I tried tanning some beaver skins using rittle's ez100 and saftee acid.Everything seemed ok after the saftee acid i fleshed the hide to be sure and get all the fat off,I degreased,then tanned,then oiled.I stretched,and staked the hide over a 3 day period about 30min or more a day the hide seemed flexible but after a few more days of drying it became as stiff as a board.What should I do to make it soft.The hair didn't slip which is good.Thanks I'm trying to learn how to do this right I'd like to make a hat or something out of this beaver hide. TY Frank.
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A blunt board shaped in a rounded wedge , work it back and forth till pliable is how I always did it, tbut someone might have a differant easier method.
Frank;
your going to have to break the hide some.I use a breaker tool on my hide's. There avalable through the catalogs. I made mine,I think a friend of mine purchased his through Van Dykes. Good luck
Coyote
As it dried. Would have been a lot easier to break the hide while it was damp and still flexible. Oil should be worked into it before it dries completely. You may be able to sweat it overnight before starting the breaking process to make the effort easier.
It is probablly not thin enough. I assume you shaved after a through pickeling. A beaver has to be shaved thin because of the tight weave of the skin. Also I also assume that you put it back in pickle over night before you tanned. Believe me, beavers need it.
What kind of beavers you got there? To hear you, yours must be thick as a boar. Our beavers ain't that tough, but you STILL GOTTA BREAK THEM.
These were some black early spring beaver the leather does seem pretty thick Im going to try redampening them and oiling and staking again.Thank you for the response Im trying to learn how to do this and gain some experience.
I didn't shave it i just fleshed it using a draw knife type fleshing tool.I fleshed it, salted it,dried it then put it in the acid,then fleshed it again,then back in the acid before going into the ez100.
if not,the tan probably did'nt "take". Most tans work best when the hide is around 4-5 ph.If you did'nt nuetralize after pickling the ph was probably too low.