The Hide Man's Shop Log

The Hide Man’s Shop Log is a running record of work in the hide shop, what I’m working on, what I observe, what works, what doesn’t, and what I learn along the way. These are shop observations as they happen, not instructions written after the fact. Considering as you pass along that The Hide Man has been chiefly educated in Nature's School under that rigid tutor experience, and you will also bear in mind the he does not hold himself responsible for the correctness of statements made otherwise than from observation. Trade It Fair. Humidity Saga June 08, 2026 — Hide Shop Observation Weather was not cooperating. Humidity was high enough that salted hides were sweating and getting soft. I started watching the shop conditions and the hides to determine what was happening. 1st hygrometer and thermometer reading Temp 76F RH92% First observation points considerations 1-Re-Salting 2-Air Movement Considerations these hides had been dry salted for months flat and stacked no problems. So now the thoughts were dehumidifier. We will see where this goes.

Humidity Saga Continues in the Hide Shop June 08, 2026 - Hide Shop Observation Decided against dehumidifier and put an AC unit in. 8000 btu window unit. So after AC install I start taking daily readings and observations. From shop log Mon, Jun 8 at 1:56 pm Ac in starting temp 80 RH 92% 1pm now 2pm temp 80 RH 86%. In one hour the AC has removed enough moisture to drop humidity 6 percentage points while holding temperature steady. Key Observations 1. AC is working. 2. Shop is not completely leaking air. 3. Moisture load is huge. 4. AC is winning! What's interesting is the temperature didn't move. Some people would see that and think: The AC isn't doing much! No. The AC spent that first hour pulling water out of the air instead of lowering temperature. At 92% humidity there it a tremendous amount of moisture in the air! So here are the numbers we are shooting for: Good Target 55-60% humidity Acceptable 60-65% Warning Zone 70%+ Problem Zone 80%+ Emergency/Swamp Zone 90%+ Right now we went 80F/92% > 80F/ 86% in one hour. The first Victory number is Below 75% humidity And the real goal is: Around 60% humidity For salted hides, I'd be happy at 55-60% For deer mounts drying stay above 35-40%. Target for the hide shop 72-76F and 55-60% RH This saga continues for our working hide shop find out how it goes!