Rawhide help

[Captain McKrae]

Hello knifemakers,

New to forums and not sure if I am posting my questions the right way or in correct place. Yall let me know.

I'm a hobby knifemaker just starting out. Right now i am working on a knife for someone and have run in to a problem. Knife is full tang 1080. I have wooden handle scales on it. The person I am making it for has requested some kind of leather wrapping on handle. So, the plan was to wrap a couple rawhide strands, and seal them up. I have soaked a rawhide bone chew toy, stained it with coffee, and cut some thin strips. Then realized in order to wrap it on handle im going to have some rust issues with 1080 tang before it dries, shrinks, and tightens.

Can I wet it with something other than water in order to get wrapping done? Then maybe condition it and seal it? Or protect steel some way? I have seen makers use rawhide against carbon steel. Not sure how. Any ideas?

Sorry for long first post. All help appreciated. Thanks

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Just rawhide on a steel tang would be pretty thin. The better way is to cover the tang with thin slats of wood, and then wrap and shrink the rawhide on the built up tang. Rawhide shouldn't need much finishing, but a coat of some type leather protector might be good.

When doing a leather wrap on a handle, normally I make the tang reduced in width ( sort of like a wide stick tang) and fit the wooden scales to it so wood is exposed all around ( called a tsuka in Japanese).

I don't like the rawhide used on dog chews. It is not the same as proper rawhide strips for mountain man and such crafts. A big bundle is very reasonable on ebay.

This is what I use:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Best-Eve...lFlatRateEnvelope!23454!US!-1&redirect=mobile

 

[Horsewright]

Agreed on the dog chews. Not good rawhide. There are special rawhide conditioners on the market and I would use one of them not a regular leather conditioner. Vaquero Rawhide Cream by Ray Holes is what we use and we have a very sizable investment in some very expensive rawhide items that get used hard. They aren't just collector's items. Both the wife's reins here and the bosalito (noseband hanging from the forelock) are braided rawhide.

Same here with my outfit.

Anyhoo start out with good rawhide and you'll be better off. Many of the dog chews that I've seen have been split and so the grain side (finished side and where the strength is) is gone. Basically they are suede not smooth leather if that makes sense. Good rawhide should have a grain side like leather does. This is an 80 ft reata (rope braided from rawhide strings). This one is braided from 4 1/4" strings, ya can see that they have a smooth finished grain side. 90 percent of the strength of a piece of hide is in the grain (leather or rawhide).

Most dog chews have also been bleached which is why the whitish color. I'm thinking that can't be good for the longevity of the rawhide or the dog either come to think of it.

Here is rawhide in its natural form, see, its not that whitish color of the chews. My ranching partner wanted to build his own reata and is cutting out the bad spots.

We had an old cow that died and he'd skinned it. But just making the rawhide was so much work he abandoned the project and bought this hide.

 

[Captain McKrae]

Just rawhide on a steel tang would be pretty thin. The better way is to cover the tang with thin slats of wood, and then wrap and shrink the rawhide on the built up tang. Rawhide shouldn't need much finishing, but a coat of some type leather protector might be good.

When doing a leather wrap on a handle, normally I make the tang reduced in width ( sort of like a wide stick tang) and fit the wooden scales to it so wood is exposed all around ( called a tsuka in Japanese).

I don't like the rawhide used on dog chews. It is not the same as proper rawhide strips for mountain man and such crafts. A big bundle is very reasonable on ebay.

This is what I use:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Best-Eve...lFlatRateEnvelope!23454!US!-1&redirect=mobile

Thanks for proper rawhide suggestion. That was something I was wondering about, as the dog chew hide is not very tough after cut into small strips, and it stinks.

The knife does have wooden scales, and I will be making a short wrap in two different places around them. I am just worried about the spine and grip portion of the tang that will be exposed to the wet rawhide.

 

[Steve Beckwith]

fur and hide.com has scrap rawhide boxes, I have used it for John Cohea inspired sheaths. I get my lacing by cutting in a spiral and then soaking. Stretch it when it comes out of the water. They sell an 8 or 10 lb box pretty cheap, I prefer the deer rawhide, I have some elk but it is pretty thick and much more difficult to work.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Horsewright,
Nice tack!
Is that a tanned hide you are cutting? What I always called rawhide was dried hard, and untanned hide. It is stiff and hard until soaked and wrapped, braided, or shaped. The stuff covering stirrups was what I called rawhide. After drying, it is hard again. We made drum tops from it among other uses.

 

[Horsewright]

Thanks Stacy.

No its rawhide thats been soaked. My buddy kept it in a water trough till he was ready to cut and then let it dried some. I'm no braider but they say the moisture content is right when you put it against your cheek and its cool to the touch. Pretty similar to casing leather in leather work. These Bulldog Tapaderos were cased. I put the leather (very heavy 15oz saddle leather) in the bathtub in warm water till the bubbles stop coming out. Then wrapped it in a towel and left it overnight. Next day the leather is extremely pliable and easy to work, cut, shape, manipulate etc. Same with the rawhide.

Just for info rawhiding can be taken to unbelievable levels. Look at this quirt handle (the reddish rawhide) by my friend Vince Donley. Notice how the braiding changes throughout the length of the project. The reins hanging to the left and right are 12 strands. So how many strands is this quirt handle, 64? Vince is truly a master and a name know throughout our world. Those rawhide hobbles hanging from the wife's saddle in the above pic are by Vince too.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Man, that is really nice stuff. Almost makes me want to make a saddle and tack again .... almost.

When I was a kid in the 50's, every boy wanted to be a cowboy. We had outfits, holsters and realistic cap guns. We all make lassos from whatever rope we could find. Most of us couldn't lasso a post from more than a few feet. A local dad had grown up on a ranch and brought out an old lariat. We asked why it was stiff. He explained that a good one was not rope, but braided rawhide. If it was good, it was just stiff enough. He backed off about 20 feet and tossed it right over the post. I always wanted one of those.