Will be tanning a buffalo hide with hair on very soon. Plan to use Alum, but not too sure of the ratio of Alum, salt and water. Anyone have the formula?
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Tanning
- Thread starter Cutfingers
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John Wasmuth
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Maybeso be better off using Lutan F than alum. Alum tends to shrink them up pretty bad. Make sure you shave it down thin as you can get it, down to the hair folicals so that the tan penetrates all the wat thru it and it makes breaking them down a lot easier. Needa have a good louisville slugger on had as well.
Cutfingers, I would recomend not using the alum,salt ,water method if you plan to use the hide for anything other than hanging on a wall. I done a deer hide about 20 years ago this way and till this day it will sweat when the weather changes and will rust any metal that gets near it. Plus it will be stiff as a board when it dries which will require lots of tumbling to loosen it up. Some of the other guys here may have had better luck with this method than i did. But this was what i experinced ,i still have the hide out in my work shop and have a couple of items i made from it one of which was a knife scabbard which rusted a very nice knife beyond repair 
But to answer the question as best as i remember it was 2 1/2 lbs salt, 8ozs of alum to 1 gal of water place in a plastic tub or barrel for two weeks stiring daily .Make sure the hide stays completly under the water .
But to answer the question as best as i remember it was 2 1/2 lbs salt, 8ozs of alum to 1 gal of water place in a plastic tub or barrel for two weeks stiring daily .Make sure the hide stays completly under the water .fallaloosa
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I have used the Alum salt water technique a few times and have never had any problem with it I tan them hair on and use them for sleeping mats and floor mats etc etc. mine have always stayed soft as can be and have not molded or anything. I use 1 pound of Alum, 2 and a half pounds non iodized salt to 5 gallons of warm water. leave it for a couple weeks stirring every day or every other day. then pull it out rinse it off then dry it till it's just a tiny bit damp,,then hit it with some neatsfoot oil or your conditioner of choice. this has worked very well for me in the past. hope this helped :v
fallaloosa
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guess I missed the part where you said it was a buffalo hide, in that case my ratio would probably be a bit on the smallish side this is what I use for deer. :v
You're in for a lot of work. As was mentioned, you'll need to thin the hide considerably, especially if you are going break it by manually. The hump area and hide along the back are especially thick. Buffalo hides are big, bulky, heavy and difficult to work with. the one I did was an acid tan. I didn't get it thin enough, even though I thinned it quite a bit. Breaking the hide was a LOT of work but it came out nice and flexible. I hung it over a bannister but it evidently was not totally dry even though it seemed to be. A few weeks later it was extremely stiff having lost its suppleness. It's now a giant, hairy taco shell, still draped over the bannister! Or you can set it on the floor and have a hairy pup tent. :grin:
The hide from the last buffalo I shot I sent to a tannery in Texas that does them for $10/square foot. Very reasonable.
I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. I'd done a lot of deer hides prior, but that buffalo was a lot more work.
The hide from the last buffalo I shot I sent to a tannery in Texas that does them for $10/square foot. Very reasonable.
I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. I'd done a lot of deer hides prior, but that buffalo was a lot more work.
