Working with rawhide

[H Rhodes]

Pinecone's way X 3.

[blackhawk]

Same as Bryce n pappy....only step I add is I actually trace out each limbs profile onto the rawhide, and that way I have very little if any trimming to do...

[bluegill68]

This is how I do it.


http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,32398.msg428391.html#msg428391

[PatM]

A hairdryer is even adequate to warm the rawhide and reactivate the glue using the Torges method. I have also just held the bow close to a woodstove.

Man, that little amount of heat?  I live where it can get well over 100 degrees in the summer.  What happens then when I'm using the bow?  The backing falls off?

 A hairdryer has a hot setting that will burn you if held close enough. Way hotter than any air temperature you will see. Besides we are talking about activating wet glue. Dried glue is far more temperature resistant.

[The Gopher]

i also agree with Bryce's method, however i used a twine and wrapped the tight the whole length of the limb, there was a picture in one of the bowyers bibles with this method and it worked well, it allows a lot of air flow, was dry the next day.

[Loneviking]

Picture time.  Here's the back of the bow with the rawhide:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y213/loneviking/Bowback.jpg?t=1386955815



And the belly:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y213/loneviking/Bowbelly.jpg?t=1386955822


And the remaining piece of rawhide for the other limb:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y213/loneviking/Rawhide.jpg?t=1386955832

[Bryce]

Same as Bryce n pappy....only step I add is I actually trace out each limbs profile onto the rawhide, and that way I have very little if any trimming to do...

Well that's a given mouse breath.

[blackhawk]

Same as Bryce n pappy....only step I add is I actually trace out each limbs profile onto the rawhide, and that way I have very little if any trimming to do...

Well that's a given mouse breath.

Not everyone has $&!+ for brains like me,and can't read between the lines 

[Bryce]

Same as Bryce n pappy....only step I add is I actually trace out each limbs profile onto the rawhide, and that way I have very little if any trimming to do...

Well that's a given mouse breath.

Not everyone has $&!+ for brains like me,and can't read between the lines 

Lmao! 

[Loneviking]

So, after about an hour of working with a belt sander, fine tooth backsaw for cutting, screwdriver for prying I finally have all of the excess off and a nice back on one side!

[randman]

Part of your problem is the rawhide you're using all wrinkled and warped like that from being all bent and twisted in the dog chew. You are fighting the warp and ripples the whole time. What I have found to prevent that is to soak the rawhide till it's good and flexible then stretch it and staple it to a flat piece of plywood. Get it as flat and tight as possible, pulling out all the wrinkles. Just like if you were preparing the hide fresh off the animal. Let it dry till hard. If there are still small ripples you can repeat the process (much easier the second time). Once it is dry and flat, you won't be wrestling the ripples as you are trying to put it on the bow. And like Blackhawk said, trace and trim it close to the final size and you won't have so much to deal with
And to your comment about the glue not sticking to the hide, Loneviking, if you are still using tightbond, it's not going to have the same affinity for the hide that hide glue will. Hide glue and the hide are basically the same material so they will stick much better to each other whereas trying to coat wet/damp hide with tightbond, you are thinning the tightbond with the moisture in the hide. Maybe the guys who use it can give us an idea how to deal with that.

Lots of great tips on here I'll be using in the future. Just shows ya there's many ways to skin a cat - or a bow in this case - sorry Del  ;-)

[JW_Halverson]

And worse yet, I think your rawhide is about 10 times thicker than you need.  That stuff is like bullhide.  The backing rawhide is usually deer or antelope.  It's about as thick as construction paper or the stock you print business cards on. 

There is about 6 bows worth of rawhide on every deer.  Most places will hit you for $20 plus plenty of shipping and handling, so a deer hide is worth the effort to scrape into rawhide. 

[Carson (CMB)]

Like JW said.  I just posted this in blue-gills build-along, and will share here too:   

I can't imagine using the dog-chew toys as rawhide.  I am sure it can work, but it sounds like a lot of work to thin it. Since price seems to be the thing keeping people away from the "good stuff" I thought it might be a good idea to have a sale on rawhide backing strips to encourage the chew toy backers to give the deer hide a try.  I am offering deer rawhide backing strips for $15/pair.  (regular price is $23.50).  The rawhide sale is on the homepage of my website EchoArchery.com     I wont put a direct link as I only periodically run advertisements in Primitive Archer Magazine, and I do not have an active add right now.  I think this is within the rules, but if I am mistaken, feel free to delete this post admins.

If you have questions about my rawhide please do not clutter up blue-gills how-to with replies of that nature.  Feel free to PM me.

I hope this post is not too off-putting.  I just want to encourage folks to give deer rawhide a try over the chew toy hide.   

[Loneviking]

Part of your problem is the rawhide you're using all wrinkled and warped like that from being all bent and twisted in the dog chew. You are fighting the warp and ripples the whole time. What I have found to prevent that is to soak the rawhide till it's good and flexible then stretch it and staple it to a flat piece of plywood. Get it as flat and tight as possible, pulling out all the wrinkles. Just like if you were preparing the hide fresh off the animal. Let it dry till hard. If there are still small ripples you can repeat the process (much easier the second time). Once it is dry and flat, you won't be wrestling the ripples as you are trying to put it on the bow. And like Blackhawk said, trace and trim it close to the final size and you won't have so much to deal with
And to your comment about the glue not sticking to the hide, Loneviking, if you are still using tightbond, it's not going to have the same affinity for the hide that hide glue will. Hide glue and the hide are basically the same material so they will stick much better to each other whereas trying to coat wet/damp hide with tightbond, you are thinning the tightbond with the moisture in the hide. Maybe the guys who use it can give us an idea how to deal with that.

Lots of great tips on here I'll be using in the future. Just shows ya there's many ways to skin a cat - or a bow in this case - sorry Del  ;-)

Del, I took your advice (and a couple of others above) and staked the rawhide to a wood slab. I also put a heavy foot long section of RR track on it.  What I found interesting was as I kept checking on the hide this afternoon there was a point where it was just dry enough to slice and trim easily with a knife.  Too wet and it's a spongy mess, too dry and you have to use a saw or a sander.  It's something I don't think you can put into words, you have to play around and experience it.

Anyway, after trimming it the hide was still staying flat from the squashing of the heavy RR track.  I rinsed it just a bit too get any dirt off, blotted it good with a clean rag and then put the Titebond 2 on, which dried nicely this time instead of running off the hide.  Put the hide on the limb, wrapped it and put the weight on it.  I'll check it in a couple of days and then it's time to start tillering in earnest.  You sure do learn a lot when you actually start trying to do something!

Bill

[Loneviking]

Like JW said.  I just posted this in blue-gills build-along, and will share here too:   

I can't imagine using the dog-chew toys as rawhide.  I am sure it can work, but it sounds like a lot of work to thin it. Since price seems to be the thing keeping people away from the "good stuff" I thought it might be a good idea to have a sale on rawhide backing strips to encourage the chew toy backers to give the deer hide a try.  I am offering deer rawhide backing strips for $15/pair.  (regular price is $23.50).  The rawhide sale is on the homepage of my website EchoArchery.com     I wont put a direct link as I only periodically run advertisements in Primitive Archer Magazine, and I do not have an active add right now.  I think this is within the rules, but if I am mistaken, feel free to delete this post admins.

If you have questions about my rawhide please do not clutter up blue-gills how-to with replies of that nature.  Feel free to PM me.

I hope this post is not too off-putting.  I just want to encourage folks to give deer rawhide a try over the chew toy hide.   

Thank you for the generous offer and I'll take you up on that.  I want to make a smaller, lighter pull weight Molly out of another board I have.  One question I have though is why do I want to trim the dog chewie rawhide?  The rawhide is there to protect you in case the board explodes on you while tillering.  Why wouldn't I want a thick piece to protect me?  I can always sand it down thin when it comes time to finish it.