braid question!

[vander]

So I have really been wanting to try and braid a bosal after lookin at all the amazing ones you guys do... and so before I ruin or waste a bunch of rawhide I have been practicing with p-cord. I am using a length of lariat as my core... and my braid whether it be a 8 strand, 10, or 12 strand is coming out uneven. the front(part that you see when braiding) looks great, but the back comes out uneven... its straight but the V's are longer in the back. So I am tryin to figure out if I'm not pulling the strings tight enough, too tight... what do you guys think I;m doin wrong? I have Bruce Grants braiding encyclopedia but still can't figure out how to fix it! any help would be greatly appreciated I have been fighting this for two days now.

Vander

[HorsehairBraider]

Well, pcord isn't the most cooperative in this type of situation, so I'd suggest either a thinner core or more strands in your braid. Sometimes when that happens, you don't have enough braid to cover the core, or too much core, however you want to look at it. Leather or rawhide might obligingly move a little to even it up when you roll your braid but pcord might be sticking to your core and not moving when you roll the braid.

And if you're reading this and saying to yourself, "Roll the braid?" that could also be causing a problem... and merely rolling your braid (I think there are some pictures of that in that book) might help out.

Hope that helps at least some...

[rawhide1]

I agree with HorsehairBraider. It sounds like your core is to big or your strings are to small. Adjust one or the other and you should be fine.

Mike

[TwinOaks]

Are you pulling around the back at the same angle as the front?

[entiendo]

I was in your situation a few weeks ago, but I was doing a quirt, but my core was to big for my 12 plait. When you do the math round up! LOL. It's all a learning process.