Making buckskin

[Rooster79]

I've had several customers ask me to make a traditional Florida cow whip out of buckskin which seems to be an item that is quickly disappearing. I can only find one whip maker on the web that is still producing buckskin whips. Indian tanned hides are around $20/ sq ft so I decided to try making my own. I have 2 hides from our own kill and I purchased 4 more from a local butcher shop. I fleshed them out and then soaked them for a week to slip the hair. Yesterday I scraped the hair and then soaked them in a salt water and bleach bath for 8 hours. I now have three sides of rawhide ready to be tanned. I now know why buckskin is so expensive, lots of work. Here is a couple pics showing my progress so far.

[Reuben]

Keep going step by step...thx

[bjohnston0311]

I didn't realize the time consumption...I'm with Reuben on the steps until the finished whip....pretty cool so far. Good read

[charles]

I'm interested in the tanning process. Iv got some hides that I wanna make a hair on top and bottom buckskin outfit. Are you sending the hides out for tanning?

[rdjustham]

Why the bleach in the salt bath?

heres a good forum with a bunch of info if you wanna read up on all kinds of stuff for taxidermy

Taxidermy.net

Also you can order complete tanning kits from McKenzie

www.mckenziesp.com

[Rooster79]

I was going to brain tan them but decided to try these first 3 with a product called "Deer Hunter and Trappers Hide Tanning Formula". It says it gives a tan similar to brain. I read a lot of great reviews on it but they all say to follow the directions exactly. The directions say to add a capful of bleach to each 5 gallons of saltwater. I just finished getting the last bit of membrane off them and they are ready for the tan.

[rdjustham]

Hmm never heard of that.  Must be product specific.  Does the stiff youre using require a pickle?

[Rooster79]

No pickle in the directions. I haven't studied on tanning thoroughly but I thought pickling was for hair on hide only. From what I read you salt the flesh side of a fur for couple days and then into the pickle. Buckskin you take down to rawhide and then tan. I know Indian tans and commercial tans are totally different though.

[rdjustham]

Youre probably right.  Never made buckskin so I have no idea.

[Rooster79]

I'm also trying this stuff on a coon hide if I can ever get all the grease scraped out of it. I will let you know how it turns out

[halfbreed]

   lol  yeah rooster plenty of good tasty grease in a coon , I use salt , scrape and them borax , scrape a little more borax and scrape . then wash the hell out of them with DAWN DISH SOAP  it's really good at getting the rest the oil out of the skin .

[Rooster79]

That was my plan Halfbreed but I'm gonna follow the directions on this stuff I'm using on this one. I had another big boar coon in a coyote set this morning. If this stuff don't work right then I will try something different on him. I plan on making caps out of them for my 2 girls Christmas presents. Momma says she don't want one

[rdjustham]

Check the directions on the tan, some of them don't like borax.

[Rooster79]

Got the tanning solution rubbed in this evening. We will see how it looks in a few days.

[JUNIOR SEFFERN]

Roy if it works out for you I can have you a few hides when u come back down to fl. My hunting crew kills about 30-40 deer a season. We usually just through them out but say the word and I will keep them for you and you can pick them up whenever

[Rooster79]

I really appreciate it Junior but there is no telling when I will get back down there, it may be a couple years for all I know. This is just an experiment anyways. If it don't turn out right the first couple tries then I'm just gonna stick with nylon. It's too time consuming to screw up. I did find a couple places that sell wholesale commercial tanned buckskin for around $75. I may give that a try also.

[JUNIOR SEFFERN]

$75 is I a high price for a tanned cape....those prices are for the taxidermist that have to replace capes for peoples screw ups when cleaning their deer and are probably nice heavy haired deer bit if not using the hair like you I wouldn't pay that. The offer stands anyhow just let me know if it works out for you and I will start saving them. My dad does a Lot of taxidermy work and I can get hides for around $35 if I don't have enough. They will work for what ur doing. I can tan them also and let them dry then ship them to you. When you get that all you would have to do is soak them in water and you would have a soft cape again that you could do the rest with. The tan I use is to keep the hair from falling out but I'm sure you could find a way to get it off.

[Rooster79]

Thanks Junior I will keep you in mind if these don't turn out. The three I've done so far I'm not sure about. They are not near as hard and stiff as rawhide but they aren't near as supple as leather, somewhere in between. I'm thinking I need to add some oil/conditioner and work them a little. I did trim the edge with scissors and it cut like butter. Maybe the little stiffness will work for me because the few rawhide whips I've handled were too limp feeling for me, like a wet noodle. Here is a pic of it now.