Leather Work
Spring Furbearer Tanning - Part III
It’s been almost a week since my previous post where we ended by applying commercial tanner to each of the cleaned hides I had been working on. Those pelts had been left to hang, dry, and stiffen for several days...
Yesterday, before heading out to bear hunt for a few days, I was able to finish the last step(s) for the foxes that I had in my litter (the beavers were still not quite dry enough to break and will have to wait until after Memorial Day). I was able to tell the foxes that I had were ready to go by the way the pelt felt. It was hard to the touch, but gave slightly when you squeezed it. When folded in half you could hear a papery crunch as the dry skin crackled but wouldn’t break.
In anticipation of this last and final step, I had gone to home depot to get the last piece of equipment that I would need a few days ago — a piece of coated rebar. In fact, I found that a t-handle used for turning water spigots on and off was perfect. It allowed me to brace the rebar against something solid... in my case my tire wheel, and allowed me to stand on the two t-portions of the arms for extra control. This also positioned the actual rebar at the perfect angle to give me the greatest leverage (and saved my back).
As per the photo, with my feet on the t-bars I took my pelt (one side in each hand) and aggressively ran it back and forth over the rebar. After a few good runs I was able to feel the pelt break into a leather that was soft to the touch. Once I worked the main body I used the corners of the rebar to work some of the harder to reach places behind the arms, the head, and tail. It only took a few minutes and I was now done! Once I flipped the pelt back to fur-side out I brushed it and went to show off my homework to my wife. After a little ego stroking I started to think through what I might use these fox pelts for... garment work, a wall-hanger, or maybe something else? As for the beaver, I will be doing the exact same process once they fully dry over the long weekend!
It was so soft and the coloring so pretty too!