Sinew thread

[John Fenna]

I use a lot of "Artificial Sinew" in my leatherwork and after attending Dr Teresa's workshop on making REAL sinew thread at the Summer Moot last year I was keen to try my hand at making some more - hopefully enough to do some "Paleo -pouches"...
At the Winter Moot this year I aquired some Roe Deer leg sinew and having let this dry out I decided it was time to give it a bash ... literally!

dried sinew


pounder


pounding


pounded and splayed



fibers


twisted into thread


As thick or thin as you want!



The pounding took a good hour but then it was just like twisting natural cordage - with the added benefit of sticking to itself if you dampen it!
From one sinew I should get enough thread for some serious sewing

 

[Muddypaws]

Looking good! I doubt that I would ever make real sinew thread, but it's nice to know anyway.

 

[Man of Tanith]

Good Stuff Mr Fenna.
Theresa does have a tendancy to inspire doesn't she

 

[Dreadhead]

braw John, I've fancied trying this for a while but think it's just too time consuming to use it a lot. would be fun for some personal projects though

 

[Robson Valley]

Pick a really gloomy winter day with the pouring rain, howling wind and +2C outside. Just rotten.
Stoke up the fire and spend the time working sinew. Like wood carving and grass weaving. "Winter works

 

[Sundowner]

Interesting!! Would be great to make a bowstring and see if it works . How difficult is it to get the same thickness of string

 

[John Fenna]

Once beaten down into the fibers, the sinew is almost as easy to work as , for instance, Nettle fibers for cordage.
However, the sinew I have is pretty short and therefor the fibers are only about 3" or 4" long... so need lots of joins.
Not being the best of cord spinners, I turned out a pretty slubby thread, so doubled it to make a thicker thread (think buttonhole thread) of about 2' length.
I intend to make several lengths and hopefully tan up some leather to make a pouch.
I am currently awaiting a bit of hide to tan up (I have already tanned and used up a bit of fishskin) for this project.

 

[Toddy]

Nice stuff and beautiful thread to sew with too.

Flax, raw flax that is, can be damp spliced for spinning. I believe that so can sinew.
Pull it apart, dampen the ends of the fibres and gently roll them together with the next few strands. Make up a good length and let it rest and bond.
Then spin that, and ply if required. It's sometimes easier doing the two steps than trying to keep the thread even while spinning from the shorter fibres.

The Egytians, who spun the most incredibly fine linen, better than our machines do now, used a little bowl, like a tapas bowl, with a kind of worm shaped loop in the bottom. It stuck up slightly like a caterpillar walking. The bowl was filled with water and the line being spun was pulled through the loop. This dampened it and gently pressed off the excess water as the line was worked. Very tidy The same kind of thing can be done by dragging the line through and out of the spout of a water filled old teapot. Sounds weird, but it works

M

 

[John Fenna]

I will try that!

 

[John Fenna]

I just spent a few minutes on that - and produced a yard of thread that is much more (though not perfectly) even
I need to work on my technique!
A great tip - ta!

 

[66jj99]

Wow, this is so intresting to read about and incredibly useful info for those of us who haven't started to investigate the properties yet.

Thanks for taking the time to share this adventure in sinew John!

 

[richardhomer]

Very interesting to dead and see. I don’t think it’s something I’d ever use myself. But it’s good to see how it’s done.

 

[John Fenna]

Paleo/trad skills will keep us all going when Brexit/nonBrexit drops us back in the Stone Age
Joke - not a political comment, no political debate required/wanted.
Other methodologies of returning us to the Stone Age are available.
Study under Dr Theresa to future proof your Bushcrafting life - or just your life - full stop!

 

[Janne]

Sinew thread is supposed to be incredibly strong when dry. When wet, how is it then?
Slimy? Stretchy?
I experiment a bit with rawhide ( dog chew in fact, the glossy, semi transluscent version!) and it is a very interesting material.

 

[Robson Valley]

I don't know of a convenient explanation.
With sinew, the atomic structures of the proteins are tropocollagen becoming collagen
and a lot of elastin thrown in for good measure.
Of course, with plant fiber, it's cellulosic with a lot of the pectin and ligins washed away.

All of these fibers stick to eachother at the atomic level. Things called "hydrogen bonds."
Water H-bonds easily and strongly so it interferes with the fiber-to-fiber bonding.
Wet the material, stretch and ply it then allow the water molecules to evaporate.
Now you have the fibers in an artificial bundle with unusual H bonds to your liking.

 

[Toddy]

So that's what happens when I 'splice' fibres into a roving for spinning
Thanks Robson Valley

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

caribou sinew is still used here for thread to make leather gloves and sometimes old ways hunting jacket for winter. The women normally make it and I've seen different methods. One way to make the threads thinner is to use your teeth to shred it finer and also chew it to make it softer or bendier. It can be twisted on your thigh to make it into longer lengths too. It is immensely strong and I remember making and using a birch bow when I was a young teenager, my mother making the bowstring from the long sinews from the back legs of a caribou. These were obtained in good lengths soften, shredded and then twisted into extremely stong bowstrings which you could not break. Only problem was to be good it had to be kept pretty dry so a spare one was often kept with the bow when out.

 

[Janne]

Not the same material, but I used to use Catgut to fish with.
No, I am not that old, but I had a period of experimentation. Had the catgut made in 10m lengths by a famous company that makes catgut for surgical sutures. Then I spun three strands together, so the ends overlapped by some meters.


Strong, but very technique sensitive, and had to be washed, treated and dried between uses.
Mono, and spun lines are heaven......

BTW, Sinew and catgut is the same basically, dry Collagen, so I am (this time!) not weering Off Topic..