by James Churchill
The most comprehensive, easy-to-follow information
available on do-it-yourself tanning techniques and tools...
Tanning is a functional art dating to Indian times.
In The Complete Book of Tanning Skins and Furs, author James Churchill recaptures
the skill of those days with the most comprehensive set of how-to's available for
making soft leather and dressed furs today.
Beginning with a small animal such as a rabbit or
squirrel, the step-by-step instructions show and tell you how to:
- Peel off the skin
- Flesh it to remove every bit of
meat and fat
- Hang the green hide for drying
- Mix the correct tanning solution
for soaking
- Apply a coating of oil
- "Work" the flesh side until soft
- Clean the fur with sawdust or
cornmeal
- Sand the flesh side and rub with
oil
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Tips and sequential illustrations enhance each project
and lay the groundwork for tanning other small furbearers, large furbearers, reptiles,
birds, and thin- and thick-skinned domestic animals. Churchill's easy-reference
format includes a range of specific animals from alligator to wildcat, including
deer, moose, bear, elk, raccoon, fox, beaver, and even mule, bull, fish, and snake.
The tools and equipment necessary for tanning are
also listed and explained. Churchill introduces skinning knives, fleshing
blades, fleshing beams, various tanning solutions, and other aids along with the
techniques in which they're used. Among the procedures discussed are: selecting
skins for special uses, softening the skin, skinning deer and making buckskin, tanning
heavy skins, deciding if a hide is "prime," storing hides to avoid spoilage, cleaning
fur, and making rawhide.
In addition, The Complete Book of Tanning Skins
and Furs goes one step further in providing instructions for a number of practical
uses. Bear skins, which can be made into beautiful rugs or wall hangings that
last a lifetime and are profitable on the resale market as well, are treated in
a special chapter. Advice on transforming skins into unique wall decorations
is also included, as are the how-to's of making gloves, boots, moccasins, jackets,
and more.
Interesting background information adds to this comprehensive
portrait of tanning. Facts on animal skins-what they are made of and why they
can be preserved-precedes specific instructional sections, and a chapter on pioneer
tanning methods thoroughly examines the roots of this art in Indian life.
In this book, Churchill gives you the means to make
the most of each "catch," using tanning skills that can equal those of professionals.
Tanning also makes a satisfying craft for beginners or accomplished tanners who
would like to try working with different types of animals skins or creating new
products. This is a complete guide to simple instruction you can refer to
again and again in preserving animals skins for years of future use and enjoyment.
Here is everything you need to know to make soft leather
and dressed furs from the skins of small and large furbearers, domestic animals,
reptiles, and birds. Organization is by specific animals including:
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rabbit
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raccoon
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calf
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squirrel
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fox
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goat
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woodchuck
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cow
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coyote
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deer
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wolf
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bear
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horse
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moose
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otter
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elk
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badger
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bull
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weasel
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fisher
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alligator
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mink
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wildcat
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birds
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muskrat
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sheep
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fish
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skunk
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beaver
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snake
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In addition to covering all types of skins, beginning
with those of small animals and graduating to larger, more difficult projects,
The Complete Book of Tanning also details the tools and equipment necessary
for each. Information on making your own tools and tanning solutions is
also provided.
Whether you're a newcomer to tanning or an experienced
hand, this is an invaluable guide to every facet of the age-old art. With
this how-to reference handy, you can learn to make a number of leather and fur
products that are useful and decorative.
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About the Author:
Since 1974, James Churchill and his family have lived on a remote homestead
in northern Wisconsin, where he enjoys hunting, fishing, trapping, tanning,
gardening, and writing about their self-sufficiency in nature.
Utilizing as much of a catch as possible is one of the main themes that
appear in his published works as well as in his simplified, rustic lifestyle.
He not only tans the skins of deer, bear, and other furbearers for his
family's own use, but for bartering and resale as well. As a writer,
his credits include most of the major outdoor magazines. This
is his fourth do-it-yourself book.
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Hardcover,
197 pages; 6-1/4'' x 9-1/4''
B&W Photos
and Illustrations throughout
ISBN 0-8117-1719-4
