Beaver Hide Tanning - Part 2 of 2

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In these videos I will show how to brain tan a beaver hide with the hair on using the dry-scrape method.
In part 1 I showed you the basic set up and the tools you needed to scrape the hide, as well as the basic scraping method.
In part 2 I show you what to look for to know when to stop scraping, and I talk about what to do next to transform the scraped hide into a nice brain-tanned pelt.
And I want to clarify when, at the end, I say to let the hide dry in between brainings. You don't want to let the hide dry all the way; just let most of the moisture escape so that it's just damp and not soaking wet. That will help the brains to be better absorbed by the hide.

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1 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 16

@StropSharp 9 лет назад

Thanks Xavier for keeping these some what lost skill alive. I happen to be Lakota and have gravitated toward preserving some furs for my self, rather than sell them all to a fur buyer. Its a shame the same people here who pretty much perfected hide handling have lost this skill. I would say only a handful know how to do some things related to leather work and its even more rare to find someone here who knows how to tan a hide. The kids too are not as involved on such mundane activities as working a hide and making clothing and tools from themselves. I just finished up with a Lakota culture class and one of the projects for the class was to kill a buffalo and butcher it, and put the hide up on a frame and flesh it. I was elected to shoot the animal, since I had the right equipment and WOW! what an experience that was. There were at least a dozen people working on this animal and it still took us 7hrs from start to clean up. I was worn to a frazzle by the end of the day. I enjoyed the class none the less, it was incredible! If I were to do that again I would prefer the mobile butcher...That was a lot of dang meat!...haha I plan on making me a fur poncho or jacket out of the coyotes I kill, so the only question I have for now is did I hear you mention you would submerge the whole coyote pelt in the brain solution? and does this brain solution collect in the fur and become rancid later or does it rinse out ok? You been very detailed in you vids and I might of missed something. Thanks again Xavier your vids have been very informative.

@sustainprimitivelife 9 лет назад

C D Kennedy Thank you. Yes, it is a tragedy that the younger generations don't see the value and wisdom in ancestral skills. This summer we'll be running a series of workshops at the Native Interpretive Center in town and hopefully some kids from the Indian school on the rez will come to at least some of them. Last year they came and helped build a traditional pit house and it was a great success. We'll be teaching most our classes in there. Yes, you can submerge the whole hair-on hide in the brain solution. If the brains are too chunky they will definitely stick to the fur and that's a mess to get rid of, but if the brains are well liquefied then it rinses out very easily. All the best with all your projects. Let me know how they turn out and don't hesitate to ask more questions if you have any.

@shellysmith1518 2 года назад

Thank you for this question and reply! I'm still a bit concerned about oils on the hair. I'm working with axis deer hides, and so far have only done hair on to preserve the beautiful spots. However, between the grain layer and membrane layer they have been drying stiffer than I'd like (have not yet done hide shaving since the skins tend to be fairly thin.) I plan on doing a small doe hide in the way you have mentioned- dunking the entire hide in the tanning solution. While my goal is to eventually have brain, this hide will probably be done in an egg and olive oil emulsion. When you say "easy to rinse off", at what stage do you do this? It would seem silly to dry and soften the hide, only to then try and wash the fur side. However if you wash it when it comes out of solution, aren't you just introducing water back where you don't want it? How do I keep the hair side from being oily, while still getting the advantage of the tanning solution to both sides? Thank you for all your videos!

@musicisbrilliant 9 лет назад

AWESOME. Thank you Xavier!!!!!!

@star64blanket 5 лет назад

thanks for the video. I would really have liked to see how the beaver looked after braining and softening because they are different that deer hides.

@musicisbrilliant 9 лет назад

Sorry for all the questions Xavier :/ but is there a video where you show how to break and soften the hide by using the pole you were talking about?

@sustainprimitivelife 9 лет назад

musicisbrilliant No because I don't like doing that. It's very helpful for large hides that are too heavy to hold by hand but for small hides I personally prefer to do them by hand. But if you want you can do a search for "frame softening."

@musicisbrilliant 9 лет назад

Xavier de la Foret Thank you! Will do!!

@musicisbrilliant 9 лет назад

Hey Xavier, did you salt this one or just let it dry naturally without any drying agents? Do you usually salt them? Can they dry well on their own and is that a good way to go? Thats my biggest question now...

@sustainprimitivelife 9 лет назад

musicisbrilliant This one was not salted. It was framed then let to dry all by itself. I usually salt the hides I want to brain tan without the hair on and I just let my fur-on hides dry unless I'm concerned about bugs getting into the fur before I get to tan and smoke it, in which case I do go ahead and salt the hide to store it.

@musicisbrilliant 9 лет назад

Xavier de la Foret Invaluable info, thank you so much! Im feeling better about where Im at. Ill keep watching your videos. Thanks again my friend and KEEP IT UP! Youre amazing!

@shellysmith1518 2 года назад

I have always been under the impression that salt both preserves the hide if you're not freezing/drying it, and also sets the hair better to avoid slipping. You're saying that you normally will just dry your hair on hides and never salt them? So if I'm going to work a hide right away the salt isn't needed? Have I been wasting salt!?! Thank you for all you do!