Bark Tanned Deer Hide

Almost a year ago I started soaking a hide in a bark solution (see my Bark Tanning post). I had been told it could take several months but I really was not prepared for it to take almost a year! I almost gave up on it a couple of times because it seemed like the inside of the hide was not getting tanned at all (the color remained white while the outside was reddish) but I never got around to it and kept it in its bath until, finally, I could see some changes when I cut a little piece of the hide to check its status.

By about the end of September last year the absorption of the tannins had slowed down quite a bit and I didn't need to add more bark tea very often (maybe once a month or so). Then the hide remained frozen in its bucket the whole winter and probably didn't do much. When it thawed out I put it in what would be its last bark solution until the process was complete about a month ago. As the weather warmed up, a thin layer of white slime appeared on the surface and I was afraid that the solution had gone bad. However, it still smelled sweet so I just stirred the slime in and it was not a problem. All in all, I probably used 15 gallons of Doug Fir bark to make all the solutions. The freshly peeled bark seemed to work better than the one who had been dried for a while.

Then, I rinsed the hide real well. I had read it was to get rid of as many unfixed tannins as possible but I rinsed the hide in 5 or 6 changes of water without really seeing a difference in the strength of the rinse water, though it seemed to smell less sweet. I squeegeed out the liquid between each rinse with my scraper tool. Just like I had done for membraning the hide before, I put a towel down on my scraping beam so that the grain wouldn't get damaged and, essentially, I membraned the hide again and it needed it.

I laid the hide to dry for a little bit before oiling it. Just like with buckskin, the hide should be damp but not overly wet. I then spread some rendered bear fat all over it. The grain side didn't need that much but the flesh side absorbed it pretty fast. I made the mistake to do that in the sun and that made some very dark spots on the hide. Must definitely do this in full shade next time.

When the hide was well oiled on both sides I stretched it in all directions, even using my opening beam, though I had to be careful not to damage the grain by pulling too much, especially when the hide was getting dry. I pretty much kept the grain side slightly oiled while I was working it.

I couldn't finish it on the first day so I let it dry completely just to see what it would be like. There were some parts that were soft and others that were hard. So when I was ready to work it again I rolled the hide in a damp towel and put it in a closed tub so that the water wouldn't evaporate too fast. After 2-3 hours it was ready to be worked again, slightly damp and pliable.

I reapplied some bear fat to the grain side to work it but the flesh side didn't seem to need it. Just like with buckskin it needed to be stretched until fully dry but, unlike with buckskin, it didn't take much effort at all. The finished product has a nice leathery feel to it on the grain side and is soft on the flesh side. It took about a pint of bear fat to do it all.

Bark tanned deer hide, grain side

Bark tanned deer hide, flesh side

Bark tanned leather is a lot more water resistant than brain tanned buckskin so it lends itself well to making bags, among other things. I think it is also pretty stylish and I used it to make my wife a nice purse decorated with hock skins.

For more information on this subject, read Matt Richard's articles on the subject at http://braintan.com/barktan/index.htm

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