Rawhide/Sinew Wrap Question

[Jay Mulcahy]

I have been looking at primitive style knives and would like to make up some for muzzleloading. I've seen plenty of pictures of knives which were wrapped with sinew or rawhide, but I'm having trouble visualizing how the wraps transition from the balde to the handle. I'm planning on using antler or deer leg bones, making a narrow tang and fiberglassing or JB welding into the handle (unless someone has a better method). How do I get a smooth transition from blade to handle when it looks like there is a 90 degree angle where the side of the blade butts up to the handle? Also, what is the best method for completing a rawhide wrap (how do you keep it from unwrapping). Thanks for the help on this!

 

[peter nap]

Chuck (wild Rose) is the man for that question. I've tried it and it looked like a drunken sailor wrapped it.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Place a small round knoch in the blade on the top and bottom of the ricasso,right where it joins the stag ( do this before HT).After gluing up the handle to the blade,sand,finish,polish,etc,Then put a groove across the top and bottom of the stag,just a little bit back fron the end,and comming down onto the sides,angling toward the opposite blade knoch.A small round file does this nicely. Soak the rawhide strip,hold one end against the handle and go across the top groove -down around the bottom knoch- back to the top groove (this captures the end) - straight down to the bottom groove - up to the top knoch - back down to the bottom groove - go once around the handle twice(or more to suit) and bring end out between the wraps.Let dry completlyly (It will draw tight) and then trim ends flush.A little varnish or some leather preservative will keep it tight.Practice this with a shoelace first until you get the hang of it.You can make a couple of passes around the groves and knoches if you want more build up.Play with it,you will create something neat.

 

[Wild Rose]

Here are some samples - on all the front edge ot he grip/handel was filed on a slant so you have smooth transition from the blade up over the end of the grip. Other than that you just wrap it pretty much the way bladsmith stated although I don't file notches since the originals I've handled were just wrapped around with nothing more done. The wraps can be built up over each other at the blade juncture in order to bring it up level with the end of the grip and then just wrapped around and around overlapping them about a 1/3 the width. I cut my strip about 1/2" wide and use thin rawhide like deerskin. Soak it in water until totally rehydrated and then wrap it in an old towel for 10-15 minutes to soak up the extra moisture. If it's too wet it will shrink back on itself and leave gaps. At the end I leave the last couple of wraps semi-loose and tuck the end underneath them leaving the end hanging out. Then take a fid (a smooth rounded end awl used for braiding but anything similar will work, a small screw driver ground to a rounded tip for instance - just make sure it's smooth)a pull the last two wraps up tight while pulling on the end in order to take up the slack. Trim the end off and push it back down under the wrap.

In this first pic you can see where I ended the wrap at the top right corner.

This one was done the same way only I finished it off with a line of small brass tacks driven through the las wrap. I've found a single small tack holding the last wrap on several originals. Whether originally there or added later I can't say.

This one has the wrap sen on and then the sinew with which it was sewn on was wrapped around the grip blade juncture - the sinew was sealed with a 5/1/1 mixture of: pine rosin/pitch, filler - ground charcoal in this case, and beeswax.

This is trade dag blade with slots built into the blade - The rawhide was crisscrossed around the blade and then wrapped around the blade like in the first two. The upper wrap is Montana rattler.

All of the rawhide was sealed with either thinned spar varnish or pine rosin dissolved in artist grade turpentine.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Wild Rose,Thanks for those great pics.I did not have a knife to photo on hand.You do a great job.Most makers don't know how easy it is to do this.I did my first trials on a piece of dowelling,which I ground to look like the knife.As in anything Practice makes perfect,and mistakes make innovation.

 

[Jay Mulcahy]

Hi guys, thanks for the advice. Wild Rose, those knives are beautiful! The pictures were a big help too!

 

[indian george]

Hi guys, thanks for the advice. Wild Rose, those knives are beautiful! The pictures were a big help too!

Jay: Did this give you a few ideas to do up the deer leg bones that we did up??? OOOOH YAAA!!!! COOOOL!!!

 

[Wild Rose]

Ya'll are welcome and glad to help - just to reiterate make sure the rawhide is not overly wet - it should be wet completely through but not dripping - sop up the excess.

A good source for deer and elk rawhide and sinew is www.hideandfur.com (cow rawhide is IMO the hardest to work with - buffalo is the best and is available from Hide and Fur and also www.crazycrow.com)