Preserving skins

[Wavey1988 0]

Heya, I'm not sure if I've posted this in the right place, but, I have a friend sending me some pheasant wings, tails, and a pheasant cape, how do I go about preserving the skins the feathers are on?

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks

[surfbunker 0]

Heya, I'm not sure if I've posted this in the right place, but, I have a friend sending me some pheasant wings, tails, and a pheasant cape, how do I go about preserving the skins the feathers are on?

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks

 

Remove all visible fat and meat....lay cape featherside down on newspaper(make sure cape is dry) cover liberally with Borax detergent(40 mule team is the best). set aside in a dry place away from pets and children. Borax is a strong powder detergent and will burn eyes if you get it in them. leave for 2- 3 weeks. As for wings and tail section, in a glass jar or plastic bowl put layer of borax...stick meat end in and fill to cover thee cut end with borax...leave for 2-3 weeks. Never...I repeat...never use salt!!!

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[Wavey1988 0]

 

Remove all visible fat and meat....lay cape featherside down on newspaper(make sure cape is dry) cover liberally with Borax detergent(40 mule team is the best). set aside in a dry place away from pets and children. Borax is a strong powder detergent and will burn eyes if you get it in them. leave for 2- 3 weeks. As for wings and tail section, in a glass jar or plastic bowl put layer of borax...stick meat end in and fill to cover thee cut end with borax...leave for 2-3 weeks. Never...I repeat...never use salt!!!

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

 

Brilliant, thank you for your help

[Polarbear78 0]

Never...I repeat...never use salt!!!

 

 

I used salt before.... Didn't go over so well.

[perchjerker 0]

Salt works quite well. You just have to pay attention to what you are doing. It may need to be changed every day or so as it becomes quite moist from the water it has withdrawn fro the flesh and skin. "Brining" should eventually preserve it,, which is what you will be doing if you don't periodically change the salt, as this is a very old meat curing technique.

[FisherOfMen 0]

There's no real need to go through any high-tech preservation in my opinion, but my opinion doesn't matter much.

 

A very good portion of my tying supplies comes from my winter entertainment: hunting. Deer, grouse, cottontail rabbit, snowshoe hair, gray squirrel, red squirrel, you name it, I've used it for fly tying. For every (small) animal I skin it and nail the skin to a piece of plywood, stretching it as I go along. I let it sit for usually a week or a little less if I'm feeling impatient. The result is a pliable but very dry parchment skin. I have never had problems with decay or bugs, keeping them in cardboard boxes.

 

For birds, like grouse, just keep the flesh side-up when drying. Grouse are thin skinned and they're usually partly dry by the time I'm done nailing them to the board, but I give it a good couple days before doing anything just to be sure.

 

But, like I said about my opinion...

[perchjerker 0]

Standard Procedure for museum bird skin specimens is to do exactly as FisherofMen says; only apply a coat of Borax to the flesh side, and let dry for three or four days. Dust off the excess Borax, and store.

[Greybull River Rat 0]

I am attempting my first groundhog (woodchuck) skin and tail with Borax. It still had the winter coat and should be a source for making many dry flies based on a previous string in this forum. After 2 days it appears to be doing great with the borax ($3.50 from Walmart). Is there anything that I need to look for that would suggest I need to apply more borax? Also will the borax stain if it gets on any surfaces?

 

fyi. I washed the fleshed skin in Orvus and dried it for the most part before pinning it a piece of plywood and applying the borax. I figured it would not hurt to get the dirt and bugs out of the hair. Am I being too compulsive by washing the skin before preserving?

[perchjerker 0]

You are not being compulsive by washing before drying. You need to clean it regardless. IMHO, it is better to wash prior to drying. If you tack the hide to a board, stretching kt as you go, salting it will speed up the drying process, as it 'pulls' the moisture out of the skin. You may need to replace the salt after the first day. This is determined by how moist the salt is on the skin. Change it daily until it no longer shows any signs of being wet after 24 hours. There is absolutely no need to use Borax in this process.

 

Borax is great on thin skins, such as birds, as they do not have much moisture in them, and Borax is nowhere near as hydrophilic (water loving) as table salt, and therefore is not as effective at removing the moisture out of the skin as is salt. Hence the preference of salt over Borax on mammal skins, which are much thicker, and therefore, contain a lot of "water". It is the removal of this moisture (water) that is critical to skin preservation.

[Piker20 0]

Hey guys, can I summarise then that birds and thin skinned stuff daily salt till salt stops getting 'sweaty' and for deer rabbit badger etc borax. Is the borax daily too or just a heap on and leave somewhere cool for the 2-3 weeks?

[Wavey1988 0]

Thanks for all the advice guys, seems I have got it right

[perchjerker 0]

Piker 20...

 

You have it backwards: Borax on bird, and other thin skins, and salt on thicker mammal skins. You can use Borax on the thick skins too, but it is not as hydrophylic as salt, and thus, takes longer to extract the 'water' from the skin, which is what happens in curing. Likewise, you can use salt on bird and other thin skins. It is just not necessary due to their thickness, which means very little 'water' in them. Most museums, etc., use strictly Borax on bird skins.

 

In the case of thin skins, it is advisable to place them on something absorbent, like old newspaper, to absorb the withdrawn moisture. If you tack them to a board to stretch them while drying, be sure to prop the board up at an angel so that the withdrawn water can drain away. This practice is probably best for all large mammal skins that contain a lot of moisture. Just BE SURE that you do NOT prop them up where the water can runoff into a flower bed or onto a lawn. SALT KILLS SUCH THINGS!

 

I prop mine up against a garage door where the excess water runs down my driveway and to the storm sewer. This makes clean up a snap, as all one has to do is to hose down the driveway.

 

Regards,

Frank

[Piker20 0]

In the case of thin skins, it is advisable to place them on something absorbent, like old newspaper, to absorb the withdrawn moisture. If you tack them to a board to stretch them while drying, be sure to prop the board up at an angel so that the withdrawn water can drain away. This practice is probably best for all large mammal skins that contain a lot of moisture. Just BE SURE that you do NOT prop them up where the water can runoff into a flower bed or onto a lawn. SALT KILLS SUCH THINGS!

 

I prop mine up against a garage door where the excess water runs down my driveway and to the storm sewer. This makes clean up a snap, as all one has to do is to hose down the driveway.

 

Regards,

Frank

 

Ah I left my hide horizontal which was prob just one factor in my initial failure.

[perchjerker 0]

I am inclined to agree, especially if it was a mammal skin. If it is a bird skin, put it on old newspapers, and cover it with newspapers to absorb any moisture that comes out. You can also use paper towels for this. Also, you should check it daily to make sure everything is going as it should.

 

Don't give up!

[Piker20 0]

I am inclined to agree, especially if it was a mammal skin. If it is a bird skin, put it on old newspapers, and cover it with newspapers to absorb any moisture that comes out. You can also use paper towels for this. Also, you should check it daily to make sure everything is going as it should.

 

Don't give up!

 

Never give up! I've got my eye on a melanistic pheasant that keeps coming into the fields out back. Never see that skin on sale and think the blue/purple hues should tie up some great variations on my normal flies.