To tan a bear or not to tan. This is a question I have thought alot about. I have a fleshing machine, tubs, chemicals, oils, tumbler. Just wondering, I hear about how a tannery can do a better job then a home tan on a bear, what is it that a tannery owns or does that causes the bear hide to come out better then the guy who does it themselves, or is it they are more experienced? Thanks
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If you try to do it and ruin it? What then?
That is not a tuff question. You can pull you're own tooth out, or you can go to the Dentist. If you're car needs a new motor and you know nothing about today's cars, but you have some tools, you can do it in about two weeks with some nuts and bolts left over, or you can have a auto repair shop do it in a week or less with a guarantee. Anyone can tan a deer or hog without too much risk. Other animals are best left to the pros. If you want to learn on a bear cape, go ahead. You have less than a 50-50 chance of wishing you should have had a pro do it.
I understand that it would be dificult and I probally will not be able to do it, but.... I was asking to see what it is the tanneries have that the local taxidermists dont have. Oh and by the way a car is alot more complicated then a bear hide, and Im sure a tanner does not have to go to school as long as a dentist (just wanting to keep things in perspective).
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I send most of my tanning out, except for small game and a few deer capes...but I do it to save time. The time it would take to do a bear would discourage me from tackling it. I really don't see why you couldn't do a good tanning job if you used the right processes/equipment. You said you have a fleshing machine, tumbler, etc...so you should be OK on the equipment side. I would think that if you fleshed and salted the hide properly and then rehydrated it using a commercial relaxer it would rehydrate properly. Then if you pickled using your favorite acid combined with a good tannery degreaser for 3 days, then shaved the hide and returned it to the pickle, it would pickle OK. Then, if you tanned it using a good immersion tan like Lutan or EZ-100, followed by a good tanning oil, the tan would turn out OK. Your "home tan" might turn out better than some of the tanneries.
OK, I'll answer, snce others are missing the point. The point is not to tell him not to ruin his pelts - why should you care? The point is to answer the question.
Apparently, commercial tanneries have several bits of equipment or process chemicals that home tanners do not have.
1) a staking machine (aka stretching)
2) an 8 foot tumbler or better
3) during tanning, they use a "wet drum" (usually several thousand gallons, made of poly, and cost $6000 or so) which slowly rotates the skins as well as the solutions
4) better chemicals - they go direct to BASF, etc
5) better oils, fatliquours, and other items
6) machine comb unless you love brushing bears for hours
That's my experience having sent out, bought dressed, and done in-house.
I prefer my own work, but to get anything made from it, if I don't do it, nobody will. The advantage ot sending out is that other manufacturers will work with it, if it's "pro tanned".
I would have bears pro tanned if I were you.
There is always a first time whenever one ventures into something new. I had never tanned a bear until I did my first one. Actually my first and second were done at the same time. They both came out great! They were rehydrated, degreased, pickled and bated, shaved,degreased again, pickled some more, tanned, oiled, sweated, dried, tumbled in an eight foot tumbler I built, and the results were fantastic. Actually they came out better than a lot of bears I have seen come from tanneries. No slippage and the hair just shines, everything came out soft and pliable. Nothing like that new leather smell, great! Give it a try you will be surprised what you can accomplish. Be sure you have an 8' tumbler, it saves a lot of headaches and work. Worked great on my first buffalo too!
I was just curious who is it you know that puts bears into a wet drum? I would caution against that. The preferred method is a paddle vat.
And one other thing, there are people who care about beginners messing their hides up in their own processes.
"The point is not to tell him not to ruin his pelts - why should you care? The point is to answer the question."
Any bad advice given out here is usually addressed by the regulars.
If the question is answered correctly, then the new guy will do OK with his tanning effort.
The biggest advantage commercial tanneries have over a home operation is the size of the equipment used to process the bear. However, you can get a decent tan at home if you pickle, shave, degrease, tan, oil, stake, tumble, comb, as has already been mentioned.
I wouldn't put bears into a wet drum though. You are just asking for extra work in the combing end. Not to mention how much hair you may drum through the leather.
to tan our own bears at first because we thought they were very delicate...after we got a couple loads back from tanneries with bears full of holes and bald spots, we tried it ourselves, and bears are not that hard to tan. They're nasty to shave with all that fat, but if you treat them carefully, you can do fine. We have static tanks, and an 8-ft. tumbler, and they come out fine. I've never had a bear that needed much grooming, either. Sometimes your customers don't take care of the hide well, and it slips...just make sure you take good care of it.