I tanned many deer, elk, goat, and cowhides. My best tan was using sulfuric acid. I used wood ashes for loosening the hair and helping loosen the fat and membrane that must be removed. Preparing the hide for the tanning solution is the hard part. I made a scraper using an old plane blade mounted on an ax handle. It takes a lot of time, muscle, and patience. Once the hide is tanned, then rubbing it out soft is long and hard work and to achieve this it is worth repeating that the preparation before tanning is paramount to a good final result.
The brain tan is not a real tan and the hides won't hold up like a sulfuric acid tan. I had weevils get into my hides that were brain tanned. I have no idea how they got into the hides that were stored in an inside dry closet.
Here are some letters written in homemade green ink from my friend Buckskin Bill, his real name Sylvan Hart. There is a book about him that is worth reading. He mined his own copper and made his own utensils. He made his muzzleloader and knives from scratch. He achieved self-sufficiency to a level thought impossible during the 40s through the 70s. The book about him is called, The Last Of The Mountain Men by Harold Peterson.
The brain tan is not a real tan and the hides won't hold up like a sulfuric acid tan. I had weevils get into my hides that were brain tanned. I have no idea how they got into the hides that were stored in an inside dry closet.
Here are some letters written in homemade green ink from my friend Buckskin Bill, his real name Sylvan Hart. There is a book about him that is worth reading. He mined his own copper and made his own utensils. He made his muzzleloader and knives from scratch. He achieved self-sufficiency to a level thought impossible during the 40s through the 70s. The book about him is called, The Last Of The Mountain Men by Harold Peterson.
