Argentinean Style Knife Handle And Sheath

[Ecapone]

Dear friend,

I use the strings almost dry. I just rub them with a little bit of soap paste.

To soften the rawhide, I get the rawhide wet until is tempered. Then I rolled it by the conners with the hair side inside and I hit it with an especial mallet that we call maceta (see picture). I made this maceta with 2 pieces of 2 x 4. After hiting the rawhide I roll it and I save it on a plastic bag overnight. Next day I take it out for another session and I save it back on the plastic bag. It take about 7 days to soften it. Between sessions I also rub some pork fat or some glyceryn soap.

First off, I don't know much at all about rawhide, but I want to learn and plan to try braiding with it as soon as I can procure some of my own. When you soften rawhide like this, does it stay soft, or if it gets wet in the future will it harden and go out of shape?

Thanks,

When you soften rawhide, it stay soft.

Enrique

[Rottmaster]

I don't know if this is the right post to ask this question or questions on softening rawhide but since it was brought up I'll go with the flow.

First I have 45 feet of Buffalo rawhide cut in 1/2" wide, what I would like to know is should I tried to split it into thongs while it is still very stiff or should I softening it first?

What kind of paste would you folks recommend for softening rawhide?

I know this might sound crazy but what do you folks think of using aloe vera to soften the rawhide, do you think it will work?

I use aloe vera whenever I get a sunburn and it works great.

Like I said I know it sounds crazy but it's just a thought.

Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Russell

[Aggiebraider]

I think there may be some confusion here on the topic of softening vs casing. The softening process that Enrique told us about actually changes the fibers of the rawhide to soften it almost to something similar to chap leather. It isnt quite as soft as chap, but more like it than rawhide. Since you are changing the fiber matrix, there is no way (in my knowledge) to get it back to what we know of as rawhide. Russell, I think what you are thinking of is called casing. This is the process of adding moisture to rawhide in order to make it more pliable and easier to cut/braid. Yes, you will need to case the rawhide in order to cut it smaller, split it, bevel, and braid it. The degree to which you case a piece will depend on what you are doing with it. There are many different techniques for casing, just find what ever works for you. The softened rawhide is used a lot in Argentina for things like knife sheaths, belts, and other strap goods.

Hope that helps,

CW

[Ecapone]

Russell,

CW is right. The softenning I was talking about is the equivalent to tanning but instead of using chemicals, it is using mechanical ways. It is hard but after you soften it, it stays soft. When you temper the rawhide to cut it, it gets hard again when it loses the humidity.

I hope this helps.

Enrique

[TexasJack]

Beautiful work!