4 DAY ANCIENT BRAIN TANNING WORKSHOP

£300

4 Days of Ancient Brain Tanning / Workshop Experience.

Held at my new location near Euston, Attendees will be invited to stay on site for the duration of their experience.

Day 1
Introduction.
Understanding the hide and its layers.
The History we know about tanning explained.
Beginning the tasks with the hide you have been given, this involves fleshing and graining to prepare the hide for bucking and rinsing.
You will be guided through each step of the process so you come away understanding how to measure your progress.

Day 2
Softening the hide through methods such as removing additional membrane and stretching hide during the drying process, this involves teaching you how to remove moisture efficiently through wringing the hide and mapping your way over the hide so you attend to the right place when it needs attending to.
During the day you will be introduced to concepts such as hide glue and the rawhide that the hide is naturally trying to become with out your efforts being applied.

Day 3
Revisit any areas that haven’t completely softened.
Introducing and using methods of smoking the hide, how to choose the correct woods and maintain the temperature required so hide stays soft and gains an even colour. Dealing with repairs required from processing such as holes that may have been created during the process and thoughts of how to appropriate the bucks into clothing and bags etc.

Day 4
You will be finalising the softening process by re moisturising any remaining spots that haven’t completely become buckskin and working them through coupled with additional smoking of the hide and using the complete hide to make either a bag, garment or leave it as a full tanned hide if that’s your preference.

The course will run from 9.30am - 4.00pm each day.

The course is self catered so please bring along your own meals and camping equipment.

Before booking onto this course please note that tanning hides is a physical activity and very repetitive you will need to be committed to the tasks to achieve the desired results.
As much as we try our best to keep things as fresh as possible it can become quite smelly and challenging depending on the weather etc. We will have deer brain for the process but should you choose to we can offer a vegetable substitute.

Hand made garments made and worn during the Stone Age would have had to be comfortable, durable and protective against the wilderness and this was achieved without the use of our modern day chemicals.

One very important product that was produced was known as buckskin, much like chamois leather but thicker and stronger.
The tanning style we use is known as Brain Tanning where we use fresh deer brain to break down the collagen fibres that normally lock and bond together making the hide hard.

The native American Indians very much favoured this approach to tanning and one known Native American Indian quote is "when man makes buck skin he owns it with his soul". This is down to the pure physical effort that is exerted to produce such a wonderful natural material.

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