Author Topic: Framed beef rawhide (Read 18046 times)

Pappy · « **Reply #15 on:** May 27, 2021, 08:23:13 am »

That's looking good, another good day and you should have that done.
Pappy

BowEd · « **Reply #16 on:** May 27, 2021, 09:59:16 am »

Yep I should be able to.Just 1 more afternoon and I'll be done.Bahhhh humbug.It's raining already.Good for some but not for me today.

BowEd · « **Reply #17 on:** May 27, 2021, 06:45:58 pm »

Well the rain quit long enough for me to finish it up.After cutting it out I gave it an overall spray of bug repellent.That's always kept the pests away from it here.Rolled it up and put it way to storage.Right around 35 square feet in size.

Pappy · « **Reply #18 on:** May 28, 2021, 08:25:39 am »

Nice , lots of projects in that hide.

Pappy

BowEd · « **Reply #19 on:** May 28, 2021, 02:13:26 pm »

Yep Pappy.A persons' degree of imagination is the limit as to the things to be made from this stuff.

bjrogg · « **Reply #20 on:** May 28, 2021, 09:58:09 pm »

Quote from: BowEd on May 28, 2021, 02:13:26 pm

Yep Pappy.A persons' degree of imagination is the limit as to the things to be made from this stuff.

You took the words right out of my mouth Ed.

I was just thinking. Now it’s ready for your imagination

Bjrogg

BowEd · « **Reply #21 on:** May 29, 2021, 09:02:27 am »

I'm exploring my options here to see what is cost viable.I have cow rawhide on hand here already.I gave the tannery a question message as to the cost to chrome tan and dye this piece.Cow rawhide is of a different texture structure than deer,elk,or bison.A lot tighter.If done with them they would shave it to an overall thickness of 4 ounce leather.Something I'm not prepared to do here either.
For brain tanning a lot more work for penetration of brain oils in a beef hide.Freezing and thawing after braining does help but still a lot of work.Waiting till winter time here to brain tan it would be the viable option there.I would need to rope it dry on a suitable temperatured day then too.Ordering perfect weather for something like that from mother nature is a very long shot to happen.A heated shed would be an option to use there and then there is the smoking of to be done too.
I've bark tanned cowhide and elk hide in the past too but that is very time consuming and of course extra work too.55 gallon barrels of tannic water need to be prepared for that and weeks of soaking.Then oiling and softening.
All in all I know what I'm getting into here and will decide.

Pappy · « **Reply #22 on:** May 30, 2021, 06:11:29 pm »

Ya done enough big deer hide and a couple of cow elk to know what kind of job brain tanning a cow hide would be to get penetration and then work till dry, that would be a job for sure. I am sure you will come up with something though.

Pappy

BowEd · « **Reply #23 on:** May 30, 2021, 11:15:20 pm »

Brain tanning mature beef rawhide is different then brain tanning buffalo or elk.The structure of the fibers is a lot tighter.Why that is is beyond me.A lot more stretching and even thinning is needed with them.I've tanned calf hides and noticed this.I just framed and fleshed another deerhide.Piece of cake compared to the beef.Even videos shown doing moose hides show them thinning the moose hides considerably.
I might just brain tan this beef hide yet though.It all depends on how much cherrios I eat.....ha ha.The temptation to have a tannery do it at a lower cost because of my prep work is inviting.
I'll get a price from them sometime when they call back.

Will B · « **Reply #24 on:** June 01, 2021, 10:11:12 pm »

That is a really nice looking hide Ed. Lots of rawhide for future bows.

BowEd · « **Reply #25 on:** June 02, 2021, 09:21:31 am »

Thanks but beef rawhide is a bit too thick for backing bows.I make many other things out of beef rawhide though.

I just got a response from the tannery about the beef hide.They do a chrome tan there.Dye it too.Talked to an office person which is not the most informative.Convoluted response.She said oh you went above and beyond what normal people do when bringing in hides to be tanned.So much so that an extra step is needed now.Rehydrating.I said I did'nt think rehydrating was a step in tanning hides.At least not labor wise and other steps like fleshing and dehairing were already eliminated which does take labor.
Also that their chemicals had gone up in price.More regulations put on them lately too.I was afraid of that.Anyway she said if we piece it out [quartered] it would cost $6.00/sq.ft.If tanned whole $8.00/sq.ft.Way too much.I'd like to speak with the boss myself.You'd think cutting it into quarters takes labor.In short to me just excuses to charge more was her response.
Also she said they had quit doing hair on beef hides but because mine was already dehaired they would do it.They only do exotics like elephant,rhino,and alligator etc.
This beef hide needs to be thinned to make it easier to brain tan and get good brain penetration..I'm thinking of making a wider very sharp scraper for that.I started doing a couple deer hides now anyway.Got 1 ready for brains.The other will be in a few days too.

lebhuntfish · « **Reply #26 on:** June 03, 2021, 01:33:38 am »

Good work Ed! There are other tanners bud, they sound like they just don't want to mess with it to me. But whatever you decide I know you will make good use out of the entire hide no matter what state it's in.

BowEd · « **Reply #27 on:** June 04, 2021, 08:59:02 am »

That's right Pat.
I dehaired the second deer hide yesterday.Frrezers empty of hides now.Ready for more meat and veggies and more hides this fall and winter.It's why I make so much rawhide.That'll store well outside the freezer.I'll get around to brain tanning and smoking these 2 later this summer.

Right now I've got a plan brewing.I got myself a chunk of leaf spring from junk yard for a blade and some 1" sq. tubing for a handle from my junk pile or replenishable resource.Total cost $1.00.I'll make a wider scraper and make an ultra sharp thinning scraper to thin this beef hide.Might sand it some too.Brain and wring it multiple times.Work it dry in the frame stretching with a dulled wide scraper.Probably rope it some too.Then smoke it to finish it.This hide will take quite a bit longer to do than a deer hide but I'll see what the results will be,
There will be steps to perform with a hide like this.I'll try to explain them as I go.Nothing is guaranteed here but I'm not afraid to fail.It's how I learn I guess.

Digital Caveman · « **Reply #28 on:** June 04, 2021, 09:56:21 am »

+3

I understand one of the nice things about brain tan is that you can't mess up the hide totally because you can always rebrain until it turns out right.
You could waste work though, that may be worse.

BowEd · « **Reply #29 on:** June 04, 2021, 10:07:38 am »

Yes it could be,but from experience of these things in the past I pretty much know all of the pitfalls or struggles that can occur and the steps needed to take to avoid them.I've been brain tanning since the 1980's.
I very rarely ever need to rebrain and restretch any deer hides any more for years for a superior product.A beef hide of this size could be an exception.If so in the end with success it still won't be a waste of time.Just a bigger project is all.

Primitive Archer