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rawhide string tutorial

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Pamunkey	rawhide string tutorial	Lead	[-]
Posts: 1565 Apr 14 05 5:39 AM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Last Edited By: Pamunkey Jan 22 08 8:42 PM. Edited 1 time.
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Pamunkey	Re: rawhide string tutorial part 2	#1	[-]
Posts: 1565 Apr 14 05 5:42 AM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Last Edited By: Pamunkey Jan 22 08 8:44 PM. Edited 1 times.
PaleoAleo	Re: rawhide string tutorial part 2	#2	[-]
Posts: 14917 Apr 14 05 6:10 AM Founder Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Excellent Wil! I like the way you did that with no words! The photos just lay it all out. You have me wondering now whether there is a real lot of difference in weight/mass between a rawhide string and other materials - say linnen or dacron. Have you ever weighed a rawhide string? I'm thinking that when dry, it might be pretty darn light. Having never made one, or seen one up close and personal, I don't know. Tom
Bowjunkie	rawhide	#3	[-]
Posts: 114 Apr 14 05 6:11 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Great thread! I plan on making some rawhide this weekend from a couple of doe hides I have in the freezer. I wouldn't mind trying to make a string with it. I also have several squirrel hides that I'm gonna turn into rawhide too with the same purpose in mind. But first, I have some questions if you don't mind I wondered what the best way would be to create a loop. I like the method that you pictured above. How wide did you cut the rawhide strip? How long? Ever make a squirrel rawhide string? Should you cut the strip wider? Do you 'prestretch' the pieces any between wetting and twisting together? I noticed that if you wet a 1/4" wide piece of doe rawhide and pull it, you can stretch it almost into a cord of about 1/8", less after it's dried. Approximately what diameter bowstring did you end up with? What draw weight bow is such a string suited for? Could I use it on a 65 - 70 pound bow? Ok, that's enough questions for now. I don't want to overwhealm ya
Pamunkey	Re: rawhide bowstring- the words	#4	[-]
Posts: 1565 Apr 14 05 6:25 AM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ok- here goes. I cut the neck skins off some salted deerskins I had. I soaked them in fresh water overnight, changing the water frequently (probably 5-6 times) until I was fairly certain all of the salt was removed and they felt like fresh skins. I then removed what flesh was still on the skins, put them in a solution 2 capfuls of Red Devil lye to 4 gallons of water, and let them soak until the hair was slipping. I then gently pushed off the hair, taking care not to damage the grain, and soaked the skins in a solution of about 2 gallons of water to a box of baking soda overnight, and then I soaked them again overnight in about 3-to-4 gallons of water to a pint of white vinegar (this process neutralized the lye, and made the skins like fresh again). I tacked them out on a board to dry, then cut them into a roughly circular shape. Then, I soaked the circles of rawhide until they were slightly soft, but not floppy, and cut them in a or so wide strip, spiraling inward (incidentally, a small 6-3/4 circle yielded a strip about 12 feet long). I then soaked a strip in water overnight until completely soft, and pre-stretched it by hand; this allowed me to see any uneven parts of the strip, and even it up with scissors. I doubled the strip over, twisted about 3-4 together at the fold, and pulled one leg of the string to be back through the loop formed by the fold, making a permanent loop (the picture does a better job of describing that than I can). I hung the loop over a nail in a tree, inserted a stick to hold the loop open, tied the bottom end to a paint can, and spun it to twist it tightly. I let it dry that way, and the string retained its twist. I then lightly sanded the string to make it more even, and put a coat of beeswax on it to give it some moisture protection. The resulting string is about 3/16 or so in diameter. Will
Pamunkey	Re: rawhide bowstring- the words	#5	[-]
Posts: 1565 Apr 14 05 8:03 AM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tom- I've never weighed one, so I don't know. According to Tim Baker's excellent chapter on strings in TBB, I think animal strings have more mass and more stretch than vegetable fiber strings, making them less efficient. Still, rawhide is pretty tough stuff, and I think the average modern-day abo is more likely to produce a viable string from it than from sinew or plant fibers. I'll have to weigh this one on my reloading scale... Bowjunkie- Al Herrin gives great instructions on groundhog and squirrel rawhide strings in his book, "Cherokee Bows & Arrows". I got the idea on forming the loop from him, BTW. There are numerous examples of rawhide strings on bows in the first volume of "Encyclopedia of Native American Bows, Arrows and Quivers". I think squirrel strings are made basically the same; you just use more, and thinner, plys. When I pre-stretch the soaked string, it straightens out the natural curve and makes the strip less wide, and makes uneveness in the strip more apparent. I have no idea how heavy a bow such a string will accomodate, although John McPherson says it'll handle a 50# bow with no problem (I've used one on a 47# bow with no problems). I do know that deer rawhide was traditionally used for the belt on foot powered lathes in the Appalachian mountains, and that it held up well to such use- hope this helps. Will
Bowjunkie	x	#6	[-]
Posts: 114 Apr 14 05 8:49 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Excellent info, thanks. I just went outside and caught my lab chewing on one of the hides I have out there thawing out. You shoulda seen the look on his face when he saw me roundin' the corner. LOL
NorthernArcher	rawhide string diameter	#7	[-]
Posts: 739 Apr 14 05 3:59 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Do you think that it would be possible to make a rawhide string of about 1/8" diameter (instead of 3/16") that would hold up to a 50-55# bow? What if I were to use three or four thin strips from squirrel hides? Live The Code
coyotebow	Re: rawhide string diameter	#8	[-]
Posts: 253 Apr 15 05 1:30 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	sweet post. ive used deer, woodchuck, squirrel,fox and musky for strings. the squirrel and chuck were the best. a rawhide string is pretty heavy compared to flax or dogbane. i think a 1/8th string would break before the bow was braced but you could try it. the best strings ive made only lasted 100 or so shots. i only use them for hunting and use linen for 3d shooting. squirrel is the easiest to try because of the availability. just walk the road and you'll find dead ones just make sure they dont stink. lol. i use 5 for a string. ive even used them without removing the hair if they are summer kills. speaking of stink i wonder how skunk would work. it would be a great cover scent. lol peace jamie
Bowjunkie	x	#9	[-]
Posts: 114 Apr 15 05 5:13 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Woah, wait a minute... only a hundred shots? That ain't gonna work. Where/how did they fail?
Pamunkey	string weight	#10	[-]
Posts: 1565 Apr 21 05 9:19 AM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tom, this 65.5" string, approximately 3/16" diameter, weighed 290 grains on my Hornady reloading scale. The piece of rawhide from which it was produced was approximately 9-3/4" in diameter. Will
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gabo	Re: rawhide string tutorial	#11	[-]
Posts: 37 May 18 05 6:33 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	i just see little red "x"s
gabo	Re: rawhide string tutorial	#12	[-]
Posts: 37 May 25 05 4:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	i only see little red x's
Conlaoch	Re: rawhide string tutorial	#13	[-]
Posts: 110 Nov 15 05 11:13 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	any way we can archive the pictures on some of these old threads? specially one like this where it was a graphic tutorial. Conlaoch
nugget28659		#14	[-]
Posts: 294 Jan 13 08 12:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I cannot see any of the pictures
Pamunkey	Rawhide string- pics added back	#15	[-]
Posts: 1565 Jan 22 08 8:49 PM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	For those of you who have asked, I've re-posted the pics. They're not very exciting- they were taken with the photo function of my old camcorder before I had a digital camera- but you can get the idea. Will
toxophileken		#16	[-]
Posts: 12961 Jan 23 08 10:40 AM Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks, Will! Ken VillarsCustomBows.com
WilltheIceman		#17	[-]
Posts: 2 Jan 23 08 6:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Great tutorial....cleared a few things up for me ! Thanks !
Quest for fire		#18	[-]
Posts: 3751 Feb 11 08 8:59 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I wonder if buffalo rawhide would work? Great pics B:T:W: the way you made the loop is easy to see.
SleepingWolf		#19	[-]
Posts: 651 Mar 13 08 12:59 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	AWESOME!!!!!!! A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. - Greek Proverb
.	I made one	#20	[-]
Posts: 375 Jul 22 08 12:33 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I made one just like you showed, like a good Instruction Thanks.PK
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