I have been doing taxidermy now for a while and have been doing alot of tanning. I use Liqua tan method. I see alot of talk about rehydrating after the salt drying then pickle. I have been just rehydrating in the pickle eliminating one more weting. Is this a good practice or not?
Thanks
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You are far better off relaxing the dried, salted hide in a relaxer bath using Ultra-soft by Rittels or Van Wet by Van Dyes. It is another step , yes, but a necessary one. IMO.
!
.....if you rehydrate before pickling,it will eliminate the dry spots that the pickle was unable to penetrate. Its a real bugger running those spots over a fleshing machine. Definately rehydrate before pickling.Ultra Soft and Van Wet are definately great products. Good call Brad. Dont forget your Bactericide. Ritell's PS-650 is a good choice.
thanks
As I recall, if you rehydrate in a brine, 1 lb.salt / gallon, no bactericide is necessary. E-mail Bruce Rittel, he will back me up on this. I never use a bactericide in the rehydration brine and have never had a problem. Are you using salt in the rehydration bath Dave?
i would like to say basically i am a leather technologist having thirst to know more about histology of skin
i would like to say basically i am a leather technologist having thirst to know more about histology of skin
...As a rule,I dont rehydrate dry salted skins with a salt brine. i get excelent results with Rittel's Ultra Soft. I add a Bactericide in just for good measures. No salt needed.It'll wet back quicker than a salt brine as well.Ask Bruce about it. great stuff.
you're not from around these parts are you? I am delighted to see your interest in the histology of skin.
This industry has sorely needed more information on the very subject.
Hopefully, in the next few months, I will be able to put together such an article supported by microphotography. In this case, it will be focused on whitetail deer skin and the observations and correlations I personally have made.
The first installment is now on www.TaxidermyReference.com
On the home page you will see an article titled "Beyond the Senses", the on going series will be along such lines.
Perhaps I should also do one on bacteria, or lack of same.
Glen
lol glen yes please write more , the first article was ausome.
But what if your skins are not dried flint hard? Can you rehydrate in the pickle then? What is special about the salt brine that the pickle wouldn't do? The pickle is almost the same mixture except it has 4.5 tsp added to the 1 lb salt/1 gal water mixture. I usually salt dry my skins for about 3 days prior to pickling, which doesn't get them extremely hard.