Tanning a beaver tail for sheath. need advise / know how

RodneyJ

RodneyJ

Well-Known Member
I was given a beaver tail for making sheaths but I have no idea how to tan it. I'm hoping someone can offer advise or point me in that direction.

Thanks and God bless
Rodney
 
No real need to tan it - Split it half, clean All the fat and crap off the inside, wash in hot soapy water to get rid of the excess grease. Then tack to a board to stretch and salt (you can also add some boraxo to the mix) well and let dry completely. If it's real thick after cleaning you can scrape and/or sand it thinner. This will leave it hard but it can be used as is if used for flat inlays, on the other hand it can be tanned, but it will seldom soften like leather.
Here's some info on how-to from a Taxidermists site:
http://www.taxidermy.net/forums/TanningArticles/03/h/03E8DD5D89.html

you can also do a search on your favorite search engine for beaver tail tanning for even more info
 
Or......another alternative would be to email or phone me. I have about 50 tanned beaver tails on hand right now.

Paul
 
Thanks for the leads and tips I will have to check them out. I have not tried any inlays and think that they would look nice. The tail was given to me by a cousin in Louisiana. He has invited me to Hunt his property several times and I thought maybe I could return the favor by making him a knife. Thought if I could use that beaver tail on his sheath it would make touch. Paul I may get in touch with you because I think I will want to do more than I can get from just the one tail plus it will give me an idea of how they should come out. Hope you servived the cold there in Kerrville the last few days. spent all day at work trying to recover from its effects. I had heared that San Antonio was pretty much shut down for a few days.

Thank and God Bless
Rodney
 
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I tanned one useing Rittell's ez 100. It came out all rite but sure not worth the effort when you can purchase one at about 12.00 with a better tan and color. Mine was worth about 150.00 in elbow grease.
 
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