Life in Southeast Alaska

Tanning Bear Hide - Entry #2

The hide is done with the Borax solution - been in for five days last night.  I took it out and worked more of the stuff off, but it started raining hard so I was only out there for 45 minutes.  I put the hide back in the plastic tub and just filled with plain water.  Tonight I took it out again and worked some more.  I think the soak did make it a little easier to get the stuff off.  I used a butter knife for some of it - pulled with my left hand and ran the knife in long strokes against the connecting tissues to separate it from the skin.  I also used a sharp knife for part of the time.  I found it easier to grip the fat without gloves.

It was a beautiful evening and I had the radio playing country music.  It was relaxing to just work on the skin, bit by bit.  I didn't get everything off yet, but made good progress in the 2 hours I spent on it.  I made a new solution for it of 10 gallons of water with 1/4 cup of lye mixed in and then immersed the hide.  It should soak in it for a couple days or until the hair comes off easily.  It should be stirred frequently.  I'll check tomorrow night and see if the hair has loosened.  Here is what it looked like tonight before I put it in the lye solution.

Here is a closeup of the skin.

I'm going to need to find a wooden barrel or some sort of non-metal, non-plastic container for the tanning solution when I get to that point.  Closest I've come so far is to get one of those half whiskey-barrel wooden planters and plug the hole somehow.  Maybe I'll get lucky and find one at a garage sale on Saturday morning...

Untitled Comment

4:30 AM, Friday, June 22, 2007 .. Posted by homesteadinthemaking

You might try your local feed store and see if they have plastic 55 gallon drums. We cut them in half and use them for watering.
Blessings,
Trixi