Curing Rawhide

[Alan Bell]

OK I have been curing my own rawhide for a couple of years and have been using the lime bath method. I know there are more than one ways to skin a cat (pun intended). What method do saddle tree makers use and do you think the rawhide is of a good quality for braiding?

Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

[if you get down and you quarrel everyday, you're sayin' prayers to the devil I say] Bob Marley

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Many treemakers use just lime as you do Alen, although honestly most treemakers in the U.S. are getting their rawhide pre-made from Hereford Byproducts in Texas. I prefer to make my own. It is cheaper and I get better and thicker rawhide.

The method I use is sodium sulfide and lime together, about 2 cups each in a cement mixer of warm water. Do this in a well ventilated area or use a mask. I put in one side and let it tumble around and the hide dehairs in about an hour. Then I pull it out and flesh it while the next one tumbles. When I am done fleshing and cleaning off the first one, the next one is ready to come out, sometimes in as little as 45 minutes.

I also "scud" the hide after fleshing. This is scraping the hair side with the side of an old shoeing rasp which helps clear out the hair follicles.

When I am done all the hides for the day, I rinse them two at a time, tumbling them in the cement mixer for an hour with running water flowing over them. This helps clean up the hide.

Then I just soak them for two or three days, changing the water twice a day, to help clean them up

nicely. The first water has dish soap in it. The rest are clear water.

I then cut them to the pieces I need for trees, and either use them right away or freeze them.

I do this with deer hide as well for my lacing, which I stretch and dry before cutting. It makes very nice hide that is definitely suitable for braiding.

The hides I use for the trees are from mature bulls and cows. I like the thickness and the size of the hides. However, the best hide for braiding comes from skinny old cows, because you don't want much fat in the hide for braiding if you can avoid it.

Rod

[Alan Bell]

Thanks for the reply Rod. I think Dale had mentioned sodium sulfide too but I couldn't remember what exactly he had said. Are you using one of those Home Depot type cement mixers? Can you fit a whole hide from a mature bull in those things or am I reading you right and it is a side at a time? Nate Wald uses one of those old industrial size washing machines. I'm doing everything in 50 gal. plastic barrels and elbow grease to agitate. Also, I have been using vinegar to neutralize the lime. Does the soap take the place of the vinegar?

I use bulls and mature cows for reatas and some heavy bosals or maybe even hobbles. I know the books talk about old skinny cows but not many braiders get the oppurtunity to have an old skinny cow to hide we all end up with what ever get down at the neighbors or a calf or 2. Most of the time I go to the rendering plant and pick one out and let them skin it! Saves me a lot of time. Seems like I never get enough calf hides but last year I actually got two horses to skin out that had died at neighbors.

Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

[Why not help one another on the way?, Makes it much easier] Bob Marley

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Regarding cement mixers, anything that will hold either a side or a whole hide would work. I put in a side at a time unless I have a very small hide (for me), and I rinse two sides at a time. Julian Tubb, the tree maker I learned from, used a plastic barrel set up with a motor and some wheels to make it tumble. So anything can be used. The cement mixer I use is a small portable mixer with a moter that is probably similar to what you would get at Home Depot.

I use two, 5 gallon pails of hot water with 2 cups of sodium sulfide flakes, and 2 cups of lime per side. The sodium sulfide breaks down the protein in the hair and dissolves it into a sulfury smelling mush. I was told the soap neutralized it, but I think it just really cleans up the hides better. I don't think neutralizing is necessary because the hide is not in the chemical long enough for it to really get into the skin, unlike the traditional lime process where it is in it for a week or more.

To clarify, this rawhide making technique makes rawhide suitable for braiding. I don't mean to say that deer hide is suitable for braiding. It stretches too much for braiding, but makes great string for lacing trees.

Rod

[Alan Bell]

Thanks a lot Rod, that is just the info I was looking to hear! The 5 days or so in the lime and then the 3 more days neutralizing in the vinegar rinse was really too much time to spend making rawhide when you consider it still had to be cut into strips, the strips skived even, then cut into strings and the strings need both edges beveled! Whew, I get tired out just typing the description! Braiders end up making about $.50/hour when all is said and done! You probably gave me a dollar raise!

Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

[Don't worry 'bout a thing, Cuz every little thing is gon' be alright] Bob Marley