Hail to the brain trust here:
I have a Mule deer, that was dry tanned, is slipping terribly.
Deer was killed in October 2004, completely fleshed and salted and dried.
I sent it to a reputable tannerery in April 2006, they did what I thought was a good job.
I rehydrated it, mounted it, and put it up to dry/
All was well until the 5th day of drying when all the hair, from everywhere started slipping. I know its only speculation, but what could have happened here?
Some additional facts, I rehydrated it in cold water for about an hour, then sweated it in the fridge over night; I used capret adheasive for hide paste, i have done that hundreds of times and never had this happen, I was not rough with the hide to damage it ia any way, but I did slightly rough the skin side, again I have done that a lot.
any help would be great, I have an impala at that tannery and the thought of loosing that one scares me.
Roger
Return to Tanning Category Menu
That's it.Gremlins,I get them now and them.
A hollow haired skin, that old, should be wet tanned, to avoid the rigors of the dry tan process. Stretching, tumbling etc. The hair becomes very dry, and brittle, over time. By slipping, do you mean bald spots, or the hair is just falling out to the touch? Is it falling out more in the throat patch area?
Falling out everywhere. just a light touch.
This did not happen while mount or grooming.
I held onto it because, um...I guess because it was mine and I always worked on something else.
It surprises me that you would refer to a mule deer cape as a hollow haired cape...not the case, they are the same as northern whitetail capes. With all due respect, that is not the problem here.
But contrary to your remarks, deer hair is in fact hollow. It is not open ended as pronghorn hair, but it is hollow and it's filled with air. That's whitetail, key, Cous, mule deer, red deer, axis deer, and a couple others I'm sure to have missed. All deer have hollow hair.
Thats why they make good flies, for fly fishing. If it was loosing hair bad in the throat patch area, my guess might be over tumbling, if it was a fresh cape. My GUESS, if hair is loose all over, is that the natural oils in the hair have broken down over time, and offered little protection to the hair. Again a guess, the roots were dry and brittle, and loosened up after re-hydration. Dry tans shrink, so after releaving the pressure around the roots, after rehydration, and stretching, they fell out.
You are correct, of course. I was comparing it to the pronghorn qualities of hair(and their wick-like ability due to the open ends of the hairs), and the problems I have in comparison to the pronghorn capes.
If it is, I am surprised you addressed George, after telling me I was wrong. Was I not worthy of acknowledgement, while you were putting your foot in your mouth? That was a good save though, I must admit. What does that wick-like hair of the pronghorn have the ability of?
Huh? Usually get an expert opinion here, oh well thanks anyway, I supposed I learned to wet tan and to not hold on to the skin too long before it goes to the tannery
i had the same problem with several capes sent to moyles tannery was by chance this the same tannery?
Keystone Tannery.
The cape looked great and stretched nice. I guess it was just salted too long, or gremlins.
Free advice, from someone that has tanned more skins in 6 months, than you will in a lifetime. Anyone claiming to make more than a GUESS, not knowing the entire history of that skin, would be a fool. In all seriousness, without the insults, what would be your GUESS here? You really should pay attention, when it comes to hanging on to skins too long though. The rest was pure speculation. Give it a shot.