Should a cowhide be degreased? Also what will happen if hide is left in EZ100 more than 24 hours? Is this good tan for cow rugs? Should hair on cowhide be clipped? Thanks for all your help! could send out, but how would I learn.
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tan the cowhide longer than 20 hours in eze 100 and your asking for the flexablility of a wood plank!
ej
You had better just flesh it real good salt and send it off. You are talking almost impossible for a home tanner to tan a cow. I tried it once and EJ is right, it will be stiff even if you tan it properly. Saying that, you will need to shave that skin to less than an eighth inch thick to even consider getting it soft. Even the proper shaving of the hide and tumbling is a ton of back breaking work. The hide is gonna weigh a ton when it is wet. The piece I tried a few years ago could be used as siding on a house. LOL! Send it off. Learn on a deer hide.
also..sometimes a spliting machine is used. i heard they can cost around 80,000 for a used one. or 1/2 million for a new one. this i heard splits the hide into two pieces. try that one at home!
ej
I`m a part time tanner for a couple of taxidermists in the area and the bulk of the work is large hides.Moose,elk, buffalo,cowhides,muskox, grizzly and cape buffalo.It is not as difficult as people make it out to be.Prior to this year I was doing buffalo robes by hand, no fleshing machine,now that is work! To handle hides in the tank I set up a small pulley system similar to the ones they sell for hoisting your dead deer.Shaving large hides is a great way to learn the value of shaving.When a large hide "comes alive" and changes from this massive slab into a workable hide it`s priceless.After doing a large hide,a whitetail cape is a walk in the park!As far as saving or making money, give me all your 1200 dollar muskox,I`ll tan them all day long!Give it a shot the most you`ll lose is a little time and some sweat but what you`ll gain will be unmeasurealble.
you are a taxidermist you don't have that time. I started tanning just so I could learn the chemistry and to know exactly what I was looking for in a commercially tanned hide. I know if you do tanning full time it is a different story. For a beginner it is an awful lot of work and could be extremely discouraging. To answer your question about degreasing. Probably not but it can't hurt.
Thanks everyone who answered. I have a shaving machine and have done deer, elk,and made other cowhides into leather. AS a beginner was not sure about the degreasing. thanks again and other input would be appreciated..