# Hide bottom chairs



## RSmith (Jan 26, 2009)

My wife has inherited some handmade chairs built by one of her great uncle's. Her dad had put rawhide bottoms in them years ago which are gone now and she wants to put new bottoms in them. Is there a recommended way to lace the hide to the chair. I was thinking you would cut strips still attached to the seat portion she thought you would cut strips seperately and tie them on. We have three chairs and three deer hides so we may try both ways.


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## choctawlb (Jan 27, 2009)

Could you post some pictures of the chair bottoms so maybe we could help you out? Are there holes drilled around the outside edges, or was the rawhide nailed on?
Ken


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## squirreldoghunter (Jan 27, 2009)

Is this what you're talking about? My Granddad made this one way back, it's probably 60 years old and still rock solid. I've got two of them. I've ate many a plate of grandma's fried chicken and butterbeans sitting on those chairs. 
Let me know if you need any more pics.


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## RSmith (Jan 28, 2009)

I can not post any pictures for a week or so, the chairs are in storeage. The pictures posted by squirreldoghunter are exactly what I was looking for, our chairs are very similar but weathered a good bit. I see by the way that once again I should not argue with my wife.
 Thanks a lot for the pic's and the input. It was way to much work cleaning up the deer hides to waste one. 
Thanks  Again


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## Frank Cooper (Jan 29, 2009)

I made a rocking chair bottom out of the first deer I killed back in 1984.  I patterned it off a chair my great grandfather made. This chair sat on my grandparents front porch and I was rocked a many a day on it.  My grandma provided me instructions on making mine.  After drying the hide, I cut it to match the chair bottom allowing for a little overage to wrap under.  I then cut my strips to use as binding.  I the soaked the pieces to allow for stretching.  After getting it strung up, I put it in the house to dry and shrink.  The bottom came out tight and still is today.  The only problem is I didn't wait long enough for the drying and made a test pull on the hair.  I patch about 2x2 came off as a result.  Mine is stored at my parents but maybe I can take some pics this weekend and post.

Good luck.


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## RSmith (Jan 30, 2009)

Thanks Frank Cooper, that brought up my next question. My father in-law salted his hide after he put it on the chair and I assumed he used a hide that had not been dried first so I really had not planned on drying them and then resoaking them before stretching on the chair. It seems to me that there would be problems draining the moisture around the frame of the chair. My Dad always said to use borax because a salted hide would absorb moisture on damp days. We never did either that I can recall just memories of things he had said.
 Once again I have rambled and not asked a clear question so here goes
 -should you stretch and dry the hide first
 -should you salt the hide and at what stage
 -should I just stretch the hide on the chair and cover it in borax       or salt 
 -do you treat the hair side of the hide
 I have three chairs and hides so I may wind up trying different methods. I will be going back home this weekend and will bring the chairs back up and record what we do either way. 
 Due to family health issue's It still may be a week or two before I can get to work but my interest is peaked and I will get on it soonest.
 Thanks for the replys and all the ideas, even with all my questions I feel like I have a direction to start.


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## Frank Cooper (Jan 30, 2009)

All right, now you have got me thinking which is taking me back 25 years.  I nailed my hide to the side of our barn and applied salt for drying . After it was dry, I peeled of some of the excess meat, fat, and trash.  I then cut my pattern out along with the one inch wide strips.  Then I put all of it in a washtub covering it with water and soaked it overnight.  After completion I did not apply any salt.  Looking back, salting it would have been a good idea.

As for working with an untanned hide, I don't have any knowledge.  I am sure there are probably several methods that will achieve similar results.  Maybe someone else will have some ideas.

I think that next year I am going to try another chair.  All this talk makes me want to show my nephew how it's done.


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