Brain Tanning

[RyanR]

I may have to put that book on my Christmas list. I have 3 brains and 3 hides in the freezer so I should be all set.

[lenador]

Okay I gave brain tanning a shot. It worked pretty good but I couldn't flesh the hide well enough so some sections didn't turnout very soft. That was my fault though. Time to invest in a fleshing knife.

[Pappy]

I use a dull draw knife with the hide on a fleshing beam,[ 8 inch Poplar tree split in half ] it also works much better fresh or wet if you had it frozen, if it starts to dry out it makes fleshing it much tougher. 
   Pappy

[Saxton]

I just bought Deerskins to Buckskins by Matt Richards.

Really good book, this guy knows how to convey what's needed to tan so that it is understandable.

From the sheer number of times I have heard people recommend that book, I have to assume it qualifies as a good reference on the subject.

I went from my first buckskin(Rawhide)sounding like popcorn in my hands, to my second a soft smooth piece of buckskin following that step by step . it saves a lot of guess work in brain tanning if you have no one around to show you the ropes .

[tipi stuff]

If most of the hide comes out pretty soft, but you still have a few stiff areas: smoke it real good and then brain it again. The soft parts will stay soft and you only need to work on the stiff areas. Curtis