Hide Tanning?

[lone hunter]

I have a moose hide that I want tanned with the hair off. Evidently, all of the tanneries on the west coast are shut down so I will attempt to do it myself.

I know there are some gangers that tan their own hides so was hoping someone could give me advice through-out this process. There was a good post a couple years ago but can't find it now.

Thanks for your help and Good Hunting. Mike

[Chris Shelton]

I have never done anything that big before, but I have heard that moose, like deer is pretty strait forward.

What do you want to do with the end product? That will dictate what tannin chemicals you need.

I will say this, I have dehaired some hides with the old ashes trick and although it works rather well, do yourself a favor and get a commercial dehairing solution. I wont dehair anything bigger than a squirrel with ashes anymore.

other than that I think it should be pretty easy, just alot of muscle work!!! If you have any more questions, I will do my best to help!

[lone hunter]

Iam thinking about making hunting moccasins out of it. Maybe a quiver that would attatch to my daypack.

I tried the ash method years ago and wasn't too impressed. Never tried chemicals and wouldn't know what/where to buy them.

I contacted the lady in Montana that makes my hunting moccasins and she said her sister teaches a tanning class at the Kootenai College in Pablo. Meet once a week, all day, for 5 weeks. Its a 3 hour drive one way but may be the way to go. Thanks for your help Chris. Mike

[Northwoods]

Consider brain tanning. The process is simple but requires a fair amount of elbow grease (I'd guess this is especially true with a moose hides).  Check out the resources including books at braintan.com and do a search of this site.  Also do a web search for moccassin patterns.  

By the way, you can use potassium hydroxide instead of ashes to buck the hide for hair removal and grain removal.

Process:
1.Flesh
2.soak in bucking solution
3.scrape hair,grain,and membrane.
4.rinse
5.acidify (optional but results in softer hides)
6.soak in brain solution
7.soften
Done.  Ready to make something.

Good Luck,

Ted

[GWC]

not sure if its accurate but my father always told me that every animal has enough brains to tan its own hide.he had tanned them that way before.i also used to have some deer leather he had tanned,it was a bluish leather.believe it was a chrome tan.iv used the Orange bottle of hide tanning formula on smaller skins with good results.i here good things about Moyles tannery,not sure where theyre located though.guess the big thing is just workn the hide enough,breaking down the fibers so its nice and soft.iv watched alot of indian movies,you need to chew the hide good.that'll make it really soft,lol.

[lone hunter]

Thanks for the information guys. I'll do some research and follow up on what you've given me.

Might be able to chew up a squirrel hide but a moose is more than I want to tackle.