Re: MtMan-List: alum tanning

[bamafan@Traveller.COM (PHIL PETERSEN)]

Gary, If you will do as they say it works.  I have had my share of success
doing as they say.  I have also asked more than my share of questions.  They
are great people to talk with and know their business.

Phil

>Gary, If you decide to give it a try and have any questions, feel free to
>write and ask.
>         Longtrail
>
>
>
>                   O   Sundog Traders    O
>
>                      Joseph Dinsmore, M.T. & Victoria Longtrail D.
>                                     POB 182   Winnett, Montana    59087
>                            406-429-7828   or   ezra@midrivers.com
>
>
>                                        Brain Tanning
>                                   Less Instruction With More Results
>                                                            by
>                                   Joseph Dinsmore & Victoria Longtrail D.
>
>
>!.  Flesh the deer hide.  All you are concerned with is getting the meat
>and fat off.  Then place the hide in water and soak over night.  Make sure
>the hide   is completely soaked. ( the greener the hide the easier to
>dehair)
>
>2.  Dehairing :   Take the hide out of the water and place it over a beam
>and dehair.  The objective here is to get the brown layer (epidermis)  off.
>Keep in mind the fresher the hide the easier it is to dehair.   If you are
>using a "flint" or dried hide  with the hair still on, soak it overnight
>and flesh it again and you will notice the hide whitening out as you flesh.
>When done, throw it back in the water overnight. It soaks much faster.
>Dehair the next day.
>
>3.  This is what I call pre-braining.  Its better to  pre-brain the hide
>after you dehair while the hide is still pliable rather than letting it go
>to rawhide.  After you de-hair the hide put the hide in either an old brain
>solution or a new one.  If it goes to rawhide, soak overnight in cold water
>and then stretch by hand.  You will see the hide whitening out (not
>totally).   The objective here is to open the pores ( don't work all day it
>only takes a couple of minutes)  A metal strapping band ( the kind used to
>bundle wood with) works the best for me.   You can soak the hide  in the
>brain solution for as little as twenty minutes or over night.  I prefer
>over night.  Brain solution recipe is at the end of the article.
>
>4.  After pre-braining take the hide and hang it out to dry.  Its not
>necessary to wring out the hide  Don't fold the hide on itself, prop it
>open with sticks or whatever, or hang it straignt up and down.
>
>5.  Soak the dried hide in COLD water over night.  Lace the hide on a
>frame, this is the pre-stretching phase. ( I emphasize cold water because
>the hide is plyable enough to put on the frame and whiten out.)  Before I
>begin staking the hide, I sew all the holes.  I do it at this point because
>then there is no pucker, I use artificial sinew (personal preference).
>All you are trying to do is whiten the hide out by staking it.   The
>weather dictates how often the hide needs to be staked (remember, your not
>trying to soften it your just trying to whiten it).   In recent experiments
>it seems to stake out better when working side to side rather than up and
>down.  You will notice that when staking the hide, it sometimes starts  to
>soften up, if you like, keep working it, I don't.
>
>6.  Pre-smoking.    After the hide is whitened and dried out, smoke it.  If
>you think about it, if a white buckskin is smoked and gets wet, it softens
>back up with very little work.  Why can't you  do it a pre-stretched hide!
>I smoke the hide for three hours in a smoke house. (its nothing more than a
>box made of four sheets of 4X8 plywood  and a roof.)  I hang my hides
>horizontal about three foot from my smoke pot.  The thing to keep in mind
>is don't bake the hides. Keep a warm smoke (punky cedar is in my
>experience, the best wood to use but you can use any kind of punky wood.)
>
>7.  After smoking, put the hide back in the brain solution.  I leave the
>hide in it for thirty minutes to an hour.  Take it out and rub it over the
>band (I do this to make sure that there are no hard spots in the hide, if
>there are hard spots, then soak it a bit longer.)  Put it back in the brain
>solution, you can either leave it for three hours or over night.
>
>8. Take the hide out of the solution, it is your choice of either putting
>it through clothes wringer which is what I use, or wringing it out in any
>method you choose.   At this point I most often lace the hide onto the
>frame and work it soft and dry.  Usually the hips, rump and neck are the
>last to dry.   Don't stop working on the hide untill those spots are dry
>and softened or they will harden in the middle.  If at any time you have to
>stop working on the hide, you can freeze it wrapped in a plastic bag until
>you can get back to it. It requires  you to be lazy. Not real lazy. It IS
>possible to overwork the hide.
>
>Brain Solution Recipe:   One cow brain, two gallons of water.  Make it look
>like a weak campbells tomato soup but don't eat it.  Heat the solution
>until warm, NOT hot. The beauty of this pre-smoking method is that you can
>tan more hides with one cow brain.  You will notice if you use this same
>solution (add more water when needed) the hides will get easier and easier
>to sofen out and the solution smells more like smoke than brains.
>Sometimes I have to add another cow brain depending on how much additional
>water I have added.  I have found that rain water works best when making
>the brain solution.  Any kind of chemical in the water, such as chlorine
>seems to have an adverse effect.  I have done as many as twenty-two to
>twenty-four hides with two cow brains.
>
>Feel free to call or e-mail with any questions you may have.
>
>