I have read and watched videos and was wondering the best way to salt a hide before pickling, I see one way was to salt heavely and wrap up in ball and let set for 12 to 24 hours depending on hide then shake off salt and resalt for another 12 to 24 hours and then shake off salt and hang to dry and then rehydrate in salt nixture before pickling.. My question is how will hide drain when in a ball?Another way I seen was laying out flat and salting and leaving slanted to drain and following same time frame and resalting? which is best way ? Thanks PS wont be sending to tannery will be doing my own for now to learn the basics
Return to Beginners Category Menu
You answered your own question. Rolled up drains a cape how? Flat and slanted is obvious and lets air breath through the hair side if you lay it on chicken wire, or gravel screen frame. Some roll, some slant, some heap the salt to it, others rub it in and slightly cover it with salt. There is no right or wrong way, only your way. There is so much of taxidermy that you make your own decisions on from watching others, and tweaking techniques, that work will for you. If you have and use common sense, you will do ok.
You shuld salt a hide really good and fold the hide up so it will not dry out the first salting. You are not just trying to remove moisture here, you are als getting salt to penetrate into the skin.
Fibers inside the skin need to be dehydrated with salt to make them stay open to allow pickle and tan to penetrate. If you just though salt on the skin, and lay it out flat on wire, you might as well be drying them flint. They will not rehydrate well, the tan and pickles will take for ever to get into the skin.
If you roll up the skin, and set it on the floor, I bet it is in a puddle the next day. there will also be a lot of water inside the skin. It still pulls the water out.
It is better to lay on a slanted board and just fold it up.
Water will start coming out as soon as a few minutes sometimes.
Now, with thicker hides, like bison and elk and moose, I salt for up to three or four days. As long as water is coming out, I keep salting it each day. They rehydrate in about 30 minutes if you do, If not, they can take up to several days to rehydrate.