nkante

OK... So I contacted the group that created the video. They told me there was a book that accompanied the video and website. I bought the digital copy and it had most of the information I was missing. They said the dried hide was buried in the cattle boma for up to a week to cure. Then it is rubbed with round river stones to remove the hair. I can reproduce the ashing process and stone scrubbing, but can someone suggest an alternative to the cow manure? Would soaking it in ammonia have the same effect?

Thanks for all the input. There is a gallery of pictures at the end of the article that gives more information. http://www.conserventures.org/gallery/blood-and-leatherre-creating-the-maasai-war-shield/ The captions say it is ash being rubbed into the hide. It also shows the dried hide being buried in the boma like Birdman suggested. It also shows a few steps are still missing. Can someone explain what effect being buried would have on the hide? Is it ammonia in the urine or something in the feces that causes a reaction?

I recently came across a short film from 2012 called "Blood and Leather: The making of a Maasai shield". Although it is technically rawhide and not leather, I was hoping someone could help me out. It appears to be a pretty straight forward process. They stretch the hide, staking it to the ground flesh side up and scrape it. At about 1:50 into the video they cover it with a power substance. That is the part I could use help with. any ideas what the powder is. At first I thought salt, but in my opinion it looks too fine to be salt. Then I thought maybe it was some kind of wood ash. What do you folks think?

I was able to find some information regarding tanning in Morocco. But that is really it.... beside a sentence or 2 about how the Zulu made their shields. Both cultures use cow urine. The Zulu would bury the shields in the dirt under the cattle pens for a time. Moroccans use a mixture of cow urine, quick lime, salt and water in the first step of tanning. If I knew the proportions of each I would try it.

I recently started working with leather and hides and was wondering if anyone knew anything about traditional leather working in Africa. All my research turns up information about modern leather working. I am interested in the old ways and am hoping some of you folks could point me in the right direction.

Thank you for the reply.

New guy here. Thanks for the add. I want to make a custom radiator cover and I would like to use leather in the project. One idea is to weave old belts with lots of space between them to let the heat pass. My next idea is to make a cover panel from cowhide with lots of big grommets to let the heat pass. My question is how will the heat affect the material? Will it cause it to dry out and crack?Will it shrink and change the shape?