[TheForge] OT - Hides in ones Blacksmith shop

[Grant Marcoux]

You'll have to resoak in lye water, check for slippage and dehair using
something like a drawknife.  To do this, wrap the hide around a large
diameter log and scrape the supported section.  Elk hides are a tough go,
especially at the neck skin.  I also soften the hide using a length of cable
tied to a tree by its two ends; or a paddle sunk into the ground, blade up.
You can tan using eggs, oak bark or the brain of the animal.  It's the
lecithin that gets worked into the pores that does it.  No matter what
method you choose, you are  in for some serious work.  It was REALLY easy to
get First Nations peoples to start using woven cloth.    As far as toughness
goes, Elk is great.    Grant

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Wes Marquart
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2008 12:57 PM
To: 'Sponsored by ABANA'
Subject: RE: [TheForge] OT - Hides in ones Blacksmith shop



I have some elk hide I was going to use for the main bellows.  The buffalo
was going to be used for hinges and valves.

Some other things the buffalo hide was destined for: belts, possible drum
head, and for the soles of some new boots.

Yeah, that stuff is [heavy].  And we do have a line on 6 more from the same
place.  Biggest problem with it is that those suckers were heavily salted
then hung over a barn beam to dry - I think the over kill on the salt is why
we were having problems getting the hair to slip free.

-Wes

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Saint Phlip
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2008 2:49 PM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] OT - Hides in ones Blacksmith shop

That's going to be some awfully heavy material for the bellows- a bit
like sinking an I-beam for a tent stake. Do you have a splitter? You
likely want 8-10 oz leather, alum tanned. Brain tanning will work, of
course, but it's an awfuly big job, with a buffalo hide.

On Feb 18, 2008 3:14 PM, Wes Marquart <marquart at arlinn-tower.com> wrote:
> You could have my dilemma...
>
> I've got two buffalo hides sitting in a barrel of lye-water (actually
> lye-ICE) taking up space in my shop...
>
> A neighbor brought them over in early November so he could 'teach' me
> tanning... he'd originally said that we'd only need to soak them for 2-3
> days in wood-ash/water to get the hair to slip off... so we checked them
> every couple of days - for a month & a half - no slippage... so we drained
> them and then went to a lye and water solution... still no slippage...
> finally it got cold enuf for things to freeze into a solid block... so I
> have a 55 gal. poly drum sitting in the middle of the floor...
>
> I've even tried running a torpedo heater on it to try and thaw things out
> far enough so I can drain the liquid...
>
> Looks like I'll have two hides as residents till later this spring...
>
> Fun!
>
> .... OH YEAH!  Forgot the blacksmithing content...  :)
>
> part of the hides are destined to become part of a new double chamber
> bellows...
>
> -Wes
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jerry Smith
> Sent: Monday, February 18, 2008 2:01 PM
> To: Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: RE: [TheForge] Pelt Stretching Frame
>
> Wes,
>
> I was think of doing that, I need the space and the
> barn is the right size to work on such things.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jerry
> --- Wes Marquart <marquart at arlinn-tower.com> wrote:
>
> > You could always hang it from a beam... lower it
> > down with ropes when you
> > want to work on it & then haul it back up to free up
> > floor space.
> >
> > -Wes
> >
>
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--
Saint Phlip

Heat it up
Hit it hard
Repent as necessary.

Priorities:

It's the smith who makes the tools, not the tools which make the smith.

.I never wanted to see anybody die, but there are a few obituary
notices I have read with pleasure. -Clarence Darrow
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