Tanning Spirit Notes and Updates
-Resoaking-
Resoak the dried hide in a creek or lake until it is pliable enough to put into a bucket again. After soaking, remove it from the bucket and work the hide over the beaming board, which will stretch the fibers. The hide will begin to look white. Continue until the whole thing is white and soft.
Place the hide in the bucket long enough to soak up water, then reflesh in the manner that the dehairing was done. Go over the entire flesh side. Then check the grain side for missed areas of epidermis. It there is any, one might want to go over the grain side this time as well.
Wring the hide out by twisting it around a tight rope or small fence post. Wring the hide out tight and leave it tight by securing the wringer stick so it doesn't unwind. This allows moisture to come out from deep inside. Unwind and stretch the hide over the beaming board, pulling out the wrinkles and stretching it back to its original size. In doing this, you are breaking and flexing the fibers of the hide, which in the end will make tanning easier. At this point, the skin should be white and beginning to dry. Now you can (1) continue working the skin till it is dry, but it won't be soft, or (2) stretch and nail the skin to a piece of plywood or wooden wall.
Once it is dried, remove the nails and roll the hide up into a cylinder and tie it. Twenty or thirty hides can be stored easily in this manner.
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