Has anyone heard of feeding a tan? i was told to figure up the ammount of tan needed for the weight of the items to be tanned, then add it to the tan solution in stages. What i mean is if i need 1 pound of ez-tan or lutan then add 1/2 a pound and let setor tan for half of the suggested time then add the other half a pound to the solution and let it set for the other half of the time period. I was told this is what tanneries do or some of them anyways and that this helps prevent barrier/surface tanning. also the Ph is adjusted at the beginbing and again at the mid-way point. The person who told me this uses mainlt aluminum sulfate but also uses lutan the same way. anyone else have any ideas? this goes against what the directions say. any thoughts? How about it bruce? i checked the archives and didn't seem to find anything on this procedure.
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Yes - "feeds" are commonly used in leather Tanneries - but except when using Chrome or Vegetable tans - I personally do it very rarly!
Feeding involves too much time - your time! You have to do what I call "hover" over the solution - and I'm sure you must have better things to do! Try to keep the process simple! You are not tanning like the large leather tanneries do! They use feeds to produce different effects in the leather - we simply want to produce a mountable piece safely.
Each tanning agent has its own particular instructions for using it. I also think I can safely assume that each supplier has also tested his/her agent thoroughly. If they dont say "feeds" - dont do it! Use the tanning agent as it is intended to be used for Taxidermy purposes.
Your friend may be right when it comes to leather, but in Taxidermy tanning we deal with an epidermis - he doesnt! I also sell to the leather Tannery industry so I'm familiar with their techniques.