I have no intention of going into a hide tanning business, all I do is directed towards a particular project for a single non profit veterans group which has a valid need for tanned hides.
I searched the taxidermy.net forum archive using the key words "auto tanner" , and came up with a "can not locate" screen for most posts which may help me.
My finished hides are going to the Warrior's Moccasin Project which is sponsored by the National Native American Veterans Association (
www.nnava.org) and presently there is an enormous backlog of active duty service men and women on a list waiting to receive moccasins. As buckskin is expensive and the organization is still in its infancy with a very small budget, all buckskin I can produce will be gratefully put to use. ALL of my previous tanning (5 hides) has been using the braintan method, and as you can see I haven't done a lot of it. I had no idea what to call these pressurized drums until another forum member clued me in.
I have never worked with an auto tanner, but now find myself in possession of two of them with no instructions regarding how they are used. They were in bad shape when I traded for them, and one has been refurbished and is almost ready for use. I am told that there are environmentally safe chemicals which can now be used, and this is the one necessity in all I do. I refuse to do anything which might harm Mother Earth. My brother owns a meat processing business and with hunting season rapidly approaching I'll have as many hides to work with as I might ever need.
While braintanning in a traditional sense is the standard for Native American use, I would like to put the auto tanners to work for a short time to create enough buckskin to eliminate the backlog that now exists. Once the backlog is caught up, the tanks can be put away and traditional braintanning can resume.
I do not know where to begin, or even what the first question I should ask would be. I am at a complete loss. Looking through what postings I could find, I didn't see what I'm searching for. Would anyone out there by any chance have an instruction book that might help me figure out where to begin? ANY assistance you can provide would be of tremendous help. Thank you for your time.
Roger D. Smith,Sr.
Gunnery Sergeant of Marines (Retired/Disabled)
Elder-at-Large, National Native American Veterans Association (
www.nnava.org)
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