Amanda Powell Report post Posted February 3, 2011 What are the advantages/disadvantages or different hides? (specifically cow vs horse vs buffalo) Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
megabit Report post Posted February 3, 2011 Haven't used anything but cow and calf. The calf is much thiner and uniform in thickness so it works good for small strings and you can frequently get away without having to split it. Cow is thicker and less uniform so you need to split it to be uniform. It also tends to be stronger. From what I understand horse is also thiner but very strong so it is also good for making those smaller strings but still having some strength. Haven't really heard much about buffalo I would think it is thicker still. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
curlyjo Report post Posted February 4, 2011 Don't know anything about horse or bison but the ideal hide is a cow that died of a combination age and starvation death. Tough hide and no grease. Brad Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amanda Powell Report post Posted February 4, 2011 Cool. Thanks for the info! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aggiebraider Report post Posted February 4, 2011 Not sure if you are just referring to rawhide or not, but as far as leather, kangaroo is the absolute best for braiding. It has superior tensile strength to just about anything you would like to compare it to, and a beautiful grain to it. Latigo can be used, but I have yet to find a latigo hide that I think would work very well. I think Im not looking for the correct tannage, I just didnt have the hide I used turn out worth a darn. I havent heard of anyone using bridle or skirting leathers thinned down, so not sure how they would work. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lilpep Report post Posted February 4, 2011 just my two cents Horse is great to do very fine string. if you want thicker rawhide from horse hide you can use the spine and but these parts are nice and thick not too mention very strong, the sides around the ribs are moderate but still thin to do good stuff. the belly is very thin and great for cutting lace thin enough for covering buttons. it also takes coffee dying well. the only thing is you want to temper with a bit less moisture it is very Strong from any part of the hide you want to use and the different sections are all very relatively uniform in thickness. I have also used great calf leather (veg tanned) it makes great lace it is about 2 ounce thick and you can split it down thinner but it will loose strength the thinner you go, it is not as strong as roo though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
