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Diy hide tanning

A fleshing knife should NOT be sharp, it should be almost sharp. You’re not trying to cut anything, the goal is to separate flesh from the hide. Deer leather is extremely tough sonic your tool is cutting it then it’s too sharp.

What is your intended use of the finished product? Are you making buckskin for clothing or a hair on for a wall hanger?

If you’re making buckskin all you need is wood ash, some kind of protein (brains, eggs or pure soap) and smoke. Please note I’ve never done a chem tan, my experience is with traditional tanning. No matter how you do it, it’s very labor intensive. But if done right, a traditional buckskin is like gortex - water repellent, breathable and flexible.

In my experience, salting is a way to preserve a hide before tanning so that it doesn’t rot. In this cast flesh the hide quickly - all you’re doing is removing the meat and fat. Then coat the flesh side with salt, roll it up and it will keep for a long time. But if you want buckskin for a garment, salting it will decrease flexibility and breath ability.

I’ve been working out how to make camo patterned buckskin:

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Jammintree said:
A fleshing knife should NOT be sharp, it should be almost sharp. You’re not trying to cut anything, the goal is to separate flesh from the hide. Deer leather is extremely tough sonic your tool is cutting it then it’s too sharp.

What is your intended use of the finished product? Are you making buckskin for clothing or a hair on for a wall hanger?

If you’re making buckskin all you need is wood ash, some kind of protein (brains, eggs or pure soap) and smoke. Please note I’ve never done a chem tan, my experience is with traditional tanning. No matter how you do it, it’s very labor intensive. But if done right, a traditional buckskin is like gortex - water repellent, breathable and flexible.

In my experience, salting is a way to preserve a hide before tanning so that it doesn’t rot. In this cast flesh the hide quickly - all you’re doing is removing the meat and fat. Then coat the flesh side with salt, roll it up and it will keep for a long time. But if you want buckskin for a garment, salting it will decrease flexibility and breath ability.
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I and almost every trapper out would have to disagree. You want that thing razor sharp. you shouldnt have to put any pressure on the knife to slice away meat and gristle. Whether to use the sharp side is the biger thing. Some animals you should never use the sharp side on as everything comes off fairly easily with the dull side.

Salting a hide pulls some of the stuff that can interfere with tanning agents out of the hide. It doesnt cause the hide to be less flexible. Softness of the hide after tanning is a result of breaking the hide and oiling it.
 
SNIPERBBB said:
I and almost every trapper out would have to disagree. You want that thing razor sharp. you shouldnt have to put any pressure on the knife to slice away meat and gristle. Whether to use the sharp side is the biger thing. Some animals you should never use the sharp side on as everything comes off fairly easily with the dull side.

Salting a hide pulls some of the stuff that can interfere with tanning agents out of the hide. It doesnt cause the hide to be less flexible. Softness of the hide after tanning is a result of breaking the hide and oiling it.
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Are you using traditional methods or chemical methods?
 
In hindsight I should have given a try at turning that hide into buckskin as there was plenty of usable hide left for projects, but I wasn't thinking about that last night. Going to get after the buck hide I have in the freezer within the next few days. Was thinking of pulling it from the freezer and soak it in cold water for a few hours to make sure it's fully thawed and to rehydrate any flesh that's a bit fried/freezer burned in hopes it comes off easier. Any reason this water thawing/soak before fleshing would be a bad idea (assuming I want a hair on end product, so just to ensure thawing/loosen dried flesh, not to let the hair slip)?
 
I bought my wife a Lee Steinmeyer knife. If you plan on making fleshing a thing, I'd look into them. Around here we let the hide dry a good bit after the initial scrape then pull out a wire wheel. I wish I would have taken a pic of her with my grinder and wire wheel on a bear hide.
The grinder may be considered overkill but one on a drill can clean it up.
 
thedutchtouch said:
Well that was... A learning experience. Fleshing knife is way too sharp and I couldn't figure out the right angle for most of it. Also there was parts of the hide that were still a bit frozen, that didn't help and I made a ton of big holes and some small ones as well. Ended up switching to the non-knjfe side and using the 90 degree edge more like a card scraper (woodworking analogy) and that worked a lot better. Somewhat annoyed that I swiss cheesed this hide, but I suppose I learned some from it. I'm not going to continue the process with this one, threw it out and hope I have better luck with the buck hide or if I'm lucky enough to shoot another deer tomorrow with that one now that I have a little bit better idea what I'm doing... Anyhow, photo of today's lesson learned the hard way below. Next time I'm going to slow down and use the dull side from the beginning. At least non iodized salt was on sale for .80 cents @ the grocery store.

View attachment 94766
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look at this picture, there is still alot to come off. you can still see the blood veins in the membrane, just go slow, one small area at a time, start in the middle and work your way out.
 
Lucky13 said:
I bought my wife a Lee Steinmeyer knife. If you plan on making fleshing a thing, I'd look into them. Around here we let the hide dry a good bit after the initial scrape then pull out a wire wheel. I wish I would have taken a pic of her with my grinder and wire wheel on a bear hide.
The grinder may be considered overkill but one on a drill can clean it up.
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Lee makes good knives. I bought his wide knife at the 2013 National Trappers Association Convention in Lima, OH at the auction. He donated a knife. Think I ended up paying about the retail price plus they through in a few other items in with it as well.

Use it mostly on beaver and just now did it on a deer hide. Prefer a smaller knife when Im doing smaller critters where I'm not using the sharp side as much.
 
I'm planning on tanning the hide form by buck this year. I have the hide in my freezer currently. I was thinking of using Nu Tan oil. Anyone have any experience with that? Also was looking at the knife they have, anyone have input on this style of knife for fleshing?

www.advancedtanningsolutions.com

Fleshing & Shaving Tool - Hides

An easy to use, effective tool for fleshing and shaving larger hides. Comfortable grip handle allows you to cover a large area safely. The blade design makes it possible to shave thicker hides thin. MASTERCLASS Click below for our FREE FULL HOUR masterclass packed with professional tips and...
www.advancedtanningsolutions.com www.advancedtanningsolutions.com
 
nighthawkF-117 said:
I'm planning on tanning the hide form by buck this year. I have the hide in my freezer currently. I was thinking of using Nu Tan oil. Anyone have any experience with that? Also was looking at the knife they have, anyone have input on this style of knife for fleshing?

www.advancedtanningsolutions.com

Fleshing & Shaving Tool - Hides

An easy to use, effective tool for fleshing and shaving larger hides. Comfortable grip handle allows you to cover a large area safely. The blade design makes it possible to shave thicker hides thin. MASTERCLASS Click below for our FREE FULL HOUR masterclass packed with professional tips and...
www.advancedtanningsolutions.com www.advancedtanningsolutions.com
Click to expand...
Just follow the instructions and youll be fine.

As for the knife...I use something similiar called a Grirzle Getter. Its basically what they call an Ulu knife. Bit more compact and more maneuverable. Better for tight fine work. For big projects i probably wouldnt go with it but I like it for doing beaver and otter and coon tails.
 
A pressure washer with a turbo tip will flesh that cape in 10 minutes perfectly. It will look like a soft white leather when you are done. Lay the cape on your fleshing beam, use a big clip or something to hold it at the top, and work your way down rotating the cape on the beam as you go. Warning....it makes one hell of a mess so do it away from the house.

I do my own taxidermy so I flesh the majority of the cape with the washer and then use a scalpel for the face and ears.
 
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