rawhide hondos

[steve mason]

Howdy;

I am braiding up a few rawhide hondos, I have been to that once they are dry that I should drop them in boiling water for about a 45 sec to a min to firm them up, once dry again that they should be dipped in a spar varnish. Do any of you more experianced braiders have any tips for me.

thanks much

steve

[KAW]

Don't do it the will look good and feel hard as hell but the first time you use it it WILL break it makes them brittle as hell, a hondo take a hell of alot of strain so make it out of the best hide you have ( good sturdy strings) and put a good stiff burner in it you can double the burner if you think it will stretch out to much , alittle stretch is ok in my opinion it takes alittle of the shock. It will save you alot of hassel if you dont do it in my opinion.

[Alan Bell]

Dipping them in the Spar Varnish should not make a honda brittle only the boiling water will do that. At least in my limited experience with them.

Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

[steve mason]

thanks for the help guys, I kinda wondered about wondered about boiling them.

On a side note, I sure don't know how you guys could make any money at this braiding thing. These hondos are some of the first things that have have braided, from making the strings to the end I bet I have about three hours each in this hondo. I'm sure the more string making and braiding I do the quicker I will get. I don't think I'll get a $100 for this hondo like I should with the time I've got in this it, LOL

anyways, thanks for the help and keep up the good work guys.

Steve

[TracyMoss]

I second the thought of not getting paid enough. I always tip a little extra to the guys I get to do my rawhide lacing. I could never make enough money at it to pay for the expenses. It has to be a labor of love thing. My respect goes out to those guys.

TM