Rawhide Moccasin Soles

[Bugscuffle]

I don't know how this is "supposed" to be done. I didn't have anyone around to show me the "proper" way to make rawhide soles for moccasins, but this is the way that I did ended up doing it. This I the first time that I have worked with rawhide. For the first couple of hours I just hated it. It is too tough to cut and it is too stiff to bend. Then, I discovered the miracles of water and it all got SOooo easy. I have included a couple of pictures to illustrate just what I did, and I invite your comments and critiques, but I can't imagine an easier way of doing it than this. Careful examination of the photos will reveal that some of the steps that I noted below are, in fact, lessons that I learned a little bit too late to incorporate into this pair, but I surely will use them next time.

He steps are:
1.   Make a tracing of your foot on a scrap piece of  ¾" plywood.
2.   Use a saber saw to cut around the tracing of your foot. You now have the male portion of a mold complete, and the female portion of the mold almost complete.
3.   Mark around the outside edge of the female portion of the mold (not the part that you cut out) with a wide tipped marker.
4.   Using your choice of tools, Dremmel tool, rasp, router, whatever, cut away just the black mark. This will leave just enough room for the rawhide. The rawhide when thoroughly wet will be about 1/8" thick. You need to relieve the mold by 1/8" all the way around.
5.   Cut apiece of wet rawhide to any shape as long as it is ¾" larger in all directions than the female mold.
6.   Using the male mold press the rawhide into the female mold making sure that the rawhide stands proud above the female mold all the way around.
7.   Using a razor knife or Exacto Knife, cut the rawhide flush to the mold.
8.   When the rawhide dries remove your perfectly formed perfectly fitting rawhide soles from the mold.

[GunClick Rick]

Will they be stiff to walk on?

[Skeeter Lewis]

Clever technique. Thanks for posting.

[Bugscuffle]

Will they be stiff to walk on?

No, not at all too stiff. They take a couple of days to break in, but then they are like walking barefooted, only the sharp stones nd sticks don't hurt. The ony downside is that they are for outdoor use ony. Indoors on ceramic tile or hardwood floors is sort of like ice skating.