Dyeing Rabbit hides -
Question for you pros:
Hobby Lobby has soft tanned full white rabbit hides for $3.99 - I was thinking of buying a few to dye and cut into strips.
Question 1) - How hard are they to dye? & how do you recommend going about this?
Question 2) - Any recommendations on cutting strips? - I would like “normal” and “crosscut” strips - Head to tail for “normal” ?? and 90 degress to that for “crosscut”???
Thanks for your help.
Brannon
I can’t speak for your question #1…but you are correct about the direction for cutting the normal and cross-cut strips.
Rabbit is quite easy to dye using RIT or KoolAid. I do small batch dying in aout 2 cups of water heated in the microwave. I do small batches since I am a hobby tier and don’t need/want large quantities of material. In small batches it is harder to measure the dye with great precision, so it can be difficult to repeat colors exactly. Since the dye particles are not evenly distrubuted in the dry powder you will get better precision of you convert them to concentrated liquids by adding some water. You will need to measure dye in 1/16 or 1/8 a teaspoon quantities. I use an eye dropper, just see how many drops of plain water it takes to fill a teaspoon and adjust accordingly.
Note: After dying the rabbit hide will come out stiff, not soft like it is on the hide. You can still tie with it, and you can re-soften it a bit by working the strip over the sharp corner of a table. The same thing happens to commercial zonker strips once you get them wet.
There is lots of info on cutting rabbit strips, search here or on YouTube… The basic principle is to clamp the hide in some kind of device (like a clip board) to stretch it tight and to cut from the skin side using a homemade cutter made of multiple razor blades and spacers. The hide needs to be stretched so the fur side does not touch anything during the cut, otherwise the fur is damaged either side of the cut.
I always thought the cross cut strips were cut at a 45 degree angle, not 90. In this way when the strip is spiral wrapped at a 45 degree angle the fur lays straight back along the hook shank.
Here’s a short thread I found on another site. Doesn’t really answer either of your questions, but I thought it was interesting that the guys suggest the FISH preferred the action of the zonker strips over the cross-cut strips when wound up the shank.
http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/board/archive/index.php/t-22830.html
Brannon,
I just took a look into my 2009 Barlows Tackle supply catalog:
They have full tanned rabbit skins, already dyed in a range of colors, for $5.95 each. Other suppliers sell them for about the same.
I’d not discourage anyone from ‘doing it yourself’…but I’d think about he mess, effort, and cost of dyeing to save $2 before I did it (unless you need a LOT of one color, of course).
Buddy
There are a lot of great ideas here on FAOL - just search “rabbit strip cutter” and start reading. I have not dyed any rabbit.
I made a cutter with razor blades and aluminum bar stock. I hold the rabbit pelt between two pieces of carpet tack strip with a clamp and cut away. I found if you use good rabbit, it doesn’t make much difference if they are crosscut or not.
iaflyfisher
I have to agree with Buddy, you have to buy the dye, mix the dye, spend the time to get the dye into the fur, then wait for it to dry, or sit with a hair dryer blow drying the pelt, then your hopeing to get the color you want. if you don’t then you adjust your formula and start over.
I just did a small batch of mink with Kool Aid, (4 inch piece) I was trying for olive, what I ended up with is the guard hairs were perfect olive, the under fur was bright lime green. it was a fun experiment but If I could just buy what I wanted for $2 extra it would be worth more than the hour or so I had into playing with the stuff.
Eric
Why not buy the RIT in the bottles? Then you can measure the dye precisely.
Is it the economical way to go? No, but if it adds enjoyment to the hobby, do it! Sometimes it’s the only way to get the color you want.
I try to by RIT in the bottles but some times the color I want is only available in the powder form. By mixing it with water I end up with the same concentration as the liquid form.
I agree that I’m not saving any money when I consider the time and cost of materials for home dying. I find there are other benifits. I like making up my own colors some of which are not available elsewhere. I live in a rural area, my closest flyshop is a 40 minute drive. If I need some red mallard flank for a particular pattern I just go into the kitchen and make some. Now that I have the basic dye colors I can cook up a small batch of just about anything in less time then it would take to drive to town.
when dying the skins with RIT, you have to make up the dye hot. this usually means a big pot on the stove that you have to wash later, or a pot just for dying. My mom (yes im using her as an example) dies reed for basket making this way. When she is finished, she simply pours the left over dye water into a rubbermaid pitcher/liquid container and reheats it next time. this garuntees the same color every time.
Iaflyfisher hit it on the nail with the cutter (i like the handle by the way, very classy) having it clamped between the strips then stretching it out is the way to go. ive tried cutting it free hand with scissors and it never comes out right.
Zonkers are indeed cut with the “grain” of the skin, and cross cut are just that, 90 degrees from the grain. when you cut, make sure the skin side, not the fur side is what you are cutting from, ive made that mistake before.
When buying skins, i suggest not buying from hobby lobby. although they are a great store, a skin i bought from them is loosing all its fur, just coming off when i try to use it. Pick one of the sponsors and buy from them or look at CrazyCrow.com . they have very good skins.
Good luck with your efforts,
Jordan
There are merits to all points in this thread. I always like doing somethings myself, sometimes just to see if I CAN do it even it doesnt save me any or much money. However the “you can buy it for just a few bucks more” has just as much merit when you consider the hassle/mess of dyeing.
As for cutting the trips. I’ve never done it, but if the tanned skin dries hard (like most leather after it gets wet) why not soak it, then stretch it and tack it down while wet so it will dry stretched out? Once cut, the strips could then be worked over a table edge as indictaed to losen up?
Examples of some home made cutters…
Yall have all been a big help!
BP
