Buckskin (leather)

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Buckskin is the soft, pliable, porous preserved hide of an animal, that was traditionally the skin of the African water buffalo. These days it is usually tanned usually using deer, moose or elk or in my case, cowhide which is tanned to order specifically for me, but could be potentially any animal's hide. Modern leather that is labeled "buckskin" may be made of sheepskin tanned with modern chrome tanning chemicals and dyed to resemble real buckskin. If this is the case there will be a blue/grey layer between upper and lower epidermae that can be seen when the leather is cut. In North America, Buckskin is traditionally preserved with a dressing of some kind of lubricant, physically manipulated to make it soft and pliable, and usually smoked with wood smoke. Smoking gives buckskin its typical dark honey colour, but is not required. Smoking prevents the tanned hide from becoming stiff if it gets wet, and deters insects from eating it as well. Un smoked buckskin is lighter, even white, in colour. Whilst it a popular school of thought is that the name is derived from buck, a male deer, it is believed that the term buckskin comes from an alkali soaking process, called bucking. Clothing made of buckskin is referred to as buckskins. There are many ways to make buckskin, but most can probably be devided into two categories: "dry-scraping" and "wet-scraping". Before a hide can be tanned, any flesh remaining on the hide from the skinning process must be removed, usually with a scraper. Care must be taken when skinning, fleshing, and scraping a hide to prevent leaving any cuts or nicks in it ( known as butcher's cuts) which would be visible in the tanned skin. Dry-scrape involves taking a wet deer hide and stretching it on a rack to dry flat. A scraping tool is then dragged perpendicular to the blade along the hair side, scraping off the upper epidermis and hair, including all hair follicles. The flesh side is scraped as well. When the entire hide is scraped, it is taken off the rack, re-hydrated, and dressed. Wet-scraping involves scraping the wet hide on a smooth horizontal log. A steel blade or split leg bone can be used for the scraper. The hide is draped on the log, holding the hide in place with their body and this time pushing the scraper away with both hands. Again both epidermis and flesh side are scraped as well. "Bucking" can be done in a solution of birch ashes in water, or simply soaked in water. Bucking allows the pores to swell, making the epidermis more visible and easier to scrape. If there is any residue it will affect the quality of the finished hide. Bucking will also cause the hair follicles to expand allowing the hair or coat to fall out, if the hide is left to soak long enough. Once the hide has been scraped it must be dressed in a dressing solution. This is sometimes made from the animals brain mixed into water, or from another emulsified fat. Egg yolks are an example of a commonly used, naturally occurring emulsifying agent. Another option is an oil and a soap mixed in water. Typically the wet hide is wrung out, then left in the dressing solution for 15 minutes or more, then wrung out and dressed again. Repeating this a third time ensures that the dressing reaches the middle of the hide. The next step is stretching/drying. This is time sensitive, and this process has to be expedited. The drying hide is continuously pulled and stretched in all directions. This may be done either on a rack with a stretching tool, or by hand. This is be done until the hide is completely dry. To smoke a buckskin it is folded in half and glued or sewn into a bag with an opening on one end. A pant leg or other cloth tube is attached to the opening of the buckskin bag. The smoking fire can either be in a wood stove or a hole in the earth. Either way a bed of coals is prepared, and the other end of the pant leg is roughly sealed over the opening of the smoker. The buckskin bag is suspended above the smoker, and sticks can be placed inside of it to prevent the sides of the bag from touching each other. A handful of dry, rotten ("punk") wood is thrown on the coals, and starts to smoulder. Care is taken to prevent the cloth from catching fire, as the hide can be burned in seconds. Ideally most or all of the smoke is forced through the buckskin. All holes must be sealed or taped to force the smoke through. The hide is smoked until the smoke colour penetrates through to the other side, then the hide is turned inside out and it is smoked again until it reaches a desired colour. The finished buckskin will shrink slightly after its initial wash & it should be washed or at least wet and dried before making clothing. Buckskin should be washed in cold water, and air dried. Hot water will destroy it. There many modern leathers (using modern techniques ) that can replicate this and get very close to the performance of traditional buckskin.

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