I am about to have a steer killed does anyone know how to tan the hide or a good website that explains how to?

Question

thanks

Answer 1

http://www.taxidermysecrets.com/hidetann...

http://www.wikihow.com/Tan-a-Hide

http://www.braintan.com/tanown/index.htm

Answer 2

You can tan the hide yourself, and there are plenty of web sites that tell you how.  There is also a book which is called, "Tan Your Hide," which give very good step by step instructions, and pictures.

However I'm hoping you will take the advice of this small permacultur farmer, who has tanned her own hides herself....send it out....have it professionally done.

You are picking a particuarly bad time of year to try and tan yourself for the first time.  It's warm enough, fly season has started virtually everywhere.  Flies and maggots on your hide are not fun.  Maggots can eat holes in a hide shockingly quickly.

If you get the mixture wrong, you will not believe the stench put forth from your hide.  Whatever you do, be SURE YOU USE A PLASTIC garbage can!  NOT a metal one!  You will cause reactions between the metal, and the chemicals needed, and ruin your hide.

You will also find that after you pay for everything, and do the tanning yourself, you will pay virtually the same amount as if you had sent it out to be professionaly done.  The exception would be brain tanning, which of course used the steers own brain to tan the hide....a PARTICUARLY stinky job.

If you really have your heart set on tanning your steers hide yourself, I HIGHLY sugest you get a few rabbits, butcher them, and learn to tan on the much smaller, and easier to handle rabbit hides.  Also decide right now, and do your research on tanning with the steers hair on, or if you just want the leather (hair free).  You must make that choice from the very begining, as there are different things you do for hair on, or hair off hides.

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Who HIGHLY values independance, and self sufficiency, but still sends hides out to be tanned by professionals.