I,m looking for a way to tan and tie hide bottom chairs. Does anyone know how to do this. I remember setting on my grandfathers porch in east Texas on one of these homemade chairs.
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Tanning will surely make the seat last longer, but many of those old chairs were simply rawhide. Dry preservative would even work, BUT, getting back to your question. There are many products available for the DIY person and they can be found by clicking the "Suppliers" links above. Smartest move would be professional tanning and they are there in the same link.
Once tanned, soak the cape in water with a shot or two of fabric softener to make the water wetter. Let it drip dry and then put it in a plastic bag in the fridge overnight. Next day, stretch it as much as you can by hand and QUICKLY place it over the chair rungs. Stitch it down TIGHT on the bottom of the chair. Then set it outside to dry. OJ Simpson can verify how wet leather will shrink over time. Word of caution. Make sure your chair is very sturdy and the rungs are good and solid. Drying leather can produce extreme pressures that will snap a rung or snap chintzy lacing or cord that was used to hold it in place. Don't try to use nails or screws unless you have a lattice backing to sandwich the leather between. It WILL pull free if you don't.
It was a rawhide chair, lace and splined much like a caned chair, I will bet. Amozon.com can also fond you the books on old fashioned rawhide seats.
Maybe the local libary has it in one of the FOXFIRE series of books.
I was able to get some rawhide from Jim Bond, Lebanon Oregon. this was several years ago but he may still be in business. Sorry I have lost the address and phone number.
www.TandyLeather.com
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