Making Leather from Rawhide (Eastern Australia)

Hi all,

I would like to try making some leather from rawhide. My plan is to buy a raw kangaroo hide and tan it in my shed using local bark (hopefully gum trees are suitable, as they are everywhere here!).

Has anyone done this before and have any tips? For example, what kind of barks to use, how to process the skin after the soaking, any oils I should add for suppleness.

I was thinking of using this site: https://simonmartinwhips.com.au/product/kangaroo-rawhide/

One day I'd like to try skinning a roo myself and doing it from scratch, but it's not so practical at the moment.

Hi Russell. I know a lot (but not everything) about bark tanning. Can you tell me what is the latin name of the gum tree? If you have access to wattle bark that will work best. Rawhide is difficult to make into leather. Not impossible but not ideal.

Happy to pass on some bark tanning manuals that will answer most of your questions. Email me at dennis.lanigan at gmail.com