Any tanneries that take deer skins

[Benthejockey]

Shot a lovely cull buck this afternoon. Wife wants the skin. Weve salted the skin and shes had a look for tanneries and cant find much on tinterwebs so I thought Id come to the oracle.

[figgy]

Tan the hide yourself, keep the brains and scrape the skin to remove all the meat and fat, stitch it to a frame then boil the brains and paint in on the inside of the skin it will tan the hide for you. You can also buy the tanning solutions online if wish but watch Tom Ord do it on Mountain men the results are worth it.

[moor man]

Devonia in Buckfastleigh, S.Devon used to cure deer hides but have recently stopped due to problems with;

a)poorly salted skins contaminating other good ones.

b) Complaints re hair loss and damage to skins.

c) Customers refusing to pay for substandard skins on collection, due mainly to their own lack of initial care.

It was never ideal, 3 month waiting time and about £35 from memory

 

I will do my own from now on, going to use K. Tanning Kit.

Speed and preparation is the key, oh and loads of salt.I you can't deal with it quickly get it freezer asap.

Edited October 15, 2017 by moor man

[dodeer]

Tan the hide yourself, keep the brains and scrape the skin to remove all the meat and fat, stitch it to a frame then boil the brains and paint in on the inside of the skin it will tan the hide for you. You can also buy the tanning solutions online if wish but watch Tom Ord do it on Mountain men the results are worth it.

Yuk.

 

Devonia tanneries will still do them, but are very picky on quality they take in.

A taxidermist can also send off to Germany for you or do themselves but quality costs.

[Benthejockey]

Hmm theres a woman at Hereford that we found on tinterwebs but she reckons 12 month turn around.

[steve_b_wales]

Snowdonia Taxidermy supplies sell tanning kits. I use them to cure fox tails, rabbit skins and have also done one or two fox skins. The skins need a lot of preparation first, but once this is done, it's a matter of soaking the skin/s in the solution for a few days.

[Benthejockey]

Tried a few places and theyve said no to deer so snowdonia are going to be getting a bit of my cash. So any destructions on what to do? I was going to re salt tomorrow with fresh salt and probably again on wed/Thursday and hopefully start tanning it Saturday. If will need scraping to get any rememants of fat and meat off it. Whats the best way to scrape it? Will it need stretching? If it needs stretching does it need a frame or would a sheet of ply do the job?

[steve_b_wales]

Tried a few places and theyve said no to deer so snowdonia are going to be getting a bit of my cash. So any destructions on what to do? I was going to re salt tomorrow with fresh salt and probably again on wed/Thursday and hopefully start tanning it Saturday. If will need scraping to get any rememants of fat and meat off it. Whats the best way to scrape it? Will it need stretching? If it needs stretching does it need a frame or would a sheet of ply do the job?

The most important thing is to get as much flesh/fat from it. I used an old piece of slate to remove the fat on a fox hide. I didn't stretch it, but just pinned it out on a sheet of plywood. Wash the skin thoroughly before immersing it in the solution. The kit makes 2 gallons, so plenty enough for the deer hide.

 

[figgy]

As Ive put watch Tom Ord do you will see all you need to do scraping and stretching. Regardless of what you tan it with. His buck skins are sought after and fetch top dollar.

Edited October 17, 2017 by figgy

[Benthejockey]

Ive just bought the tanning chemicals. I mentioned brain tan to Mrs BTJ and she said something that sounded like duck off. Im going to try Ktan rather than the white tan that you use Steve, brushing it on sounds like a better plan than having to find a container to soak it in. Ill post photos once its done if it works.

[Longstrider]

Stripping the lower layers of skin, flesh, and fat from a hide is easy work if you wrap it around a barrel or water-butt, and have at it with a pressure washer

Edited October 17, 2017 by Longstrider

[Benthejockey]

I saw an American video of it having a good stripping with a pressure washer this afternoon. Would I need to dry it again after pressure washing before I tried to tan it or would it be fine to tan it whilst it was wet?

[steve_b_wales]

I saw an American video of it having a good stripping with a pressure washer this afternoon. Would I need to dry it again after pressure washing before I tried to tan it or would it be fine to tan it whilst it was wet?

The kit I recommended to you can be used with wet hides. Read the instructions on the one you are thinking of buying.

[Jonty]

Ben, take some pictures when you do it mate, it would make a really interesting post. I had an American friend over recently who suggested that a serving spoon made a really good flesh scraper by the way.

[Benthejockey]

The kit arrived yesterday. Enough toxic powders to do 2 sheep skins or a lot of rabbits! Started fleshing at lunch...its a LONG process! Had a good hour at it until my thumbs were aching from pushing the scraper and so tried the American way. Got the pressure washer hooked up! You need a pressure washer with a rotating stream rather than a single jet. It DIDNT come off as easy as it did in the YouTube video I watched. But once Id blasted all the salt off and rehydrated the skin it seemed to come off in fairly large clumps.

Once I think I finished I gave it a blast with the hose and washed the fur with detergent and then washed it off with warm water. By Christ I was ready for the warm water by then!!!

Once it had dripped dry and Id had a brew to warm I mixed up the pickle. It said to wear gloves, goggles, an apron and a mask...so I chose not to give it the taste test. I painted it on, the powder makes just over 2 pints and the skin took on the thick end of a pint.

It pickles for 24 hours then I get to mix up the Ktan. The process should be read for neutralisation by Monday I expect, 1 dose of pickle and 2 doses of tanning solution, then neutralise Monday and soften Tuesday. I hope it works. Ive never fleshed anything before so I dont know if Ive done a good enough job or what will happen if I havent done a good enough job.

[Mice!]

Making for an interesting read whatever happens.

[Benthejockey]

Hmm So today was tanning day. Mix I bag of evil looking green powder with 4 pints of hot water and stir vigorously avoiding spillage, burnage, staining the kitchen green or poisoning the cat...no panic we havent got a cat. Lucky cat I might have tried tanning the little blighter if I had one. I digress.

The pickle had sat for 24 hours and there was a noticeable change in the skin. I wouldnt say it was sharp like the instructor suggested but the texture had changed and it was visibly quite white so Im thinking it worked. Now was time to apply nasty green liqueur to the skin. Paint it on with a brush again and fold it up for a couple of hours then reapply and leave to bake at garage temperature for 24 hours. After the first go I could see where Id done a better job fleshing and where Id done a not so good job. But what had gone on as a sort of pond sludge green had mostly gone into the skin and dried back a greyish colour. Hopefully tomorrow night itll be cured. I may add a second dose of tan just because my fleshing wasnt great in places I think. I could be doing myself a disservice but Id rather over cure it than not cure it enough and it goes wrong.

 

Anyone know how they flesh skins on an industrial scale?

[crossy 666]

Any chance you could add some pictures ben ?

Any chance you could add some pictures ben ?

[Benthejockey]

Ill take a photo today. I didnt get chance to do anything to it yesterday, we were off competing and the team captain took a serious fall and I had to run round the place sorting the horses and his yard out. He dislocated a shoulder and hip and fractured his pelvis.

[figgy]

Industrial scale the skins go through rollers with a thin sharp blade that peels the flesh away leaving the skins ready to cure.

[Benthejockey]

I thought to look on YouTube after I posted that figgy! Quite interesting how they do it.

I went back and watched a few more videos of skins being pressure washed to flesh them, it looked to me like they hadnt been as tight as me when they skinned theirs and there was quite a bit of meat left on the hide. I could be wrong but hopefully me being frugal and wanting every scrap of meat off the carcass meant I saved myself some work fleshing.

Right a quick recap. Shot him Saturday, skinned him and salted the hide the same day. Resulted the hide Wednesday. Fleshed, washed and applied the pickle Friday. Tanned Saturday. Completely missed Sunday because of my mate trying to kill himself jumping off his horse. Reapplied tanning solution last night. Probably not essential but Id rather do an extra tan than ruin it by it not tanning properly.

Tonight Ill chrck its tanned through to the roots of the hair by cutting into the thickest edge and checking its changed colour. And hopefully apply the neutraliser. It texture had noticeably altered and looked leathery so I think its working. Ive got a few pics but I dont have an account other than photo bucket to put them up yet.

[steve_b_wales]

Looking forward to seeing the end result.

[Benthejockey]

So am I. It seems relatively straightforward which is worrying me a bit 😬 Im enjoying doing it and if it works itll be a great talking piece.

[Mice!]

Get yourself a photo resizer for free, really easy it just copies your pic and you choose what size kb you need so you can post your pics.

 

Is the hide going to used as a rug or going up on your wall?

[Benthejockey]

Its going to be a throw for one of the chairs. Not the every day sofas but the sofa thats only ever sat on by guests for special occasions. I dont understand it either it must be a woman thing!