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Framed beef rawhide

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BowEd:
Well after about 6 hours staking in the frame I saw that it needed to be roped and scuffed.Edges were beginning to be dry in frame but not as soft as I'd like.
Now after roping off and on for another 5 hours I'm seeing this beef rawhide does not have the nice stretch to it that deer and buffalo hide has while roping.In fact his beef rawhide even though thinned a fair amount is still a lot thicker than the hair on buffalo I did.
I believe the fibers in beef are a lot tighter than deer or buffalo.I don't believe another braining is the problem solver or solution either.I had serious concerns about the stretching ability of brained beef rawhide prior to doing this.I guss my suspicions were right.As I said earlier about doing hair on beef calves [aluminumsulfate tan] they ended up a lot thicker than deer and harder to stretch.
I'll find some use for it though.Plenty big yet and thick too.

Pappy:
So are you calling it good Ed , or do you plan on doing something more to it.  :)
 Pappy

BowEd:
Yep Pappy it's a done deal far as I'm concerned.I always find a use for it somewhere.
The fiber structure of beef rawhide [at least the very thick stuff] is just not suited for stretching enough for me to make good brain tan out of it.Too tight.
On another thread I've shown multiple uses for this beef hide rawhide.
I'll do my 2 deer hides later as they are a lot easier.They've been brained and are froze at the moment.They're ready to be roped dry.Got another shirt to put together.Got the sioux lazy stitch beadwork done already to put on it.Got an elk leg possibles bag and another coyote possibles bag to make too.
I've moved to finishing up on some bamboo backed mulberry bows for now.2 other naturally deflexed/reflexed self bows of this mulberry to do yet too.
By then it'll be deer hunting season.

Pappy:
Is it still just rawhide on just a harder leather even if not really soft but still leather ?? Sometimes I have older deer hides that will have a spot in them that won't seem to take the brains,on soften, not sure if it is scare tissue , but won't seem to get soft no matter what I do, even had 1 that had a spot in the back bone area about the size of a base ball that stayed wet rawhide, once the hide was tanned and soft I just pulled it out, soft all around it but it just wouldn't take, not sure why but seems to be like wood bows, every hide has something challenging about it. Guess that's why I love doing them , always learning something on each one. ;)
 Pappy

BowEd:
Yes it'll be a more pliable type rawhide now.
Scars on some deer sometimes are better to be cut and resewn.Some can have some doosies in the flanks etc.They never take the smoke on good.I cut and sew them up after braining and before roping sometimes.Baseball stitch on the flesh side.Then after roping and soft I restitch it up with real sinew that's wet or damp.I keep some backstrap sinew around for that.Shrinks tight and won't come out.No need to tie knots with real sinew either.Makes for an invisible stitch line after smoking.
like so.This was an arrow hole.

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