Couple different tanning and craft projects I completed over the weekend.
A couple reddish colored muskrats I tanned. The smallest was a kit. The adult was about a 13”-14” muskrat.


These were being done while elsmasho had her thread about removing the membrane/saddle from muskrats. I was just fixing to peal these when that thread started. These were tanned using a chemical tan from Van Dykes Taxidermy Supply.

These leather items were made from a deer tanned using brown logwood trap dye. The larger muskrat is pictured for size reference. It’s just tanned, a request from my wife.

Small leather pouch. Nothing special, but just one of the things that can be made using small scrap pieces.

An eyeglass pouch using the muskrat kit, with a little beadwork. Another request from the wife.

An envelope type pouch, another request from the wife.

Nice work! I don't think I've ever seen hide tanned with Logwood before.

Very nice work.

I guess the logwood tanning would be a form of a bark tan? Very interesting

Nice job.

What great ideas! Clever use

Same as bark tanning. Don’t use too much dye when soaking the hides. Needs to look like a tea. Too much dye will freeze-up the hide (make them stiff and unable to absorb the tannins in the dye). Mix a new batch every 3-4 weeks, and keep soaking the hide until you achieve good penetration through the hide. I usually do 4-5 mixes before the hide is done. Rinse the hide when finished dying, then, while still damp, add a leather oil or tallow mix. Stretching it as it dries. Can do 2-3 hides per bag of log wood dye. If you remove the top grain of the leather, the dye penetrates much faster and makes a nice suede type leather. Everything just like bark tanning, except the tannins are in powder form you just mix with water.

thanks, looks good

Is all logwood dye on the market the real thing? I thought some of it was actually just an imitation these days.
I've use quebracho extract a lot along with mimosa.

I don’t know about all logwood dyes. I’m talking about the powder stuff that comes in a plastic bag and says logwood trap dye. See it in trapping catalogs and at trapping conventions all the time.

Quebracho is nearly, if the not the same, as trap dye. Same powder type substance which contains a high level of tannins.