Rawhide Shield Edging

You will need:

• A small hammer
• A sharp knife
• A ruler or straight edge
• Carpet tacks approx 10mm long (the very sharp blue ones) Wilco, about £1-40 per pack, can do about two kite shields per pack.
• Rawhide Dog Chews - 79p per pack of two ("cigar rolls - large") from Wilco. You will need 4 or more packs.

How to do it:

1. Measure the circumference of your shield.
2. Go to a pet shop (Wilco's is cheap!), and buy rawhide dog chews. You are looking for the ones that are a simple roll about a foot long. You can buy the ones that have the ends knotted to make a bone shape, but its tricky to unknot them.
3. Examine the end of each chew - there is normally one piece forming the outer layer that spirals toward the middle, and lots of bits filling it. The filler bits are useless, you want a long outer layer of a medium thickness. Try and get a consistent thickness in all the chews you buy.
4. The number you need depends on the quality of the rawhide in each chew. If lucky, you can get two lengths of rawhide from each chew. Allow for some spare.
5. Put the chews in a bucket of warm to hot water. The chews will soften. This may take from half an hour to overnight. Don't use boiling water - you will cook the rawhide.
6. Now the messy bit.....
7. The rawhide should now be soft, so unroll the chews. Keep the outer layer, and any other big bits (need to be at least 1.5 inches or 35mm wide). Throw any smaller bits away.
It smells a little, but its not that bad. Forcing the chew apart manually can speed things up.Careful you don't tear the rawhide. Once the chew has unrolled, take the rawhide out of the water, otherwise it will gradually turn into glue!
8. If the rawhide is very soft at this stage, let it dry out for a bit (half an hour?). You want it fairly elastic, but not so soft that it tears easily.
9. Cut the rawhide into strips 1.5 inches (35mm) wide. Best bet is a sharp craft knife and ruler on a piece of wood, or a good pair of scissors. Rawhide is difficult to cut, even when soft. You don't need to be spot on. You should be able to get two strips from the outer layer. If you shield is thicker than half an inch (12mm), you will need to make the strips wider.
10. Now, the black art of fixing the rawhide to the shield:
    • Work one piece at a time. Start at the bottom of the shield.
    • Put it round the edge of the shield, try to get the overlap even on both sides.
    • Tack the middle of one side.
    • Tack the middle of the other side - stretch it gently, too much and it will tear ( depending how soft it is).
    • Tack the rest of one side (generally the front - you want it neat) - keep the overlap even, stretch the hide gently along its length.Put a tack in every couple of inches (50 mm)
    • Now tack the other side, stretch it along its length and width.
    • Tack only the front and back of the shield, don't hammer tacks sideways into the edge.
    • Try and stretch the ends as well as the middle.
    • Now do the next piece of rawhide, allow a good overlap between pieces, the hide will shrink when it dries, you don't want any gaps.The overalps should run down the shield, otherwise descending weapon edges may become trapped and damage the edging.
    • When all done, you can now trim the strips on the back to an even width - it's not essential.
11. Let the rawhide dry. This will depend on where you put the shield (quicker indoors, outdoors drying time will depend on the weather). Wait until it is rock hard. If you use the shield before then, the edging will get shredded!
12. As the rawhide dries and shrinks, it will leave the heads of the tacks sticking out - go round and gently tap them all flush.
13. Let any spare rawhide bits dry out - you can use it for patching later (after soaking it etc). If left wet, the rawhide will rot and smell awful.
14. When dry, trim any sharp ends or rough edges - a file is best.
15. Fight and have fun.