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December 23, 2012
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If someone has who experience in tanning hides can help me out here..
I am home tanning my first deer hide with fur on. I just want to re-run what I already did and where I am in the process..
– I received a deer hide from a friend and the day after he skinned it (40 degree weather) he gave me the deer skin, so the next day I fleshed it. ‘
-After this point I was a little confused on what to do because I read so many different procedures…
-Anyways I placed the fleshed deer hide into about a 5 gallon bucket of water with about 4 pounds of salt and it sat in this solution for about 17 hours.
– I then took it out and placed the dripping wet hide on the floor (fur side down) and proceeded to cover it with non-iodized salt.
-After one full day I took rubbed the salt off and washed it and re-coated it with fresh salt.
-So now it has been laying in my garage (about 60 degrees) with salt on the inside for going on 4 days) now.
-From what I have read I need to soon put it into an ammonia alum/salt/water mixture for 5 or so days.
First off, am I relatively on the right track? Did I make an really bad errors? What should I have done?
Anyways, going back to what I plan on doing..I am having no luck tracking down this ammonia alum stuff and I have read that aluminum sulfate can be used as a replacement for the ammonia alum. Is this correct? I found this product at walmart.. Please let me know if this is the correct stuff I should use. (link below)
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Boni…..0003260430
So my plan is to leave it in this water/aluminum sulfate/salt solution for 5 days, and then I will begin to dry it and use some neats foot oil.
Am I one the right track guys?? Please help. I’m new to this stuff, but I enjoy it as a potential hobby.
Thank you, Max
December 23, 2012
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D.Price wrote: Came here first and ask these questions.
Soaking it in salt water for 17 hours was your first mistake…….First thing you need to do is see if the hair is falling out. If it’s not then we will go from there.
The hair seems to be alright. I grab a few hair follicles and tried to pull at them and they weren’t coming out.
July 22, 2011
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Max, hang up the skin and put a fan on it to get as much of the water out of the hair and skin as possible. It will not dry lying flat on the floor and the moisture is going to promote bacteria growth.
As it dries you may need to re-salt. DO NOT WASH IT, just re-salt and leave hanging with fan on it.
For best results you will need to pickle it before you put it in an Alum Tan.
If you can take some pics and post them here, it would help me to see what you got, and probably help someone else in the future.
December 23, 2012
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The salt won’t stick if I hang it up..
Anyone know if I can use aluminum sulfate as a replacement to ammonia alum?
July 22, 2011
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Maxlock wrote:
Anyone know if I can use aluminum sulfate as a replacement to ammonia alum?
Yes!!!…..and it’s Ammonium Alum, not Ammonia.
And the salt will stick, you have to get that moisture out.
There are many products on the Taxidermy market that will make your life and learning curve a lot easier.
Here is your Ammonium Alum, Potassium Alum and Aluminum Sulfate at a much cheaper price than Walmart.
Click on link and go to page 77 of the catalog.
December 23, 2012
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Thanks for the info. I certainly got some things cleared up and will begin throwing the hide in the tanning solution today!
December 23, 2012
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By the way, am i able to get a physical copy of the catalog or is it all online?
December 23, 2012
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..below
December 23, 2012
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Sorry for the “easy” questions, I just want to make sure I have the process down pat when I tan my second hide…
1) I was looking at the catalog and they have tanning agents that are one-set, meaning they don’t require pickling. Will the quality of the hide be any less with these 1 step tanning agents?
2) At what point is pickling neccessary? What if the deer is skinned and basically fleshed immediatly after the harvesting the animal, is the pickling still neccessary?
3) If I were to place a hide in a pickling solution, is this step done before or after fleshing?
4) What ingredients and how do you use to make up the pickling solution?
5) What if the deer is skinned and basically fleshed immediatly after the harvesting the animal, is the salting down process still neccessary? Or can I just go straight to the pickling/ and or tanning?
6) I have read about rub on tans (with a large paint brush) or submerging the hide in a solution. Is one method better than the other?
7) From a cost savings perspective, (the stuff ain’t cheap) but still retaining a quality hide, am I better off buying tanning/pickling agents that are already made and ready to sell, or can I make my own tanning agent with the proper mix of ingredients and finish with an equally nice hide?
Thanks for the help.
Salting is an important step . I flesh then salt everything .
The different tans are for those that prefer different tan methods .
They are all good tans . When you’ve tried the different methods you’ll know which one is for you .
I really like TT581 on mammals . But I can use it on deer also . Really easy to use . Sets the hair , shaves nice . Really good product . If you like rub on tans HQ5000 is hard to beat . I’ve tried everything . HQ5000 is like a high quality wet tan .
HQPT500 allows you to flesh salt then tan . Also a good product .
