I can't believe I have made it this far in the process. I have my raccoon skin drying, waiting for the stretching. The skin is ready to stretch around the edges, but its still drying in the main areas of the skin. I wonder if its too thick there? Can I start stretching the areas that are ready? Any ideas of the best way to shave after I have stretched the hide, what tools? It looks a bit greasy in some spots, can I just shave this off afterwards? I did degrease the skin with a Dawn soap soak earlier. Thanks for your help!
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the hide tanned? Dawn is not a good degreaser for mammals, your better off buying a quality degreaser from one of the suppliers. you need to give us a little more info on what you are trying to accomplish.
The coon is already tanned and oiled twice. I am just about to do the stretching, it needs a bit more time til its completely ready for stretching. I had been told that I could use sandpaper in the shaving process? Wasn't sure if its greasy or just the way the skin looks when drying out.
body/back of coons are prety thin allready. I normaly don't shave that part at all. I instead just "scuff" the body but I do shave the neck and heads as they tend to be a bit thicker. I have no clue why it would look greasey other than perhaps it wasn't degreased very well. If that is the case, it is going to be a pain to break and it will have a nasty smell to it.
need to shave well after atlesst 3 days in the pickle, then degrease with a quality degreaser (not dish soap). then return hide to pickle for another day or so. you should only have to oil once. As far as softning the hide, the best way is a large drum with sawdust.
I thought I had degreased the skin well. I checked the skin again, do you think I could have fleshed too thin and its the oil showing through? I only oiled twice as I felt it was best to do more rather than less, directions left it optional. I pickled for nine days and tanned in the brine for 2 days. I don't detect any bad smell. I hope I haven't ruined the skin. This is my first project.
we still have incomplete info - what the he$$ are you trying to accomplish with skin
Eventually I am hoping to make a hat for my son.
on the tan you used, you might try washing it. some tans wash out and some dont. if its all a loss atleast next time you will degrease with somthing other than dish soap.
I was going to degrease with odorless mineral spirits but I couldn't find any that was odorless, hence using Dawn which was recommended by people on this forum. I used Rittel's KwikTan and Proplus oil. I don't have any more KwikTan left so if I were to wash the skin would I have to retan it? I am going to keep a watch and see how it looks in the morning, I started the drying 30 hours ago. I have been able to stretch some parts that were ready a bit at a time and those sections looks good to me. I think I just need to let it wait a bit longer. Not sure what the typical drying time is in hot weather, I have the skin in my basement where its cooler.
with what you have, if it smells after awhile then try again. although your process sounded different, sounds like it might turn out ok.
The main parts of the coon skin is now stretched, there are patches around the edges that still look greasy. Maybe I overoiled? Should I try and wash it or leave it a bit longer to hopefully dry?
Here are the steps I did in the process, if this helps to understand a bit better where I am at and what I did.
Fleshed.
Salted for one day, folden skin to skin, sloped to drain.
Resalt for second day.
Rehydrated for couple hours in saltwater bath.
Rinsed in cold water.
Pickled for nine days (vinegar,salt,water)(2.2-2.5ph).
Drained.
Degreased for 30 minutes in Dawn/cold water bath.
Rinsed.
Back into Pickle for one more day.
Added Rittel's Kwiktan to pickle and left for two days to TAN (4ph).
Neutralized.
Dried fur, but left skin damp.
Oiled with Rittel's Proplus oil, left to sit folded skin to skin for 5 hours.
Applied second coat of oil, left to sit 4 hours.
I am at the drying and stretching stage, started drying on Thursday morning. Still greasy around the edges, tho some has dried and could be stretched. Would it help if I sandpapered a bit to thin out some more?
More than likely will not help in this case. I'm not sure where you got that tanning method from but, maybe it would work. I don't know for sure. The grease is from the poor job of degreasing. That much I am sure of. Dawn just doesn't work that well. I have tried it in the past but have had no luck no matter how I tried to use it. I have had much better luck with Super Solvent or Saftey Solvent from Rittles (I can't remember what it is called) or the best stuff I have ever used is Fat-B-Gone from WTDS. It is the only degreaser I use now for everything from Deer to Bears. Not sure why you would tan directly in the pickle like that. Sounds like an old alum tanning recipe. One other thing I should mention. When I do dry tanned coon for rugs and such. I like to togle them as they dry. This realy helps in the breaking stage. I togle them using bungie cords and welding clapmps. I use four or five per side on a good size coon. Then one on the tail. Every now and then I give it a tug to see what the skin looks like as it is drying. Often when I do this I need only tumble them for a few minutes and they are VERY soft. Every now and then I can hand break them in just a few minutes over the course of a few days as they dry and they turn out very soft as well.
Now I am really sad. I bought this tanning kit from Rittel's. Sounds like I just wasted time and money for nothing. Unless there is any way to degrease after tanning. I am really disheartened!
It may work?