Have any of you done your own tanning work?

I can't see trading/wasting these beautiful furs for chump change in a market place that has some seriously screwed up values....

Sending them out for "professional" tanning is seriously cost prohibitive IMHO. I want to make good durable tanned furs to use and wear.

Please point me in the right direction if you can, I'm a reading and hands on kinda guy for sure and I intend on making fine leather.

JT

Been thinking the same thing, any help?

I have home-tanned dozens of furs. I use Rittle's products and have always had excellent results. Tanning can be a lot of work if you want the skins to be soft and supple. You will have to shave the hides to thin the leather then break them by hand or tumble them.

If you are looking for wall-hangers then it is not as critical that they be supple. For example, I tanned some beaver that are displayed on hoops. No need for them to have very soft leather so that eliminated a lot of work.

You can get the Rittles EZ-100 Kit from F & T.

Here's some I did hanging in my office. A big red fox (under the traps), a yote, skunk and coon.

Thanks Lugnut that looks promising. My last go around I followed a method shown in an article in The Mother Earth News. Acid tan using battery acid (I substituted swimming pool chemicals in place of the battery acid)

I obtained a very tough, stiff, leather but over twenty years later I still have one of those pelts on a staff I made.

Looks like I have my work cut out for me.

Anyone interested please join in. Perhaps we can compare/share notes and our processes.

Might be a good late winter project and some great exercise too.....

I brain tan all of my hides, very nice hides.

There is some tanning stuff in the archive.

OP, just a question; where have you found your tanning prices?
The reason I ask is that I know from experience if you go to a local taxidermist and ask them for Tanning prices they are going to be sky-high since they just send them out to the actual tanneries. I have found that sending them to the actual tanneries is much more cost-effective then doing them myself. If your time is only worth a dollar or two an hour then maybe you can justify home tanning otherwise I think professional tanning is a much better option, plus they will turn out much nicer than if you do them yourself.

One of the main reasons home tanning does not result in a comprable product to a professionally tanned skin, is because most home tanners do not have the ability to thin to thick parts of the skin down to approximately the same thickness as the belly skin.

The primary reason I started tanning at home was because of the terrible quality I was getting with different tanneries: missing furs, damaged furs or furs that didn’t even belong to me.

I agree you can get a far superior product hand tanning skins at home if you have already done the learning curve thru hands on experience.
You have to do a lot because each species has its unique peculiarities when it comes to making good long lasting leather when it comes to dressing the pelts.
Proper de greasing is very important to getting a long lasting product.

Prices ( including shipping) on some furs is getting cost prohibitive. Especially small volume prices. I'm thinking of home tanning some stuff these days too.

I ship the larger hides and home tan fox size and down.

I have done my share of home tanning in the past. In general aquatic animals such as Beaver otter and muskrats are harder to get a good finish on than light skinned animals such as Fox, cats, coyote, and I've even found that Coon are fairly easy to home tan and get a good quality product on. It's just that I figure my time I'm usually better off sending it a way to get tan

I've read your posts on the subject and have seen pics of your work. For the record, I'm not in your league, you do some very nice work.

One of the things I like about Rittle's is their Saftee Acid.

Their description:

Saftee-Acid is one of the safest acids available today! It provides a wide range of acidity, with none of the disadvantages of other acids, such as, sulphuric/formic/acetic/oxalic! It is practically odorless, with no caustic fumes, non-poisonous, no dilution heat, non-evaporative, and is an excellent choice for pickling as well as adjusting PH levels! We have experimented considerably with this acid, and have found that using it has lived up to all our expectations! Since it is non-hazardous, it is safe to ship anywhere, and because of it's low dosage - it actually saves money!

Additionally, I have found that you can hold furs in a Saftee Acid pickle for a long time with no ill-effects. I discovered this when a pail of foxes in a pickle solution got shoved under the bench in my fur shed and forgotten about. I found it months later and decided to finish the tanning and did so with good results, no slippage.

I found a pick of a beaver I tanned and hooped a few years ago:

I also use Rittels safety acid. I then either " brain" tan or barktan the furs. I generally avoid doing beaver, just because of the work in getting them some what soft. I like mink, fox and coon done with quebracho (bark extract). I'm mainly a leather Tanner who does some furs. There's definitely a learning curve, but if you are good at putting up fur that's half the work.
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Who here has done otter? After my thread on singe I'm hesitant to try and tackle them.

@waggler et al......Well I did check with a co-worker who's father is a taxidermist and just ran a couple of online checks for prices. I see prices like $15.00/muskrat-mink (assuming they like my fleshing work if not add 3.00/hide in need) and I'm looking at over twenty hides so it is a few bucks. I'd have to hang on to three allowances minimum for tanning my hides.

This is my own view of things but my time is not worth money at all, it's priceless. Working for a living for corporate wears on my soul. When I make something by hand I have no intentions on making "profits" in anyone's hard currency. I have intention on making something of quality that cannot be done by someone concerned with money. Like a piece of very well built hardwood furniture I suppose. Something a grandchild can actually inherit, the gun case and my old side by side 12ga with a nice pack-basket and some steel. Sometimes I fish with an antique 2 weight bamboo fly-rod from WWII, matching Martin auto reel.....but modern Orvis fly-line. If I catch one native brownie with one of my own hand tied fly's my trip is made and I'm satisfied. (sometimes I catch 40 but that's another kettle of fish entirely) This philosophy, for me at least, goes hand in hand with the reason I decided to trap again. Man do love being out there, it's also priceless to me. I guess it depends on where my values are placed.

In any case IF I can solicit the cash from my wife to send my furs out to a tannery I might try that, but I'm not counting on anything from management....hahahaha

Even if I do get the cash from her I'll probably buy more traps first....if I look, I bet I can get permission to trap yotes. In fact I already named one HAT..

I appreciate the input from everyone, thank you.

JT

Ive brain tanned, bark tanned once, and alum tanned(wall hangers). Been doing it a couple years and it is pretty hard to get the garment tan suppleness youd need for clothing. Ive made a few hats and IMO they turned out good, but they were made from coon and easier to get soft. beaver is the worst ive done for getting soft. I made one beaver hat and it was too stiff for me. it turned out OK but id never do another. just be prepared to make a lot of fur you might not be able to use as garments before you get it right. and it does take a lot of time and back breaking work

If you can ship more than just a couple skins of a particular species there is a pretty large discount given. Moyle will not charge you an extra fleshing fee; that sounds like a gimmick to me.