Tanning a bobcat using deer hunters & trappers HTF

Now that looks great.. Good work..

was the leather for the backing already treated? or did you put something on it to give it that look?

I ask because i have rolls of Elk Hide that are tanned and dyed to a similar color, but all the research i have found says to use neats foot oils on it to give it that finish..


That looks like a very serious sewing machine, did you have it already or did you get it to do this kind of stuff? Did you feel like you need that kind of machine? Did you try using a heavy duty machine first?

Sorry for all the questions, i like what you did, and might try something like that.

OK, last one.. When you sew the hide to the leather, did you trim the fur back from the edge of the hide to give you a hair free strip to sew along? I heard that you would have to do that to get the hair to lay right. If you did how big of an edge did you do that worked?

Thx
 
Originally Posted By: Tbone-AZNow that looks great.. Good work..

was the leather for the backing already treated? or did you put something on it to give it that look?
Thanks. Yes the leather backing was already treated as received from Amazon.
Originally Posted By: Tbone-AZ
I ask because i have rolls of Elk Hide that are tanned and dyed to a similar color, but all the research i have found says to use neats foot oils on it to give it that finish..

Basically the way I see it is there are a few extra steps that we can't do at home that make it fluffy like that. I have watched "howitsmade" - tanning and they have a few machines that common folk won't have that bring it to the final finish we all expect. I would imagine neats foots oils "might" do the trick as that's what I have read too but there is a hot press machine that gives the fur luster and cleans it.

The bottle I use, which even says on it, "Indian style tan" isn't as good of quality as that can be done professionally. If it can, I wish they'd make a video on it and share. I just need to put some of that oil on my pelts to see. On the pillow, coyote hide, I used leather oil, like for boots. Clear liquid that cleans and preserves and hydrates giving a soft supple feel and it works ok but not as good as the oil I see in the howitsmade video:

Originally Posted By: Tbone-AZ
That looks like a very serious sewing machine, did you have it already or did you get it to do this kind of stuff? Did you feel like you need that kind of machine? Did you try using a heavy duty machine first?
was trying to take it seriously and start a small business to help with a little income on the side and so wanted to do quality work so I bought an industrial machine. I can either do it by hand and take as long as some of the videos I've watched or do it in 1/4 of the time using the machine. And being the machine does a better job than I can do by had and much faster, and well, taking it all serious, I opted for the machine. And I guess it "is" the industrial model so...
Originally Posted By: Tbone-AZ
Sorry for all the questions, i like what you did, and might try something like that.
It's alright. I don't mind them if I know your actually searching for info. Before it seemed like you were asking to just prove a point and discredit me/method I used so I apologize.
Originally Posted By: Tbone-AZ
OK, last one.. When you sew the hide to the leather, did you trim the fur back from the edge of the hide to give you a hair free strip to sew along? I heard that you would have to do that to get the hair to lay right. If you did how big of an edge did you do that worked?

Thx

No worries. No, trimming ANY fur is from what I've read, is rookie and frowned upon as a furrier. This video will show you how it sews:

Basically you'll fold the good sides together and run them through the machine, eventually flipping your work right side out to expose the fur
 
Thx for the information. It's very helpful..

If you are looking for leather on the cheap. I found that Karl@pergamena.net or go to their website at Pergamena.net is the best for leather.

I send him my elk (hair on fleshed) and in 6 weeks he sends it back tanned, and Dyed to one of the dozen colors they have for $70 bucks. They were the place that did an episode on tanning leather with Mike Rowe of Dirty jobs..

I asked them if they would run Elk through with their normal stuff and that is how you get the deal..
They take the hair off and send back the softest leather. I couldn't hope to do it for as cheap as they do, or the working it.

If you have friends that get elk or deer, they usually toss the hide that for $60 you could have a 4x5' sheet of leather. (if anyone is interested)

The to prep the hide.. I flesh it, then lay it flat and let it dry.. I give it a nice layer of salt, and once it's not tacky, i fold it up as tight as i can into a large flat rate ship box and put it in the mail ASAP.. (I put it in a trash compactor bag so that it doesn't leak)

If it fits it ships.. they didn't say the box can't be roundish.. lol
I usually have to trim off the legs and some of the extra to square it up to get it to fit.. Other wise the shipping would be crazy expensive to New York state. I also found out the hard way about fleshing and drying since the first time it just sent it green, and when it got there it was a mess, and bugs had gotten into it and ruined half the hide.. (hence the drying and salting)

Great work and thanks for sharing.
 
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