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Post by longtrail on Jul 1, 2008 18:27:23 GMT -5
While messing around with some beaver tails last winter, I found that the outer layer, where the scales are located, would peel away from the actual gristle tail. It is very fragile. I saw no use for them and the mice ended up nibbling on them a bit. Also managed to skin this young beaver's tail in one piece, with no holes. I guess it would make a good round ball bag or shot pouch. I shaped it and dried it by filling it with 20 Mule Team Borax. Excellent stuff for working with rawhides.
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Post by Cody ( The Patriot ) on Jul 1, 2008 21:11:34 GMT -5
Thanks LT .I didnt skin mine whole but split the sides and boraxed and salted them going to try to neetsfoot oil them to see if I can get them to soften up any .I saw one at the Southwestern back in 04 I think on a bag that was soft as any leather but didnt ask him any questions ,hind site dont you know.
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Post by joanne2 on Jul 2, 2008 8:30:36 GMT -5
Have to wonder if it might have been an alum taw or tan, Cody. Might have been any commercial tan. There's a guy, Dan Rowlett on the BT.com (as you probably know), that'd probably use alum on just about any skin, I think, with good success, seems. Wouldn't hurt to give that a try. I buy the aluminum sulfate that this one mill carries for making your flower and shrubbery soil more or less alkaline.. forgot which! anyway I use plenty more salt and water than alum.. how much alum to use? Enuff...lol I've used sulfuric acid to tan stuff too and was scolded pretty much on the * forum but I've never seen anything disintegrate yet... don't know how many years you need to wait to see it. I could be long gone before I'd see some failure of the skin to hold up.. problem is supposed to be in fully neutralizing the acid with that.. then with the alum and salt pickle thing the skins would be a pretty good attractant to moisture.. might be ok if you smoked the dickens out of it but for inexpensive I'd be willing to try either one.. Course if you really want to do a better or best job Bruce Rittel sells the safety acids and bates and EZ 100 and if I hit the lotto I am sure that I'd invest in all of his products and the guy is even so dedicated to tanning hides and skins that as far as customer service goes, I don't really think it gets much better than Bruce. One could always post questions like this on Taxidermy.net too and take your pic from a multitude of varying answers, pretty much. Hope this helps.
I really like the tail. Looks just great as a little rawhide container to me.
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Post by paskinner on Jul 2, 2008 12:01:25 GMT -5
I bet bark tan would work. I know Dan has used it for weird stuff like frog skin. I think it's Rittels that sells a snake skin kit, that would be another option.
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Post by Cody ( The Patriot ) on Jul 2, 2008 12:17:12 GMT -5
Yup probly so they act alot like snake skin when they are dry.
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