This is about the 4th hide I've tanned using Syn-Oil-Tan. All other hides were easily shaved and final fleshed after 48 hours in a pickle of 1# salt and 1/2 oz of Saftee acid per gallon (10 gallon mix for one whitetail cape). This cape doesn't seem to be plumped at all. When this cape arived to me it was frozen and very bloody with the skull still in it. I skinned it the rest of the way and turned everything but it was terribly pink looking. I salted for 24 hours then resalted for 24 more, then rolled it up and put it in the freezer (I have read since that this is not a good idea). Anyway, I took it out about a week later and soaked it for approx an hour to rehydrate it in just plain water and whatever salt was still stuck to the hide. I then put it in the pickle. I took it out tonight to shave it and it is virtually impossible for me to shave it since it isn't plumped at all. I did notice that towards the bottom of the cape there was a quite a bit of red meat and fat still left on the hide. I guess I just missed this since I didn't skin this portion, and it was all bloody when I got it. I now removed all of this crap and am attempting to shave but it seems like the pickle is not penetrating the hide. It seems to be bone dry just below the surface when shaving. Also, without this hide being "plumped" I am cutting holes right and left when shaving. Did the fat and red meat kill my pickle? any help would be greatly appreciated. I searched the archives and found some information on what I did wrong but what should I do now. The hair is still tight so I hate to throw it out but I will ruin it if I continue to try to shave it in this state. Should I revive my pickle and soak a little longer? sorry this is so long but I wanted to give all of the details.
Thanks,
Jeff Gander
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But most of all you have answered your own questions on what you did wrong. Lets back track here, when it came in like you stated and it sounds like from reading your thread is that some of the hide has already dried out totally, which is not really a problem but it can pose one. This is your main problem though. All those spots your hiiting and cutting through are caused by areas that aren't rehydrated yet.
I would made sure when I rehydrated the hide that all of the hide was rehydrated that one hour soak didn't do a thing for it. (I'm only guessing here for I didn't see the hide it's only an educated guess from your thread) It needed a few more hours to help get the meat and skin back to a green state.
But now it'sd in the pickle and it may take a week or longer to get most of those spots rehydrated again it may take longer and it probally won't plump as much as what your used to.
The hide isn't ruined it just going to take longer just make sure the pickle stays at a 2.0 to a 2.5 no more no less on this one. If it's lower than a 2 it will take even longer if at all to make it swell. You may want to try and soak it in water again with some of Bruce's ultra-soft for a few hours and I would just keep an eye on it. It should hurt doing this but having no idea on how the hide was handled it can or won't slip at all. Then after you get it back to a rehydrated state then proceed to pickle it. You will see the differece.
Good luck and take your time never rush.
You didn't say how long you left in in the pickle before shaving.I send my capes into the pickle vat for no less than 48 hrs and then a quick shave to the thick spots(neck)and then 24 more hours and final all over shave.When you put a fresh (salted ) cape into the pickle you must monitor the pH as well as the salinity .On the norm I put 1 oz of acid into the pickle for every new hide after 24 hours.Most times you will have to put more water because hides will absorb.Try a fresh pickle -43 % salt and 2 or less pH.
Thanks for the advice. I took the hide out of the pickle and rinsed/soaked it for a few hours in fresh water. I mixed a new pickle and put the hide in that. I will leave it in this pickle for 48 hours or so and see if it shapes up. All ot the other hides that I've tanned were so simple that I thought I had it down pat and even after reading from this board how important ph is, I thought the syn-oil-tan using saftee acid took care of this aspect and I didn't order any ph strips. They will be on my next order.
Chuck, I had the hide in the first pickle for 72 hours before I tried to shave it. All of my others I shaved after 48 hours with no problem but other commitments made me wait 72 on this one.
I've read a few posts on this board that leaving the hides in the pickle for even a month will not hurt anything. Is this true for saftee acid?
Thanks again Frank and Chuck for your advice.
Jeff Gander
These guys gave you good advice, may I add more? It sounds to me like the cape might not have rehydrated fully before you put it in the pickle. Also, safety acid pickle needs to be checked after a day as the cape naturally will draw some of the acid, so it needs a "spike" to bring the pH back to 2 or so. You didnt say, but if you were using old pickle solution, it might need to be checked, too. I see youre using a fresh pickle now, check the pH again. Also, early season capes that have hair rooted deep wont act the same as late season capes thats hair is fully erupted from the hide...
Bill, Thanks for your advice. I'm thinking you are correct about the cape not being fully rehydrated when it went in the pickle. Someone at Van Dykes told me that a pickle should never be reused so I start with a fresh 10 gallons for each cape. It worked so well every other time I didn't worry about the ph. I will definitely get the litmus so I won't have to guess.
Thanks again.
Jeff Gander
Mixing by volume only gets you in the ballpark. You HAVE to test with pH papers, thats not even debatable! Glad to hear youre going that route, and good luck.
Amy Ritchie has very desciptive step by step instructions on tanning with Bruce Rittels quality products. She also goes into ph levels of the different stages and how to cure imbalances. Just got through using her instructions and have a beautiful cape to show for it. I'm not sure how advanced you are in tanning but thought I would take the time to share this with you. Happy Holidays-
Bill, After reading many posts about ph I realize that water varies quite a bit. I am having better luck with the second pickle. After 36 hours it this, the cape was easy to shave. Either I messed up the first pickle or the substandard fleshing did. When I get the papers hopefully this problem will go away.
Rookie, Thanks for the info. I'm going there right now.
Jeff Gander