I have a buddy who brain tans buckskins for clothing as well as different furs. After seeing the thread on fox fur quivers and thinking about the fox and coyote pelts in the freezer, as well as finding a beautiful road killed fox the other night......I shot him question on how to tan them. He mentioned it once before and said it was easy. Turns out it is pretty easy.

Here is the link he sent me.

 http://www.braintan.com/articles/furs/george1.html  


Also, as a brain substitute you can use soap and vegetable oil (just grate a half a bar of soap, add a half cup of oil, and wisk together with some hot water until its homogenized)

I've seen his furs and them come out great.

thanks for the link, greg!

Very helpful...thanks

Bookmarked that link.  Now I just have to get a yote or fox.

This was great, easier than how I've always done it.  

nice. thanks for the link

maybe a dumb question but what is in the brain that makes this work ? Is there something else that would work just as well ?

QuoteOriginally posted by Skipmaster1:
Also, as a brain substitute you can use soap and vegetable oil (just grate a half a bar of soap, add a half cup of oil, and wisk together with some hot water until its homogenized)

never knew or heard about soap and veg oil~

L.R.

I don't know the speicics OBX, but I have heard brains, eggs, and now soap and oil all work rather well.
Something I am going to try for sure. Thanks Greg.

obx I think its the greasy oily type matter in the brain but may be wrong

I will have to give this a try one day, thanks for the link.

I believe it is the emusified fats that tan the hide, and yes many things work like Jamie said, milk and eggs are popular as well as brains, but soap and oil seems to be a fairly "clean" way to do it

I tanned a deer hide and made a quiver with the hair on. Lasted about 20 years of good hard use with no hair slippage.

Ron, it is the oils in the brains that make it work.  I used to use an old wringer style washing machine to squeeze the brain solution out of the hide.  Doing this helps make the hide like a sponge so when I stuck it back in the brain solution the solution would wick into the fibers of the hide.

how much  Brains etc etc would ya need for tanning say  a Deer hide.

Very cool, thanks for the link and "soap & veg oil" option.

QuoteOriginally posted by JEFF B:
how much  Brains etc etc would ya need for tanning say  a Deer hide.

The cool thing is that the brains from a critter are enough to tan the hide.  One deer's brain = one tanned deer hide.  Lawyers are an exception -- you need a bunch of them.    

Great info     Thanks for the link !!!

Thanks for the info.  I was getting ready to try tanning when I came across this.  I just bought a book on the subject, but it does'nt say anything about tanning with the fur on. I will give this method a try.

hey woody aint that the truth!!