow's hoof
thank you for that
i will go and amaze my husband ith that piece of information
i will let you know when the next pub quiz is by the way |
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alison
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 11764
Location: North Devon
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| Posted: Fri Jun 10, 05 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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Thamks Sean, I now haw to find a way of dropping that into a conversation. |
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Nanny
Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales
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| Posted: Tue Jul 05, 05 1:35 pm Post subject: tanning |
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sally a question if you please
i have noticed in this last couple of days of high humidity and much rain that the skin that i did is damp -ish on the edges where it is hanging on the back of the chair.......
would there be a reason for this other than the dogs licking the salt?
i woudl have thought if it were the dogs that they would be chewing it and not just licking it however i can't think that the skin would collect humidity from the atmosphere surely?
2 more on the go and one in the freezer.
have obtained a copy of "deerskins into buckskins" as well so am preparing to launch myself on an unsuspecting public with this lot
must get it right |
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 41473
Location: Essex
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| Posted: Tue Jul 05, 05 1:37 pm Post subject: Re: tanning |
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| Nanny wrote: |
| have obtained a copy of "deerskins into buckskins" as well so am preparing to launch myself on an unsuspecting public with this lot |
Oeoerr, what are you going to make? |
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sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20207
Location: sunny wales
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| Posted: Tue Jul 05, 05 4:06 pm Post subject: Re: tanning |
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| Nanny wrote: |
sally a question if you please
i have noticed in this last couple of days of high humidity and much rain that the skin that i did is damp -ish on the edges where it is hanging on the back of the chair.......
would there be a reason for this other than the dogs licking the salt?
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Hmm, not come across that myself, I wonder if the salt somehow 'migrated' to the edge of the skin whilst it was being dried, and is now absorbing moisture? Or perhaps there is a difference in the strecth and oiling across the hide? Just guesses, I've just had a look at one of ours and it seems ok, but why they should be any different is beyond me. Sorry not to have a better answer |
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