June 16, 2011

Alum Tanning

The alum tanning paste was scraped from the first test strip and a new layer was applied.

Vegetable Tanning

300 mL of distilled water was combined with 100 mL of quercitannic acid solution obtained by soaking oak bark in distilled water. The second test strip was added to this solution. I plan to gradually increase the concentration of the solution to which this strip is exposed.

Trimming

A third test strip was cut from the large hide

Soaking 

The third test strip was placed in distilled water to remove salt and blood.

June 9, 2011

Trimming

A square approximately 9"x9" was trimmed from the large hide.

A square approximately 3"x3" was cut from the large hide for testing purposes.

Resalting
Excess wet salt was scraped from the hide.

550 g of NaCl was added to the large hide.
450 g of NaCl was added to the small hide.

Soaking
The 3"x3" test strip was placed in distilled water for 24 hours to remove blood and salt.

The solution had a pH of 7.5 when the piece of hide was removed.

Liming
An NaOH solution was made by combining 200 mL of H₂O with 2 g of NaOH. The pH of this solution was 10. The 3"x3" test piece was placed in this solution at 1:45 pm. 

Due to the high pH of the solution, the hide was checked for progress at 6:30 pm; however, the hair was still firmly attached to the hide at this time. 

June 7, 2011

Trimming

The hides were removed from the refrigerator and laid flat on the table.

Unwanted animal material such as hooves, heads, and other organs were trimmed from the hide with a hunting knife. Some unwanted muscle and fat tissue were removed from the flesh side of the hide.

Salting

1000g of NaCl was placed on the large hide to cure it. 500g of NaCl was placed on the small hide. The hides were transfered to a wooden board and tilted to drain. They were then covered with a piece of foam and left to dry and drain for two days.