Quote:
Originally Posted by Camdec
The thinning is my biggest issue. I’ve dry scraped for thinning and don’t really have the patience and physical stamina to do the ideal job. Try and stick to calf moose helps. Some of that hump hide on a 3 year + bull is 3/4 inch thick. That’s a lot of scraping to get to a thickness that it softens to a useable hide.
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I used to do rawhide for my brother when he was into braiding. What worked for me was an angle grinder with a sanding wheel attachment. It worked well for initial fleshing, and then for rough thinning after the hair removal when the hide had kind of "set". Getting a consistent thickness would be a matter of experience; brother had a pretty good skiver for thinning the strings after we cut them so it wasn't critical for me. I could peel it right down to the backside of the follicles, though.
Pro tip: If you try this, do it outside, a long ways from anything. Don't do it inside your nice warm shop. Trust me.