Sandezy1517
New member
Hello,
I'm fairly new to tanning in general and had some quesitons about the most reacent attempt to bark tan a rabbit hide. The hide was 3 days off the rabbit and kept in the freezer until I was ready. I fleshed the hide with a butterknife until there wasn't any slimy membrane on the skin side. I boiled Pondarosa Pine bark and placed the hide in the solution after it had cooled. I pulled it out every day to squeeze it and observe it. It slowly dyed the skin-side a nice brown and the hair was staying in. I changed the solution halfway through and tried my best to keep in within the 40-70 degree temp. I pulled it out of the solution this morning (7th day) to squeeze it and see if it was ready to come out. I squeezed it and the hair on the hide began to come out in patches all over the hide and the hair-side skin was slimy and white. Something similar happened to an elk hide I tried Alum on. Is there a flaw in the process I'm using to bark tan? What would cause the hair to fall out after 7 days in the bark solution? What can I do to keep the hair on the hide?
Thank you for your help
I'm fairly new to tanning in general and had some quesitons about the most reacent attempt to bark tan a rabbit hide. The hide was 3 days off the rabbit and kept in the freezer until I was ready. I fleshed the hide with a butterknife until there wasn't any slimy membrane on the skin side. I boiled Pondarosa Pine bark and placed the hide in the solution after it had cooled. I pulled it out every day to squeeze it and observe it. It slowly dyed the skin-side a nice brown and the hair was staying in. I changed the solution halfway through and tried my best to keep in within the 40-70 degree temp. I pulled it out of the solution this morning (7th day) to squeeze it and see if it was ready to come out. I squeezed it and the hair on the hide began to come out in patches all over the hide and the hair-side skin was slimy and white. Something similar happened to an elk hide I tried Alum on. Is there a flaw in the process I'm using to bark tan? What would cause the hair to fall out after 7 days in the bark solution? What can I do to keep the hair on the hide?
Thank you for your help
