The hides actually needed to soak in the ashes for at least 10 days until the flesh was swollen and the hair was loose. My hide was ready yesterday, but MMC5th's wasn't even close, probably because his hide is about 4 times thicker than mine. Yesterday I "grained" my hide, which meant scraping the whole layer that contained the hair follicles. It took most of the afternoon to really get it all. Then I rinsed it overnight to get all of the rest of the ashes out. Today I went back and scraped the rest of the membrane off the flesh side of the hide, soaked it in a vinegar solution for a few minutes, let it dry, and currently it is being soaked in the brains and water. It's going really well so far. The hide is beautiful and really pliable and stretchy. I'm gonna let it soak in brains all night, and then tomorrow I will work it hard to get it soft.
This guy saw us working today and stopped by and said his brother tans hides with antifreeze. One of my favorite parts of the whole process has been all the commentary and tips given to us by passers-by. Hickory Flats is quite a busy place these days. Last week my next door neighbor's dad who is a professional taxidermist had a lot to say about the process. All interesting stuff, but I am set on trying the brains...
Other winter projects for this week are: racking apple cider, making strawberry wine out of berries that came out of a freezer of a friend who just moved, working on my proposal to get myself hired as an official teacher at Hall Fletcher, and making 200 pieces of biscotti. I'm having fun.
1 comment:
I read your blog today. It was fun.
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