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FatherofRoland
02-25-2009, 11:16 PM
Does anyone know if the description of how Roland and Susannah made the dear hides and tanned them to make winter clothing is accurate? I occasionally hunt myself, but have no idea. If I followed the step by step description of what Roland does with the brains and hide, will I have my own tanned dear hide?

Sam
02-26-2009, 12:40 AM
I don't remember that section at the moment, but I do know that some authors have been known to take great pains in researching things for their books. In this case though, I would say that you'd be better off getting the work done by a liscensed tanner. They will take steps that King would have certainly left out to ensure you aren't exposed to anything nasty.

Bumbler19
02-26-2009, 01:27 AM
I do remember that part of the book. Umm, I think it would work... I mean... the quality of course isn't going to be spectacular... but Hey, why not give it a try and tell us the outcome :) I personally gag at the idea of brains being anywhere but inside a head XD

Darkthoughts
02-26-2009, 05:20 AM
Yes, it's an accurate description of ancient tanning processes. It's basically to make the hide flexible and also to stop it from putrifying.

Here's the process as described by wikipedia:


Skins typically arrived at the tannery dried stiff and dirty with soil and gore. First, the ancient tanners would soak the skins in water to clean and soften them. Then they would pound and scour the skin to remove any remaining flesh and fat. Next, the tanner needed to remove the hair fibers from the skin. This was done by either soaking the skin in urine, painting it with an alkaline lime mixture, or simply letting the skin putrefy for several months then dipping it in a salt solution. After the hair fibers were loosened, the tanners scraped them off with a knife.

Once the hair was removed, the tanners would bate the material by pounding dung into the skin or soaking the skin in a solution of animal brains. Among the kinds of dung commonly used were that of dogs or pigeons. Sometimes the dung was mixed with water in a large vat, and the prepared skins were kneaded in the dung water until they became supple, but not too soft. The ancient tanner might use his bare feet to knead the skins in the dung water, and the kneading could last two or three hours.

It was this combination of urine, animal feces and decaying flesh that made ancient tanneries so odiferous.

So, it would appear the main downfall is that the leather will be pretty stinky.

lead dealer
02-26-2009, 08:47 PM
For the most part he is correct, the brain will take place of the "putrifing" agent. It dose take some time for the hide to properly soften, but it is not to long. If I could only remember how they did it In the native camp at fort meigs.....

Silly me working a musket when I could have been learning something valueable.....

FatherofRoland
02-28-2009, 01:06 PM
Thanks, perhaps I will give this a shot some day the way Roland did it. Just want to be prepared for when the post-apocalyptic virus hits us or when I decide to go to Alaska to live in the wilderness.

What if I want the hair to stay on? Same process without removing the hair?

lead dealer
02-28-2009, 08:24 PM
Same process, have to treat or at least stretch and dry the backside to keep it from rotting.

The smell dose go away




eventually.............

stonedav
03-19-2009, 02:16 PM
Does anyone know if the description of how Roland and Susannah made the dear hides and tanned them to make winter clothing is accurate? I occasionally hunt myself, but have no idea. If I followed the step by step description of what Roland does with the brains and hide, will I have my own tanned dear hide?

Yes. This method will work, but not quite so quickly as it was done in the novel. The reason for the ashes and water mixture is that the ashes create a compund that will work into the hide to make the hair slip off. This usually takes between 4-10 days. Before that is done, all of the fat, flesh, and membrane must be scraped off of the flesh side. I use a draw knife for this. After the hair begins to slip, pull it all off, then scrape the hair side, removing the brown membrane underneath of the hair (this is the grain), and scrape the fleash side again to be sure that you get ALL membrane off of the hide. The more that you scrape it, the easier it will be to soften. From there, follow the directions in the novel. Each animal has enough brains to tan its own hide. However, the trick is to begin working the hide soft BEFORE it dries completely. Work it over a wooden beam or board. If it dries hard, resoak it and work it again. It doesn't hurt to scrape it again after it is tanned, and still wet either, if need be. If you want to dye the leather, do it over smoke like Roland and susannah do, or use walnut hulls in the soaking process with the ashes. This takes a lot of work, especially in working the hide soft. You have to work it hard. Good luck.