requested- tan-a-long

[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

ok since the recent request from my egg tanned bobcat for a tan-a-long, i have tanned a muskrat and "documented" the process i used,  to show you how it can be easy.  this is my adapted method, i got a little info "here" and a little info "there", but i have used what i felt  was needed and left out what i didnt. others may agrue the steps or decisions i made, so i dont want to knock anyone elses styles, but this is what works for me . it is very easy and took me a total time or 3-4 hours to tan this muskrat over a period of 2 afternoons, so grap your pelts and start tanning.

also, this is where i got the request from and see most of the tanning questions, so if iposted it in the wrong part of the forum then by all means move it

i started with a muskrat that i got from huntertrapper
let start with salting- its not completely needed but it can help you out by saving you time and if you work all day like me it gives you a break from nonstop working. i think how you salt is an important step so i am goin to list how i do it.
do a decent fleshing job, but doesnt have to be perfect, now rub it in salt, everywhere skin is. make sure you get all the corners and every bit of wet looking skin. USE LOTS OF SALT, when you think you have used a lot, use some more. once it is totally covered, dump more salt on until its just falls off when you trty to pick it up.     Now, lay it out flat, with skin side out\up. and let it drain all the YUCK outa it overnight
 In the morning, shake the yuck salt off and rub freash salt in. heavy aswell. lots of salt! now roll it up  fur side out and you can store it for a while if you want to walk away for a day or so it will be fine. if you want to leave it for a number of days, put it in the fridge so it doesnt dry out too much.
After instruction, huntertrapper salted it for me before he sent it. He did an excellent job of salting, but unfortunatly i have no pictures of the process.

Next comes fleshing-  leave the salt on. dont wet the hide any unless aABSOLUTLY needed, the salt will aid you in fleshing. i do it over a 2x4 fro convienience. you can scrape if you like but i used a good sharp fleshing knife to speed the process along. this prep time is the most important, so tak etyuor time and pace yourself.  ever bit of meat, fat and membrane must be removed.
so start fleshing.

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[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

ok lets finish fleshing,
peeling the membrane- somtimes it works well sometimes it doenst, if it does you ae lucky, always try peeling it first, it will save you loads of time.  and there are many layers, if it wants to peel, peel whatevr you can. you want it as clean as possible. work with several fingers and try to peel small amounts at a time so it stays on one continuos peel
scrapping- its a cold reality, your gonna have to do it some, i personally dont like it. but its nothing more than scrapping the membrane loose. use a rock or knife or whatever....



more to come so hold on!

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[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

ok stretch it out
a piece of ply wood works well. i start "north to south" then east \west, i guess it doesnt matter how you get there as long as it is even and the rinkles pulled out.  tack it with nails or staple or tacks-...whatever
use the least amount of tacks that you can get away with, you will thank yourself later while you are trying to work around then and catching you knuckles on them.

now as the pelt drys the initial slop off itself, use a piece of stone or 80 grit sandpaper and lightly sand it skin one way until it turns white all over and litle bits of the remaining membrane come loose, now sand it the other way.

when its all sanded, mix up 2 eggs with a splash or so of water, white, yolks and all. mix it well this is what i like to call the "salmanilia solution"  ok now pour some on the skin and rub it in vigorously and let dry in the sun for about an hour or 2, when it starts to get a little dry, sand it again the same way and apply the solution again, now let it sit in the shade, for a few hours until it starts to dry up again,  then as it is still somewhat well apply the solution before bed and keep it indoors with NO fan hitting it , if it had dried out you will need to sand it again lightly.   when  you wake in the morning,   guess what......sand it and apply it.      leave it inside, and i go to work.......8 hours later i get home and take it off the board and the end picture is what i have


more to come...so hold on

now

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[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

ok lets  make it "tan"

i work mine over a piece of the fence.  just start gentle and work it back and forth, up, down, left , right. you can work it over a rock if you have one but make sure its not too sharp that it will rip it,
the hide should be kinda "papery" now and its goin to be a little brittle. and keep in mind that a rock will eat some of it away so if it fels thick in one area, hit it with the rock, if its thin, you dont want to remove any more dermal layers.

it should start turning white-tan in color, once it is uniform in color your getting close. it still may feel papery or thin and it ok, you still have to work it lots more.
always be working it somehow, between you fingers or over the post...whatever.

whoops, be carefull not to rip a hole in it by working it too hard while papery. i did this while getting mad, yelling at the dogs to quit trying to eat it.  but this rats  goin to be fur silencers in the end so no worries

i also like to gently crumble it like paper and then pull it out and cruple it over and over and then work it over the post again.

you can also lay it skin side down on you leg and flip a section over and the push it back and forth and it will work that way too.  i use this method a lot, it really seems to get it supple towards the end. just keep working it, the longer you spend, the softer it will get and the papery feeling will go away,  this will also mis align the hair if you too rough, so go kinda easy but it will look a little messy when your done, but we can fix it still

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[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

ok we are getting down to the end
once its soft and not papery, your about done.   go over to the post again and work it on it for a few minutes, the post will help re-align the hair patterns and make it look fluffy again.

remember, the skin must be very very very clean of membrane to make a good tan.  once you think you fleshed it good enough, walk away for 20 minutes and come back and find more. keep doing that until there is just nothing left to flesh. the mask of an animal can be the toughest part. eyes, lips, ears can really get you upset, if you dont want to deal with that on your frist one, just use a hide without a face. like just the back hair or somthing

after its al done, make a fire from some rotten wood and smake it up good, it will give it a pleasant smell (as if it wasnt already pleasant ) and help keep it from bug damage.
i havent done this part yet, but i will as soon as i strat a fire to cook some rocks
 
dont be afraid to work it again a litle over the next couple days to make sure it doesnt dry out more and get stiff, keep working it for 5 mins or so each day for a little while.  if it starts to get stiff, then it wasnt dry enough.  do it some more until its supple again.
i also wouldnt recommend doing your first one or 2 on a deer or anything large, start small, like a muskrat, squirrel, rabbit, maybe a fox or somthing.   save the big jobs for when you know what to expect.
coons, muskrats, and beavers may be oily, wash it good with dawn detergent before salting and let dry for a while.
after a few times you will start geting used to it and they will get better faster, just have fun with it, make it relaxing not a rush job.   any questions, dont hesitate to ask   -Ryan

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[huntertrapper]

thats a nice muskrat. oh yeah i trapped it. nice tan along twisted limbs. love it.

[keekeerun]

twistedlimbs I was going to buy a book on how to tan, cause i've never done it. But now I'm just going to print this off the computer. Thanks a bunch. You say the solution is eggs and a little water, is that all? And how many eggs did it take to tan your muskrat

[huntertrapper]

yeah hes good.

[kayakfisher]

very informative I feel that I could do that thank you

[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

id say, a muskrat- 2-3 eggs and maybe 1\2 cup of water at the most
coon\fox\etc...-  6 eggs  1 cup of water
deer  12 eggs and 2 -12 cups of water

just eggs and water thats it.  you could probably use less eggs for each different thing, but no sense in runnin out if you dont have too.   - Ryan

[keekeerun]

Thanks twistedlimbs. very nice work!

[cowboy]

That's cool Ryan - something I have yet to attempt and thank you for your time. I have a load of deer and some road kill furs in the freezer I need to work down .

[huntertrapper]

so... just eggs and water will tan 'er?

[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

wel the eggs and water is just an oil that will help yo soften the skin.   you could just rub borax or dry  preservative in the skin and it would still be tanable but it would take a lot more elbow grease to get it done.  eggs or brains   just lessens the work needed to break down the fibers so they are flexable.   knowing this, im sure if you rubbed, some sorta moisturizing cream into it, that would work aswell, but i havent tried it, i'll stick with eggs.       you have to kinda force skin to rot, so if you take care of it in the crucial first couple days until the moisture is out of it, it should last a long time

[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

oops just to clear any confusion,    you dont want the skin to rot,  i was saying that skin is naturaly resiliant and resistant to rot  when i said "you kinda have to force skin to rot"  got it?..lol