*AI Summary*
*# Phase 1: Analyze and Adopt*
*Domain:* Experimental Archaeology / Primitive Technology / Traditional Leatherworking
*Persona:* Senior Experimental Archaeologist and Material Specialist
---
### Phase 2: Abstract and Summary
*Abstract:*
This technical demonstration details the reconstruction of Stone Age leather-processing methodologies, utilizing salvaged deer hides and sheepskins. The specialist illustrates three distinct tanning pathways: lipid-based tanning (using egg yolks as a brain-surrogate), polyphenolic vegetable tanning (utilizing sweet chestnut bark), and smoke preservation. Key processes include alkaline hair removal via lime, mechanical fiber manipulation to ensure suppleness, and "fat liquoring" with a tallow-beeswax compound to stabilize bark-tanned leather. The resulting materials range from highly breathable, lightweight buckskin for garments to durable, water-resistant bark-tanned leather for tools and equipment.
*Process Summary and Key Takeaways:*
* *0:32 Raw Material Sourcing and Preparation:* Hides are salvaged as forest or abattoir byproducts. The initial stage requires thorough fleshing and scraping using bone or flint tools to remove residual adipose and muscle tissue.
* *1:09 Alkaline Hair and Epidermis Removal:* To produce buckskin, hides are submerged in an alkaline solution (wood ash or hydrated lime). This weakens hair follicles and allows for the removal of the epidermis and outer grain layer. Removing the grain is critical for ensuring the final material's breathability and stretch.
* *2:34 Lipid-Based Tanning (Egg/Brain Method):* Hides are rehydrated until the fibers are open (opaque). A solution of egg yolks (a source of lipids and lecithin) is worked into the hide to coat the collagen fibers. This emulsification process is complete when the hide bubbles under pressure, indicating total penetration.
* *3:41 Mechanical Softening:* Once saturated with lipids, the hide must be continuously stretched and flexed over a dull edge or wire during the drying phase. This mechanical action prevents the fibers from bonding together, ensuring a soft, "silky" texture.
* *6:28 Smoke Preservation:* To prevent the softened hide from reverting to rawhide when wet, it is sewn into a bag and subjected to "cool smoke" from smoldering punk wood. The smoke's aldehydes coat the fibers, providing chemical stability and a permanent soft finish.
* *9:04 Polyphenolic (Bark) Tanning:* For durable tools, skins are soaked in a "tea" derived from boiled sweet chestnut bark (*Castanea sativa*). The tannins chemically bind to the collagen, stabilizing the hide against rot and increasing water resistance.
* *11:17 Fat Liquoring of Bark Leather:* Bark-tanned leather can become brittle; to mitigate this, a "dubbin" of rendered beef tallow and beeswax is worked into the damp leather. This lubricates the fibers to maintain flexibility and prevent cracking.
* *12:32 Sheepskin Processing (Wool-on):* Sheepskins destined for landfill are preserved via salting. These are processed with the wool intact using the egg-tanning and smoking methods to create insulating, thermal garments like ponchos or sleeping mats.
---
### Phase 3: Reviewer Recommendation
*Target Review Group:* *The Guild of Traditional Craftspeople and Primitive Skills Educators.*
This group consists of individuals focused on the intersection of archaeological accuracy, sustainable material use, and the technical "chemistry" of pre-industrial manufacturing.
*Summary for the Guild:*
* *Lipid Surrogacy:* The demonstration confirms the efficacy of egg yolks as a viable substitute for cerebral lipids in the tanning process, requiring approximately 12 yolks for a medium deer hide.
* *Grain Layer Significance:* Technical emphasis is placed on the removal of the epidermis/grain layer; failure to remove this layer significantly inhibits the penetration of smoke and reduces the elasticity of the finished buckskin.
* *Pyrolytic Stabilization:* Smoking is identified not merely as a cosmetic addition but as a vital chemical preservation step using smoldering "punk wood" to ensure the leather remains supple after exposure to moisture.
* *Tannin Extraction:* The use of sweet chestnut bark (*Castanea sativa*) provides a high-tannin yield through boiling, with a recommended graduated concentration approach (starting at 50% strength) to prevent "grain choke."
* *Sustainability and Waste Mitigation:* A core theme is the reclamation of "waste" hides (abattoir and roadkill byproducts), transforming high-protein biological waste into high-utility survival equipment.
AI-generated summary created with gemini-3-flash-preview for free via RocketRecap-dot-com. (Input: 16,878 tokens, Output: 963 tokens, Est. cost: $0.0113).
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Fluidigm Polaris Part 2- illuminator and camera
mikeselectricstuff
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Fluidigm Polaris part 1 : • Fluidigm Polaris (Part 1) - Biotech g...
Ebay listings: https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/mikeselect...
Merch https://mikeselectricstuff.creator-sp...
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mikeselectricstuff
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40 Comments
@robertwatsonbath
6 hours ago
Thanks Mike. Ooof! - with the level of bodgery going on around 15:48 I think shame would have made me do a board re spin, out of my own pocket if I had to.
1
Reply
@Muonium1
9 hours ago
The green LED looks different from the others and uses phosphor conversion because of the "green gap" problem where green InGaN emitters suffer efficiency droop at high currents. Phosphide based emitters don't start becoming efficient until around 600nm so also can't be used for high power green emitters. See the paper and plot by Matthias Auf der Maur in his 2015 paper on alloy fluctuations in InGaN as the cause of reduced external quantum efficiency at longer (green) wavelengths.
4
Reply
1 reply
@tafsirnahian669
10 hours ago (edited)
Can this be used as an astrophotography camera?
Reply
mikeselectricstuff
·
1 reply
@mikeselectricstuff
6 hours ago
Yes, but may need a shutter to avoid light during readout
Reply
@2010craggy
11 hours ago
Narrowband filters we use in Astronomy (Astrophotography) are sided- they work best passing light in one direction so I guess the arrows on the filter frames indicate which way round to install them in the filter wheel.
1
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@vitukz
12 hours ago
A mate with Channel @extractions&ire could use it
2
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@RobertGallop
19 hours ago
That LED module says it can go up to 28 amps!!! 21 amps for 100%. You should see what it does at 20 amps!
Reply
@Prophes0r
19 hours ago
I had an "Oh SHIT!" moment when I realized that the weird trapezoidal shape of that light guide was for keystone correction of the light source.
Very clever.
6
Reply
@OneBiOzZ
20 hours ago
given the cost of the CCD you think they could have run another PCB for it
9
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@tekvax01
21 hours ago
$20 thousand dollars per minute of run time!
1
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@tekvax01
22 hours ago
"We spared no expense!" John Hammond Jurassic Park.
*(that's why this thing costs the same as a 50-seat Greyhound Bus coach!)
Reply
@florianf4257
22 hours ago
The smearing on the image could be due to the fact that you don't use a shutter, so you see brighter stripes under bright areas of the image as you still iluminate these pixels while the sensor data ist shifted out towards the top. I experienced this effect back at university with a LN-Cooled CCD for Spectroscopy. The stripes disapeared as soon as you used the shutter instead of disabling it in the open position (but fokussing at 100ms integration time and continuous readout with a focal plane shutter isn't much fun).
12
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mikeselectricstuff
·
1 reply
@mikeselectricstuff
12 hours ago
I didn't think of that, but makes sense
2
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@douro20
22 hours ago (edited)
The red LED reminds me of one from Roithner Lasertechnik. I have a Symbol 2D scanner which uses two very bright LEDs from that company, one red and one red-orange. The red-orange is behind a lens which focuses it into an extremely narrow beam.
1
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@RicoElectrico
23 hours ago
PFG is Pulse Flush Gate according to the datasheet.
Reply
@dcallan812
23 hours ago
Very interesting. 2x
Reply
@littleboot_
1 day ago
Cool interesting device
Reply
@dav1dbone
1 day ago
I've stripped large projectors, looks similar, wonder if some of those castings are a magnesium alloy?
Reply
@kevywevvy8833
1 day ago
ironic that some of those Phlatlight modules are used in some of the cheapest disco lights.
1
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1 reply
@bill6255
1 day ago
Great vid - gets right into subject in title, its packed with information, wraps up quickly. Should get a YT award! imho
3
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@JAKOB1977
1 day ago (edited)
The whole sensor module incl. a 5 grand 50mpix sensor for 49 £.. highest bid atm
Though also a limited CCD sensor, but for the right buyer its a steal at these relative low sums.
Architecture Full Frame CCD (Square Pixels)
Total Number of Pixels 8304 (H) × 6220 (V) = 51.6 Mp
Number of Effective Pixels 8208 (H) × 6164 (V) = 50.5 Mp
Number of Active Pixels 8176 (H) × 6132 (V) = 50.1 Mp
Pixel Size 6.0 m (H) × 6.0 m (V)
Active Image Size 49.1 mm (H) × 36.8 mm (V)
61.3 mm (Diagonal),
645 1.1x Optical Format
Aspect Ratio 4:3
Horizontal Outputs 4
Saturation Signal 40.3 ke−
Output Sensitivity 31 V/e−
Quantum Efficiency
KAF−50100−CAA
KAF−50100−AAA
KAF−50100−ABA (with Lens)
22%, 22%, 16% (Peak R, G, B)
25%
62%
Read Noise (f = 18 MHz) 12.5 e−
Dark Signal (T = 60°C) 42 pA/cm2
Dark Current Doubling Temperature 5.7°C
Dynamic Range (f = 18 MHz) 70.2 dB
Estimated Linear Dynamic Range
(f = 18 MHz)
69.3 dB
Charge Transfer Efficiency
Horizontal
Vertical
0.999995
0.999999
Blooming Protection
(4 ms Exposure Time)
800X Saturation Exposure
Maximum Date Rate 18 MHz
Package Ceramic PGA
Cover Glass MAR Coated, 2 Sides or
Clear Glass
Features
• TRUESENSE Transparent Gate Electrode
for High Sensitivity
• Ultra-High Resolution
• Board Dynamic Range
• Low Noise Architecture
• Large Active Imaging Area
Applications
• Digitization
• Mapping/Aerial
• Photography
• Scientific
Thx for the tear down Mike, always a joy
Reply
@martinalooksatthings
1 day ago
15:49 that is some great bodging on of caps, they really didn't want to respin that PCB huh
8
Reply
@RhythmGamer
1 day ago
Was depressed today and then a new mike video dropped and now I’m genuinely happy to get my tear down fix
1
Reply
@dine9093
1 day ago (edited)
Did you transfrom into Mr Blobby for a moment there?
2
Reply
@NickNorton
1 day ago
Thanks Mike. Your videos are always interesting.
5
Reply
@KeritechElectronics
1 day ago
Heavy optics indeed... Spare no expense, cost no object. Splendid build quality. The CCD is a thing of beauty!
1
Reply
@YSoreil
1 day ago
The pricing on that sensor is about right, I looked in to these many years ago when they were still in production since it's the only large sensor you could actually buy. Really cool to see one in the wild.
2
Reply
@snik2pl
1 day ago
That leds look like from led projector
Reply
@vincei4252
1 day ago
TDI = Time Domain Integration ?
1
Reply
@wolpumba4099
1 day ago (edited)
Maybe the camera should not be illuminated during readout.
From the datasheet of the sensor (Onsemi): saturation 40300 electrons, read noise 12.5 electrons per pixel @ 18MHz (quite bad). quantum efficiency 62% (if it has micro lenses), frame rate 1 Hz. lateral overflow drain to prevent blooming protects against 800x (factor increases linearly with exposure time) saturation exposure (32e6 electrons per pixel at 4ms exposure time), microlens has +/- 20 degree acceptance angle
i guess it would be good for astrophotography
4
Reply
@txm100
1 day ago (edited)
Babe wake up a new mikeselectricstuff has dropped!
9
Reply
@vincei4252
1 day ago
That looks like a finger-lakes filter wheel, however, for astronomy they'd never use such a large stepper.
1
Reply
@MRooodddvvv
1 day ago
yaaaaay ! more overcomplicated optical stuff !
4
Reply
1 reply
@NoPegs
1 day ago
He lives!
11
Reply
1 reply
Transcript
0:00
so I've stripped all the bits of the
0:01
optical system so basically we've got
0:03
the uh the camera
0:05
itself which is mounted on this uh very
0:09
complex
0:10
adjustment thing which obviously to set
0:13
you the various tilt and uh alignment
0:15
stuff then there's two of these massive
0:18
lenses I've taken one of these apart I
0:20
think there's something like about eight
0:22
or nine Optical elements in here these
0:25
don't seem to do a great deal in terms
0:26
of electr magnification they're obiously
0:28
just about getting the image to where it
0:29
uh where it needs to be just so that
0:33
goes like that then this Optical block I
0:36
originally thought this was made of some
0:37
s crazy heavy material but it's just
0:39
really the sum of all these Optical bits
0:41
are just ridiculously heavy those lenses
0:43
are about 4 kilos each and then there's
0:45
this very heavy very solid um piece that
0:47
goes in the middle and this is so this
0:49
is the filter wheel assembly with a
0:51
hilariously oversized steper
0:53
motor driving this wheel with these very
0:57
large narrow band filters so we've got
1:00
various different shades of uh
1:03
filters there five Al together that
1:06
one's actually just showing up a silver
1:07
that's actually a a red but fairly low
1:10
transmission orangey red blue green
1:15
there's an excess cover on this side so
1:16
the filters can be accessed and changed
1:19
without taking anything else apart even
1:21
this is like ridiculous it's like solid
1:23
aluminium this is just basically a cover
1:25
the actual wavelengths of these are um
1:27
488 525 570 630 and 700 NM not sure what
1:32
the suffix on that perhaps that's the uh
1:34
the width of the spectral line say these
1:37
are very narrow band filters most of
1:39
them are you very little light through
1:41
so it's still very tight narrow band to
1:43
match the um fluoresence of the dies
1:45
they're using in the biochemical process
1:48
and obviously to reject the light that's
1:49
being fired at it from that Illuminator
1:51
box and then there's a there's a second
1:53
one of these lenses then the actual sort
1:55
of samples below that so uh very serious
1:58
amount of very uh chunky heavy Optics
2:01
okay let's take a look at this light
2:02
source made by company Lumen Dynamics
2:04
who are now part of
2:06
excelitas self-contained unit power
2:08
connector USB and this which one of the
2:11
Cable Bundle said was a TTL interface
2:14
USB wasn't used in uh the fluid
2:17
application output here and I think this
2:19
is an input for um light feedback I
2:21
don't if it's regulated or just a measur
2:23
measurement facility and the uh fiber
2:27
assembly
2:29
Square Inlet there and then there's two
2:32
outputs which have uh lens assemblies
2:35
and this small one which goes back into
2:37
that small Port just Loops out of here
2:40
straight back in So on this side we've
2:42
got the electronics which look pretty
2:44
straightforward we've got a bit of power
2:45
supply stuff over here and we've got
2:48
separate drivers for each wavelength now
2:50
interesting this is clearly been very
2:52
specifically made for this application
2:54
you I was half expecting like say some
2:56
generic drivers that could be used for a
2:58
number of different things but actually
3:00
literally specified the exact wavelength
3:02
on the PCB there is provision here for
3:04
385 NM which isn't populated but this is
3:07
clearly been designed very specifically
3:09
so these four drivers look the same but
3:10
then there's two higher power ones for
3:12
575 and
3:14
520 a slightly bigger heat sink on this
3:16
575 section there a p 24 which is
3:20
providing USB interface USB isolator the
3:23
USB interface just presents as a comport
3:26
I did have a quick look but I didn't
3:27
actually get anything sensible um I did
3:29
dump the Pi code out and there's a few
3:31
you a few sort of commands that you
3:32
could see in text but I didn't actually
3:34
manage to get it working properly I
3:36
found some software for related version
3:38
but it didn't seem to want to talk to it
3:39
but um I say that wasn't used for the
3:41
original application it might be quite
3:42
interesting to get try and get the Run
3:44
hours count out of it and the TTL
3:46
interface looks fairly straightforward
3:48
we've got positions for six opto
3:50
isolators but only five five are
3:52
installed so that corresponds with the
3:54
unused thing so I think this hopefully
3:56
should be as simple as just providing a
3:57
ttrl signal for each color to uh enable
4:00
it a big heat sink here which is there I
4:03
think there's like a big S of metal
4:04
plate through the middle of this that
4:05
all the leads are mounted on the other
4:07
side so this is heat sinking it with a
4:09
air flow from a uh just a fan in here
4:13
obviously don't have the air flow
4:14
anywhere near the Optics so conduction
4:17
cool through to this plate that's then
4:18
uh air cooled got some pots which are
4:21
presumably power
4:22
adjustments okay let's take a look at
4:24
the other side which is uh much more
4:27
interesting see we've got some uh very
4:31
uh neatly Twisted cable assemblies there
4:35
a bunch of leads so we've got one here
4:37
475 up here 430 NM 630 575 and 520
4:44
filters and dcro mirrors a quick way to
4:48
see what's white is if we just shine
4:49
some white light through
4:51
here not sure how it is is to see on the
4:54
camera but shining white light we do
4:55
actually get a bit of red a bit of blue
4:57
some yellow here so the obstacle path
5:00
575 it goes sort of here bounces off
5:03
this mirror and goes out the 520 goes
5:07
sort of down here across here and up
5:09
there 630 goes basically straight
5:13
through
5:15
430 goes across there down there along
5:17
there and the 475 goes down here and
5:20
left this is the light sensing thing
5:22
think here there's just a um I think
5:24
there a photo diode or other sensor
5:26
haven't actually taken that off and
5:28
everything's fixed down to this chunk of
5:31
aluminium which acts as the heat
5:32
spreader that then conducts the heat to
5:33
the back side for the heat
5:35
sink and the actual lead packages all
5:38
look fairly similar except for this one
5:41
on the 575 which looks quite a bit more
5:44
substantial big spay
5:46
Terminals and the interface for this
5:48
turned out to be extremely simple it's
5:50
literally a 5V TTL level to enable each
5:54
color doesn't seem to be any tensity
5:56
control but there are some additional
5:58
pins on that connector that weren't used
5:59
in the through time thing so maybe
6:01
there's some extra lines that control
6:02
that I couldn't find any data on this uh
6:05
unit and the um their current product
6:07
range is quite significantly different
6:09
so we've got the uh blue these
6:13
might may well be saturating the camera
6:16
so they might look a bit weird so that's
6:17
the 430
6:18
blue the 575
6:24
yellow uh
6:26
475 light blue
6:29
the uh 520
6:31
green and the uh 630 red now one
6:36
interesting thing I noticed for the
6:39
575 it's actually it's actually using a
6:42
white lead and then filtering it rather
6:44
than using all the other ones are using
6:46
leads which are the fundamental colors
6:47
but uh this is actually doing white and
6:50
it's a combination of this filter and
6:52
the dichroic mirrors that are turning to
6:55
Yellow if we take the filter out and a
6:57
lot of the a lot of the um blue content
7:00
is going this way the red is going
7:02
straight through these two mirrors so
7:05
this is clearly not reflecting much of
7:08
that so we end up with the yellow coming
7:10
out of uh out of there which is a fairly
7:14
light yellow color which you don't
7:16
really see from high intensity leads so
7:19
that's clearly why they've used the
7:20
white to uh do this power consumption of
7:23
the white is pretty high so going up to
7:25
about 2 and 1 half amps on that color
7:27
whereas most of the other colors are
7:28
only drawing half an amp or so at 24
7:30
volts the uh the green is up to about
7:32
1.2 but say this thing is uh much
7:35
brighter and if you actually run all the
7:38
colors at the same time you get a fairly
7:41
reasonable um looking white coming out
7:43
of it and one thing you might just be
7:45
out to notice is there is some sort
7:46
color banding around here that's not
7:49
getting uh everything s completely
7:51
concentric and I think that's where this
7:53
fiber optic thing comes
7:58
in I'll
8:00
get a couple of Fairly accurately shaped
8:04
very sort of uniform color and looking
8:06
at What's um inside here we've basically
8:09
just got this Square Rod so this is
8:12
clearly yeah the lights just bouncing
8:13
off all the all the various sides to um
8:16
get a nice uniform illumination uh this
8:19
back bit looks like it's all potted so
8:21
nothing I really do to get in there I
8:24
think this is fiber so I have come
8:26
across um cables like this which are
8:27
liquid fill but just looking through the
8:30
end of this it's probably a bit hard to
8:31
see it does look like there fiber ends
8:34
going going on there and so there's this
8:36
feedback thing which is just obviously
8:39
compensating for the any light losses
8:41
through here to get an accurate
8:43
representation of uh the light that's
8:45
been launched out of these two
8:47
fibers and you see uh
8:49
these have got this sort of trapezium
8:54
shape light guides again it's like a
8:56
sort of acrylic or glass light guide
9:00
guess projected just to make the right
9:03
rectangular
9:04
shape and look at this Center assembly
9:07
um the light output doesn't uh change
9:10
whether you feed this in or not so it's
9:11
clear not doing any internal Clos Loop
9:14
control obviously there may well be some
9:16
facility for it to do that but it's not
9:17
being used in this
9:19
application and so this output just
9:21
produces a voltage on the uh outle
9:24
connector proportional to the amount of
9:26
light that's present so there's a little
9:28
diffuser in the back there
9:30
and then there's just some kind of uh
9:33
Optical sensor looks like a
9:35
chip looking at the lead it's a very
9:37
small package on the PCB with this lens
9:40
assembly over the top and these look
9:43
like they're actually on a copper
9:44
Metalized PCB for maximum thermal
9:47
performance and yeah it's a very small
9:49
package looks like it's a ceramic
9:51
package and there's a thermister there
9:53
for temperature monitoring this is the
9:56
475 blue one this is the 520 need to
9:59
Green which is uh rather different OB
10:02
it's a much bigger D with lots of bond
10:04
wise but also this looks like it's using
10:05
a phosphor if I shine a blue light at it
10:08
lights up green so this is actually a
10:10
phosphor conversion green lead which
10:12
I've I've come across before they want
10:15
that specific wavelength so they may be
10:17
easier to tune a phosphor than tune the
10:20
um semiconductor material to get the uh
10:23
right right wavelength from the lead
10:24
directly uh red 630 similar size to the
10:28
blue one or does seem to have a uh a
10:31
lens on top of it there is a sort of red
10:33
coloring to
10:35
the die but that doesn't appear to be
10:38
fluorescent as far as I can
10:39
tell and the white one again a little
10:41
bit different sort of much higher
10:43
current
10:46
connectors a makeer name on that
10:48
connector flot light not sure if that's
10:52
the connector or the lead
10:54
itself and obviously with the phosphor
10:56
and I'd imagine that phosphor may well
10:58
be tuned to get the maximum to the uh 5
11:01
cenm and actually this white one looks
11:04
like a St fairly standard product I just
11:06
found it in Mouse made by luminous
11:09
devices in fact actually I think all
11:11
these are based on various luminous
11:13
devices modules and they're you take
11:17
looks like they taking the nearest
11:18
wavelength and then just using these
11:19
filters to clean it up to get a precise
11:22
uh spectral line out of it so quite a
11:25
nice neat and um extreme
11:30
bright light source uh sure I've got any
11:33
particular use for it so I think this
11:35
might end up on
11:36
eBay but uh very pretty to look out and
11:40
without the uh risk of burning your eyes
11:43
out like you do with lasers so I thought
11:45
it would be interesting to try and
11:46
figure out the runtime of this things
11:48
like this we usually keep some sort
11:49
record of runtime cuz leads degrade over
11:51
time I couldn't get any software to work
11:52
through the USB face but then had a
11:54
thought probably going to be writing the
11:55
runtime periodically to the e s prom so
11:58
I just just scope up that and noticed it
12:00
was doing right every 5 minutes so I
12:02
just ran it for a while periodically
12:04
reading the E squ I just held the pick
12:05
in in reset and um put clip over to read
12:07
the square prom and found it was writing
12:10
one location per color every 5 minutes
12:12
so if one color was on it would write
12:14
that location every 5 minutes and just
12:16
increment it by one so after doing a few
12:18
tests with different colors of different
12:19
time periods it looked extremely
12:21
straightforward it's like a four bite
12:22
count for each color looking at the
12:24
original data that was in it all the
12:26
colors apart from Green were reading
12:28
zero and the green was reading four
12:30
indicating a total 20 minutes run time
12:32
ever if it was turned on run for a short
12:34
time then turned off that might not have
12:36
been counted but even so indicates this
12:37
thing wasn't used a great deal the whole
12:40
s process of doing a run can be several
12:42
hours but it'll only be doing probably
12:43
the Imaging at the end of that so you
12:46
wouldn't expect to be running for a long
12:47
time but say a single color for 20
12:50
minutes over its whole lifetime does
12:52
seem a little bit on the low side okay
12:55
let's look at the camera un fortunately
12:57
I managed to not record any sound when I
12:58
did this it's also a couple of months
13:00
ago so there's going to be a few details
13:02
that I've forgotten so I'm just going to
13:04
dub this over the original footage so um
13:07
take the lid off see this massive great
13:10
heat sink so this is a pel cool camera
13:12
we've got this blower fan producing a
13:14
fair amount of air flow through
13:16
it the connector here there's the ccds
13:19
mounted on the board on the
13:24
right this unplugs so we've got a bit of
13:27
power supply stuff on here
13:29
USB interface I think that's the Cyprus
13:32
microcontroller High speeded USB
13:34
interface there's a zyink spon fpga some
13:40
RAM and there's a couple of ATD
13:42
converters can't quite read what those
13:45
those are but anal
13:47
devices um little bit of bodgery around
13:51
here extra decoupling obviously they
13:53
have having some noise issues this is
13:55
around the ram chip quite a lot of extra
13:57
capacitors been added there
13:59
uh there's a couple of amplifiers prior
14:01
to the HD converter buffers or Andor
14:05
amplifiers taking the CCD
14:08
signal um bit more power spy stuff here
14:11
this is probably all to do with
14:12
generating the various CCD bias voltages
14:14
they uh need quite a lot of exotic
14:18
voltages next board down is just a
14:20
shield and an interconnect
14:24
boardly shielding the power supply stuff
14:26
from some the more sensitive an log
14:28
stuff
14:31
and this is the bottom board which is
14:32
just all power supply
14:34
stuff as you can see tons of capacitors
14:37
or Transformer in
14:42
there and this is the CCD which is a uh
14:47
very impressive thing this is a kf50 100
14:50
originally by true sense then codec
14:53
there ON
14:54
Semiconductor it's 50 megapixels uh the
14:58
only price I could find was this one
15:00
5,000 bucks and the architecture you can
15:03
see there actually two separate halves
15:04
which explains the Dual AZ converters
15:06
and two amplifiers it's literally split
15:08
down the middle and duplicated so it's
15:10
outputting two streams in parallel just
15:13
to keep the bandwidth sensible and it's
15:15
got this amazing um diffraction effects
15:18
it's got micro lenses over the pixel so
15:20
there's there's a bit more Optics going
15:22
on than on a normal
15:25
sensor few more bodges on the CCD board
15:28
including this wire which isn't really
15:29
tacked down very well which is a bit uh
15:32
bit of a mess quite a few bits around
15:34
this board where they've uh tacked
15:36
various bits on which is not super
15:38
impressive looks like CCD drivers on the
15:40
left with those 3 ohm um damping
15:43
resistors on the
15:47
output get a few more little bodges
15:50
around here some of
15:52
the and there's this separator the
15:54
silica gel to keep the moisture down but
15:56
there's this separator that actually
15:58
appears to be cut from piece of
15:59
antistatic
16:04
bag and this sort of thermal block on
16:06
top of this stack of three pel Cola
16:12
modules so as with any Stacks they get
16:16
um larger as they go back towards the
16:18
heat sink because each P's got to not
16:20
only take the heat from the previous but
16:21
also the waste heat which is quite
16:27
significant you see a little temperature
16:29
sensor here that copper block which
16:32
makes contact with the back of the
16:37
CCD and this's the back of the
16:40
pelas this then contacts the heat sink
16:44
on the uh rear there a few thermal pads
16:46
as well for some of the other power
16:47
components on this
16:51
PCB okay I've connected this uh camera
16:54
up I found some drivers on the disc that
16:56
seem to work under Windows 7 couldn't
16:58
get to install under Windows 11 though
17:01
um in the absence of any sort of lens or
17:03
being bothered to the proper amount I've
17:04
just put some f over it and put a little
17:06
pin in there to make a pinhole lens and
17:08
software gives a few options I'm not
17:11
entirely sure what all these are there's
17:12
obviously a clock frequency 22 MHz low
17:15
gain and with PFG no idea what that is
17:19
something something game programmable
17:20
Something game perhaps ver exposure
17:23
types I think focus is just like a
17:25
continuous grab until you tell it to
17:27
stop not entirely sure all these options
17:30
are obviously exposure time uh triggers
17:33
there ex external hardware trigger inut
17:35
you just trigger using a um thing on
17:37
screen so the resolution is 8176 by
17:40
6132 and you can actually bin those
17:42
where you combine multiple pixels to get
17:46
increased gain at the expense of lower
17:48
resolution down this is a 10sec exposure
17:51
obviously of the pin hole it's very uh
17:53
intensitive so we just stand still now
17:56
downloading it there's the uh exposure
17:59
so when it's
18:01
um there's a little status thing down
18:03
here so that tells you the um exposure
18:07
[Applause]
18:09
time it's this is just it
18:15
downloading um it is quite I'm seeing
18:18
quite a lot like smearing I think that I
18:20
don't know whether that's just due to
18:21
pixels overloading or something else I
18:24
mean yeah it's not it's not um out of
18:26
the question that there's something not
18:27
totally right about this camera
18:28
certainly was bodge wise on there um I
18:31
don't I'd imagine a camera like this
18:32
it's got a fairly narrow range of
18:34
intensities that it's happy with I'm not
18:36
going to spend a great deal of time on
18:38
this if you're interested in this camera
18:40
maybe for astronomy or something and
18:42
happy to sort of take the risk of it may
18:44
not be uh perfect I'll um I think I'll
18:47
stick this on eBay along with the
18:48
Illuminator I'll put a link down in the
18:50
description to the listing take your
18:52
chances to grab a bargain so for example
18:54
here we see this vertical streaking so
18:56
I'm not sure how normal that is this is
18:58
on fairly bright scene looking out the
19:02
window if I cut the exposure time down
19:04
on that it's now 1 second
19:07
exposure again most of the image
19:09
disappears again this is looks like it's
19:11
possibly over still overloading here go
19:14
that go down to say say quarter a
19:16
second so again I think there might be
19:19
some Auto gain control going on here um
19:21
this is with the PFG option let's try
19:23
turning that off and see what
19:25
happens so I'm not sure this is actually
19:27
more streaking or which just it's
19:29
cranked up the gain all the dis display
19:31
gray scale to show what um you know the
19:33
range of things that it's captured
19:36
there's one of one of 12 things in the
19:38
software there's um you can see of you
19:40
can't seem to read out the temperature
19:42
of the pelta cooler but you can set the
19:44
temperature and if you said it's a
19:46
different temperature you see the power
19:48
consumption jump up running the cooler
19:50
to get the temperature you requested but
19:52
I can't see anything anywhere that tells
19:54
you whether the cool is at the at the
19:56
temperature other than the power
19:57
consumption going down and there's no
19:59
temperature read out
20:03
here and just some yeah this is just
20:05
sort of very basic software I'm sure
20:07
there's like an API for more
20:09
sophisticated
20:10
applications but so if you know anything
20:12
more about these cameras please um stick
20:14
in the
20:15
comments um incidentally when I was
20:18
editing I didn't notice there was a bent
20:19
pin on the um CCD but I did fix that
20:22
before doing these tests and also
20:24
reactivated the um silica gel desicant
20:26
cuz I noticed it was uh I was getting
20:28
bit of condensation on the window but um
20:31
yeah so a couple of uh interesting but
20:34
maybe not particularly uh useful pieces
20:37
of Kit except for someone that's got a
20:38
very specific use so um I'll stick a
20:42
I'll stick these on eBay put a link in
20:44
the description and say hopefully
20:45
someone could actually make some uh good
20:47
use of these things
Example Output:
**Abstract:**
This video presents Part 2 of a teardown focusing on the optical components of a Fluidigm Polaris biotechnology instrument, specifically the multi-wavelength illuminator and the high-resolution CCD camera.
The Lumen Dynamics illuminator unit is examined in detail, revealing its construction using multiple high-power LEDs (430nm, 475nm, 520nm, 575nm, 630nm) combined via dichroic mirrors and filters. A square fiber optic rod is used to homogenize the light. A notable finding is the use of a phosphor-converted white LED filtered to achieve the 575nm output. The unit features simple TTL activation for each color, conduction cooling, and internal homogenization optics. Analysis of its EEPROM suggests extremely low operational runtime.
The camera module teardown showcases a 50 Megapixel ON Semiconductor KAF-50100 CCD sensor with micro-lenses, cooled by a multi-stage Peltier stack. The control electronics include an FPGA and a USB interface. Significant post-manufacturing modifications ("bodges") are observed on the camera's circuit boards. Basic functional testing using vendor software and a pinhole lens confirms image capture but reveals prominent vertical streaking artifacts, the cause of which remains uncertain (potential overload, readout artifact, or fault).
**Exploring the Fluidigm Polaris: A Detailed Look at its High-End Optics and Camera System**
* **0:00 High-End Optics:** The system utilizes heavy, high-quality lenses and mirrors for precise imaging, weighing around 4 kilos each.
* **0:49 Narrow Band Filters:** A filter wheel with five narrow band filters (488, 525, 570, 630, and 700 nm) ensures accurate fluorescence detection and rejection of excitation light.
* **2:01 Customizable Illumination:** The Lumen Dynamics light source offers five individually controllable LED wavelengths (430, 475, 520, 575, 630 nm) with varying power outputs. The 575nm yellow LED is uniquely achieved using a white LED with filtering.
* **3:45 TTL Control:** The light source is controlled via a simple TTL interface, enabling easy on/off switching for each LED color.
* **12:55 Sophisticated Camera:** The system includes a 50-megapixel Kodak KAI-50100 CCD camera with a Peltier cooling system for reduced noise.
* **14:54 High-Speed Data Transfer:** The camera features dual analog-to-digital converters to manage the high data throughput of the 50-megapixel sensor, which is effectively two 25-megapixel sensors operating in parallel.
* **18:11 Possible Issues:** The video creator noted some potential issues with the camera, including image smearing.
* **18:11 Limited Dynamic Range:** The camera's sensor has a limited dynamic range, making it potentially challenging to capture scenes with a wide range of brightness levels.
* **11:45 Low Runtime:** Internal data suggests the system has seen minimal usage, with only 20 minutes of recorded runtime for the green LED.
* **20:38 Availability on eBay:** Both the illuminator and camera are expected to be listed for sale on eBay.
Here is the real transcript. What would be a good group of people to review this topic? Please summarize provide a summary like they would:
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Leather Tanning with Fat, Smoke & Bark
Ben Kilner
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281,106 views Sep 6, 2025 #Jackery2000v2 #PowerStation #Jackery
Stone Age Workshop #3 - Leather. In this episode I’ll take waste deer and sheep skins and, using fat and smoke, transform them into lightweight, breathable buckskin for making clothes and shoes. I’ll also tan leather with tree bark to craft the tools, weapons, and equipment I’ll need for my attempt to cross the Irish Sea.
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:31 Deer Hides
1:06 Hair Removal
1:51 Epidermis Removal
2:34 Brain / Egg Tanning Deer Skin
3:41 Stretching and Drying
6:03 Sew Buckskins Into Smoke Bag
6:28 Smoked Buckskin
9:04 Bark Stripping
9:34 Bark Tea
10:19 Bark Tanning
10:34 Beef Fat and Beeswax Dubbin
12:32 Washing Sheep Skins
13:19 Hide Frames
14:33 Sheep Skin Brain / Egg Tanning
16:25 Smoking Sheep Skins
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Ben Kilner
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356 Comments
Add a comment...
@peteholder7134
2 months ago
It boggles my mind how our ancesters figured all this stuff out.
74
Reply
7 replies
@jaldridge42
4 months ago
I appreciate the closed captioning with additional information. Folks may not realize it's there.
111
Reply
2 replies
@BlackWolfLeon
5 months ago
God, this is so relaxing. The forest background noise, the workmanship. S tier enjoyment for me. Well done!
164
Reply
·
6 replies
@GreasyMoist
5 months ago
How blessed we are today? 3 videos back to back!?
70
Reply
@reticulan
3 months ago
This guy would be very useful in an apocalypse
7
Reply
@ChilliPepper-n2b
5 months ago
Had me thinking of all the kangaroo road kill just rotting away on the side of the road. Such a under utilised resource. Free leather everywhere.
24
Reply
·
1 reply
@JulianaBlewett
3 months ago (edited)
Fun fact, Native American women used to soften the rawhide by chewing on it. It’s also criminal that those sheepskin were headed to the garbage dump. I am not vegan in anyway, but I believe in using every part of the animal if possible, and that includes the skins and the wool.
180
Reply
10 replies
@DavidMcLaughlin-g1v
4 months ago
3:49 I’ve never seen scrambled eggs made that way
15
Reply
@AntoDesormeaux
2 months ago
I wonder how the fats used don't go rancid, the chemistry of preserving things from decay is so interesting
7
Reply
@Maikel.Esteves1987
5 months ago
The amount of work you are putting into this this is amazing. I hope you get all the support you can get man. This is inspiring.
25
Reply
·
1 reply
@dogukanzeybeker1396
4 months ago
This video deserves all the nice comments, thank you for sharing your wisdom with talented people like you
9
Reply
@JesseKnowlton
2 months ago
Honestly one of the best tutorials on hide tanning I’ve seen yet! I love that you showed multiple methods, and that it was done in nature. Good work
2
Reply
@jtjandra2331
4 months ago
My guy, this pivot to process of survival/ancient techniques have been extremely enjoyable. And the simplicity of the delivery thus far is appreciated in a platform of so much noise.
11
Reply
@thrymthursenfuerst2505
5 months ago
Your dedication to your projects is once again beyond comprehension. The skill you achieve and the honor to the craftsmanship are outstanding. Thank you so much for your work and videos. I wish you all the best.
23
Reply
·
1 reply
@JoburgNinja
5 months ago
I already need the next episodes
12
Reply
·
1 reply
@baghdadbaghdadia7026
5 months ago
Return to nature. Perfect work
5
Reply
@DV00724
5 months ago
My most immediate reflection watching this video on the Stone Age is that they rightly had the most precious treasure that human beings can have, something that was stolen from us and this is the time to make our own life and our own things. They told us to leave it alone, we will be the manufacturers, you stay at home, work for us, bored and not work that you have to do out of obligation. A bit with this is the speech that left us with nothing, actually I don't know if I'm explaining myself..... Then for another part I would like to compliment you on the quality and mastery of the video, truly a work of art.
85
Reply
6 replies
@TheSquizzlet
2 days ago
It's easy to see "Tanning racks" in videogames and not really recognize just how much work actually went into doing with them what they do. Imagine doing all of this without the benefit of department store buckets, bins, tools, chemicals, etc and instead of it being a hobby it was survival or death. Absolutely impressive work, looking forward to seeing more!
Reply
@durfkludge
2 months ago
I enjoyed seeing all of the various goops and glops you scraped off and/or applied to the hides
2
Reply
@RogueSwordThesco
2 months ago
Now that was impressive. Wow. You used just about every old school technique.
1
Reply
In this video
Timeline
Chapters
Transcript
Introduction
0:00
Welcome back to the Stone Age Workshop series.
0:03
So far, I have used flint, fungus, and wood to light fires.
0:06
I have built an oven using clay, sand, and grass, and a
0:09
smoking basket from split hazel and tree bark for preserving food.
0:13
In this episode, I'll take waste deer and sheep skins
0:16
and using fat and smoke transform them into lightweight, breathable buckskin for making clothes and shoes
0:22
I'll also tan leather with tree bark to craft the
0:25
tools, weapons, and equipment I'll need for my attempt to cross the Irish Sea
Deer Hides
0:32
No animals were killed for this project.
0:34
These hides are byproducts, the kind of waste that would
0:37
normally be left in the forest to rot, be eaten by foxes and badgers, or simply sent to landfill
0:43
In time, they will return to the earth, but for a short while
0:46
I will use them to share with you how our Stone Age ancestors once lived
0:49
The first step in turning rawhide into usable buckskin
0:54
is to remove any fat and flesh from the inside of the skin.
0:58
Traditionally, bone tools and flint scrapers were used for this. and they work surprisingly well.
1:04
Hides can be tanned with the fur left on, but for buckskin, the fur is removed.
Hair Removal
1:09
There are three main methods.
1:11
One is to let the skin ferment, bacteria breaks
1:14
down the hair follicles and the fibers slip free.
1:18
It works very effectively, but the smell is very unpleasant.
1:21
A more controlled option is to soak the hide
1:25
in wood ash, which creates an alkaline solution that loosens the hair.
1:30
Later in history, people also use lime made by
1:33
burning limestone and slaking it with water to
1:37
create hydrated lime, which I'm using here.
1:41
Depending on the temperature, hair release, can
1:46
take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
1:48
Warm weather speeds it up. In this case, it took just a few days.
Epidermis Removal
1:52
I didn't leave it quite long enough sadly, so the hair
1:55
was reluctant to come out when scraped.
1:58
Along with the hair, it's important to scrape where the outer grain
2:01
layer, the surface of the skin that includes the epidermis and the top of the dermis.
2:06
If it's left on, the hide is less breathable, less
2:09
stretchy, and doesn't take smoke as well.
2:29
Once the hair and grain layer are gone, the hide can be preserved
2:32
almost indefinitely, if completely dried.
Brain / Egg Tanning Deer Skin
2:35
It can be stretched flat for easier storage or left to shrink and harden.
2:40
When you're ready to work it, you just rehydrate it in water.
2:43
As you stretch it out, it changes from a slightly translucent to a misty, opaque color.
2:49
That's when the fibers are open and ready to absorb oils.
2:52
Historically, the animal's
2:55
own brain was used to tan the hide.
2:58
Remarkably, each animal's brain contains just about the
3:01
right amount of oils and emulsifies to treat its own skin
3:05
Here, I'm using egg yolks instead, a traditional substitute
3:09
for brains that work well and are easier to get hold of.
3:12
About 12 yolks is enough for eggs medium hide, diluted in water.
3:17
The mixture is worked into the hide and wrung through to drive the oils deep into the fibers
3:24
The process is repeated until the hide begins to bubble when squeezed.
3:28
A sign the solution has penetrated right through.
Stretching and Drying
3:41
Now comes the hard part - softening.
3:44
The damp hide must be worked continuously, pulled,
3:47
stretched, and flexed, until it is completely dry.
3:50
A simple stick in the ground works well, however, a more modern method
3:53
is to run it over a wire.
3:56
If you stop while there's still a moisture left, the hide will stiffen
3:59
and become almost impossible to soften without resoaking and starting again.
4:05
I find I can manage two or three hides at
4:09
a time in a day if the weather is warm, running them side by side.
4:19
So seven hides, all done.
4:22
Silky, silky, soft.
4:24
Incredible material.
4:26
Absolutely love it.
4:27
All variety of different ‘things’
4:28
visible like that, which I suspect is
4:32
a scar often on their backs.
4:35
Near their sort of bums.
4:38
They've got these scar patches, I suspect from going under barbed wire fences
4:52
One of the challenges with filming in the woods is figuring
4:55
out how to keep all my camera gear charged
4:58
Jackery has kindly supported this video and I've been using
5:01
their Explorer 2000 V2 to keep everything running
5:04
The Explorer 2000 V2 is a large capacity power
5:07
station, but it's designed with a foldable handle, so it's actually very convenient
5:11
to carry around when I'm moving between spots
5:14
Out here under the trees, solar panels don't always get enough
5:17
direct sunlight, so I usually just charge it fully at home before heading out
5:22
It goes from zero to 80% charge in just over
5:25
an hour and reaches a full charge in about one hour and 42 minutes
5:30
With a chunky 2042 watt hours
5:33
of capacity and six output ports, it keeps my drone, phone, camera, and lights powered for days
5:40
Even if you only use it once in a while, you can leave it charged
5:43
and it will only lose a tiny bit of power over the course of a whole year.
5:46
So whenever you need it, it's ready to go
5:49
Whether you're working off grid or just want a dependable backup
5:52
at home, the Explorer 2000v2 is a solid solution
5:56
I'll leave a discount link from Jackery in the description
Sew Buckskins Into Smoke Bag
6:05
The next step is to sew up any large
6:08
holes and join the corners of the hide to form a bag.
6:13
In this case, I'm stitching two similar hides
6:17
together to create a large bag.
6:20
I chose to use sinew for the thread, though any strong fiber will do.
6:25
I'll show you how to prepare sinew in detail
Smoked Buckskin
6:30
in the next episode, for now I used a
6:33
bone aw to pierce small holes along the edge, then
6:36
simply threaded the sinew through to close it up.
6:41
With the bag ready, it's time for smoking.
6:44
The key is to start with a good bed of glowing embers.
6:48
I lit a large fire in the oven, then collected punk wood.
6:52
Punk wood doesn't burn so much as it smolders,
6:55
producing a dense, cool smoke that makes it ideal for this process.
7:00
It penetrates the fibers of the hide, preserving
7:03
them, and reduces the risk of scorching.
8:44
I am really pleased with how these buckskins have turned out,
8:48
soft, supple, and with the feel of a luxury fabric.
8:51
Later in the series, I'll cut and stitch them into clothes and shoes using sinew thread.
8:56
But before we get there, let's explore another ancient
8:59
technique our ancestors use to transform rawhides into a stable
9:02
and useful material, tanning with tree bark to make leather
Bark Stripping
9:08
The bark I'm using comes from sweet chestnut coppice.
9:11
Coppiceing is a traditional way of managing woodland, where the trees are cut on rotation.
9:17
Today, the wood is mainly harvested for fence
9:20
posts, but the bark itself is also rich in natural tannins
9:25
When harvested in spring or early summer, while the
9:28
sap is rising, the bark peels away very easily.
9:32
I will use the leftover poles to build a Stone Age shelter later in this series.
Bark Tea
9:37
Bark Tanning has a long history, archaeological
9:40
evidence shows that people were using tannin rich plants to
9:44
preserve hides thousands of years ago.
9:47
tanning with bark works because those tannins bind the
9:52
collagen fibres inside the hide.
9:55
This stabilizes the skin preventing it from rotting and
9:58
transforms it into leather, tougher, more water resistant,
10:01
and far more durable than untreated hide.
10:05
Compared to brain tanned and smoked buckskin, bark
10:09
tanned leather is less stretchy and less breathable, so better for many tools, armour, and shoes.
10:15
You can tan hides with bark in cold water, but it's
10:18
much more efficient to boil the bark to make a tea,
Bark Tanning
10:21
which releases the tannins.
10:24
The bark can be boiled several times, though each batch is weaker than the last.
10:28
I boiled mine twice, simmering each batch for about an
10:31
hour, and then let it cool before adding the hides.
Beef Fat and Beeswax Dubbin
10:35
The process starts with a dilute solution, about 50%
10:39
strength and then gradually more concentrated tea is added until the tannins reach all the way through.
10:44
To check progress, you can cut a small cross section
10:48
if the center is still raw hide, it needs more time
10:52
Thin hides may tan in a matter of days, but thicker
10:55
hides like cow and buffalo can take many months to fully penetrate.
11:17
On its own, bark tanned leather is tough,
11:20
but can be stiff, and over time it may crack.
11:24
To make it flexible, fats are worked into the
11:28
fibres, a process known as 'fat liquoring'.
11:32
Traditionally, tallow, marrow, or fish oils were used.
11:37
For this hide, I
11:40
rendered raw cow fat into tallow by
11:44
heating it to extract the pure fat
11:48
then mixed it with beeswax.
11:50
I warm the blend and rub it into the hide
11:52
when it is still damp while stretching and working it.
12:17
Later in this series, this leather will be made into belts,
12:21
laces, thongs, equipment, and weapons
12:23
But I'll also need something warm for the winter months
12:26
So now I'm going to tan two sheepskins that were headed
12:29
to landfill and turn them into soft, smoked hides
Washing Sheep Skins
12:49
I got the two sheepskins from a local abattoir,
12:52
and to preserve them, I covered them in salt.
12:55
The salt draws out moisture and stops bacteria from growing.
13:00
The first step in turning them into usable sheepskins was to give them a good wash.
13:06
I just rinsed them in water.
13:08
They still smelled fairly sheepy, but were a lot cleaner.
13:13
Because these large hides are hard to handle, especially
13:16
when wet, I made two frames out of sweet chestnut poles to tie them on two.
Hide Frames
13:23
I didn't need the hides straightaway, so I let them dry completely.
Sheep Skin Brain / Egg Tanning
14:57
When it came time to apply the egg yolk solution,
15:00
the same mixture I used for the buckskins, I
15:03
rehydrated them, but not quite enough.
15:06
The solution didn't soak in properly at first.
15:09
In the end, I took them off the frames
15:12
left them out in the rain until they were fully saturated,
15:16
and then applied the egg solution again.
15:18
That worked much better.
15:21
Because the wool and epidermis were left intact during
15:24
the smoking process, these hides are far less permeable
15:28
As a result, leaving the hair on produces a hide
15:31
that is less breathable and less flexible than buckskin
15:35
tanning produced earlier in this episode.
Smoking Sheep Skins
17:22
In the next episode, I will use the buckskins and bark tanned
17:25
leather to make lightweight, breathable clothes and shoes.
17:28
I will also transform the sheepskins into a warm poncho
17:31
that can convert into a comfortable sleeping mat for my attempt to cross the Irish Sea