tanning leather

[turkeyfeathers]

so i recently acquired 2 deer hides. i am planning on tanning them myself. im planning on tanning one for armor,and the other for regular soft leather. anyone have any experience with this? if so pointers would be greatly appreciated.

[Derian]

I imagine you're going to have a difficult or impossible time tanning one of those hides for armor. Keep in mind you need to achieve at least 3/16" thickness with at most two layers of leather.

As for tanning, there's some information here: viewtopic.php?f=107&t=28129

[tyorl]

I have tried to tan hides before, and it is a time consuming process that involves a lot of manual labor. Tandy has recently stocked a tanning formula that is supposed to work pretty well. Cabela's also has some stuff called Hide Tanning Formula. That does not work well at all. Either way you are going to have to scrape all the fat, muscle and membranes off the back of the hide. An efficient method is to use a power washer. it removes everything but the membrane, and won't damage the hide. Then soak it in a bucket of water with a splash of bleach(prevents bacteria growth) for about 2-3 days to loosen the hair. After that you use the formula, or alternatively you can use brains, but that is hard as well. Over then next few days you will need to stretch it heavily every few hours. Then you need to stretch it on a board to let it dry. After ALL that you need to work it until it softens. It's hard, and you will never have armor grade, but it looks great.

[GridPoet]

I tan my own leather, and use the brain tanning method... but in place of brain i use Murphy's Oil Soap... (i've seen it done with all types of things including eggs and mayonnaise as well as a bar of ivory soap that had been dissolved in water...)

there are many video's and guides to brain tanning a hide... i recommend buying a draw knife and using the wet scraping method... it's a little more repulsive but scraping is MUCH easier this way...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osY7ZS2FjgM

the scraping rig you see set up at 2:45 is VERY nice and makes life sooo much easier...

the most important step in the whole process is breaking the leather... that is what makes the leather soft and pliable... so be prepared to build yourself a frame so you can stretch the hide on it...

it is true that you wont be able to use buckskin alone for armor, but it makes a fantastic bottom or connecting layer for complex sets, and it can be very soft and durable... you can also get cowhide from local slaughter houses for quite cheap and tan them this way as well... just plan on doubling the work because of how thick and tough they are