Scraping Hides

[Leatherpownder]

Had a question about how I de-hair rawhide. After the hide has been dried on a stretcher I will lay the hide on a flat hard surface and rub screened ashes from my wood stove into the hair. I then take a hard wood stick (i.e. shovel/broom handle) and trim the end with a saw so it has a sharp edge. This is repeated as the stick dulls. Then just begin scraping against the grain of the hair until all the hair is removed. just takes a little elbow grease but makes excellent rawhide. This technique was shown to me by Pablo Lozano and Armando Deferrari from Argentina.

These reins are from this hide.

[barbiesdude]

Thanks a ton Leather Pownder. Does sraping dry with the ashes cause the hair to slip? Also the hide I have sraped has some "fuzz" down in dimpled areas. would going over it with your method clean it up a little?

[mikesmith648]

how long after putting the ashes on so you wait before scraping? Maybe a tutorial to help show the whole process you use? I for one would really appreciate it!

Thanks,

Mike

Beautiful reins BTW.

[Leatherpownder]

The best time to scrape the hide is as soon as it comes off the stretcher while it is smooth. The hide sits for a while a lot of the time they will wrinkle and this makes it harder to scrape. The ashes are used to grab the hair and don't need to sit on the hide to remove the hair that is the stick's job. The process is to place the dried hide on a flat surface rub some dry ashes into the hair and begin to scrape. Screen the ashes to remove any rocks. Just takes some time. This method will not damage the the hide like scraping with a knife or any sharp steel.

[mikesmith648]

Great........thanks for the reply....Now if I can just get all this braid learning to stick in my head!!

Mike

[megabit]

Great thread, thanks.

[Leatherpownder]

Hope it helps ya out. If ya have any questions don't be afraid to ask.

[curlyjo]

Just wondering why you don't use lime and then slip the hair? I learned the scrape method dry and laid over a barrel or big round post. Lime works for me now. Brad

[Leatherpownder]

Lime works but a lot of process involved. This way takes less than an hour and doesn't smell as bad, don't need to neutralize, and there is no waste water. Also noticed that the rawhide is not as stiff. Just an alternative method that works.

[curlyjo]

Thanks, I've switched to lime mainly cause its easier on my hands than scraping. Thanks for the pics. Brad

[Leatherpownder]

What ever works best for U Brad. Many different methods.

[JLD]

Hi,

A question if I may,

The greyish colour on the photo of the scraped hide is this a result of the ashes and if so is this why the rawhide in the braided reins has that same blue/grey colour.

Will it come out? and to get the creamy white colour do you have to bleach it and finally...(sorry) how would you do the bleaching.

Thank you very much for posting all the information and pictures you do I find it a tremendous help and really interesting.

Johanne

[Leatherpownder]

All the cow hides I use are the natural color. I do not bleach any of these hide but do bleach the horse hide I use. Even then the hide is not white. Bleaching cowhide weakens the hide. Traditional rawhide is not bleached.

[JLD]

So the grey sort of marks on the scraped hide are not colour from ash? I have only ever tried to get rid of hair using lime and nearly stunk the place out doing it but the hide came out quite light in colour. I never see rawhide here (Australia) that has that blue/grey colour to it.

Just wondering how it got like that.

Thanks

[megabit]

I think it is just a hide from a black skinned cow.

[Leatherpownder]

That's just the pic. The reins were actually a chocolate brown color.

[bruce johnson]

I have a pair of Bret's reins that are that color and they get a lot of comments. The color has stayed good on them. Looking forward to a two rein hackamore to complement them.

[barbiesdude]

Found a video on Facebook at CJL Rawhide of Charles Liesen scraping a hide with this method. Sure looks easy. I have a hide on the rack, can't wait to try.

[Leatherpownder]

Finally got Charly to try one. He had been scraping with a knife previous.

[Leatherpownder]

This is a set of reins from a different hide that was scraped with ashes.

[barbiesdude]

If the Argentines use the ashes, it's got to work well, those guys are amazing. You da' man on the romal's Leatherpownder. I have probably asked you before, but what is your foundation for your turnbacks and buttons, and what is your secret to getting them so uniform and consistant?

[oldtimer]

Adding an amount of water to the ash will make the hair slip more easy, and probably the color of the rawhide would not turn so gray.

[Leatherpownder]

I use tooling leather around the turn backs then smooth with a 1" belt sander.

[megabit]

If the Argentines use the ashes, it's got to work well, those guys are amazing. You da' man on the romal's Leatherpownder. I have probably asked you before, but what is your foundation for your turnbacks and buttons, and what is your secret to getting them so uniform and consistant?

Don't you know Bret is a braiding MACHINE!