Category:Leather working

Leather is made from the skin (hide) of an animal. To turn the hide into leather, the hair or fur is scraped off from the ‘grain’ side of the hide. The fat or flesh is then scraped off the ‘flesh’ side. The hide was soaked in a lime solution to loosen the hair, fat and flesh, making the hide easier to work. Once the hair, fat and flesh had been removed, the hide was laid out in pits with water and the crushed bark from oak trees. The process is called ‘tanning’, and it could take months depending on the thickness of the hide. Cowhide can be almost 1cm thick.

See Leather and Leatherworking for more information [1] with specific details on how to make a sheath here.

• Tooling leather
• Decorating leather