KnotHead

LOL... I am already broke. LMAO.. B...

No problem Cheryl. I'm glad they make books for jus that reason. I am also very greatful that I can read. LOL... I will be posting the fabuloso beginning works of the non-master/green horn/ carver. I know. I'm opening myself to destruction. LOL... B...

Okay. The tools are in place and some scrap pieces of vegie tanned hides to play with. I have a few photos of the lucky 7 tools I bought which are just the basic 7 plus 2 because one tool in the basic 7 is larger than the lucky 7 descriptions from that lucky 7 book. This all came about from a local leather club meeting I went to on Saturday morning. Essentially, only two braiders present. But all the advice I got from a new found friend " John Wickstrom " a local carver about 30mins due south of me. He told me about the book lucky seven. I went into Tandy right after the meeting and bought all the tools that the book had listed. I knew from you all that the basic 7 set would have the tools needed to start with. But upon looking through the book I notice that there was 1 tool that was larger in that set than what was being described in the book. I found the tool needed. I also found that I would need a stylus. Got one of those too. I have uploaded the below photos of the set and an improvised or re-purposed stylus. Hope ya'll like what I've got so far. I will post my beginning work for advice from you all here. Photos: This is the start of the re-purposed stylus I made. I got this idea from a post made on Facebook. Brian...

I got them at pandahall.com B...

Mucho Gracias Cheryl...

Got some SST mag clasps and put one on my bracelet. This was well worth the wait and expenditure for these. They have some bling and they wont turn your wrist green either. LOL... B...

Joe. I figured out what you could teach me brother. I work mainly with kangaroo hide and seldom get the chance to work with rawhide. The way I see it, the rawhide learning curve for me would be short. But at the same time I need to learn how to work with rawhide. Cutting(splitting, beveling), casing and the different conditioners to use. I have in my possesion 65 feet by 1/4 inch wide rawhide. I know that this will turn into a nightmare trying to learn the proper casing and when to split it and bevel it at the proper time. How and when to moisterize while braiding with rawhide is another area that I will need to learn also. I have a project in mind over the next year or so that I would love to make. It will combine rawhide and kangaroo hide. Hopefully, I can make this happen. LOL... So you see Joe. You do have something to teach me. I think when and if you have time, I'll be picking your brain. Not too terribly bad though. LOL... Brian...

Put some of those clasps on order Joe. Now is jus the waiting time. I think I'll make a new bracelet or two in the mean time. LOL... B...

ubraidit.com has it for a decent price. Well worth the money put forth. I own all of his books and they all are just as well illustrated and written. http://www.ubraidit.com/supplies-detail.php?item=41

Nice find Joe. Thanks for passing it on to me and the rest of us. Brian...

I do recomend " Introduction to Turks Heads " by Tom Hall. I still go back to his book for reference after all these years of braiding. Indespensible book and very well written and illustrated. Brian...

Your work is not too bad for starting out. I wish mine had been as good. But you asked for critique and I will supply you with one on your Pineapple knots. Attached you will find a snap shot with a line to help explain what I mean. The pineapple is one of the more difficult ones to get staight and consistent. A mastery of this knot only takes practice and more practice. What I mean by straight is that the V's are not lined up straight. To accomplish this you will have to make sure that the base knot which is the casa knot or known as the turks head, should be straight before you do your pineapple interweave. This will give the interweave a straight pattern to follow naturally. In the attached photo you will notice that the last two on the upper portion of the photo are not quite straight. I hope that this will help a bit. Otherwise, the rest of the skill comes with practicing and more practice. Just be patient with yourself and the knots and braids. The rest comes along with the learning. Brian...

Well if you do come out with an ebook. Please let me know. I'd be the apart of the first to buy it. You have way more experience with Rawhide than I do. I could use all the tips and help I can get with it. Right now I have to buy my rawhide already cut. I find that the casing part of it is getting easier to do and getting it just right for the splitting and cutting. Brian...

Oh yes you could Joe. Every braider has something to show another braider. Even if they don't know what that is. Some may not even realize that they have something to teach. There are things in braiding that I don't think of. Better to have many creative minds than just the one mind. Even so, I'd enjoy trying to help and to learn. I heard somewhere once that the best teacher is the avid learner. A teacher who never stops learning themselves. My favorite thing to do in the art and craft is to learn and practice. Brian...

Wish I could be there Joe. Brian...

I was just thinking of putting a knot around the clasp. Maybe that will work. I don't know yet. LOL... Thanks for the idea.

I usually will straighten out my base knot or in this case the turks head or the casa knot before interweaving the rest of the knot. A straight base knot means a straight button knot all the way around. Brian...

Thank you all for the very kind comments on this leash. I have since given it away to a close friend and a well deserving dog. B...

Thanks Joe. I await your showing of your work. B...

You're very welcome and thank you for the very kind comment. B.

Depends on the cut and the lace width. Usually between 0.50mm and 0.80mm... The smaller the width the thinner the string. B...

Well that damn magnetic clasp turned my wrist green. So they're crappy. Don't buy them. Brian...

Thanks for the very kind comment. No. It's not braided around anything to get that shape. I used just 12 strings to braid this braid and then used my roller to flatten the braid out taking care to do the rolling out on all sides. There's no big secret to the braiding part either. It's just a standard under 2, over 2, under 2 sequence. Brian...

I found them on ebay. Brian...

Thank you very much for your very kind comment Pete. Brian...