Joe, I've been aimin' to tell you, but I kept forgetting...........
I'm sure you remember the "mystery" skin sample I sent to yer Uncle George some time back, the one that was done without sodium or potassium chloride. Here's your memory refresher:
http://www.hidetanning.net/GeorgeBrittanica1.htmlYou had ventured mag sul as a guess of possibility at that time........yer good, Bud, yer good! That was what had been used.
What I had came up with at the time was too labor intense and expensive to be practical, BUT things have changed. If you can come up with some play capes and have any of the experimental acid left that was sent to you months ago, something you might want to try. Actually, you might want to do this with Leatherizing Acid also and compare differences.
Salt as sodium chloride is not to be used at all, in fact, don't even allow the capes in the same room with a salt shaker.
STOP-ROT treat the cape.
One pound of magnesium sulphate per gallon of water, the mag sul sold as Epsom Salts, three gallons worth. Add enough of the acids to take the pH down to 5.5-6.0 (you've seen this part of the movie before). Twenty minutes to an hour in solution depending on temperatures. Keep the cape swirled.
Pull out and drain. Light coat of STOP-ROT over that. Let it sit for at least an hour, then rub on a coat of Cam-L-C and freeze for at least three weeks.
It should produce a lot of water at thawing time. Once that cycle is through, shave it out for mounting. You'll have to play it by eye and feel as to whether or not another thin coat of Cam-L-C will be needed.
For longevity testing, hang some pieces outside in a tree along with a piece of green hide and other pieces from different tanning systems.
I'm sure you've already grasped the concept of ridding both cellular and extra-cellular fluids while not damaging naturally resistant skin structures.
Other structures that I feel are of importance are the pigments around the cell bubbles of the hollow section of deer hair. The wrong acid can eat these pigment off regardless. That can produce that "dead, dry hair" look pretty quick, or cause oils to want to stick to the hair just a little too much.
I've added a couple of photos for those that don't know about hair cell bubbles. These cells, or bubbles, are the walls around the hollow part of deer hair. Where these bubbles comes together, there is a pigment structure. It not only imparts part of the coat color, but appears to add some structural strength also. Removing it is what I see as kinda like removing the mortar from brick or block.
The lighting I have to use to photograph with (strong back lighting) doesn't show the pigment colors worth a darn, but at least you can see where they go.
When a guy is looking down through a microscope, there's no tellin's what is going to be seen. The third photo is where all of a sudden I had something looking back up at me. Scared the dog mud out of me, I'd never seen any thing like it. If some one can identify, I would appreciate it.
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