Buffalo hide question

[Southlander]

I'm dry scraping my first buffalo hide. I have gotten past the fiberous layers in several spots and have arrived at a slick, almost plastic feeling layer. Is this far enough, or do I still have layers to take off? I want to take my time and do this right, so I don't want to go past that point until someone says I should. BTW, there are a few areas on the hide (mostly quarter sized and smaller) that are translucent. Is that how thin I want all of it or is that too thin?

 

[John Wasmuth]

If you are tanning it for a robe and want it super soft you need to get down to where you can see the hair roots, tan will be better and the thinner the hide the easier to break the hide and the softer it will be. If you are tanning it for a rug and are not worried about it being easy to break or have it really soft you'er all most there.

 

[gmarc]

You hvr reached, most likely, the last layer of connective tissue. Scrape until this shiny layer is gone.

If you want to keep the hair on, you need to dress the hide (Flesh side) with alum and salt. After tis is done you pickle the hide in eggs/water mixture (or the animal's brain). Now the hard part comes....you must work the hide in between soaks to break the collagen fibers. Once the hide is fully softened, then you smoke it to retard spoilage and this adds waterproofing by tightening the hide's pores. This creates a "tawed" leather. With true tanning, you use a vegetable or mineral pickling. Oak Bark and chrome oxide are examples.