anyone do brain tanning?

[just mark]

i am very interested in learning to braintan buckskin and wondered if anyone here has any experience, either good or bad with it.

also want to learn about bark tanning.

 

[NJ Longbeard]

Go to this youtube site this guy has a 4 or 5 part video step by step series. It's great! I have done 2 hides this way with great results! Hope this helps! Ed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDo3Deeo9no

 

[just mark]

Very cool, NJ. i have watched a bunch of utube videos on tanning, but somehow never saw this one. what i see here looks real good! i have watched a series from a guy who calls himself "derelect epistle" that seems good.

so if you braintanned some hides, how many "brainnings" did you put them through? and did the smoking process go well? i was warned by another tanner that it's easy to ruin a hide in smoking, if you don't "cool" the smoke before it hits the hide.

 

[skunkskinner]

The book deerskins into buckskins by Matt Richards is a good. His video is even better.

 

[just mark]

yes, i've got an order in for that book right now.

 

[John Wasmuth]

I brain tan many many hides each year. Smoking is done with a small fire and BIG SMOKE, meaning that the fire is small and smudgy, very little heat, heat will ruin the hides and burn them just as it does your own skin. Anything over 120 degrees will start the hide on the down hill slide to the dump real fast. If your hand gets burned by the fire its way to hot for the hides. The best way I have to do them is using an old wood stove with the fire smudging at the door end and the hides, at least two at a time so they are the same color sewin together in a pillow case fashion, over the smoke hole. Never walk away from the set up for any length of time at all. All you need is one flare up to wipe out your hard work.
I brain once, wring out and then brain again. The most important step is wrining do it wrong and you;ll know it right away.

 

[BillinOregon]

I have four of Micanopy's hides, and can tell you he does very fine work.

 

[tg]

i have not done any since the mid '90's but it is not a hard task to learn just labor extensive and there arfe some shortcuts there, a god book/books/videos or a mentor will be of great help definately nothing to be fearfull of so to speak, the end product will make the effort seem very much worthwhile.There are many "methods' and all the ons I tried seemd to work as well as another I liked the dry scrape method, and a windlass to wring the hide and a large wooden frame 8'x8'to secure hides while working on them with hog wrings to secure to the frame for quick adjustments, rotted/punky Cedar was my favorite wood for the color I liked as well as the odor, go for it,as it will not take long to see if it is something you are going to be comfortable with, just get the proper tools/directions some parts of the directions of the methods can be mixed with one another, but carfuly study all the material you aquire, as some smallish errors or lack of understanding of the terminology can cause the whole thing to go south, enjoy the journey and the fruits of your labor