Questions:Tannery Home Tanning Kit

[username]

Has anyone used Tannery's Basic Home Tanning Kit?

 

I'm normally good at following directions. However, their home tanning book is difficult to follow.  For example, what is Step 1?

 

After the Introduction, Additional Items, and Conditions of the Hide sections, comes the "Soaking of the Hide" section.  Which appears to be first, but states that "the best time to start soaking up a salt dried hide."  No mention of first salting???

 

A few sections later in "Preserving the Hide" they say before salting the hide, fleshing must be completed???  So we're back to pre-salting???

 

The booklet then proceeds in some logical order: (1) tack, (2) flesh, (3) sew, but then goes to (4) re-salting???  Again, when was the first salting?

 

Anyhow, would this be the correct order?

 

(1) tack the hide to a 4x8 piece of plywood.

(2) remove flesh and fat.

(3) salt - (how many days - 5?)

(4) soak

(5) drain

(5) re-salt

(6) tanning creme

(7) applying oil

 

If anyone can point me in the correct order, I would greatly appreciate it.  I checked their website, however, directions there were convoluted as well.  It seemed like directions for people sending in their hides.

Edited December 31, 2016 by username

[Bucndoe]

Get the stuff in the orange bottle, much easier

[Pauls Taxidermy]

Salt 24 hours, hide will drain, resalt another 24, soak until pliable or green, drain. No resalting, cream oil. You will have to break hide as its drying or you will end up with a dried piece of cardboard. Ad says for Moose and Elk, would love to see an amateur try to tan a 1/2 inch thick Moose hide with this stuff, just had a green frozen cape shipped, 65 pounds, hide would be around 100. LOL

[username]

... soak until pliable or green, drain. 

 

Hi and thanks for the help.

 

Day 2, removed old salt and replaced with new.  Hide was somewhat pliable and not cardboard-like at all.

 

Roughly speaking, how long should the soak take?  Hours, days?

 

Thanks again!

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

 

I don't home tan, so I can't give you any advise on that product.

 

But a thought.. unless you really want to do it yourself..

 

You can take the salted hide and put it in a box and send it to a tannery and have it tanned fairly cheap at this point.. that's what most taxidermists do.

You will get it back in roughly 4 months and it will be soft, smell nice, and so much better than it will be if you do it yourself (no offense, it's better than any home tan kit, not just yours)

 

 

 

http://www.jerseyjaystaxidermy.com

[username]

This hide was more of a learning process than anything else.  Nothing special about the hide.

 

In the future, I probably will ship out a worthwhile hide.  Undoubtedly, the professionals will do a better job.

 

With the kit and salt, I am a little over $40.00 spent.  Not counting time of course.
 

Anyhow, I agree with your advice Jersey Jay.  But for right now, looks like the hide gets soaked tomorrow!  We'll see how it turns out.  Anything short of throwing everything out will be a success.

 

At the very least, I have 10lbs of table salt for the next time it snows!