Skins or Pelts or Furs

[Mikewood]

Tanning a whole beef is quite demanding. You will have to lay it out and strip all the fat and connective tissue. Then slip the hair or leave it hair on. Soak it and hang dry in vats of different solutions so you will need tubs, hangers, catch tubs and racks. It's very involved. Finally you need chemicals and a buyer for your completed leather.
I buy my leather from zack white. http://zackwhite.com/xcart/home.php?cat=260
The prices will give you an idea of profit margin.
Good luck!

[O'Searcaigh]

Tanning a whole beef is quite demanding. You will have to lay it out and strip all the fat and connective tissue. Then slip the hair or leave it hair on. Soak it and hang dry in vats of different solutions so you will need tubs, hangers, catch tubs and racks. It's very involved. Finally you need chemicals and a buyer for your completed leather.

Hi Chas --Mikewood is correct. I have cured some small pelts (rabbit, fox) and even that involves some pretty tedious and messy work, just on a smaller scale. I myself would not try tackling a large animal but the process would be basically the same although it would require investment in larger vats, more chemicals and a lot more work/time. I find it much easier (and ultimately less expensive) to just buy my leather from a local Mennonite leather shop here. If you are looking for leather for your own projects, it would probably be easier and less expensive to buy from someone else already in the business. If you are planning to go into the business of providing cured/tanned leather for others, I would think you would have to do some pretty serious thinking about the investment, market analysis etc and I suspect you'd be facing some pretty stiff competition. If you have lots of time and money and just want to have the satisfaction of going from "raw" skin to a finished leather project, then have at it but I'm sure the farm produces way more skins than you individually could use for such projects. If the farm is licensed and inspected regularly, you probably wouldn't run into any potentially serious adverse health issues -- and that's part of what the chemicals (depending on the process you use) are for anyway. I have had a few friends who were seriously into the DIY re-enactor thing who have made their own bowie knives, buckskins etc "from scratch" but it is a serious labor of love or lunacy depending on one's priorities and point of view. Cheers!