Babiche/rawhide seats.
- Thread starter Peetster
- Start date
See http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/5488/ and https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/16048/ for more details. Good luck,
Benson
Benson
Pook
Chestnut Canoe fan
Peetster!
As Benson linked to my thread last year maybe I should chip in my 2cents.
I actually ended up buying rawhide twice.
The local native crafts place indeed had rawhide lacing but once soaked it was far too wide to get through the drilled holes in the origonal seat frame. After 2 hours spent trying to split the lace into usable widths, i went with Plan B.
3/16 wide lacing ordered from Faber Snowshoes out of Quebec.
https://www.fabersnowshoes.com/snowshoes/rawhide/dry-rawhide
Once I had the right stuff, soaked it 24 hours, it was easy peasy, if not a little goopy. The soaked rawhide it pliable like spaghetti. Get the pattern right and the rawhide laying flat in your pattern. And don't worry about it being too tight while wet- it shrinks a lot and will tighten up impressively.
And when dry, varnish it to prevent it from soaking up water again.
r youtube.
As noted in the linked threads, there are some really fancy patterns and Mike Elliott details them in "This Old Canoe" but there is also lots online and youtube.
Nothing fancy but I
was pleased with the results- utilizing the original seat frames -cracks and all-and original pattern.
Bruce
As Benson linked to my thread last year maybe I should chip in my 2cents.
I actually ended up buying rawhide twice.
The local native crafts place indeed had rawhide lacing but once soaked it was far too wide to get through the drilled holes in the origonal seat frame. After 2 hours spent trying to split the lace into usable widths, i went with Plan B.
3/16 wide lacing ordered from Faber Snowshoes out of Quebec.
https://www.fabersnowshoes.com/snowshoes/rawhide/dry-rawhide
Once I had the right stuff, soaked it 24 hours, it was easy peasy, if not a little goopy. The soaked rawhide it pliable like spaghetti. Get the pattern right and the rawhide laying flat in your pattern. And don't worry about it being too tight while wet- it shrinks a lot and will tighten up impressively.
And when dry, varnish it to prevent it from soaking up water again.
r youtube.
As noted in the linked threads, there are some really fancy patterns and Mike Elliott details them in "This Old Canoe" but there is also lots online and youtube.
Nothing fancy but I
Bruce
