KnotHead

Nice work Maeve. I bet that took a bit of time to do. Brian...

Hi Johanna. I just got an email from him. He sounds like he's doing good... Brian...

Hey I was wondering if anyone has heard from Sidney Woods lately? Is he doing okay? Brian...

Here's a pdf file of the braid. Nice work Tim. Very nice work. Brian... 9strandflatbraid_Herringbone.pdf 9strandflatbraid_Herringbone.pdf

Yep. I like the I-Lok ones for doing casa knots. I buy both I-Lok and 2 Prong by the 100 pak.

No prob. I'm a Mac guy myself. I just got mine about 2 yrs ago. The only thing I have had to replace in it is the Hard drive. Once you're used to using OSX and can locate the things you need to use on a daily basis, that system is just about unstoppable. I am multi-lingual OS's... I have not got to use Linux flavors all that much in the area I live in. I have a machine with it Red Hat installed on it and I am attempting to learn that OS with time permitting me to. I do like the options within the linux flavors. But I am admitting that I just don't know which one to settle with while learning it. Which one is the most used, or the most installed version? I am thinking that it is a matter of user preference as to which linux flavor you like the most. I also really liked the install time of the Red Hat. It was quick. I did not time it, but I will say it felt like it took under 30mins to be inside the and looking at the desktop. I used the gnome desktop and really like how it looks and feels. It had a familiarity of the Mac OS in many ways. Yep. You can if you have the money for it. HP charges almost $150.00 extra for that option. Toshiba, I don't know yet. I'm still waiting on the return email from their Support Gurus in India somewhere. Now I wonder how many normal PC users have that kind of money to just throw at HP? I think that all involved should have left that an option to begin with. But noooo!!!! that did not happen now did it? Instead, let's just stick the damn OS on there and leave the people without any choice until a year and a half later, or there about. Hmmm, me thinks that has a lot to do with the people that don't have deep enough pockets (The greedy ones) that is. Nough from me. B...

Wonder which dinosaur he's stuck with. I think that he might actually work for Microslop. You might consider re-reading my last post dude. I in no way made any suggestion of the type that you refer to. Maybe an idea and even maybe a little advice. But you having blown your gasket, answer me this. Do you use the wrong tools in your leather works to do a job that requires better? Hmmm, by your statement in your last post I wonder. In the past 6 months in my shop alone, I have taken in at least 2 dozen PC's with this type of problem and even worse in half the cases. Yes, they did not have any problems before they installed microslops IE 8. Yep, PC's may easy on the wallet, or whatever you want to call it. But it all comes back to this one thing, " You get what you pay for " ... I would tend to think that with all the so called upgrades microslop is coming out with, would be seen as pushing the market for better PC's to be sold and pushed on people that either are not ready for it, or just plain do not have the money for it. Like Vista crap. Microslop going public selling that crappy OS, chopped it up so much that when it hit the market, the only people that could afford to buy it were those fortunate enough to have $800.00, or so to waste. The market for the 3rd party vendors like HP, Toshiba, and others were basically forced into making all their machines Vista and guess what else they made sure that you could not go back to Windows XP by inserting either a chip on the MOBO, or scripting the Bios. If you own a vista machine, or are about to buy one, then I will say this to you and NOT SUGGEST any damn thing, <--- ADVICE INSERTED HERE! --->" DO NOT BUY IT " Wait for windows 7 and at that get a machine that has the premium version on it and up. Forget about the starter edition and the basic edition. Those two editions are worthless.<--- Enough said by me... Brian...

I would uninstall I.E. 8 update to fix the problem. But then again I don't know the details of your PC. I am an I.T. Tech and have been doing this for 10yrs now. Some systems just hate the I.E. 8 update. That update was mainly for Vista machines. The RAM you have in your machine and the processor speed will always dictate the type of applications you can run. I.E. 8 is a very graphically intense browser. A very heavy browser for an older machine to run. Now if I run a dual core system with 2, 4, 6 and, or 8 gigs of RAM with a high end graphics card, or a SLI system, then running I.E. 8 will install and run without any glitches. If your system is on the 32bit table, you can expect I.E. 8 to run poorly and slow. I myself don't like I.E. at all that much. I run only when I have to. Yep you might have guessed it, I like FF better. Runs smoother and better than I.E. 8 in Vista, XP and Servers 2003-2008. Brian...

I pulled that info from Bruce Grants book Rawhide and Leather Braiding. He gives a few sample techniques in there of the Spanish hitching, just with fewer strands. But the core structure of the hitching technique is in there and with some brave ambitiousness and a big heart for success, your desire will take you to the end of the project.

Spanish Hitching is what you see there in that photo that quickly passes by. Thing about that kind of hitching is that you can almost the unlimited patterns and colors with it. You can even when half way on your handle switch to the fid work layout, insert a name and then switch back to the Spanish Hitching again. There are just about limitless possible workings from that type of work. Takes a while but with some desire to see it to the end, you can accomplish it. Brian...

Hi. Well the creator of the tool I had made for me I sent an email to and asked him your question. I will post to you in PM when he answers back. I have 3 degrees I can cut roo at. 1. 90 degrees 2. 30 degrees 3. 45 degrees That's what those extra pieces are for you see in the back ground. They are interchangable depending on what angle I need to cut at and the project I am cutting for. The material that was used in the making of my new tool is Steel for the clamp down on a bench and for the center rod that holds the interchangable pieces and the screw down cap at the end that tightens against the delrin cutting surfaces which holds the injector blades tight. The interchangable pieces are made from Delrin. Delrin is a very, very strong polymer known to be as tough as steel. But without all the weight to it. I thought that the delrin would be better than the stainless steel inserts for roo hide cutting. The stainless steel will rust eventually, whereas delrin will not. Stainless steel will burnish your roo hide cuts a little. The delrin does'nt do that. I had a few tweaks I needed on the tool and that was the 30 degree cut as an added insert. I like the 30 degree cut for very wide lace because it will tend to lay flatter on the surface of the braid. It will also take very, very little roll out to smooth the braid down with roo hide. Just about any lace can be beveled, but the result is just not the same as you get with roo hide. I am quite speachless when it comes to such kind comments. But I do know of much better people that deserve that comment. But I do thank you for your kind comments. I am out to do the best that I can to bring this craft and art back to a popularity, or at least to a level of some sort. There are not very many of the old school braiders left that are willing to teach a youngster these days. So I would like to share as much as possible what I learn from my mentor with everyone that I can. After all, how do you keep the craft alive if the old school vets all die off without leaving the skills to the younger gens. I figure that the web is the only way to archive as much as possible all that we learn. That also entails giving away the secrets of the craft. If we don't share it, the craft and art of leather braiding, knot tying and leather carving will die off and never be heard of again. It might be seen, but never practiced again. I for one am not willing to let that happen and will fight every step of the way to keep it alive. Probably till my dying day. I too am in the I.T. field. I have been in the field for about 10yrs now. I love what I do for a living and it is a means to practice my art & craft. I love even more my art and craft though. When I retire from the I.T. field, I will probably just do my art and craft. For now I am stock piling all that I can for that retirement day.

My mentor is Mike Storch and he is located in Utah. I been under his wing for about 3 years now. He has a site at hooeyknows.com His work is just awsome. He cuts and dyes his own roo lace. I am so glad I found him and that he is willing to go the extra yard to pass on some of his knowlege to me as a braider. Our relationship started out with a friend of mine in Colorado who passed away this year. I met Mike in a yahoo braider chat I was hosting for one day between my website partner and Mike. The things he taught me just over that one chat session were incredible. He showed me some of his work by emailing me some of his photos and right there is where I said to myself, I need his guidance in my learning. Every so often now I will call him if I run into a difficult problem in leather braiding. He shares his knowlege and experience openly with me. I think he would do that with anyone who was very serious about learning braiding from go. He wont waste time with those that are not serious about the craft and art. He was a knot tier for many years also. I have a history on his adventures somewhere around here in my office. I just got to find it again. LOL... I will meet him one day in person and we will probably not talk too much, but we will share a moment of braiding a pineapple knot some where under a shady tree and a nice little prairy breeze, or something like that. Brian...

I got my new cutter / beveler today. Woo Hoo!!! I'm gonna be playin all weekend, ehehehehe... I need to get used to it and learn it really well. Oh yeah!! I'm gonna be cuttin it up this weekend.

Thanks Spence. I appreciate your comments. Those transition points believe it or not cost me some time putting them together in my head let alone doing them for real. When I finally figured out how I was going to accomplish the transitions, doing them became much easier because I was no longer intimidated by it. Now, ehehehehe!!! I am about to explode with excitement. Brian...

Well I thought I would give an update to where I am at and include a couple of photos. I am now past the transition point going from round braid to flat braid for the handle. As you can see from this one, I went ahead and continued through the transition point with the Herringbone braid. Brian...

I had the fid custom made at PeeJays Marlin Spikes. I have a link to his page on my site right above the two banners in my signature.

Well, I made for my Pastors wife and had to make one for my Pastor who is my best friend too. Started as 4 strand round braid, then a 9part 4bight TH base, then the PK interweave all with one string of lace. Colors: Black Whiskey Tan Brian...

Thank you cybertracy. My fid was custom made by Peejay at PeeJays Marlin Spikes. You should be able to click on the text Peejays Marlin Spikes below my post if you're interested in having one designed and turned. Peejay is a really kewl dude and can design just about any fid or spike. Brian...

Hi Joe. I'm not a whip cracker. But this is what I will say about your whip. First this is not a critique. Your whip handle looks really, really nice. But this is what I would've done with the handle. Your pineapple knot at the top was made from a 7 part 6 bight turks head as the base knot, I would have expanded that base knot to be larger, like a 12 part 11 bight base turks head, so I could have covered the top of the handle with the pineapple interweave. I would have not put in the turks head below the pineapple knot at all, simply because it is just taking away from the braid. The bottom turks head I would have enlarged that to a 10 part 9 bight turks head and left it as a single pass giving it a more pronounced look. Again that is what I would have done. I do like what you have now. It does look really, really nice. So please don't take any offense to what I said above. Just look at it as another idea for the next one. Brian...

Well since we're talking about cutter / bevelers. I thought I would post the one I had custom made for me. I wont give the price and yes it is almost the same that is pictured and for sale on another site. But this one has a few more tweaks to it as I needed the tweaks for some of the leather braiding that I do. The materials used are Delrin and steel for the shaft that hold the cutter parts and I don't know what type of steel that is for the bench clamp. Delrin is as strong as stainless steel and can be smoothed out like stainless steel. I thought it would be better to use that instead of the steel because of the rust factor and it wont leave a burnish on the hide while cutting. Here's a few more pics of it.

Thank you for your kind words bro... I love to work with roo lace also. Once my braiding mentor introduced me to it, I've never been back but only to use up the other stuff I have. Roo just braids some much better and cleaner, especially if you get it cut and beveled. Brian...

I did this little key fob for my pastors wife as a belated mothers day present. Colors used are; Brown Bad Whiskey Black Did a 4 strand round braid, lashed that off with some black tape so I could get a decent shape for the upcoming Pineapple Knot. Pineapple Knot started with a 9 part 4 bight casa knot as the base for my Pineapple Interweave. Finished off with some Pecards leather dressing. Brian...

If it be cleanin your shop floor, it has a worthy job and should be there. LOL...

WOW! Troy that is awsome work. I'd be surprised if someone did'nt come along and not buy it, or ask if was for sale. Just awsome is all I can say about it. Well, I take that back... JUST FRIGGIN AWSOME DUDE!!! Sorry for the caps one there. A moment of finger crampsitus... Brian...

Please do post your finished work with that experiment in your last post. I would enjoy seeing a couple of photos on that. I too am about finished with my dog leash and will be adding some overlayed fid work to it. This is why this subject is especially interesting to me. The broader my skill set the better braider I can and will become. I really love to use roo lace on all my selling products. So, these kinds of posts are really needed here and at my website. So keep up the really awsome work you are doing. I look forward to seeing more with great anticipation. Brian...