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I love your siggy avd :)
I have a friend who has been given a bunch of wild rabbit pelts he is trying to convert them into a baby blanket .. he borrowed some readng material from us (I had no idea we had anything on tanning here!!)

If he follows through I'll ask for pictures to post here
 
I asked my daughter last night if we should save Hoggle's pelt after he dies and she was pretty adamant about him being buried "like everyone else"....I would save it though if she didn't mind. He's a purty boy :).
 
:D I've been fondling the group that are about to go off to the stew pot...and they'd make a LOVELY coverlet. I'm not sure I'm ready to attempt the whole tanning thing tho. Although...I'm told, and have read, that rabbit skin tanning isn't hard. so....
 
it seems to me that you might as well use every bit of an animal that you can - it just makes sense to me somehow
 
It is a shame to waste the pelts... which is why I wanted to add this forum. One of the HT members, Kyah, is making a beautiful blanket for her nephew out of pelts she tanned. She used this method:
http://www.primitiveways.com/rabbit_skin_blanket.html

The whole Primitive Ways site is fascinating! :bouncy:

If you're not quite ready for tanning, Ann, the pelts can be stored in the freezer. Very young fryers have fragile skins though... Roasters make sturdier furs.
 
Anntann":15m5xb4d said:
:D I've been fondling the group that are about to go off to the stew pot...

I think there are laws against that sort of thing, Ann :tomato:
 
I can't tell you how many times we have filled up the freezer with good intentions.
It just seems such a huge undertaking. We did a few small batches years ago when the kids were home to help but needed more practice. Some ended up with holes in them and other little problems but we do hate wasting such a beautiful resource.
I need to learn to get the skins perfectly finished!
B~
 
Good idea Maggie, to include this to the forum. It is really difficult to find good information online about home tanning rabbit skins.

I can't tell you how many times we have filled up the freezer with good intentions.
It just seems such a huge undertaking. We did a few small batches years ago when the kids were home to help but needed more practice. Some ended up with holes in them and other little problems but we do hate wasting such a beautiful resource.
I need to learn to get the skins perfectly finished!
B~
It can be overwhelming, for sure. I think the biggest mistake I made with one of the first bunches I tanned was that I tried to do too many all at once. Holy, I was fleshing those pelts for days, literally, and the pelts were from older rabbits, so the fleshing was much more time consuming.
So far this year, I'm only doing 5 at a time, and I'm finding it so much easier to handle.

The first ones I did were full of holes too, lol. It made me kinda sad because I did a really good skinning job, but when it came time to flesh, oh wow, that's where I messed up. The finishing part - I'm finding that I have a best success with breaking the hide a few times, not just once. I break it once, then re-wet the hide side, and break it again. I use the back of a chair from the kitchen, lol. Any little rough bits that are left can be sanded off with really fine sandpaper.

Kyah
 
I"ve only attempted two hides so far and I found the fleshing to be a little confusing. It always seemed that I scraped too much off and I ended up with a couple of holes and some very thin spots.

I've given up on the hides for now as I found I was trying too many things at once. I will start to save some hides again and intend to try tanning again soon.
 
I would try working with the hides if I had some ...

just a couple to start with ;)
 
Thanks for that encouragement Kyah. Can everyone share their tanning solutions and processes?
B~
 
I'd really like to start tanning the hides, too. Especially if I get standard rexes :D Kayah, what method do you use?

Does anyone know if you can end up with rabbit leather, no fur, just the tanned skin?

Marian
 
I use Rittles' Ez-100 powder for tanning, and the saftee acid for the pickle, and the pro plus oil.
Here's some info on it: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/4895768/Ins ... -Kit-Using
I had tried the salt/alum recipe, but I had some sort of strange reaction to it so I don't use it anymore. The saftee acid and ez-100 are the safest tanning agents I can find and the finished hides are washable. You need to add baking soda to the pickle to neutralize it, and it's safe to throw out. I think? it uses a little less salt than the salt/alum recipe I was using.

If i had the $ though, I'd send them off to a tanney to be professionally done. :)

Kyah
 
Kyah":2fw2j919 said:
I use the back of a chair from the kitchen, lol. Any little rough bits that are left can be sanded off with really fine sandpaper.

Kyah

How do you use the chair? I remember reading about just breaking it with your hands. Does the chair make it easier and faster somehow? (Maybe a video? :) )
 
Kyah, thanks for the links! I would really like to do some tanning once I actually have some bunnies to butcher. Someday I'd even like to have some rex so that I can get some rex skins. I've been a little skittish, though, about all of the dangerous-sounding chemicals. The stuff you mention sounds like a great alternative.
 
How do you use the chair? I remember reading about just breaking it with your hands. Does the chair make it easier and faster somehow? (Maybe a video? :) )
Yes, I actually do break the hides by hand, and they are pretty easy easy to do if it's a fryer sized rabbit. The older thicker skinned rabbits though, omgosh they can sure make your arms tired, lol.

You know how the pelt starts turning white when you break it? If you take it and rub it over a smooth surface, like the back of a chair, (just like you would polish a pair of shoes)the hide gets a really nice soft feel to it, almost like suede. You just have to do it gently so you don't rip the hide or anything. I don't have my camera here, but I'll see if I can borrow one and get a few pics for you - maybe in a week or so.

...I've been a little skittish, though, about all of the dangerous-sounding chemicals. The stuff you mention sounds like a great alternative.
They do work really well, just as long as you keep a watchful eye on the ph of the pickle (esp. the first day) when the hides are in there and raise the ph with baking soda when you're all done for safe disposal.

Even if you use salt/alum instead, I highly recommend the pro plus oil. It gets absorbed right into the hide, and it doesn't leave a greasy feel or anything on the hide or your hands. I lay the hide out flat in the bathtub when I apply the oil. Just have to be sure that all the fur is brushed away from the hide, so that no oil gets on the fur. Then fold it up and let it sweat for 4 -6 hrs. The hides are nice and soft when they're finished and they don't have that "crinkly paper" sort of feel to them.

Kyah
 

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