brain tanned bag

[skunkskinner]

This is a bag I made with brain tanned leather from last winter. I hand softend and smoked it twice.
When I do some skins this winter, they will all be hand softend rather than frame softend, the leather comes out much thicker this way, more usefull to me.

Hope you like the looks of the bag.

 

[jethro224]

Looks good from here. :thumbsup:

What do you mean by "hand softened"?

 

[rabjr]

Nice. :thumbsup:

 

[skunkskinner]

What do you mean by "hand softened"?

Softening is the second to the last step in brain tanning. Basicaly it's when the hide is drying out, you need to keep stretching the hide or it will dry out stiff and hard.

FRAME softening is when you string the hide in a square frame and work it with a pointy wooden stick.

HAND softening is when you do all the stretching with your hands.

The frame method will not let the skin shrink in size, so it will be somewhat thinner. With the hand method the skin shrinks a lot, making it much thicker.

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks Jethro and Swamp Rat for the thums up.

 

[jethro224]

I see. Thanks. I always wished I knew how to tan hides. It's a shame lettin' 'em go to waste but I can't always find anybody that wants 'em. I tried alum tanning one time and it didn't turn out well.

 

[agill]

Nice! :thumbsup:

 

[David G]

:thumbsup: