Hair Off Hide Tanning

Bow Hunter

Bow Hunter

New member
Granted this area is for fur handling questions but, I don't know where else to post this question.

I'd like to know about tanning deer/elk hides with the hair off. Is it as easy as the info in the supply catalogs suggests?

I can't understand why our local tannery charges less $$$ to tan hair off than to tan hair on especially when hair off requires more work - it doesn't add up except when you consider (I'm guessing) most people what hides tanned hair on - supply and demand. Does this sound reasonable or am I missing something?

Anyway I'd appreciate any info from the In Crowd.

Thanks fellas'(and/or ladies),
Bow Hunter
 
I can't answer the price question for the other guys, Bow. But I have my price for hair off, set just over enough to cover chemicals and shop time.

It's not too big of a process but it does take time.
The first step here is to rehydrate the hide because everything that comes in here must be shipped dried.
Then it goes through fleshing, right down past the membrane as if it were going to be put in a tan following a pickle.

After it's completely fleshed it goes into a hydrated lime solution. This stuff can be dangerous. It stays in the hydrated lime solution for several days unpickled and gets agitated or stirred a few times a day.

After 3 days or so I'll pull it out and check it. To check it I simply wipe my hand across the fur going against the grain with a rubber glove on. The fur should slip right off the skin with little or no effort.
If it does, it's ready for the next step. Be sure to check the thicker skinned areas of the hide (neck) (shoulders) before you move on.

Lay it over the fleshing beam, and I like to use the edge of a wooden 1x2 to scrape the hair off with. Use it like its a fleshing knife against the grain of the hair and you'll actually stake the excess lime from the skin while your doing it.

The next step is to rinse and then hang the hide up to drain it of the lime solution for 30 minutes or so and then place it into a deliming/ bating agent. The deliming agent will stop the limes deterioration process and the bate will replace the enzymes which are lost from the lime action. Stabilizing the hide and making for a good even tan.

Depending on the skin, the delimer, and the bate you use, (Oropon N4 or N10) but the skin should remain in this solution for 3 or 4 hours, sometimes more. For heavy deer, I leave it in for up to 6. But it needs to be stirred with the hide in it as often as possible.

Next step is to pull the hide, rinse it well in cool water, hang it to drain and then into a pickling solution.

3 days of a soaking in a good pickle and it's ready for the tanning steps.
 
River Runner,

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experience. Your last post prompted these questions regarding hair-off (big game) tanning:

[*]Is hide tumbled before or after oiling or both?

[*]Is hide tumbled until it is totally dry?

[*]Are both sides of the hide oiled?

[*]Does oiling alone impart that great smell that my professionally tanned hides come back with?

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I hope I haven't used up my allotted number of questions.
Bow Hunter
 

[*]Is hide tumbled before or after oiling or both?
@ After oiling. Just like any hide hair on or off.


[*]Is hide tumbled until it is totally dry?
@ Not really. The hide should be tumbled periodically until its dry. It's first time into the tumbler the hide should be almost dry. Stretch it by hand and you should see the skin turn white as it seperates itself between your hands. You should work the hide this way thoroughly between each tumbling period, and let it hang to air dry for several hours before tumbling again. A hide left in the tumbler to dry will dry stiff due to the fact that the tumbling agent (sawdust) will buff it dry too fast and absorb the oils you put on after tanning.


[*]Are both sides of the hide oiled?
@ No, oiling the hair side of the skin is a waste of oil since that part of the skin was not fleshed and opened to take the oil.


[*]Does oiling alone impart that great smell that my professionally tanned hides come back with?
@ Not really. Theres a lot of different ways to ta a hide and they all smell, perform, and get applied differently. If you want a special fragrance from your tanned hides, there are tanning fragrances available as an additive to the last tan bath.

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