KnotHead

I'm on the side of Wash that if you wait 10mins you'll have either or both at the same time, rain, snow, or sun mixed with wind. LOL... I am on the west side of the mountains just south of Seattle. Pictures of the shop when it is done? HMMM is it ever done? I'll do my best to show what I have when I think there is no more room to put anything on walls and such. LOL... Thanks to all for the kind comments also. B...

Thought I might share in my adventures of unpacking and setting up the new shop. This one will be a bit better as far as room to braid and cut. Below are a couple of photos of the shop still being unpacked and setup. Took me a week to move 2 computer labs and my living space along with my leather shop to a new location. LOL... The worst part is the unpacking and setting up again. LOL... B...

I have a digital copy of that knot. I can make it available to anyone who needs it. It also includes the correction. Just PM me if you want it. B...

Yep, blood sacrifice. I use that cause it would seem for me anyway, that no matter what I do about learning something new; either in leather braiding, or in my full time job; I always end up with some sort of cut. Either on my hands, or my fingers and sometimes both. LOL... Hence is where the term blood sacrifice for this type of work came from for me. LOL... I read my bible a lot and the first time I cut myself with my Aussie Strander, I thought of the term blood sacrifice from the Old Testament. LOL... You can use that term as much as you want Joe. I don't own it. LOL... But I do experience it a lot. LOL... B...

I am proud that you are making good progression. I don't know how bad the blood sacrifice was. So I don't want to boast of that just in case there was a limb lost. LOL... B...

Super elegant !!! That's all I can say about it.

I mainly get the same thing on colored hides. The saddle tan, red and blue ones mainly. I don't have much of a problem with whiskey tan, black and the brown colors. But as mentioned above, I use a Pecards leather dressing to fix that problem of the hairy parts. I think I will have to try the method in the post above though. My cutter is different than the one acox is using. Below is what my cutter looks like with the 90° insert in place. So my cutter is a bit different and some of my solutions are based on the cutter in the photo. B...

That was me. I do it that way for the simple reason that having more material on the surface of my cutter seems to work out best for the cutter I use. I get a much cleaner cut on my bevels that way. I am also beveling at 30°. I don't know what that bevel is on the cutter acox is using. I have no idea if that will work on the cutter acox is using, or not. I have no experience with that cutter. B...

acox. I have cut my strings all the way down to 1.2mm and still been able to braid with it. I believe that 1.0mm is as small as anyone will want to go to with kangaroo. B...

Bevan. I do the same thing as you do with my left over piece. I thought at one time that it would a crazy thing to do. But seeing you do the same thing with yours, I am now a bit more relaxed about it. Thanks for that post. B...

Well so far, all appears to be going just as it should with the rough cutting. B...

Thanks John. For an adhesive, I am just using a super glue. It holds really well and bonds with the leather real good. B...

Here's another photo of the End Caps & Mag Clasps. I think I forgot a few details. The lace is cut at 2.5mm and beveled at 30°... B...

Thank you Joe. I appreciate the kind comment. I can only hope that it will inspire many. B...

These are 2 Kangaroo Necklaces that was a commissioned work, or just an order from a previous customer. The are both 20in long and in Black & Whiskey Tan with .925 sterling bail and end caps with stainless steel mag clasps. The mag clasps had to be this way since the customer provided pendant was a bit heavy and needed good supporting clasps. B...

Trust me, I did not get there easily. It may look easy. But I have done a lot of practice and put some time into learning it. I do have this to say about the blood sacrifice. I don't care who you are in the braiding world. You will give up some of that precious blood at one time or another for this art and craft. Some where, at some time you will nick yourself, or cut yourself. This only happens when you're pushing yourself beyond the tired point though. That's the only times I have done that. It all comes down to paying attention real close to what your doing and how you have your benches setup. I admit that the piece of wood and a blade is kind of archaic to most. But it does work when you need to split and you're not in your shop with a good one. LOL... I wish you all the best in your journey with leather braiding and keep practicing. Because you can only get better at it. B...

I thought I would share these photos with you all on the way I bevel and how it turns out for me. This is just the method I use and I get good results for myself. This is what I am comfortable with and doing on a regular basis. The beveling part is where I believe every braider has their way of accomplishing the goal. This is just one way I use and I have been using it for awhile now and like the results that I get. From left to right in the photo. The blue is beveled but not split. On both, I beveled at 30degrees. On the right(Black) this one is beveled and split. As you can see, the only thing that is removed is the left over surface that I used to bevel the lace on. The black did not loose the bevel at all. It is still a 30 degree bevel on both sides of the lace. The black lace will braid just fine and provide me with the results that I am looking for when I braid. I hope that this will give a better picture of what I mean by bevel first, then split the lace. This is just one method to use and this is the one I like to use and am comfortable in doing. Thank you John and thank you very much for the very kind comment. I hope that this will help out a few braiders in their path. B...

The important thing about stretching is that you don't over stretch the lace. This can really cause problems when you go to final cut. Like you say the strands can go narrow. But if you cut your rough cut at 3/8th then the lace wont stretch any narrower than a 1/4 inch wide. If the lace goes below that you still can get a 1/8th inch wide final cut and bevel. You just have to watch your final cuts. You are right about one thing on my cutting. I rough cut at 1/4 inch because I am getting really good hides. My hides that I buy are not very stretchy at all. So the most stretch I get from a hide will only be about 3/32nds of an inch. I can then go straight to my beveling instead of the 90 cut like some do. I don't know which cutter/beveler you got from Bevan. So I am shooting in the dark on that part with you. After I am done beveling I then will use my splitter and NO you wont loose that much of your bevel by doing it this way. This is just what I am comfortable doing and you don't have to do it this way. I split my lace last for one reason only. I like to have the material thick enough to bevel with first. I have more material on the surface of my cutter this way making it a bit easier for me to bevel to the size I need and achieving a much cleaner cut & bevel. Remember, you can always ask questions anytime you like. We are more than glad to help you out as much as we can on the net. B...

For a splitter out in the camp area, I use a piece of 1/2 inch wood about 12 inches x 12 inches with a notch filed out on top at the thickness I want the lace to be at and then use a utility blade with tape or one that has a handle on it, and a small bench vise that can mount to any picnic table or a table in the RV or whatever to split with. Just an idea for you to use. Not splitting the lace will give you an inconsistent thickness which can cause some issues with the braiding and how it turns out. I usually cut my rough cut at 1/4inch wide depending on what the project is. If I need 1/8 strings I will cut at 1/4 inch. You can of coarse cut your rough cut as wide as you want to, or what you're comfortable with. Some will rough cut at 3/8 inch wide and some will rough cut at 1/2 inch wide. It's up to you how wide you want to rough cut. The 1/4 inch rough cut I do will allow for me to bevel to the 1/8 inch width pretty precisely. But again it is what you are comfortable with doing and where your skill set is. Like anything else, prepare yourself for mistakes and lots of practice. B...

Very nice work Bret. B...

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What's it going around? B...

Megabit. Nice work as usual. B...

The Christmas Bell I made got published to The El Trenzador blog today. The link provided should take you to a very rough english translation. Christmas Bell Article - El Trenzador If any are interested that is. B...

You're very welcome. I can't wait to see photos of your work. B...