MAKE YOUR OWN SNOWSHOES

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Finish the frame by sanding off all rough spots or saw cuts and rounding the edges. Then cover it with a good exterior varnish, taking care to seal the mortises and the holes. If you plan to lace your snowshoes with rawhide, one coat will be sufficient at this stage .. . but the frame should be varnished again (twice) after the rawhide is strung and has a chance to dry. (If the snowshoe will be laced with neoprene, on the other hand, two coats of varnish, applied before it's laced, should do the job.)

LACE IT ALL UP

What a beautiful finished frame! It's readyat last—to be "stitched" up. Traditionally, snowshoes were laced with rawhide, but the newer models often boast neoprene (or even nylon) webbing.

Actually, a case can be made for either material: Rawhide generally outlasts any other kind of lacing ... as long as it's properly cared for. It's also the least expensive material, provided you can make it yourself. (The process isn't very difficult . . . if you have access to a cowhide and a public library, check out a book on the subject and give it a try!) However, the crude leather stretches when it gets soaked, and a hidelaced snowshoe can sag badly under wet conditions.

Neoprene, on the other hand, is a synthetic rubber with high resistance to snow and ice. Therefore, it'll stay taut and require no waterproofing maintenance.

Still, rawhide is the traditional webbing used by native American snowshoers. If you choose to work with it, cut long strips . . . soak them well . . . lace the frame while the hide is still wet, so it can tighten as it dries . . . and splice them—following the method illustrated in the drawings—as close to the frame as possible.

Before you begin, though, study the lacing diagrams thoroughly. With rawhide thongs, it might be helpful to use a snowneedle, which is simply a narrow, 2"-long piece of wood with a hole in the center. Although it may be hard to handle, pull the rawhide as tight as you can while you weave it (you'll want to snug neoprene in place, too, but it will tend to pull up automatically as the weaving progresses).

Starting with the shoe's toe section (from the upper crossbar to the tip), you'll first need 1-3/4 yards of 1/8"-wide lacing to make the lanyard that anchors the rest of the pattern. From the starting position indicated in the diagram, pass the cord through all the holes in the frame, as illustrated, then tie it off along the toe bar.

The actual webbing will consist of 4-3/4 yards of the same 1/8" cord. Beginning again at the point marked "start", follow the numbers to create a triangle formation. At No. 6, wrap the line around the first lace, then around the lanyard once to No. 7. From there, start another triangle... and continue this pattern until all the lacing is used up and the entire toe section is filled in by the closely woven mesh. The cord usually runs out near the center of the crossbar, so I wrap it around the lanyard over to the right and tie it off near the next hole.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print