tempering rawhide

[flatlander]

I've been enjoying the discussion of different kinds of cutters to make rawhide strings. I was thinking a description of how you get your hard dry rawhide ready to cut would be interesting. I've heard everything from dunk it in the horse tank to put it in an old cooler with wet towels, ect ect.

As a beginner, I find this one of the hardest things to do. If you get it just right it cuts like butter, however I can't consistantly get it "just right".

Comments?

Flatlander

[megabit]

I sure want to hear what the veterans have to say on this, because my results are also a bit inconsistent.

What I have been doing lately is putting it in water for say 1/2 hour and then sticking it in a trash bag overnight.

I think the key to consistent results is having enough experience to know by feel if a piece is ready for the knife vs making a pile of scraps. Sure would be less cussin around my place if I was better at that.

[Opagon]

This is how I go about it, the condensed version anyway: I generally only make my own when the hide is free so I end up buying more than I make.

Once the side is here, I make sure the husband is not home and draw a luke warm bath. I place my side in the tub and let sit for 15/20 min. I sometimes grab the large rocks from my daughter's rock collection as use them to keep the hide under the water. As the hide starts to soften I start to work the kinks out. Once it is flexible enough, I remove it from the tub, pat dry and then I cut my circles out of the side. From there they get placed in a bag and left to case or are allowed to dry and placed in storage. I use a heavy duty scissors if I dont have enough time to let it case the way I want as the husband has seen rawhide in the kitchen sink before. I then resoak my harder circles for another 5 to 10 and then wrap them in a 3mm garbage bag and let them sit for a night. If the feel is still not right (to hard) I run more warm water over them and the return them to the bag for another 4 hours. **Just make sure that you dont leave any puddles on the rawhide or in the bag.** If it has become too soft I let it sit out before I make strings. I have also found that if I soap and cream the circles before cutting that I can keep the moisture content where I want it. After my strings have been cut, split and beveled I either let them dry for stroage or place them in the freezer until I am ready to braid. If you place your strings in the house freezer make sure you mark your bags to avoid the "why is the spaghetti not cooking right" question.

Keep Braiding,

Heather

[Hilly]

Is there a way that someone here that braids could do a youtube video demonstrating from beginning to end, beginning with the side of rawhide, when it arrives at your home? The proper consistency to cut into circles, and demonstrate cutting, beveling and splitting of strings, and maybe doing a simple round braid? It could really help beginners to understand what the books can't show you.

I really hope one of you fine braiders will find some time to dust off your video camera and help out the newbies.

Hilly

[HorsehairBraider]

This will sound weird, but I always put it in with an old towel. The bigger the towel the better. I soak the towel in water, ring it out *well* and then put it in a plastic bag with the rawhide. Usually I let it sit for a day. But that is the way I learned and it seems to work for me.

[rawhider]

If I had a video camera I would do a video. I've got a hide soaking in a barrel right now, tomorrow going to slick the hair and get it stretched out.

I think Megabit hit it on the head. It takes alot of string to really get a feel for the right moisture content. I soak my hides till they are very pliable and soft, then let them air dry a little till they are getting stiff again. Not dry, but stiff. seems to work good for me. I'll take lots of pics tomorrow and as I cut my strings and hopefully take a little more guesswork out of this process.

[rgerbitz]

If my hide is still in a circle then I will soak that for about 3 hours and then put it in a plastic bag for a day or two. I will usually lay it on the floor and lay something flat on top. This makes it stay really flat and helps when I go to cut the strings out it. If the string has already been cut then I will just dip it in water for a 10-15 min. then set it inside a plastic garbage can. I got this idea from Alan Bell. There is a rack in there about half way up from the bottom, with a few inches of water in the bottom. You can keep string at the right moisture in there for weeks. Just have to watch out for mold. I will put some bleach in the water and occasionally scrub the sides with bleach to help keep the mold out.

Rob

[millwright]

Does anyone cut a whole side, from the outside in, into 1"-2" strips with a draw gauge, then cut your strings from that? What's the advantage or disadvantage of the circles vs. the strips?

[Alan Bell]

All the methods mentioned will work the one thing that was not mentioned is to rub either Vaquero Cream or white saddle soap BEFORE you put it in the bag to case over night. This will help the moisture content spread evenly and helps keep it in there while you braid. Also, while you are braiding you can keep a damp barbers shaving brush and dampen with the cream as you go. If you cut strips they will only be as long as the length of the hide and will go through differing thickness while you can cut your circles from parts that are more uniform in thickness.

Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

[BobLand]

I just joined this forum, this is my second post, my first did not go in the right place & I did not mean to quote Alan, hopefully this post will go to the right place.I start by putting the dry rawhide in warm water till the hide starts to soften, then let the hide drip till the service water has evaporated, then I cut the hide in a oval removing the leg & neck parts. Now I rub the hide down with Fiebings saddle soap on the flesh and grain sides, then put the hide in a plastic bag to let it temper for a couple of days. ( tempering the rawhide is the most important part of working with rawhide)

After the temper is right, ( it should feel almost like regular leather) I cut the hide into a long string a little wider than the string I want to use. ( the reason I cut the string wide is that as you split the string to the thickness you want the string will go thin

Next = I use a splitter to take the high spots off leaving the string an even thickness. (If you want the string to be thin than use a calf skin, do not cut a 6oz hide down to 2oz you will lose the strength of the rawhide)

Next = I cut the string to the width I want the string to finish.

Next = I bevel all 4 corners of the string I re-soap the string with Fiebings and put it in a sealed plastic bag, I put the bag in the cool part of the fridge to re-temper for a couple of days.

Next = I cut the long string into strings the length I need for the project I am making. (you must keep the rawhide a consistent temper as you work, most often new braiders work the rawhide is too wet)

I hope this is of help.

Bob

www.okanagansaddlery.com

[rawhide1]

Welcome Bob!

I've looked at your site in the past you do real nice work. I'm sure your knowledge in braiding will be welcomed here as it's always nice to have more braiders on the site.

Mike

[troy]

I'm not an expert at this but I generally use/make my own stag rawhide which usually comes out at under.7mm thick, sometimes less.

In some cases after I have sanded it, I am able to cut it as it is because its so thin, if not I coat it in aussie conditioner to soften it up abit.

I used to soak the hide after de-hairing in a mixture of olive oil and egg white, like you do as a substitute for brains when making buckskin - then pulled the hide for awhile and then put in a frame to dry. It would come up rigid but with a softer texture/feel.

Another pre-cut method I used was to soak the rawhide in a dye mixture from bark or grass - the tannens in these mixtures not only slightly colored the hide but made it slightly softer - not any where near as supple as real leather but just not as rigid as it usually is.

I have far less experiance with cow rawhide and the times I have played around with it were not great results so probably best not to put any imput into that - best advice I'd say is take the plung and get some experiance - after soaking the cow hide, it is an art to be able to tell when its dried enough to cut - an art I have not got, I use more of guess-o-meter at the moment.

[BobLand]

Welcome Bob!

I've looked at your site in the past you do real nice work. I'm sure your knowledge in braiding will be welcomed here as it's always nice to have more braiders on the site.

Mike

Thank you Mike

[TexasLady]

I just joined this forum, this is my second post, my first did not go in the right place...

I hope this is of help.

Bob

www.okanagansaddlery.com

Bob, I'm new to this forum, too. And, I'm new to leatherwork. I just looked at you website. Your work is just wonderful. I wish that I could be one of your leatherbraiding students. Maybe someday. Thanks for sharing with us newbies enough about rawhide cutting to keep us from certain disaster. - TexasLady