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The Mighty Oak

10/08/2011 11:57:00

The Oak - Quercus spp

There are several hundred species of Oak. In the UK the Sessile Oak, Quercus robur is the most common.

Throughout the major cultures of Europe the Oak tree has been a very special tree. It has been worshipped and respected by many religions and faiths. Many civilisations associated the Oak as representing their God(s). The Greeks - Zues, the Romans - Jupiter, the Celts – Robor. Each of these gods also had dominion over rain, thunder and lightning, and it is surely no coincidence that oak trees appear to be more prone to lightning strikes than other trees. No one is totally sure why this is the case. It could be because of the wood's low electrical resistance or the fact that they were frequently the largest, tallest living things in the landscape. In Norse legend, the God Thor, sought shelter from a violent storm by sitting under a mighty oak tree. Today, people in some Nordic countries believe that acorns on the windowsill will protect a house from being hit by lightning.

The Druids (the word Druid was probably a Gaelic derivation of their word for oak, Duir, and meant 'men of the oaks') are believed to have held rituals in Oak groves, and certainly where Mistletoe was to be found on oak trees. According to legend, mistletoe was placed on the Oak tree by God via a lightning strike on the tree.

Rulers often wore crowns of oak leaves, as a symbol of their connection to the deities. Roman generals were presented with oak crowns upon returning victorious from battle. Famously the images of Julius Ceaser. The oak leaf is still used as a military symbol of leadership today.

It's not hard to see why the Oak was and is thought of as a tree with masculine energy – Strong, mighty, enduring and steadfast. Indeed, it is one of our longest-living trees, living as long a 500 years and up to 1000 years if coppiced.Oak is a very slow growing tree and hence has a dense hard wood.

Much of its legend could have come from the Oaks hard wood. Until man discovered metal cutting tools most of the primitive stone and bone tools were not strong enough to cut the wood. The only wood early man would have been able to use from the Oak would have been that from branches snapped off by lighting or high winds. In other words given to them, by God.

Two ancient Somerset Oaks Gog and Magog (named after the last male and female giants to roam Britain), near Glastonbury, were cut down in 1906 to make way for farm land. They made up an avenue of Oak trees that led to the Glastonbury Tor. When cut down Magog was eleven feet in diameter and had more than 2000 growth rings. There are still two ancient oaks in Glastonbury now called Gog and Magog. These magnificent trees hang are just about still hanging on to life and are still visible today.

The Oak wood was also favoured for its strength and durability in ship building and in the construction of timbered houses. The bark was valued by the leather tanning industry because of its high tannin content and during the industrial revolution large oak woodlands in Scotland were managed and the bark harvested for this purpose. The bark would also produce a brown dye. A tonic derived from boiling the bark was used to treat harness sores on horses.

An Oak will not start to produce acorns until 70-80years old and although relatively young in the life of an Oak it is already a mature tree. This is mind is partly why acorns were considered to be a starvation food. Because the Oak is so strong and resilient it will still produce acorns even though the worst drought. Because of the high tannin content Acorns are not edible without processing. They are extremely bitter and although woodsman would make a tea from unprocessed acorns its best to roast the acorns then rinse the crushed acorns in a river or barrel to flush out the tannins. The acorns can be then be crushed to make acorn coffee. Once rinsed and dried the acorns can be crushed into a flour and use to make bread and biscuits. The leaves have been used to make beer and wine.

Tanning and preserving Deer’s Feet for making Walking Stick Tops

10/08/2011 11:41:00

Tanning and preserving Deer’s Feet for making Walking Stick Tops

The feet are complicated things to tan, because you have some flesh and bones and tendons as well.
My suggestion is that you cut the skin at the base (not totally, leave it attached to the nails of the deer), remove all the fat and flesh and the tendons as well. Saw off the bone (leave some base where you can nail or screw the end of your stick.
For the tanning since the feet are preserved in salt, you have to soak them back to natural humidity.
for this you have to soak it a couple of times in warm water(not more than 40celsius) to remove all the salt (change water)(some detergent or liquid soap will help) after its feeling like fresh skin again, with a blade, you remove all the fat that is left under the skin. After, soak it in a solution of vinegar and salt (the salt is to avoid the skin plumping up with the acid) the Ph in the water should be around 3.5. When you reach this ph leave it there for a couple of hours. After that you can add the bark extract (tannin)( I suggest you cheat a little bit on this one and get the readymade tannin extract. Removing it from the bark and leaves by yourself is a really tough task) you can look for mimosa, quebracho, chestnut, they are the most common brands used by the industry. The tannin has to be added little by little, when the Ph reaches 5, leave in the solution for a couple of days.
Take it out sundry. If you want to, to soften up the skin to make it easier to work, you can brain it.
Braining is the application of cooked animal brain in the flesh side of the hide. Just cook it in some water until it melts and apply this solution to the flesh side, fold it over and store it in the fridge over night. Dry it up and remove the excess with soap the next day, sundry it and later you stretch it and move it so that the oils in the brain can soften up the fibres.

Try your own way, but basically it can be done this way. It’s almost the same way they do buck skins
but with buck skins instead of vinegar you use hydrated lime in the first solution to loosen up the hair. Soda ash will do the trick as well, but these are old school methods.Information written by Regis Gasparotto

The Difference Between Salt Drying And Tanning

10/08/2011 11:39:00

The Difference Between Salt Drying And Tanning

This information has been supplied by a friend of mine called Regis Gasparotto. He has had to adapt the procedure to be suitable to be made at home or even outdoors).

Salt drying hides is not considered tanning, but conservation.
The difference is that a tanned hide can be exposed to moisture and will not rot, where as the salt preserved hides once exposed to moisture turn back to their natural state and rot. So, by the procedure you show on the video you have preserved skins instead of tanning. (This in an emergency will do just fine)

In the leather industry tanning is the moment where chemically a hide or skin starts to be called leather. It will no longer rot due to the chemical modifications of its structure.
The most natural procedure I know is called vegetable tanning, which consists of immersing the skins in infusion of wood, bark and leaves containing tannin. This chemical is easy to recognize due to its tendency to react with iron. In other words, every wood that you cut with a carbon steel blade and it turns black contains it. One kind of tree that you can find in the northern hemisphere is chestnut. If acacia is available where you are it’s also a good choice. Another hint to recognize tannin vegetables is the high astringency (the feeling you have in your mouth when you eat green banana) the higher the feel, the higher is the tannin power). You can find this extract readymade in powder form in any tannery or I can help you to obtain it from the tree (much more fun). You don’t have to worry about disposing of them because they are 100% natural.

The equipment you will need are basically buckets (a few of them) hot water, good blades, ph tapes (not fundamental but they help to control the process) soda ash, vinegar (or concentrated acetic acid). Roughly the procedure is washing and soaking, fleshing, pickling, tanning and oiling.

I will describe these processes in detail in my next mail.
Thanks for the videos, they are really cool.

Regis Gasparotto