HOME LEATHER TANNING: Tools You Need Explained

The tools home tanners need for bark tanning hides and skins by the Vegetable tan process. fleshing beam and knife, tubs, cutting bark, leather finishing, pounding leather, softening stake, slicker, slicking iron, Graining board, arm board.

Read the extensive well illustrated companion blog post to this video: http://skillcult.com/blog/2018/10/14/...

Wiebe 12 inch fleshing knife. have not had a chance to use it, but it looks very promising and I like the overall form: https://amzn.to/2J1YuJJ

Atlas elbow gloves: https://amzn.to/2CRYEDp

Glass slickers. Many of these have minimal work and poishing, but they should work: https://amzn.to/2CqKJmU. if you want to spend a lot on a super nice one, go to the BarryKingTools website

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Standard gear I recommend. I either use or have used all of it.

Council Tool Boys Axe: https://amzn.to/3z0muqI
Bahco Farmer's File: https://amzn.to/3Hbdhij
King two sided sharpening stone: https://amzn.to/32EX1XC
Silky f180 saw: https://amzn.to/3yZzM71
ARS 10 foot long reach pruner: https://amzn.to/3esETmM
Victorinox grafting/floral knife: https://amzn.to/3Jki1E9
Wiebe 12” fleshing tool: https://amzn.to/3sB0qSl
Atlas Elbow Gloves: https://amzn.to/3FwB5g6

BOOKS:
The Axe Book, by Dudley Cook: https://amzn.to/32kx7sN
Bushcraft, by Mors Kochanski: https://amzn.to/32q2rpT

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Typical steps in bark tanning (aka vegetable tanning) are as follows, after skinning the animal, the hide is fleshed to remove flesh and fat from the skin. This and many other steps besides fleshing deer hides are carried out on the tanners beam with the fleshing knife. If the hair is to be removed, it is usually soaked in wood ashes or lime to loosen the hair. The hair is pushed out with the fleshing knife in the unhairing or dehairing step. The alkali from the lime must be washed out or neurtalized. Repeated washing and scudding with the fleshing knife as when fleshing deer hides(scudding is scrapping to flush and clean out the skin fiber) returns the hide to a relaxed state and removes lime and dissolved material within the skin. Then the skin is tanned in tannic acid contained in the barks, roots, leaves and fruits of certain plants. Once the tan has penetrated all the way through the skin, the hide is finished by either softening, just drying with oils, or compressing it further to make dense hard leather. Tools used in softening are the graining board, and softening stake as well as the hands. For compressing, traditionally, wooden mallets are used to pound the damp skin.

Leatherworking and leather working tools are an almost totally separate trade with it's own set of tools.

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