skins/pelts

[jacob 28]

does anyone still make use of thier pelts/skins in this country ,is curing and tanning a forgotten art now?

[DUCKWING 302]

WELL MATE

TO BE HONEST IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS FOR A WHILE , IT SEEMS TO ME RIGHT ACROSS THE BRITISH ISLES , THERE ARE LOTS OF VERMIN SPECIES KILLED THROUGH BEING PROBLEM PESTS ........ NOT FOR THE VALUE OF THEIR HIDE ................AND IT SEEMS A SHAME NOT TO USE THE PELTS INSTEAD OF THEM GOING TO WASTE

HOWEVER THE ANTI FUR BRIGADE HAVE JUST ABOUT FINISHED THAT TRADE ............ A SHAME REALLY

 

 

ALL THE BEST DUCKWING

[OldTrapCollector 377]

I don't personally know anyone who makes any money from them any more but I made good money from fox and mink pelts in the early 's when the prices were high. A decent fox skin was making in excess of £30 -piece so killing 5 or 6 a week brought in some useful pocket money. Squirrel, stoat tails and jay wings for fly tying were just as lucrative but not so any more with artificial alternatives freely available now.

 

OTC

[Guest houndblair]

I mite look into this with the rabbit pelts which are jsut chuked, but as duckwing already said the 'antis' have almost knackered the trade!!

[Guest Bigbob]

Them where the days 30 notes for a fox skin ,The forestry commission paid a £1 a brush .I used saltpeter and played about with any interesting or odd pelts .Now days the fly fisher men at work take bits and pieces but its just pocket money for a pint

[Bona 0]

I got a mate who took his cured rabbits fur to an old sewing shop had it lined and he had a tidy little russian hat out of it

[Yokel Matt 918]

I tried tanning rabbit pelts when i was younger but gave up as i could never get them supple. I painstakingly scraped all the flesh off the pelt and tanned them with alum powder & salt and they always ended up as stiff as the board they were stretched on. My hands looked like they had be crushing quik-lime with all the rubbing in i did. I Tried all sorts to supple them, scrubbing on a concrete post, soaking in alum solution and redrying, using various polishing attachments that you fit on a power drill inc a metal brush version one which buggered it right up!:moil:

 

Didn't have the internet then mind so was kind of winging it... would like to know what to do if anyone knows.

[Guest houndblair]

Hey mate i found this link about tanning your skins and stuff check it out

 

http://www.ferreting.biz/Ferret/Tanning.htm

[TOMO 26,689]

I WAS IN NEW ZEALAND RECENTLY , AND WAS TOLD THAT POSSUM SKINS WERE FECHING $75 A KILO DONT KNOW HOW MANY YOU WOULD NEED TO MAKE A KILO UP, BUT SEEMED LIKE DECENT MONEY TO ME TOMO

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Tomo; Dig back into the Trapping Board, mate. There's a Kiwi bloke there tells us all about 'possum catching in New Zealand. He explains all about how their fur is plucked and all else around the subject. Some great and very interesting reading

[TOMO 26,689]

WILL DO THANKS TOMO