Water Buffalo

G

ghostsix

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I was on a patrol once,somewhere in Asia,and one of my SGTS, thought it a good idea to shoot a buff in the neck and head with a sawed off pump, MOD.12;bad idea.I saw the mud fly,a few drops of blood,and one unhappy 2,000 lb,critter.I took him out with a 6rd. burst to the head with an AK.We needed meat,so we skinned him out.The neck hide was about 1" thick.The thin parts were 1/4".Where do the sarkis get 1/64th.leather off of these?They are pretty tough to chew,but meat`s meat.

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I don't know, ghost, and this has been one of my never ending complaints. They must split the leather. However, the Ganga Ram Specials were housed in a scabbard which reflects the new leather we will soon be using on all HI scabbards. HI will be making the only khukuris in Nepal today coming with scabbards of such quality. Of some interest, our new scabbards alone will cost more than the entire rig of a similar rail common khukuri.



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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
Actually I wondered about this.The Indins used to scrape wet hide to a uniform,or more workable thickness with a shell or stone,I`ve done it with a dull draw knife,but splitting hides would take more technology than the kamis have.Yet,I see no grain from the hair side.Perhaps you could ask Pala,he would know.I hope that we get all of our questions asked before he leaves.I for one,am curious,thanks.
 
Thanks Uncle,as you may know,the top grain is the strongest,and thanks for the frogs.
 
You can split leather without any more technology than a knife and a tub of water -- some leather anyway. Soak it well and start it with a knife and you can tear it apart ... sometimes without even using the knife once it's started; other times you have to do it more like skinning, separating the layers of hide the same way you separate the hide from the flesh, pulling and cutting....

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
Still,it must take a lot of skill,and parsimony to get it paper thin.I now wonder about parchment.

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Just asked Pala about this who is "too busy to look at the screen" and he said a good sarki could split the leather. And, can also make it thicker by shrinking it as can be seen on our Gangaola model. I asked if it was possible to shrink the leather for all HI scabbards and the sarkis said, "there is not enough time in the day" to do this.

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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
Of course,it becoms more dense as it shrink fits.I hope to be doing that soon.Does Pala have any advice on shrink fitting?He must think that we are real idiots for asking these questions.
 
The faster leather dries the more it'll shrink and harden, so you apply heat -- no, only warmth -- to dry it faster. If you overdry it and steam all the moisture out of it you'll ruin it.

When you get a piece of leather wet all the way through and start drying it out you reach a stage when it looks and feels dry but it's still soft and pliable. (That's the way most leatherwork is done, by the way.) It's when it dries further from that stage ... if it dries slowly it'll still be almost as soft and pliable when it's fully dry and won't shrink much. If you dry it faster by putting it next to a light bulb or in an oven at low heat it'll shrink and harden. You've probably seen hard leather puukko sheaths, formed to the knife -- that's how it's done. If you go too far ... I once saw a fool pick up a red-hot piece of steel wearing leather weldor's gloves -- the leather smoked and turned black and shrank onto his hand so he couldn't get it off. We had to cut it off him and it wasn't easy to cut and his hand was badly burned, though he recovered. The leather was almost as stiff as wood, and about as easy to cut.... Once leather gets that way soaking it doesn't soften it up again.

So, my advice is to dampen it, wait till it's dry to the touch but still soft, then warm it a little and see what happens. Keep checking on it so you don't overdry it. If it doesn't shrink and harden enough, dampen it again and repeat the process with a little more heat. If you're cautious it could take several tries before you get it right, but that's better than not being cautious enough and ruining your leather (especially if your hand is inside it at the time...).

There's probably some local leatherworker who could do it for you, but there's no reason you can't do it yourself and be successful without previous experience if you're cautious and don't mind making several tries before you get it right.

I can't tell you what temperature to use ... it depends on the individual piece of leather and the humidity and how hard you want it. Without experience you just have to go by trial and error.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
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