Thread: Tahr Skin Tanning Problem Leder Tanning Kit

Done a heap of skins over the years, using Leidretters or Leders products. Firstly, salt it, and then salt it again. Then deflesh it using the double hailed fleshing tool across a post running from about waist height to the ground. Then when you put it in the solution, carefully place it in edge down, so the skin is vertical and try to make sure it has no bubbles. Stir it up every day for 2 weeks, always checking to make sure there are no bubbles. When you place it out to dry, or stretch it, leave it an hour or 2 just to get rid of the excess solution. Then weigh it to give you an accurate weight for your leather lube. Always dry it out of the sun, around the back of the shed and with a decent airflow. Then when you think its all done and ready, I found the easiest way to break it and make it soft and pliable and white was to use a coarse Cintride disc in the drill, sand it all over. And if you've dried it all strung out in a big wooden frame, then it scrubs up even better cos you've got no hard material behind it to cause you to sand through on any edges etc and the skin is flexible and forgiving.

the process of sanding hide after tanning isnt called "bricking" for nothing.....old red house brick,preferably picked up out of riverbed so has nice rounded edges works well...pumice stone works even better..."breaking" over top of a rounded post/stairwell banister/banister post helps soften up hide by breaking fibres up .
Ive used a few different systems including a home brew,that turned skins blue but were hard as stink...the thar I tried went hard too... very thick pelt.

You mentioned stretching the hide when it is drying. I have a tahr skin soaking in the leders kit at the moment and have conflicting advice about whether I can just remove it from the solution and hang it to dry or have to pin it out to a frame. Can anyone confirm if it does need to be stretched out?

Originally Posted by SPEARONZ

You mentioned stretching the hide when it is drying. I have a tahr skin soaking in the leders kit at the moment and have conflicting advice about whether I can just remove it from the solution and hang it to dry or have to pin it out to a frame. Can anyone confirm if it does need to be stretched out?

the skin pictured at start of post looks to me like very uneven distribution of tanning chemical by not turning or agitating skin or to cramped in tank perhaps - now I would pin it out - use very thin nails - trim later - it gives a much better finished product and its easier to work on - you can dictate the final shape - just loose over a frame it could crease badly - without pegging it if it creases at all very difficult to remove later - try a nylon bristle brush on a drill or angle grinder - but go gently - pumice block good - or timber -two of you pull back and fowards over a piece of rounded 4x4 or 4x2 - commercial tanners have all kind of machine at their disposal to work up nice smooth finish - a point here consider your self lucky you were not born years ago as an Innuit lady - you would be required to use ya teeth to soften hubbys new caribou leathers - and thats after a tanning involving urine and charcoal

And the answer is that you don’t need to pin it out.

Took a short cut and just hung it over a wooden horse. Probably took a bit longer to dry is all but as I put heaps of leather lube on it the skin doesn’t dry out as such it kind of just cures, turning from blue to white.