Pumice

Pumice is a volcanic rock that works like natural sandpaper. It’ll give your hides a noticeably softer surface texture and speedily remove unwanted membrane and blemishes. These rocks are hand-selected for us from a volcano in British Columbia. They are nicely rounded and really comfortable to hold and use. One rock will last you at least 50 hides.

Use: 

• Wetscraping: removing blemishes, excess membrane, softening the surface texture.
• Dryscraping: sanding off tool marks, and all of the above.
• Furs: removing excess membrane.

Specs: Lightweight, fits in the palm of your hand, and every piece is a unique natural rock (they haven’t been cut or tumbled or anything).

Bottom Line: Very handy, but not crucial.

Other wetscraping resources:

• Deerskins into Buckskins by Matt Richards. The best step-by-step how to.
• The Tanning Spirit Video by Mel Beattie. See how each step is performed.
• Wetscrape Braintanned Buckskin by Steven Edholm & Tamara Wilder. An excellent reference work.
• Pre-Smoke Braintanning, a video by Joe & Victoria Dinsmore. Learn the popular “pre-smoke” method.
• Softening Cable, the most useful softening tool.
• Wetscraper/Flesher, for all of the scraping steps.

Other dryscraping resources:

• Blue Mountain Buckskin by Jim Riggs. The best book on dryscrape.
• Dryscraper, for removing the hair and grain.
• Softening Cable, the most useful softening tool.
• Wetscraper/Flesher, for fleshing on a beam (recommended by most dryscrapers).