Greetings!
I've not tried my hand at curing and dying a hide before but find
myself in need of doing something with a relatively small piece (6"x6")
of animal (peccary, aka javelina or wild pig) hide. I'll use use the
bristles, dyed red, for tails for a Halliday Stone pattern Al Rockwood
taught me.
I've searched VFB messages here at my home computer and found a message
from Feb '01 from Kevin Kirkelie (I'm not sure Kevin's with us any more
as a worm or virus got the better of him) that had some hints on curing
an elk hide, and I'll include that below.
Unless someone tells me otherwise, I plan on defrosting this piece of
hide (it's been in the freezer for about 4 months), rubbing it with salt
(Is Borax better?), leaving it for a few days, drying it, soaking it and
cleaning it. I'll then dye it with Rit to the desired hue.
I welcome any and all suggestions as to how best to turn a peccary's
hide into a (silk purse) fly.
Regards,
Roger Cotner
Grand Haven, Michigan
PS Material swappers, don't fret! I have an envelope full of (readily
available) bristles off the hide that I intend to use for this swap.
Kevin K's 2/01 email follows:
Hi John, How are things in Madras ? We haven't gone fishin' yet, and the
big
dollies are hitting big stuff hard and fast. Anyway, to help you with
your
question on elk hides. The best hides you'll find, are those that have
been
properly taken care of by scraping them clean of all flesh and fat and
then
cured with either salt or borax powder. Two things happen here. #1- All
the
natural oils on and in the hair stay there and actually add to the
floatibiltiy of the hair. # 2- The stiffness of the hair remains the
same on
untanned hides, and the hair doesn't become so brittle. I worked with a
taxidermist for many years, and he was kind enough to show me some of
the
secrets of hair. Something to remember about untanned hides is that,
since
it is still, generally speaking, in its natural state, bugs are more
prone
to get into it , so you should cut it into smaller, easier to handle
pieces,
and put the pieces into plastic boxes or bags with some kind of
non-toxic
bug killer, especially since you have kids. I used to tie about 700 to
750
doz. elk hair caddis each winter, along with different styles of dry
stone
fly patterns, and I used alot of elk hair, and the better care the hair
and
hide received, the better it looked on the fly. I hope that the 2 cents
worth helped. Drop me a email, and let's go hit the
river............Take to
you later.................Kevin
----- Original Message -----
From: John Martinez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2001 6:24 PM
Subject: RE: Whole Elk Hide
> Joseph-
>
> Perhaps someone on the list will correct me if I'm
> wrong on this, but my understanding is that it's
> better for the hide to be scraped and dried (using
> salt and/or borax or similar), but NOT tanned. That is
> tanned using chemicals to make the hide soft. I
> understood that tanning damages the hair for tying
> purposes. Once again, I hope someone will correct me
> if I'm mistaken on this.
>
> -John
> Oregon
>
>
> --- Harry Mason <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > The hide _tanned_ sells for about 13.00 sq foot.
> > Whole washed and cleaned
> > raw hides are 92.00 each
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Harry Mason [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2001 7:27 AM
> > To: Harry_OK
> > Subject: FW: Whole Elk Hide
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Harry Mason
> > www.troutflies.com
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of
> > Joseph Bergel
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2001 6:14 AM
> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Subject: Whole Elk Hide
> >
> >
> > Dear Listers,
> >
> > A friend of mine who is a geneticist raising red
> > raindeer and
> > elk whants to pay me with an elk hide for some
> > graphic design I
> > am doing for him. And thus a have the following
> > questions:
> >
> > 1. What would be the worth of the whole hide. (after
> > tanning
> > expenses of 1.99 per sp.ft.)
> >
> > 2. Are there any "tanning tips" that I should tell
> > him of
> > before he takes it to the local tanner?
> >
> > 3. Would anyone like to trade for various parts of
> > it. (I am
> > open to just about anything).
> >
> > 4. Would anyone like to purchase all... or parts of
> > it (at
> > freindship rates of course).
> >
> >
> > Thanks in advance for the wisdom, and responses.
> >
> >
> > joseph.
> >
>
>
> =====
> The River-
> You passers-by, who share my journey,
> You move and change,I move and am the same;
> You move and are gone, I move and remain.
>
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