bucksnort

Thanks Bret.

Bruce pretty much covered it, so I'll just add a ditto. Buck

Thank you guys. Buck

Nice job, the Ring of Saturn knot looks especially good. Buck

Not a specialty of mine but I can tell you that I was taught that with horse hair you have to double your knot. So if you use say a turks head, you tie that & then follow every strand around again. If HorseHairBraider is still on this site she could help you, you might try sending her a PM. Buck

On the left is a 3/4 hackamore over a double braided rawhide core. On the others I went back to what I mostly saw used on ranches growing up, wider, thicker strings & no core. Middle is a 3/8 6 strand 1/2 round braid, the other is a 3/8 8 strand square braid that I rolled to round off the corners. Both have good life & feel to them. Buck

Oltoot, I'm almost scared to ask how you know that dog makes good rawhide. Come to think of it my neighbor has a few I wouldn't mind skinning. Tucker6591, I only work with cow hide & oltoot covered that nicely. I have had a couple of really nice hides from 500-600 lb. animals. I don't use much calf hide as I seldom go down to less than 1/16 thick, but it is excellent for thinner strings. Goat, horse & roo are all popular. I have tried deer & found it to be too stretchy. Try any thing you can get your hands on, your far enough from me that I won't have to worry about my dogs. Buck

Zopi69, On the first hide I did I used a softer cup style brush, since I didn't see any damage to the hide on the second I went to a twisted cup style brush like you used. The results were better & faster. I went back over the first one after it was dry with flapper sanding wheel on my grinder. It buffed up nicely but the fuzz was like fine cotton. I may still have some in my ears. I didn't think to do it on the fleshing beam, I did mine in the frame, it may work better working on the solid surface, I'll try that next. Tucker6591, I only work with cow hide & get it from a local packing house, a local mobile butcher & from ranchers when they butcher or have an animal die. Buck

I don't do much with leather, on rawhide it's common practice on hondoos to boil them for a short time to stiffen them & then varnish or shellac them for water resistance. I did use it on some rein buttons one time that I used some strings made from splits for, but that's probably not the best technique (live & learn).

Thanks John, I'll have to give it a try. Don't have a pressure washer but I'll find one to borrow. Zopi69, glad it's working well for you, I like it too. I haven't had much luck with the fuzzy stuff. doesn't really bother me as long as it's clean of meat & fat so I get good clear rawhide, the fuzzies can come off in the splitter. Am I maybe not grinding long enough? Thanks Guys. Buck

No guts no glory, no scars no stories.

They have been following me around a little closer tan usual. The problem with that is they don't smell all that good, but their coats are really shiny. I did another hide the next day & didn't flesh it at all first, really takes the fat off nicely, but the meat takes some work. It seems best to take off the big chunks first. Also since it doesn't seem to hurt the hide, I went to a stiffer wheel with good results. It is fast & efficient but really messy. Jacotranch, have you used the powerwasher & does it work well? Thanks, Buck

Pic 1 is after the first set, 2 is second set after about 3 hours.

Took the plunge today. I used zopi69's idea & went with tyvex. I am pleased with the results. Took about 40 minutes, all the fat & meat were off. I went back over it about 3 hours later & the remaining membrane turned to fuzz, but didn't come off. I'll hit it again after it dries some more & see if that will come off. Finished results in next post as it wouldn't let me download them. 1- The tool 2- The victim 3- The fool with the tool 4-- Didn't have Tyvex for my helpers

When you bring your two 4 strands together if you look closely at them there will be two strands on each side that will naturally cross over each other on top. Cross one from each side, bring another over the top strand on the cross & then the other side over the two strands. From there, bring the highest strand under 2 over 2 & your on your way. When you get all 8 strands started pull everything down tight & you will come out with a nice smooth transition. Takes a little practice, but the key is to start out with the two strands from each side that naturally lay the right direction to start your 8 strand smoothly. As Joel pointed out, those transitions are typically covered with a button, but with a little practice you can get it smooth enough so that you don't need to if you'd rather not. On your Matthew Walker knot (or any type of woven knot), you'll want to tie it at the level of the top two strands & unbraid the other back to that point. Hope this isn't too confusing. I'm sure some others can explain it better & probably have some better ways of doing it, it will be interesting to see. Good luck & hang in there, your work looks great so far & there is a wealth of knowledge on this site. Buck

He did mention a rain suit.

I tried straight 20 volume peroxide ( wife's a beautician) on cow rawhide once with no results. Let me know if you come up with something, I need some white rawhide for a project I have planned. Buck

Really nice piece Bret. Buck

Jack Armstrong swears by a wire wheel on an angle grinder for fleshing a green hide. I haven't tried it yet, but his hides looked really nice. Buck

I think you would be a great candidate. Your highly skilled at braiding & knot work & working with some of these artists would be a two way exchange. Not sure that my vote means anything to them, but you got it. Good luck, Buck

Thanks Brian, TCAA is a super organization with a great purpose. I still hear all the time how braiding is a dying art. A quick internet search will disprove that pretty quickly. Thanks again for sharing. Buck

Nice work Bret. You've been busy

Not experienced with horse hair either, but what about a small bangle on the order of a shoofly? Buck

Good point, next time I'll ask them to double salt it & make sure it doesn't freeze. Buck

I put this piece of rawhide in the window to show how clear it is. This hide was given to me by a friend who is about 200 miles away. Since I knew it would be several days before I was over that way, I ask him to have the slaughter house put it in the freezer. This particular facility doesn't always follow directions very well, they the same ones that recently salted a hide that was being saved for me. Anyway, instead of freezing it they stuck it in a box & set it in an old cooler that wasn't running, cool & dark & the weather was cool. It sat that way for 5 days before I picked it up. When I got home & stretched it all of the excess meat & fat had started to rot & came off with no effort & the hair was slipping. As you can see, I didn't get all of the membrane off (ran out of time). End result is one of the nicest hides I've had in a while. In fairness, this is off of a very old (20 yrs.) & poor longhorn cow which certainly helps the quality. I know that on dead animals the hide will last long after everything else rots away. Judging from this hide, I may try this again. Give me your thoughts. Buck