From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: Re: Tanning pelts
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 15:24:41 -0500
Message-ID: <j2ejq1drebur0a1ic42h8bo7i4a09r3oek@4ax.com>

On 21 Dec 2005 11:36:59 -0800, usshopkins@yahoo.com wrote:

>Don,
>
>     Thanks for the advice. You're right, I was gingerly pulling and
>stretching, not wanting to rip the hide. I'm going to go home tonight
>and beat it up pretty good. I like the beat sand into it idea. There's
>not too many trappers left in the world, and there's even less trappers
>who've tanned...

Here's a technique I've used to limber up stiff hides after they're
tanned.  Sew the edges together with a leather awl stitcher to make a
bag.  sew in several large smooth river rocks.  Leave space so the
rocks can move around freely.  Put this in a heavy canvas bag and put
the whole affair in your dryer.  Run it for several hours without
heat.  The constant pounding will limber up the leather.  It'll make a
hell of a racket so do this when you're going out.

You can pound out the hide manually but the dryer does it soooo much
easier.  I always did mine while the hide was still moist from the
tanning.  I don't know how it'll work on a dry hide.  You might want
to moisten it a bit to help it limber up.  Run the dryer until the
hide is dry again.

John

From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: Re: Tanning pelts
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 00:01:11 -0500
Message-ID: <f8ckq19649pl0j7hn50jabsdg854eqlt1k@4ax.com>

On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 07:47:50 +1100, "Farm1" <please@askifyouwannaknow>
wrote:

>"Neon John" <no@never.com> wrote in message
>
>> Here's a technique I've used to limber up stiff hides after they're
>> tanned.  Sew the edges together with a leather awl stitcher to make a
>> bag.  sew in several large smooth river rocks.  Leave space so the
>> rocks can move around freely.  Put this in a heavy canvas bag and put
>> the whole affair in your dryer.  Run it for several hours without
>> heat.  The constant pounding will limber up the leather.  It'll make a
>> hell of a racket so do this when you're going out.
>>
>> You can pound out the hide manually but the dryer does it soooo much
>> easier.
>
>I'm assuming that there must be no Significant Other in your life John????
>
>If there was, this sort of domestic appliance abuse would cause a great deal
>of domestic disbliss.

Back when I was doing this, there was a Significant Mother in the
picture.  She was so happy that I was out skinning coons and muskrats
and stuff and not smokin' dope that she put up with a LOT of that kind
of stuff.

Once I acquired a house and a shop and an SO of my own, I've pretty
much always had a shop washer and dryer, mainly for rags and greasy
coveralls.  Usually a set that I picked up out of the local trader for
a C-note or thereabouts.  I actually have three sets of machines now.
One for clothes, one for rags and one for mop heads in the restaurant.

Hey, you ought to hear the dryer when I use it as a brass tumbler for
reloading.  Put the brass and media in a heavy 8-10 mil poly bag, heat
seal it shut, stick it inside an old pillowcase for padding and tumble
away.  About as fast as my vibratory tumbler.  I tried it once without
the poly bag but that wasn't very pretty....

John

From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: Re: Tanning pelts
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 14:38:03 -0500
Message-ID: <e9koq1tb6lvrf3lrcejv3enrv864efbhu8@4ax.com>

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 16:59:52 +1100, "Farm1" <please@askifyouwannaknow>
wrote:

>"Neon John" <no@never.com> wrote in message
>
>> Hey, you ought to hear the dryer when I use it as a brass tumbler for
>> reloading.  Put the brass and media in a heavy 8-10 mil poly bag, heat
>> seal it shut, stick it inside an old pillowcase for padding and tumble
>> away.  About as fast as my vibratory tumbler.  I tried it once without
>> the poly bag but that wasn't very pretty....
>
>I must admit that I didn't have a clue what you meant by para until I did a
>search at google using "brass tumbler" reloading.  Ammo???????
>
>What does tumbling it do and what is the media used for?  Presumably it
>smooths and grinds somehow?????  Or have I got it all wrong?

Tumbling is used prepare used cartridge cases for reloading.  It
removes any powder residue and slicks up the finish on the cases.  The
smooth brass goes through the resizing die (used to bring the fired
case back to the original size) smoother than the original finish.

The media is what actually does the polishing by rubbing against the
objects to be polished.  There are many types in use - rouge loaded
ground up corn cob, ground up walnut hulls, rouge loaded sawdust,
kitty litter etc.  I've tried most of them and have settled on rouge
loaded corn cob.  The cases come out with a jewelry-like finish.

John

From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: Re: Tanning pelts
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 17:07:23 -0500
Message-ID: <r4toq19itvcmu6j66v4ogbgfn1pnk5v2ha@4ax.com>

Because I don't want to beat the fur off the other side.  Stitching
only takes a little while and that's using a hand awl.  A heavy duty
sewing machine would make quick work of it.  You don't have to sew the
hide up like making clothing.  Just a stitch every inch or so so the
rocks can't slide out.

John

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 20:00:07 GMT, Janet Baraclough
<janet.and.john@zetnet.co.uk> wrote:

>The message <jYqdnbY18v-ngzHeRVn-rA@scnresearch.com>
>from Offbreed <offbreed_106@hotmail.com> contains these words:
>
>
>
>> I never heard of sewing the weights inside the hide, though it sounds
>> like a good idea.
>
>   Laborious though. Why not just put the weights and hide inside a
>cotton bag with a drawstring, and tumble it in the machine?
>
>   Janet

From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: Re: Tanning pelts
Date: Sat, 24 Dec 2005 03:52:11 -0500
Message-ID: <j03qq1183upeifom4noohq4dq4bi71ct27@4ax.com>

On Sat, 24 Dec 2005 16:17:56 +1100, "Farm1" <please@askifyouwannaknow>
wrote:

>"Neon John" <no@never.com> wrote in message
>
>> objects to be polished.  There are many types in use - rouge loaded
>> ground up corn cob, ground up walnut hulls, rouge loaded sawdust,
>> kitty litter etc.  I've tried most of them and have settled on rouge
>> loaded corn cob.  The cases come out with a jewelry-like finish.
>
>Aaaah.   Like jewellers rouge?
>

Yup.  There has been more than one piece of gold jewelry go through my
tumbler.  Really puts a shine on it.

John