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Re: Home tanning beaver [Re: AJE] #7795195
02/10/23 12:41 PM
02/10/23 12:41 PM
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 1,776
Pennsylvania
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patrapperbuster Offline
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Pennsylvania
When i tan furs with orange bottle you have to break them WHILE they are drying. Most tanned beaver i DONT try to soften. Most people that get them just display on a wall or lay on a table to display there collectables, etc. All other furs i soften.

If you dont pickle a hide first you must dry salt it for a couple days, then put in a liquid salt solution for a few hours. Those that use the orange bottle directions know what i mean.

For salting you always want to use non-iodized salt.

Re: Home tanning beaver [Re: patrapperbuster] #7796021
02/11/23 12:05 PM
02/11/23 12:05 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 17,548
Rodney,Ohio
SNIPERBBB Offline
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SNIPERBBB  Offline
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Rodney,Ohio
Originally Posted by patrapperbuster
.

For salting you always want to use non-iodized salt.

Iodized/noniodized is irrelevant. Use whatever you have unless its cattle salt with minerals mixed in. Iodine doesn't effect anything.

Re: Home tanning beaver [Re: AJE] #7806430
02/24/23 06:34 PM
02/24/23 06:34 PM
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 2
Ontario
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Farside Offline
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Ontario
Hi folks, I would like to share my experience with egg tanning beaver. I'm from New Zealand, where beaver are extremely rare, and so moving to Canada was a great opportunity to learn about traditional fur tanning.

I started egg tanning domestic meat rabbits and got pretty good at it. Then I was given a coyote hide and that also went well. So when I was offered 2 beaver hides I took them, and they have been kicking my (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) for a year.

I figured they would be the same as the rabbits and the coyote, but as soon as I started fleshing I realized this wasn't the case. Layers of fat, muscle, and membrane... So much grease...

I didn't have a fleshing tool, so I used a spoon and knife. Followed the usual process and began breaking the hides on the 4X4 that supports the deck. 3 days later the hides were dry and kind of pliable. They almost killed me. days and days of working those 2 hides. I was too exhausted to smoke them so I put them in the basement.

Fast forward 6 months and I pull them out. They are stiff as a board and not likely suitable for mitts. I took them over to a friend's house to compare them with a commercially tanned pelt they had, and my ones were a disaster. I either made amour out of my pelts or I had to do something.

After a bit of reading, I realized that I did a few things wrong. I didn't properly flesh the hides and I didn't thin them either. So how to remedy this situation?

Luckily for me, egg / brain tanning isn't fixed until smoking is complete, and I hadn't yet smoked them. I read that an electric drill with a wire wheel attached is effective at fleshing and thinning hides so I started with one of them. It was slow going but effective. There were some spots that were so hard that the wire wheel made no progress, and so I moistened the skin with water and it made a big difference.

I did make quite a few holes in that hide - thinning too much, after I moistened the whole area with water.

The second hide I completely hydrated before I began thinning and it made the process much faster and easier. I also made a lot less holes.

Once they were done, I re-applied a thin yolk/water mix as I figured I likely just ground away all the previous treatment. I applied it 3 or 4 times once per day as I wanted a really deep penetration of those oils, and I also put the hides through 3 cycles of freeze / thaw.

A final rinse to remove the excess egg yolk and the hide is transformed. Easy to break in and much faster too. Not as soft as the professionally tanned comparison, but certainly good enough to make mitts from.

Re: Home tanning beaver [Re: AJE] #7806602
02/24/23 10:26 PM
02/24/23 10:26 PM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,263
james bay frontierOnt.
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Boco Offline
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james bay frontierOnt.
Good save.


Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
Re: Home tanning beaver [Re: backroadsarcher] #7807227
02/25/23 06:29 PM
02/25/23 06:29 PM
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 4,820
Frazee, MN
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Frazee, MN
Originally Posted by backroadsarcher
I did a badger a couple of years ago with the orange bottle. That hide is a tuff one also. I used a wire wheel on a drill and thinned it out a bit in areas. That seemed to help a little.

How else can a person thin out a hide if it has been through the tanning process. Or is it better to do it before tanning?

Last edited by backroadsarcher; 02/25/23 06:33 PM.
Re: Home tanning beaver [Re: AJE] #7807232
02/25/23 06:39 PM
02/25/23 06:39 PM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,263
james bay frontierOnt.
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Boco Offline
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james bay frontierOnt.
You can thin it out after tanning with a spokeshave on a beam.


Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
Re: Home tanning beaver [Re: AJE] #7807397
02/25/23 09:54 PM
02/25/23 09:54 PM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,263
james bay frontierOnt.
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Boco Offline
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james bay frontierOnt.
I took two dried skins out this morning,they are re hydrated,degreased, and in the pickle right now.
I dont like to do too many at a time.
I find that the quality control suffers if you try to do too many at once when hand tanning.

Last edited by Boco; 02/25/23 09:56 PM.

Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
Re: Home tanning beaver [Re: AJE] #7814718
03/07/23 02:41 AM
03/07/23 02:41 AM
Joined: Jan 2023
Posts: 16
Indiana
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Old Long Spring Offline
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Posts: 16
Indiana
Well I salted for a few days. It drained quite a bit the first night. Shook it off and re-salted. Let it sit for several days while I figured what/how to do next. Re-hydrated. Degreased. Rinsed. Drained. Then put in a Safety Acid pickle for 36 hours. Shaved as best I could on beam with two handed flesher. Not sure I took enough off but I put maybe two hours of careful shaving into it. Degreased then back in the pickle. Tanned with EZ-100. Pulled it out, drained, oiled and folded. Unfolded after 6-8 hrs and hung to dry for several nights. It was about 3/4 dry. Realized I should have rinsed before oiling. So I rinsed and rehung to dry for a few more nights. Started breaking it today. Its coming along. Possibly mistake to rinse and not oil again, but I think I could wet and then oil again if I cant break it well enough.

Last edited by Lontra; 03/07/23 02:42 AM.
Re: Home tanning beaver [Re: AJE] #7814918
03/07/23 11:29 AM
03/07/23 11:29 AM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,263
james bay frontierOnt.
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Boco Offline
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james bay frontierOnt.
.

Last edited by Boco; 03/07/23 11:32 AM.

Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
Re: Home tanning beaver [Re: AJE] #7814919
03/07/23 11:30 AM
03/07/23 11:30 AM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,263
james bay frontierOnt.
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Boco Offline
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james bay frontierOnt.
If it is drying a bit stiff in places,mix up some tanning oil thinned 1/2 and 1/2 with warmwater and apply it to the stiff/thicker parts of the skin.Fold it up and roll it up for a few hours and then unroll,and work it a bit.repeat if necessary as the skin drys.


Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
Re: Home tanning beaver [Re: AJE] #7814923
03/07/23 11:41 AM
03/07/23 11:41 AM
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 45
NW Wisconsin
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WIKA Offline
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NW Wisconsin
I use the orange bottle tanning solution for hooped beaver. Just nail them back on the board after degreasing, salting, rinsing, then use the orange bottle while its nailed. No need to break for hoops. I hooped some tanned beaver from Moyles and had a hard time getting the beaver to lay nice and flat against the wall because they are so flimsy and no matter how tight the leather stiches got I had a crease somewhere in the beaver.

Re: Home tanning beaver [Re: AJE] #7815033
03/07/23 03:00 PM
03/07/23 03:00 PM
Joined: Jan 2023
Posts: 16
Indiana
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Old Long Spring Offline
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Indiana
Thanks for oiling tip Boco.

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