[Ansteorra] Tanning Equipment

[Ceallach mac Donal]

Lye is used for soap making, so people have found sources and made
lists of suppliers:

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/coldprocesssoapmaking/a/lyesources.htm


Ceallach mac Donal

On Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 2:06 PM, Fields Family Farm <fields at texas.net> wrote:
> Greetings All,
>
> I am looking at doing some tanning of hides/leather.  I have a source of
> hides, but I'm looking for the other things needed to tan.
>
> I'm planning on vegetable tanning - using a vegetable source for the
> tannins.  Here's what I need:
>
> - A way to grind the plant materials (bark, leaves, etc.) to release the
> tannins, the finer the better.  Historically a stone mill was used, as in
> grinding flour.  But, I don't currently want to build a stone mill, so I'm
> looking for other suggestions.  A mortar and pestle would be too slow - I
> need pounds and pounds of ground plant material.  Even something that could
> just chop the material somewhat finely would help.  Links to sources and
> approximate prices for whatever is suggested would be useful.
>
> - Wooden barrels.  Tanning with tannins takes quite a bit of soaking, over
> months of time.  I need non-metal soaking containers.  Historically, wooden
> or ceramic vats were used.  I hope to use wooden barrels, if I can find a
> reasonably priced source of them.
>
> - A source of lye (I can use hardwood ash if needed, but not making the lye
> myself would save a step or two).
>
> - A consultation with anyone that has successfully done vegetable tanning.
> It always helps to talk with those that have experience.
>
>
> Thank you for any aid in finding these things,
>
>
> Hrethric/Rick
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