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More hidework

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BowEd:
True.You get what you put into something.To do a nice job a person should not get in a hurry.The diligence will reward you.
The reason I mentioned scars is that a person has to look out for them while dry scrape dehairing a hide.Especially in the flanks on a deer.Barbed wire marks down the back side rarely concern me much because they are not that deep.Catching deep ones the wrong way with too much pressure can and will make a large hole especially in the flanks.
I use different width/very sharp mill bastard scrapers in different areas of a hide.
Sometimes in the flanks your almost better off to sand away the epidermis in thinner flank areas on smaller deer.
Larger hides on larger animals will have thicker epidermis also.Requiring more than 1 scrape to remove it all.Usually in the neck,spine and hip areas.
I give my hides an overall sanding of at least 80 grit to be sure all epidermis is removed.I sand the flesh side also to be sure all membrane is removed too.
After this preparing I'm confident then the brain oils will have every opportunity to penetrate the leather.

This hide I'm doing now is a wonderful hide.

BowEd:
Another point is the weather I'd like to expand about.Like said earlier dehairing during low humidity periods does a cleaner job IMO.
The epidermis like the leather is subject to absorbing humidity.Higher humidity will make the epidermis more rubbery like,which can lead to the scraper chattering somewhat and not do as clean of a job.Assuming that your scraper is sharp also.

BowEd:
The second hide is ready for brains.It was a late season muzzle loader deer shot with a johnathon browning .54.

Gun laying on brain tanned elk hide.

The coyotes ate a little into the exit wound of the ball and the hide is around 10 square foot.Plenty enough yet for the front or back of a shirt.
Anytime coyotes get in there they damage a bit of the hide.It was around 5 below 0 F. that morning.



Onto the third hide.This one is about 15 square foot.An old doe.


Here's where she came from last fall.A good quartering away shot.

Will B:
Looking good Ed!  Can I see a picture of the scraper you use?  I made some rawhide out of a buck I shot last fall and I’m looking for better ways to remove the membrane to get it thinner.

BowEd:
Main thing on a scraper is the blade mounting it at a 90 degree angle onto a stick or horn.If it's membrane than it's on the flesh side.
Here's a flesher [wider one] that I use mounted onto elk horn.Be sure to round the corners on the blade.
The blade is a piece of a cracked farming disk blade which I cut out from a disk blade with a torch.I did heat it red and dunk into some 10 weight oil to harden it farther after beveling it [about a 30 degree angle].A fleshing blade can be a little wider than a dehairing blade,but still very sharp.I only have one for fleshing.You can put a great amount of pressure on a framed in hide while fleshing to get every bit of membrane off.
The other is mounted onto elk horn too and it's blade is a chunk of mill basterd file.No reheating done on that.It's hard enough the way it is.These will hold an edge completely through doing a normal deer hide.

For a  good edge for dehairing I sharpen mine with a stone.It does'nt take very long to get a good sharp edge.

Taking around 1/4" wide strip off at a time for dehairing is about the right width.Trying to take too wide of a strip will not work very well.


I keep various different width scrapers for different jobs on areas on a hide while removing the epidermis.

Hedge with the sapwood removed.

This one is only 1/2" wide for delicate areas of the flank on deer.


Rawhide lace sized with TB 3 onto a piece of hedge.

Mounted onto a pine dowel.

The best type of deer rawhide to use for backing a bow is these yearling deer or goat hides,or maybe the belly of a buck should work ok.

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