using sinew

[George]

I've collected sinew from deer and used it for a few small projects, and it's pretty impressive stuff. It's not difficult to gather if you are a deer hunter. All you have to do is strip what's commonly called the silverskin off the long muscles of the back, scrape and wash it clean of all tissue and then dry it. It gets hard as cardboard and stays that way forever, nothing else needed. You can easily split it with your nails to any size you need, right down to the thinest thread. Then put it into water for 1-2 minutes and it’s as limp as a wet noodle and can be threaded onto a needle and used just like ordinary thread. It’s a bit difficult for me to work with, very slippery when wet, and knots won’t hold well until they are dry. It’s tough stuff and takes a lot of wear.

Some dried pieces, about a foot long, see how it can be split:


I use it just like any other thread, keep a little in my sewing kit on treks:




I’ve used it only for a few small, simple items. This patch knife sheath has been on almost every hunt and trek I’ve done for the last 18 years, still in good shape. I also used it to sew the rawhide sleeve on my little bamboo needle-thread case when it began to split from drying.


I don’t do fancy work, but I’ve enjoyed finding out what it is like to work with sinew. I’ve never seen any reference to people other than Native Americans using it, if you have any, please pass them along.

Spence

 

[Black Hand]

I read somewhere that sinew was used to back Turkish horn bows. These bows were legendary for the distance they would shoot an arrow.

I prefer the back-strap sinew for sewing and wrapping arrows, while the leg sinew was used to back bows and the scraps made into glue.

As to the rest, the tendons likely ended up in glue. Tendons (from the leg) are also eaten in China. They are also a source for gelatin, a common ingredient in many food products (and a primary ingredient in Jello)

 

[LaBonte]

Yep sinew can be great stuff to work with - out here in the west - I tend to use more elk and buffalo since it is longer, but it works just like deer.
Rather than adding a needle the old Native Ladies I knew would leave about an inch or so on one end hard - thus you have a built in needle, albeit you will need an awl to punch the holes, but then that's the way it was done way back when.

 

[Sunkmanitu Tanka]

I learned to use it without needle - just an awl to punch a hole in the leather. Take a strand of sinew and put it into your mouth except for the last inch or so of the thickest side of your thread. (there is always one end a bit thicker) This will thus remain stiffened and can be used as a needle. This stiff piece of sinew easily folowes the hole you put into the leather with your awl. If you tried it you will never go back!
Also: sinew was not knotted. One starts to sew a few stiches from about 1/2 inch from the top of your sewing work, towards the top and then return over those initial stitches. This locks them up...
By the way the natural saliva in your mouth is better than ordinary water to soften the sinew. Saliva activates the (hide) glue in the sinew, which helps to fasten the stitches even better... Someone once told me how it all had to do with the enzimes in the saliva but I forgot how it al worked... Imagine the benifit of the sinew and the quills these Native Indian wives held in their mouths - the silence there must have been very beneficial for the well being of the warriors! :hmm:

 

[LaBonte]

Imagine the benifit of the sinew and the quills these Native Indian wives held in their mouths - the silence there must have been very beneficial for the well being of the warriors!

Not always so silent - back in the early 1970's when I first learned to quill and bead, I visited my "uncle" on the Pine Ridge Rez and when he learned I was interested in learning from the elder ladies who were still doing traditional work.
Well those ladies not only held a hank of sinew or a batch of quills, in one corner of their mouth and often a cigarette in the other corner all while gabbing away! No silence really...
They also teased me about being a berdache and the rest of their talk was usually quite bawdy and gossipy. It was a real learning experience and one I wil always cherish.

 

[tenngun]

Used to do a lot of bead work and the neat thing about using sinew and brain tan was that as the sinew dried it sucked the beads right in to the leather. When doing a lazy squaw stich it gives a armor like finish on the skin. You can get the look with thread but only sinew will give that same feel to the beadwork

 

[BillinOregon]

Always wanted to try my hand at a sinew-backed juniper flatbow, such as the ones Ishi used.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Used to get the sinew from buffalo from Crazy Crow...was at least longer...not much getting my own in Texas! :wink: It is interesting stuff to work with.

 

[Black Hand]

Always wanted to try my hand at a sinew-backed juniper flatbow, such as the ones Ishi used.

Visit your local wild game processors and ask them to save the lower legs (they are usually discarded). Harvest the tendons, let them dry then pound and shred them. I would recommend "Bows and Arrows of the Native Americans" by Jim Hamm for instructions on sinew-backing a bow.
http://www.amazon.com/Arrows-Native-Americans-Step-Step/dp/1558211683

 

[Woods Dweller]

Back strap deer sinew
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/281746295454?rmvSB=true



Buffalo sinew
http://www.wanderingbull.com/SingleItemResults.asp?ID=6409#Header

 

[crockett]

I also keep one end dry and use it for the needle. There are probably several ways to stitch things with sinew but what I've done so far is start with say a 10" long piece. I pull in through the hole until about an inch remains and lay that along the edge. As I whip stitch around the edge the stitches go over this tag end and hold it in place. Let's say the first 10" piece of sinew allows me to stitch about 3 inches along the edge. As I get to the end of the first piece, I'll feed in a new 10" section of sinew. Like the first piece, the last inch gets placed along the edge. The remaining inch of the first piece also gets placed along the edge, right along side the tag end of the second piece just fed in. As the second piece is whipped stitched it covers both its own tag end and the remaining end of the first piece. Done in this manner I can sew up an item with sinew about as fast as using thread and a needle.

 

[Crewdawg445]

Hey very nice! As long as it's not artificial, your all good! :thumbsup:

 

[buffcreekforge]

I don't use sinew quite as traditionally as some as I use a needle. To help speed things up, though, I thread 8-10 needles with about a 10" length or longer of sinew and hang the thread ends in an empty red pepper flake bottle filled with water. Come to the last inch, lay the sinew along the edge, grab another needle, and voila! Pre-prepared sinew! Really speeds up the process!

I remain your humble servant,

Just Dave

 

[George]

That sounds like a good and efficient system, Dave. I usually use a needle, and soak several strands to start, but rethread my needle as needed. I've also done the bit leaving the tip of the strand dry and hard, and it works very well, although I'm pestered by having the tip split after a few holes.

However you do it, I'm very impressed how durable the stuff is, how much hard wear and punishment it can take, and how solidly locked in everything is once it has dried. I have a rawhide knife sheath with sinew stitching which I made 20 years ago, and have carried on every hunt and trek since then. It is stained but strong as new.

Spence

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I also harvest the "silver skin" from the beef loin I get at the bulk purchase store. Works quite well too.

The butchers at the supermarket will simply cut that loin often into "steaks" and they call that silver skin "gristle".... :shocked2: ....as they leave it on the sliced steaks, now useless for sinew use...

LD

 

[crockett]

Black Dave: I make holes with an awl. These are pierced holes not punched holes so they will close up on you pretty quick. You can make all the holes at once or as you sew. If you do all at once get some small brad nails and stick them in the holes. Your project is sort of nailed together. Then just pull out a brad at a time and quickly run the stiff end of a sinew thread through before the hole closes up.

 

[eggwelder]

will pork silver skin work? we toss out lots at work every other day

 

[crockett]

Sorry, I never heard of that material. A $7 batch of sinew from Crazy Crow will last you a really long time.