Iklwa inquiry! Iklwa inquiry! Iklwa inquiry!

[katana]

Originally Posted by nKante

Thanks Katana! It's funny you ask, because I do have a cow tail laying around.But it is to used in another project.I will sew a sleeve from the rawhide I have left.

I would suggest that you soak the sleeve in water, wrap around the shaft and sew the seam then. As the leather ...dries it shrinks and gives a very firm hold. One more suggestion, if you cut rawhide into small pieces and gently boil in water you can create 'hide glue'. (google for more info) . Put the glue in the area where the sleeve is to be placed and then wrap with the 'wet' leather and sew (glue could also be 'run along the seam). The addition of this natural glue (known to the Zulus) improves the strength of the binding as it now not only applies 'compression' as the sheath dries and shrinks but is bonded to the wooden shaft. I have done this myself and works a treat

Hi Norman,
nice collection .....the second one down....is there a twine binding (whipping) underneath the hide sheaf ? I have seen some where this type of binding is used. The sheaf is placed over the whipping and shrunk over it. But, I have also seen some where there is a texture created by applying the cord over the top of the wet hide, which is left to dry/shrink and later the string removed leaving the imprint of the cord. It's possible that this texture improves grip to aid removal from the poor victim but do not know for certain

All the best
David