what tan is your favorite?

Man oh man...regardless of which tan a guy choses, one thing that this thread has further reminded me is that when I'm spending $90/cape for a deer at a tannery, I could be learning and trying to do it on my own. I am only doing 10-15 deer a year right now and currently waiting on the tannery before I can do any further work. I think the purchase of a fleshing wheel is going to have me tanning a few of my own capes to learn and experiment with!!

 

not to throw a wrench in the mix, just curious the cream tans fit into this discussion?

 

I will weigh in on this in the coming weeks. So far, I have used both Rinehart tanning cream, and Rittel's e-z 100 tans. Both gave me a nice white leather result, and I pickled with saftee-acid before each and neutralized, etc. I just placed an order for Trubond, and look forward to seeing how it works; I am going after wallhangers as of now, and coming at it from that angle. With both, if I missed the "window" of opportunity to break them, I ended up with tough areas where it dried faster and was not broken as well. I also oiled with Pro-Plus on all but a few hides (one being the experimental one where I used George's lotion suggestion.) (I guess that this meant that I over-oiled on the paint-on tan skins, but it never seemed to harm.)

In all honesty, all were pretty similar again; it just depended on my level of hide-breaking after the oiling step. I have not tanned anything to mount yet, save for a novelty mount; I use denatured alcohol for the squirrels that I do, which is not a "tan," but worked well for the mounts. I also had much better luck once I learned how to properly remove membrane on foxes; beginner mistakes were made!

 

I was also surprised with the trubond prices; less than I expected for a product with the great reviews I have seen. I placed my first order today, and I like how you can get your shipping quote right away, too. Other sites sort of just take the shipping amount out when they calculate it. I know that they are two different animals, but a site that gives me an amount upfront is easier for me to deal with.

 

Tru-Bond 1000 by far you also mentioned that you attempted a few soft tans with so so results May i STRONGLY recommend that you research trubond 1000b. In my opinion this is a way under discussed and under used product. It is literally a gold mine in a jug for taxidermist. You can absolutely get a high quality back skin tan with this product. So many customers want a back skin but dont want to pay and wait the length of time it can take to send it off.

I think i have tried just about every brush on out there. How some can say they have tried x,y,z, and trubond and like them all the same is beyond me. Its not possible to not be able to tell the difference in a trubond cape versus x,y, or z. I think some of the tans available to taxis are more suitable for carseats and baseball gloves. The makers of trubond came up with a product that is perfect for the home tanner. Thats not opinion its fact.

never met the makers and have nothing to do with it other than i tan with it and i snort it joking ofcourse but i love the smell of it

 

Re: Re: what tan is your favorite?

x2


Droid Baby!!!

Shut up and mount

 

this is what I ordered! I will count the days til it arrives.

 

You will love it Jen.

 

I cannot wait to get the tru-bond tan. It should arrive today; fingers crossed. How is their pickle solution, if you've used it? I ordered that, along with their oil, too. I have a l/s fox (that I may just wallhang, since it was gutshot) waiting in the pickle for it now.

 

I have tried every preservative, powdered,alum,mineral,synthetic, granulated,brush on, miracle tan,pressure, no pressure and also every oil out there and even a few that are not. Nothing I have tested rivals lutan F in stretch,tight hair,epidermis loss, softness in a dry tan and shrinkage. One major problem I have seen is excessive shrinkage while drying with alot of brush on tans. If you have tried both you would see what I mean. This is just my personal opinion. And on a side note, one's person's definition of a good soft dry tan seems to very GREATLY among taxidermist.

 

I have been told that a good brush-on tan will get the pH to the same level as a good submersible tan. I have always seen white leather be produced when I used tanning cream. It is not the same as if I hadn't used anything. Overall really, the paint-ons do not really "save time," I leave them on the hides for the same amount of time that I'd leave the tan in the submersible liquid. Mixing time is about equal to the time that it'd take to wrap and paint the hide. I do a true pickle, however; I have personally noticed that this makes a difference, instead of just salting-and-rehydrating and then painting on the tan. I will have more of a valid opinion once I see the results of the tru-bond (tomorrow.. it arrived at our business, but dangit if I am too tired after work to go and get it; lol.)

 

If there's anything that I'd advise other beginners.. proper fleshing is necessary for even the chance of having a soft tan, if you're after a wallhanger small mammal. If you just skin and rough-flesh, say, a fox.. and go through the steps with meat and membrane left on.. good luck. I never realized til I got more in-depth that on a fox or other small mammal, that membrane has to come off. Rabbits are a challenge to me; I cannot just hand-peel it off, since the skin tears. A spoon or edge of a scissor blade helps. But if that membrane stays, you won't have a good time! I have been waiting until the hide's pickling for a few days to peel, though. My main concern with raw is to skin and turn asap, then salt.. rehydrate.. pickle. Then leave it in pickle a day after anything is shaven or fleshed.

 

TRUBOND is the best imo for taxidermy mounts
that is weighing time and money and results ie stretch,looks etc.
if i was doing rugs id ship to to tannery or submersible

 

X2

 

I am in love with trubond, for now. I applied it to my fox last night.. hung it overnight and began to break the hide.. it is almost dry and really nice. I will give a final verdict when it is completely dry, but it just feels so supple and nice.

 

I am in love with tru-bond 1000. My fox came out really nice and supple, with minimal need for hand-breaking (though I did hand-break.) I plan to post pics when I get it fully dried. I am very impressed thus far, and it does have a nice scent. It smells similar to the JRTS, but is much thicker in consistency.

 

I have used lutan the past few years and had excellent results. I will continue using it but after reading all these posts I think I will give tru-bond a try and see what all the hype is about. Very good thread a lot of information to absorb.

 

Enough said. Get some trubond.