What you said about the glue in the hide getting wet and making it hard and stiff again is called Hide Glue. Hide glue is an old traditional glue used in woodworking and furniture making and is typically used to glue a wood Veneer on something like a table top. Or glue a spindle on a chair. It can be reworked if you have to do a repair by wetting it again to soften it and then apply more Hide Glue to fix it. Hide glue is actually Gelatin. You can make hide glue by boiling the rawhide and then draining off the water solution and letting it set and then dehydrate it to store it. Then mix the dry hide glue in hot water when you need it to make glue to use in woodworking.
Read a book called From Deerskins to Buckskins. Buddy of mine shot a deer and I thought tanning that hide would be interesting. Turns out it's a bit of an learning curve. Got excellent results but it's a lot of work. I respect and appreciate anyone who has the industry and talent to make items from natural materials. Woniya does an good job in the these videos.
Wow, thank you for sharing your knowledge. My young son shot a hare in Australia and wanted to skin it and try and use it.... so dad hit youtube and have been completely confused by different info for days. But here it is.... clear , succinct well layed out, easy to undrrstand and follow! THANK YOU!
This video series is surely the best explanation and demonstration of brain tanning I have ever watched or read. It completely demystified the process. Thank you, - Martin
I was watching Alone and saw your buckskin coat, went to youtube to research how to make one. Low and behold, you were one of the first channels to pop up!
YES. I've been looking for a video like this for a while. This is the only video on youtube I can find of someone saying what the brains are actually doing to the hide during this process. Thanks!
love everything native and was taught there ways by my grandfather. i always wanted buck skin pants and moccasins one day i will. im all about the natural ways. im a bow hunter so it just fits. i use a stick and string no modern bow.
Hi Matthew, Wow, that is so great to hear! You are very welcome and thanks for letting me know. Super excited to encourage more folks in general to get into brain tanning, but a major goal in my life is to encourage young girls and women to get involved in such things and be a positive role model for them to show them they are capable of whatever they set their minds too. Thanks for encouraging your daughter and believing in her!
@@BuckskinRevolution your videos are incredible and I am very excited to get my first deer and do this ! is there any videos for tanning buckskin and keeping the fur on? If not is the process very different or do you just skip the scraping part?
I spent hours (many) a few years back on learning to tan. Thank you so much for this video. My best guesstimate is that you would have saved me at least 30 hours if I'd seen this first... or even at all during that fiasco. I think I may just give it another try.
You are so awesome sis, thanks for taking the time to put these together for us. We definitely gonna watch all these but this intro was excellent. Hey what if we came up with a different word since it's not 'tanning'. For a few possibilities maybe refer to these other methods that instead manipulate the proteins as 'healing', 'taming', or 'protioning' (pro-shin-ing). Try 'em on and see what you think and then we have a word more suitable 🙂 Maybe put it to a vote for those of the community of tanning that want to pick what they like best and allow other proposals to be considered as well. And after we find a common consensus and word most suitable and that people like start introducing it and others will likely get on board over time. Especially as we would promote the new word for these other methods to the communities who do this type of work and tell them why as 'tanning' is not really accurate and self defeating😁
you're a natural teacher; no doubt about it.. No hesitations on topics and information, very well detailed, and well presented. Super informative and I have my first buckskin in the freezer for brain tanning this year. I'm super excited to try and will be using your guide for sure!! Thanks miss!!!
very cool! Good luck with your first buckskin! I have an online skills gathering happening g right now with more detailed instructions as this series on youtube is just an introduction, and will eventually be putting out a full length brain tanning course for a yet swept dive. Sign up for the mailing list on my website if you want to hear more about them
I only wanted to know how to soften a washed commercial sheep skin rug. Amazing to discover an entire field exists. I would love to see some of the garments you have created.
Was watching some great videos on brain tanning hides. Today was the first time I had ever seen any of your videos. Can't remember which video but you were talking about your (not struggle) but the bad taste in your mouth at how men view women. The attention you get bc of your looks of physical attributes. I can see how you turn some heads. That's just men. But the second I seen your first video; with all do respect I said 'that is the most sexiest woman alive'. But it wasn't bc of how pretty or of any kinda sexual attraction it was just that you are that beautiful of a person inside as much as outside. So smart and driven and so confident. Wish there were a lot more women in this world like you. Glad to see that some of us still get it. Hope you keep inspiring other women and men. Ur the the only woman alive that is sexy on accident lol Much love
This is awesome and probably one of the best videos on the process. what i would like to know, after watching the entire series, is can I use a cased hide instead of gluing two together? i just wonder if it would be easier to work..... especially during the smoking process. thanks for sharing your knowledge! and let's pray we can encourage others to learn this craft rather than pollute the environment for our convenience.
Awesome presentation. How do you not have your own TV show? You should be famous lol. If a Kardashian is God knows you should be. My Grandfather was full Cherokee. Started teaching me tanning at 5 years old. Thank you for your time and this series. I for one am grateful💪💪❤
Great video instruction! You have given me the confidence to try this out. I currently have my first hide with hair slip and I am about to remove the hair, grain, and membrane. I was wondering what options do I have to preserve the hide until I can do the brain work and softening? Freezing would be ideal for me but I’m not sure if it will damage the hide.
I looked you up after I watched Alone and I’m so grateful for your videos! I successfully skinned my first deer the way you teach and I’m ready for tanning! I have one question for you. For the deer that we are proud of and want to hang on the wall, do you have any recommendations on getting the brain out without damaging the skull?
great question. You can get them out from the hole in the back of the skull where it meets the spine, but it's tricky. You need to use either a teeny spoon or a hook to mush the brains up so they can be extracted through that hole, which will be rather slow and painstaking, but possible
Fascinated. Currently don’t have access to any hides, but wondering if I could experiment with some rawhide I had for drum making. Do you think that would work? Just to start to get a feel for the process?
Hi Erin. Maybe? It would depend o the raw hide, what kind of skin it is and how it was processed. A lot of drum head are goat hide and those can be made i to buckskin just like i describe, though goat can be a bit harder to scrape than deer hide so o would recommend bucking it, i have a separate video for that. the only additional step then would be rinsing it in moving water - a stream or even a bucket with a hose in it would do, for 24 hours, then soak it for an hour i a bucket of water with a cup of vinegar added. this neutralizes the lime. if its cow hide or some other hide it might not be suitable for buckskin though
Do you sell buck skin pants. I think I would like to hav a pair if you did sell. Or make them. I work outside and think they would be awesome. I like your passion for it so I know it would be a nice product.
I was given several frozen hides- I live in central Florida and I am wanting to thaw the hides maybe 2 at a time. I hear several different ways to thaw, but then I hear that those ways are wrong- what would be your suggestion on how to thaw- some for buckskin and some for fur on rugs?
The dressing can be either blended brains and water, or an egg yolk solution like I use here. the process and effects are the same regardless of the dressing used. I prefer brains but they are a lot harder to come by so I often use egg yolks instead
Wonderful, that's always the best way. I recommend putting them in the blender with a bit of water to make a fine paste. You'll get a lot more out of them that way. Then you'll want to add them to boiling water because they do harbor bacteria so it's good to start with them sterile
I'm actually about to go soften two hides right now, just trying to get a look at other people's softening techniques. I've tanned off and on for about ten years.
wild hare have incredibly thin skins and many consider them virtually untannable as the skin tear so easily, but i know folks who have done it. I fond the rabbit rope technique better for wild hares
I apologize if I am asking a question answered in the video. Would this method work for farm raised rabbits? I am wanting to use as much of each animal I process so making good use of the hides and using the brain to do so is particularly interesting to me!
I raised rabbits for meat for many years and yes, tanned their hides using these methods. There are a lot of differences when working with furs, as you aren't scraping them and don't want to soak the furs in the dressing g like you do with buckskin, etc, but the fundamental processes and ingredients are the same, with adjusted techniques. I have an online rabbit fur tanning class that was part of my last gathering and will eventually have it or something similar out as a short course, as well as having it show up as part of future online skills gatherings!
No, buckskin is the polar opposite of what you want for water resistance: The most water resistant part of a hide is the grain layer, and that is removed in buckskin making it very absorbent. Bark tanned leather is what you'd want for weather resistant clothing
@@BuckskinRevolution Okay gotcha, thank you very much. Do you know if keeping the hair from a deer on the hide would help make it more weather resistant?
most folks who are into brain tanned buckskin tend to be more interested in natural dyes. I did spill some slurpee o my pants once though and i was tempted to dip them on a vat of it. Kokand would result in very pale colors that fade fast in the sun though
@@BuckskinRevolution I imagine it may seem like a silly question but I have seen some unexpectedly good results using kool aid as a dye with other things. you never know. Thanks for the response.
hahaha, i was thinking the same thing. my first time watching because i needed to learn raw hide de-stanking, glad i found you, ill be spending the next few days watching your videos soooooo, thanks for that, i guess im not getting anything else done. seriously though, love your skills and your style.
I am indeed on a "mad tanning frenzie".😆 I am currently finishing my second salmon skin with 4 halibut skins soaking. These are my first 2 projects. Due to consuming content like yours, I have made leather. Thanks immensely for that.😁
Thank you this tutorial is very helpful since I prefer to make things completely from scratch. I work at a history museum as an young interpreter to represent native Americans in 1607 even though I'm Mexican and only a little bit native but I hope I'm not being disrespectful lol. I like how you respect the deer that you're tanning which I haven't seen with a lot of people on RU-vid doing that. I'm very much against modern day tanning so this was actually helpful thank you so much
Hello thank you so much for the videos they are a big help. I have a question though, I just got a deer skin that is super red from them not bleeding it out properly will that scrape out or not show when the tanning is done?
Your instruction and information is so much better than the hundred or so other videos i have seen.Your detailed explanation of what is happening to the skin at each stage is fantastic. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I have had a piece of deer skin at home salted and dried for several years and want to try and tan it myself. your videos and instructions are a fantastic way for me to know what to do without ruining it.
