Any one ever brain tanned? I have QUESTIONS!!!

[GBov]

I shall trawl through all the sites again to find the bit about using eggs if you dont have enough brains and give that a try with my second hide.

First mistake I am correcting is I started working the hide when it wasn't mostly dry so LOTS of unnecessary work.

__________ Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:58 am __________

As the hides have cost nothing but a bit of effort so far I am totally experimenting with them all.

So to that effect I am using mayo on this one.

It was suggested on a VERY unpleasant taxidermy site to a newbie as a joke but it seems like it would work so why not try and see :lol:

So the first hide was brains blended in water and it needed more brains but is pretty good nonetheless and the second one is going to be mayo well worked in and the third and last one will be eggs blended with a bit of water.

This is fun!

I like the fact that once I start working the hide I can ball it up and stuff it in my pocket so I can work it in any idle moment, like when waiting to pick up the kids from school or when I am on the phone <br /><br />__________ Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:06 am __________<br /><br />Everywhere I read dont let the smoke hit the fur side.

How would putting the worked hide onto a piece of paper, tracing and cutting the shape out and then stapling it over the fur side work? If I staple at teh very edges that bit gets trimmed off anyway as its stiff.

So then I could stack them in my smoker on the racks instead of trying to set them up over my grill.

 

[3mina]

Everywhere I read dont let the smoke hit the fur side.

How would putting the worked hide onto a piece of paper, tracing and cutting the shape out and then stapling it over the fur side work? If I staple at teh very edges that bit gets trimmed off anyway as its stiff.

So then I could stack them in my smoker on the racks instead of trying to set them up over my grill.

How about putting two hides fur side together? Sounds like less work to me

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

I shall trawl through all the sites again to find the bit about using eggs if you dont have enough brains and give that a try with my second hide.
i think from the book and movie that he used a dozen eggs for one deer hide. and i think i read somewhere that its about 5 rabbit hides equal to one deer hide for using things measured for deer hides on rabbit hides.
only thing about eggs is the yolk will kinda stain the hide so you cant use em for pure white hides. and on a side note, you dont smoke white ones (lol kinda obvious) but i think i read you use DE (diatomatious earth) on them for a "same thing only different" effect that smoking has.

First mistake I am correcting is I started working the hide when it wasn't mostly dry so LOTS of unnecessary work.
yup if its too wet it will have to be worked longer.

__________ Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:58 am __________

As the hides have cost nothing but a bit of effort so far I am totally experimenting with them all.

So to that effect I am using mayo on this one.

It was suggested on a VERY unpleasant taxidermy site to a newbie as a joke but it seems like it would work so why not try and see :lol:

So the first hide was brains blended in water and it needed more brains but is pretty good nonetheless and the second one is going to be mayo well worked in and the third and last one will be eggs blended with a bit of water.

This is fun!

I like the fact that once I start working the hide I can ball it up and stuff it in my pocket so I can work it in any idle moment, like when waiting to pick up the kids from school or when I am on the phone
:lol: yes just make sure you dont smell like hides

__________ Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:06 am __________

Everywhere I read dont let the smoke hit the fur side.

How would putting the worked hide onto a piece of paper, tracing and cutting the shape out and then stapling it over the fur side work? If I staple at teh very edges that bit gets trimmed off anyway as its stiff.

So then I could stack them in my smoker on the racks instead of trying to set them up over my grill.

Everywhere I read dont let the smoke hit the fur side.

How would putting the worked hide onto a piece of paper, tracing and cutting the shape out and then stapling it over the fur side work? If I staple at teh very edges that bit gets trimmed off anyway as its stiff.

So then I could stack them in my smoker on the racks instead of trying to set them up over my grill.

How about putting two hides fur side together? Sounds like less work to me

actually that sounds good. staple at the very edges and put them back to back so the fur is inside. just gotta make sure to flip them to get the color even. of course you wouldnt *have* to do that if it didnt matter being uneven.

 

[GBov]

I shall trawl through all the sites again to find the bit about using eggs if you dont have enough brains and give that a try with my second hide.
i think from the book and movie that he used a dozen eggs for one deer hide. and i think i read somewhere that its about 5 rabbit hides equal to one deer hide for using things measured for deer hides on rabbit hides.
only thing about eggs is the yolk will kinda stain the hide so you cant use em for pure white hides. and on a side note, you dont smoke white ones (lol kinda obvious) but i think i read you use DE (diatomatious earth) on them for a "same thing only different" effect that smoking has.

First mistake I am correcting is I started working the hide when it wasn't mostly dry so LOTS of unnecessary work.
yup if its too wet it will have to be worked longer.

__________ Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:58 am __________

As the hides have cost nothing but a bit of effort so far I am totally experimenting with them all.

So to that effect I am using mayo on this one.

It was suggested on a VERY unpleasant taxidermy site to a newbie as a joke but it seems like it would work so why not try and see :lol:

So the first hide was brains blended in water and it needed more brains but is pretty good nonetheless and the second one is going to be mayo well worked in and the third and last one will be eggs blended with a bit of water.

This is fun!

I like the fact that once I start working the hide I can ball it up and stuff it in my pocket so I can work it in any idle moment, like when waiting to pick up the kids from school or when I am on the phone
:lol: yes just make sure you dont smell like hides

__________ Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:06 am __________

Everywhere I read dont let the smoke hit the fur side.

How would putting the worked hide onto a piece of paper, tracing and cutting the shape out and then stapling it over the fur side work? If I staple at teh very edges that bit gets trimmed off anyway as its stiff.

So then I could stack them in my smoker on the racks instead of trying to set them up over my grill.

Everywhere I read dont let the smoke hit the fur side.

How would putting the worked hide onto a piece of paper, tracing and cutting the shape out and then stapling it over the fur side work? If I staple at teh very edges that bit gets trimmed off anyway as its stiff.

So then I could stack them in my smoker on the racks instead of trying to set them up over my grill.

How about putting two hides fur side together? Sounds like less work to me

actually that sounds good. staple at the very edges and put them back to back so the fur is inside. just gotta make sure to flip them to get the color even. of course you wouldn't *have* to do that if it didn't matter being uneven.

It does sound a great idea and will save time and paper. But it will only work with matching hide sizes so I might use both.

This is such fun!

And trust me, right now I need some fun to distract me! Moving in 9 days and trying to fit 12, 6 ft double hole cages into a trailer along with all the other stuff needed for a 9 months stay :roll:

 

[starshotbandit]

from deer skin to buck skin is a great resorce book. you can leave the fur onand just work one side. it takes time lots of time and you have to keep working untill its dry

 

[GBov]

Have to say Mayo did a pretty good job :shock:

MUCH more flexable than the first one but I havnt smoked it yet. I have one fresh and one salted - now soaked - hide to do with just eggs and then I will smoke all three at once.

Shall keep trying to get my camera charged, its proving a pain :roll:<br /><br />__________ Fri Mar 08, 2013 1:09 pm __________<br /><br />Have started the first salted and dried, then soaked and rehydrated, egg treated hide.

And, in all my vast experience of two hides, its working a bit differently than a non-dried hide.

Shall let y'all know how it progresses.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

Have started the first salted and dried, then soaked and rehydrated, egg treated hide.

And, in all my vast experience of two hides, its working a bit differently than a non-dried hide.

Shall let y'all know how it progresses.

opcorn: waiting to hear. interesting thing to know. did you stretch it on something to dry? how long did you leave it dry for?

 

[GBov]

The dog got them..............<br /><br />__________ Sat Mar 09, 2013 10:23 am __________<br /><br />But so far they rank so............

Mayonnaise with a little bit of water with hide squished in for a few min. worked REALLY well! The fur was still a little greasy but was going to put some talcum powder into it and then brush it out to get rid of that. The hide was an 8 week old rabbit and it came out like a shammy cloth, very very soft.

I dont know if fryer hides do alright with modern tanning methods but this one came out super. It was very hard to see the connective tissues so what I would do as the hide started turning white with working - did it with the others too - was lay it flat on the table and scrape any bits that started showing with a shape paring knife. It worked really well as I hadn't gotten anywhere NEAR as much of the stuff off as I had thought.

The salted prime hide - hubby said it had to be one of the raccoons thawed out because it was too big to be a rabbit :roll: - was quite stiff, despite all the working. It still felt nice and soft though and was really pretty. I used eggs on that one, two soakings with an hour dry time between and then another soaking followed by being rolled in a towel and walked on till dryish.

The dog didnt like the smoked hide much so its only got slight damage. Figures as its my least favorite. The brains didnt go anywhere NEAR far enough so its pretty and soft but not like the mayo one, not by a long shot.

Still have one 12 week old hide, in eggs, in the fridge. Its hard to work up the effort to do the work as upset as I am today, might just throw it to the dog and hope it chokes her.

 

[mystang89]

might just throw it to the dog and hope it chokes her.

lol

 

[Happy]

There's a lady on the news recently who is accused of child abuse for putting her child on a tanning bed (child is like 6-9). The mom herself has the skin of a football (color AND texture). I mentioned this thread to my wife, telling her I found a way to brain tan. She said "don't tell that lady, she'll kill that poor little girl trying."

 

[MamaSheepdog]

There's a lady on the news recently who is accused of child abuse for putting her child on a tanning bed (child is like 6-9). The mom herself has the skin of a football (color AND texture). I mentioned this thread to my wife, telling her I found a way to brain tan. She said "don't tell that lady, she'll kill that poor little girl trying."

:rotfl:

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

awww darn dogs....

good to know though to see side by side.

what exactly did you do with the mayo one?

 

[GBov]

awww darn dogs....

good to know though to see side by side.

what exactly did you do with the mayo one?

I washed the hide, rolled it in a big towel and walked up and down the roll to press out all the extra water, put three heaping tablespoons of mayo in a bowel with a quarter cup of water and squished the hide in that, pressing and squeezing it to get it all well soaked with the stuff. Then I squeezed it dry and lay it flat on the kitchen table - under hte fan - for about half an hour until it was a bit dryer and then just worked it, stretching it side to side, most of the day. I kept it rolled in my pocket, skin side in, and worked it in odd moments of free time.

As it was a frier hide I had a really hard time getting, or even seeing, the connective tissue off so each time a bit of hide started to stiffen up with the stuff I lay it on the table and scraped with a parring knife, back and forth, to fluff up that bit of hide. Like suede, a bit.

That hide turned out WONDERFULLY! Very soft and, when shaken, made just a cloth sound rather than a rustle rustle sound, like the brain tanned one.

I found a triangle of it in the yard, about four inches wide and long. At least there is something left of that one, not even a hair of the salted, prime, egg treated hide is left.

So far the hardest thing has been to tell when a hide is done. They start to feel done and are flexible but not stretchy but if I leave them at that stage they stiffen up so, so far, I have kept working them until bedtime and cross my fingers they really are done.

Its nice to be able to take a fresh off the rabbit hide and turn it into something beautiful in one day, it really is.<br /><br />__________ Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:55 am __________<br /><br />I forgot to say the fur was a tiny bit greasy, just a little bit. I used flour rubbed in and bashed out on a post to get it nice and fluffy but I was going to get a nicely scented talcum powder for the next one.

 

[kamls_silver_ foxes]

I have the book about brain tanning and the author said in the back if you have any questions feel free to contact him and he listed his home phone number and email. I'll find the book and post the info

 

[Cottie]

I forgot to say the fur was a tiny bit greasy, just a little bit. I used flour rubbed in and bashed out on a post to get it nice and fluffy but I was going to get a nicely scented talcum powder for the next one.

You didn't wash the mayo from it?

Do you think baking soda would work in lieu of flour?

 

[3mina]

The mayo/eggs/brains/whatever you put on the hide doesn't just lay on the surface, it's absorbed so you don't need to wash it off. Any fine grained powder should work to absorb the extra oils from the fur.

 

[AnnClaire]

Cornmeal will absorb the oil in the fur and is easy enough to shake out, then a good brushing to get the fines out.

 

[GBov]

Well, the move went as well as could be expected and I now have time to do more hides. Have a mayo tanned one in the TOP cupboard waiting for a few more to join it for smoking.

In the last two days I have sent 18 rabbits to freezer camp and took the extra time it took to split each head and carefully scoop out the brains. So two hides - year old rex doe hides - are going to be done with brains and we shall see how it goes.

I found if I held the hide under running cold water I got really good grip and could peel all the connective tissue off, one inch at a time. Got both older hides fleshed in less than five min.

And still no pictures, the camera works now but not my pc. Am using my mums and it wont let me load pictures :roll:

 

[Spart]

Whether you used mayo, eggs, or brains for tanning, do not worry about washing them out or about the fur until you are done stretching the hide. Once the fur is left to sit overnight with the tanning solution on it (brains, eggs, etc.), the fur may have gotten a little greasy from the solution getting into it around the edges or even further in. This is not a worry and is an easy fix. Nor should you worry about the flesh side seeming greasy or wet or having leftover residue from the tanning solution on it (e.g. bits of brains). Once you begin stretching the hide you will notice it will dry up quickly and begin to feel nice on the skin side. When you stretch, because it is such a small thin hide (as opposed to coons or opossum), it should not take long for it to fully dry and be done. Because of this, I would suggest that you constantly stretch it until it fully dries with at most 1 or 2 five-minute breaks.
IF YOU HAVE TO STOP STRETCHING while the hide is still moist for any reason, DO NOT just leave it. You can roll it up, toss it in a bag, and toss it in the FREEZER. This will preserve the moisture in the hide and it can be taken out again and be continued stretching. Don't leave the half-stretched hide in the freezer for too long, as it can get freezer-burn.

Now that the hide is fully stretched and softened, you can focus on the fur. The fur should be relatively clean to begin with, as you should have washed the hide thoroughly in water before you tanned it just to clean it of any debris, bacteria, etc. As suggested above, to get any remaining grease from the tanning solution out of the fur, use a very fine-particle substance. Cornmeal was suggested, though I fine very fine sawdust works best. I have worked with cornmeal and am not very happy with it. Plus, depending where you live, it can be very hard to get alot of it cheap or free. I get my sawdust from a local Home Depot. Go to their "Sawing Station" where they cut plywood boards and other stock wood for people. Ask them for there sawdust and they should do it quickly no problem and completely free.

Very fine sawdust like that from Home Depot I have found works best for getting grease out of any fur. Lay the hide down (preferably outside) and simply rub in handfuls of sawdust into it until you have packed the fur full of it. Then, proceed to flap, swing, snap, and beat around the pelt until all of the sawdust comes out. Do not worry about the fur coming out, as the hide is already tanned and dried at this point. After that, not all of the grease may have come out, so just repeat until you think it is grease-free. At this point, I will do 2 extra cycles because this really fine sawdust actually greatly fluffs and improves the fur itself. Once you do it, you will be amazed by how soft and comfortable the fur comes out when you apply the sawdust a few times. As you can tell, I emphasize the use of this sawdust as it has worked miracles for me, especially when dealing with coons.

-Long time braintanner and new forum member. Happy to help or answer any tanning-related questions

 

[GBov]

Whether you used mayo, eggs, or brains for tanning, do not worry about washing them out or about the fur until you are done stretching the hide. Once the fur is left to sit overnight with the tanning solution on it (brains, eggs, etc.), the fur may have gotten a little greasy from the solution getting into it around the edges or even further in. This is not a worry and is an easy fix. Nor should you worry about the flesh side seeming greasy or wet or having leftover residue from the tanning solution on it (e.g. bits of brains). Once you begin stretching the hide you will notice it will dry up quickly and begin to feel nice on the skin side. When you stretch, because it is such a small thin hide (as opposed to coons or opossum), it should not take long for it to fully dry and be done. Because of this, I would suggest that you constantly stretch it until it fully dries with at most 1 or 2 five-minute breaks.
IF YOU HAVE TO STOP STRETCHING while the hide is still moist for any reason, DO NOT just leave it. You can roll it up, toss it in a bag, and toss it in the FREEZER. This will preserve the moisture in the hide and it can be taken out again and be continued stretching. Don't leave the half-stretched hide in the freezer for too long, as it can get freezer-burn.

Now that the hide is fully stretched and softened, you can focus on the fur. The fur should be relatively clean to begin with, as you should have washed the hide thoroughly in water before you tanned it just to clean it of any debris, bacteria, etc. As suggested above, to get any remaining grease from the tanning solution out of the fur, use a very fine-particle substance. Cornmeal was suggested, though I fine very fine sawdust works best. I have worked with cornmeal and am not very happy with it. Plus, depending where you live, it can be very hard to get alot of it cheap or free. I get my sawdust from a local Home Depot. Go to their "Sawing Station" where they cut plywood boards and other stock wood for people. Ask them for there sawdust and they should do it quickly no problem and completely free.

Very fine sawdust like that from Home Depot I have found works best for getting grease out of any fur. Lay the hide down (preferably outside) and simply rub in handfuls of sawdust into it until you have packed the fur full of it. Then, proceed to flap, swing, snap, and beat around the pelt until all of the sawdust comes out. Do not worry about the fur coming out, as the hide is already tanned and dried at this point. After that, not all of the grease may have come out, so just repeat until you think it is grease-free. At this point, I will do 2 extra cycles because this really fine sawdust actually greatly fluffs and improves the fur itself. Once you do it, you will be amazed by how soft and comfortable the fur comes out when you apply the sawdust a few times. As you can tell, I emphasize the use of this sawdust as it has worked miracles for me, especially when dealing with coons.

-Long time braintanner and new forum member. Happy to help or answer any tanning-related questions

Welcome WELCOME!!! Thank you so much for the great info!

I have now done a few more brain tanned hides - rabbit - another mayo one and one with just hand lotion.

Have to say the hand lotion smells a bit better than the brains :lol:

It takes MORE THAN ONE RABBIT BRAIN to cure one rabbit hide but they do a super job, they just come out a bit strong smelling. NOT bad, just strong.

After I get a few more done the kids and I will have a fire and smoke them. Once the fire pit is dry that is, the rain just wont stop!

Next time I am at Lowes or Home Depo I will ask for some saw dust, my mayo tanned hide is still a little on the greasy side.