Buckskin Tanning
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
I used to always throw away the hides from the deer I shot, but a few years ago I bought a book called Deerskins Into Buckskins by Matt Richards. Since then, I've always tanned a few skins a year, making them into various items. For my latest one, I decided to do a follow allow post showing the technique.
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
Ready to be scraped
Ready to be scraped
First, when skinning the deer, take care not to cut any holes in it. Those will have to be sewn up later. I don't have a pic, but after the hide is off, I put in on my fleshing beam and flesh it clean. This is a pretty quick process. The hide is then bagged up and put in the freezer. When I want to tan, which is during the slow period of winter here in ND, I will thaw the hide out, and put a couple in 10 gallons of water mixed with a half cup of potassium hydroxide. This is called bucking, and will cause the grain of the hide to swell up. After 3 or 4 days in the soak, it goes back on the fleshing beam.
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
Scraping with my 2 handled fleshing knife with the grain, the process is take off the hair and also the grain. You can see in the picture the white color of the skin, with the darker grain to the left. You don't just scrape the hair off but the grain too. This is a fairly physical step of the process.
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
After all the hair and grain are scraped off, it goes into a bucket with 3 gallons of water and a pint of vinegar to neutralize the KOH left in the hide. The next morning, with the hide stretchy again, it's flipped over on the beam and the membrane opposite the hair side is scraped. This is a quick step. The next step is the dressing. Instead of using brains, I use a quarter bar of Fels-Naptha soap and a quarter cup of Neet's Foot Oil in a half gallon of water.
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
The skin is swished around the the dressing, and taken out after an hour or so.
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
The hide is then looped on a solid beam, and a "donut" is made. A stick is inserted, and the hide is twisted to get as much moisture out as possible. After getting all the moisture out, it's stretched, and then put back into the dressing. This step is then repeated. Doing the dressing twice ensures the hide is completely soaked with dressing.
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
After the second squeeze, the hide is pulled apart, and any holes sewn up. I use a glover's needle and Fireline to sew. This buck was shot at only 12 yards, and the exit hole was very low in the the chest, so I have only 1 hole to sew.
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
At this point I will allow the hide to air dry for a half hour or so, as there is a lot of work to be done soon......
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
Part of the hide will be white, and other parts bluish. The bluish is still wet, while the white is drying. I start stretching the hide over my legs and/or over a chair. Right now I'm just trying to get it all stretched and ready to go.
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
This step is physical and repetitive. As the hide starts to whiten and dry, I will use the claw of a hammer to loosen the fibers and buff the hide. As the hide is rotated, it will start to dry, especially in the thinner areas. A sound like a far off summer thunderstorm will come from the skin that is dry.
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
It's interesting to see the various scars on a hide. This buck apparently had a fair amount of ticks on his neck.
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
After 4-6 hours of work, the hide will be done. If it can be stretched and rebound, it is complete. The skin is not a uniform thickness, and the neck and hind quarters will be a bit thicker than the belly. We only have one step left...
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
The hide is dry and stretchy now. But, if it gets wet, it will go right back to wet skin. We need to smoke it. The smoke adds color, but more importantly, the chemicals in the smoke will complete the tanning process, and render it waterproof. Two skins are put together. I use binder clips to put them front to front. A denim jean leg is sewn on the neck, and they are hung from my garage rafters. I have a steel garbage can, with a hole cut in the lid. Punky wood is put in the can, and ignited. After burning for a little while, I smother it with the lid, and place it under the denim leg. All the smoke rises up through the skins. After an hour or so, depending on how fast the color is changing, the hides are done.
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
Pair of buckskins complete and ready to be crafted in clothing!
From: jmiller
05-Mar-17
I started tanning because I hated to see the skins thrown away. Besides, a guy can only rabbit hunt so much in the winter! I've made a jacket out of buckskin, and will be making pants and moccasins this summer.
From: kota-man
05-Mar-17
Wow...great projects. What a process!
From: lewis
05-Mar-17
Xx kota
From: osage
05-Mar-17
I did a deer hide this winter using the same process. Fels Naptha / Neetsfoot oil. Turns out great with a bit of effort. Did an elk hide also, and that is LOTS of work. Used salt and aluminum sulfate on the elk. Turned out rather stiff for some reason. Have enough for about a dozen Bongo drums.
From: Drahthaar
05-Mar-17
Cool, thanks for sharing. Forrest
From: orionsbrother
05-Mar-17
Great thread!
From: MF
06-Mar-17
Nice! I use the same book. So far I've made a shirt and chaps for the bike.
From: MF
06-Mar-17
From: jmiller
06-Mar-17
Very cool!
From: Overland
06-Mar-17
Excellent thread. Thanks for posting!
From: kellyharris
09-Mar-17
This is a very cool thread!
I always wondered how buckskin was made.
It's a lot of work but a really cool outcome.
Do different wood species used for smoking cause different colors?
From: jmiller
09-Mar-17
kellyharris It's kinda odd. I had some smoke up much darker, and the next batch lighter. It really depends on the skins. I've never used softwood, just hardwood. Some guys will use walnut hulls to dye the buckskins real dark, but I like the natural "buckskin" color.
From: MF
09-Mar-17
I used a few branches off a Christmas tree once to get some thick smoke and the hide actually looked kinda green-gray, definitely a different color.
From: JH
09-Mar-17
Cool, any pics of what you made from them.
From: Scar Finga
09-Mar-17
MF... Was that white jacket with the tassels for Elvis???? Just Kidding!!! that is very cool and you guys are very talented!
Looks like fun to do, it would have to be a summer project for me as it is stinking hot here. A good excuse to stay in the air conditioned shop:)
Scar.