Aggiebraider

Ok I can measure them tomorrow

Ok I can measure them tomorrow

Yes I do. I have one knife and two angled blades. Do you want to do pay pal or check?

One knife and 2 angle blades are still for sale.

Correction. These knives are 1/2" barrels. If both of you are still interested, please let me know. Sorry for the confusion.

It all depends on how big the cow was and where the leather was the best. Some dont get flanky as far down as others do, so they will make smaller bellies. If there is a specific purpose you are looking for in a belly, maybe you need two. If you are trying to save money by buying a belly for something that might not need to be from a belly, just get a back, or even a whole side. You would be surprised how much you can get out of one side. Two or three projects should pay for the rest of the hide, depending on what you are making. CW

I can sure do that, which two blades would you like? One knife left, get it while its hot!

Howdy everyone, I have 2 Henley Swivel Knives for sale. Both are 1/4" barrels and I have 4 blades (one straight and 3 angled i believe) that go with them. I also have some set screws that fit them that will come in the box. Ill take $125 per knife and choice of 2 blades, or $225 buys everything. I will pay shipping anywhere in the lower fifty. Dont miss a chance to buy some really nice swivel knives. These arent easy to find anymore. I accept paypal and checks. If you really need pics I can get some. I left the knives at the shop today so I dont have them with me, but if you know the quality of a Henley knife, you dont need pics lol. Thanks, CW

I second everything Brad said. Just out of curiosity, what its the vaquero package? I've seen the lace master and met the guy who makes them and they are really nice, but there are a couple things I like about my jeuske a little more. although I will say I dont recommend the jeuske for cutting rawhide which is why I started to make my own, just haven't had time to finish it.

Clay Miller. Temple TX

I would definitely be up to making a pair. I havent made any santa ynez, and I really dont like them for my self, but am always looking for an excuse to make new stuff. It would be nice to have a pair made on commission, rather than try to sell them later. Let me know when youre ready to get some and if you would like me to make you a pair. Thanks, Calvin

That way is also nicer because it makes for less in and around your hand

Thanks a bunch. I was kind of surprised to see such an old post come back to life lol. i have since put some leather over the jaws but it is pretty thick because it was before I had a splitter so I think ill change it at some point. I also changed the leather strap tup a plastic coated steel cable. No stretch and it slides really nice without slowly opening up the slot more. Kings x, I didnt even think about bringing it but it would have gone nicely with the hand sewing talk. i will try to remember to bring it to the next meeting, but I can almost assure you the father in law won't want to make any more. We were both cussing a few times on this project lol, but I guess you never know. Have a good one, CW

The biggest piece of advice I can give you about these is to be careful if you are actually going to use them. The nosebutton on this was really nice until I pulled it around to do the heel knot and when I did that, the strands were too crowded and it got pretty lumpy on the bottom side (strands had no where else to go) and EXTREMELY HARD!!! I have to be really careful or I can make one bleed pretty fast with this one. You probably want to make the nosebutton a little on the gappy side. It might not look great on the top side with all the gaps showing through, but it wont sore a horse'e nose. I know a buddy of mine makes a lot of bosals with paracord nose buttons and gets along great with them, but he doesnt plait the cheeks. That might be the trick to keeping it a little softer. I just dont really like how abrasive it is on them (and it might be my hands as well LOL), so I dont know if I will ever make another one of these. It doesnt really save you anything in the long run even when comparing the price of materials. When you can braid a nice using one out of about $50 worth of lace and core material and sell it for a couple hundred, trying to cut the price with paracord is silly because it takes the same amount of time to make it either way. If on the other hand you dont plan on using this, it can be a good way to practice all of the steps and have something real to show someone. I think on this one it was a 12 plait cheeks and I used tape for the foundation of the nosebutton. I have since changed to using all leather foundations for both my heel knots and foundations, but the principles are about the same as the way Gail explains it in her books. Hope that helps, CW

Thanks I thought it turned out alright. I just burned the lariat real will and mushroomed the melted portion out real well. This was done after putting a ring knot on it

Ok, so I have tried this knot so many times it makes me sick that I cant get it to work. I understand the concept completely, but when I try to tie this with something other than nylon, you have a grain side you have to worry about. I have a set of reins started that are 12 strand, and cant figure this knot out. If you follow Grants book, I dont understand first off how he runs the strands through the braid because you will (for the 4 strand knot) have 2 that run to the left and 2 that run to the right, making crowning impossible. He also does nothing with the working ends in the actual knot, so if you grab a hold of the knot and twist it, the buried ends will just come out and the knot will be loose. With a leather core in these reins, I cant exactly push the strands completely through the core and even if I did, I would still have half the strands' grain facing the wrong direction. I want to put ring knots between pineapple knots on these, and maybe use ring knots for the foundations of the pks, so they need to be SECURE. Sorry if this is confusing, I cant get it wrapped the right way in my head to begin with lol. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. CW

I called the Hall of Fame to get info about the clinic Leland and Nate are putting on but didnt get a hold of anyone. When they call me back I will post the info they give me. CW

I use a lot of kangaroo in my braiding, but never made sandals out of it. That said, the process for making lace would be about the same. Anything you cut less than 1/2" wide will probably straighten out after cut on a round if you stretch and grease it. Anything over that probably wont. You can use a strap cutter or a draw gauge for wider strips, but they should be cut straight. As far as undyed hides go, you can get natural hides from Hardtke leather in El Paso, TX. They are really good to deal with and have a good selection on hand. If you are wanting natural hides to dye, Im not sure how this will work. They hides are all hot stuffed in drums when they are dyed, and I think the natural ones get the same treatment with no dye, so I dont know how it will take dyes. Hardtke offers a lot of different colors in the craft grade hides, its not braiding quality, so I dont know what they are like as I have never used them. Give them a call and see what they have. CW

As far as tools go, Braiding is probably the cheapest and easiest leather discipline there is. All you need is a sharp knife and something pokey to use as a fid. That said, depending on what you want to do, a lot of tools can be repurposed for other jobs. When I started out, I used paracord (probably like most people) and you should get a couple hemostats, a good butane lighter, and a fid. When you make the jump to leather, precut lace ( in my opinion) isnt even worth using as it isnt any where near good enough to learn the correct techniques and it isnt beveled. So in order to cut your own lace, you will need a lace cutter. There are quite a few on the market that work really well for cutting a lot of lace in a hurry, but not everyone wants to drop 3-400 on a good lace cutter. You can actually make your own if you have at least a little metal working skills and a welder. The biggest problem is understanding from pictures how most of them work, but once you understand that they are pretty easy to make. Dont feel like you HAVE to start with using paracord as there have been 1000s of braiders that have learned starting with rawhide, since 100 years ago, we didnt even have nylon cord to braid with. I would suggest instead of asking for tools, you ask for money to go and learn from one of the masters. It may seem like a lot of money and since you live in PA, there arent many braiders close to you, so you would have to do some traveling. BUT, the amount of good instruction that you will receive will cut your learning curve down GREATLY!!! You might go through a couple thousand $ getting to the point that you want to be in your braiding that might have been cut down by paying a couple hundred to learn from some one. There is actually a workshop in Feb at the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City being put on by the TCAA and instructed by Nate Wald and Leland Hensley that is going to be REALLY good. Having spent time with both of them, I know that they are both great teachers and willing to share EVERYTHING they do. They have no secrets, because most of the stuff they do they can do better than anyone else, and most people wont work as hard as they do to get to the point they have. So, ask for money to go on a trip and learn from someone rather than get tools. It will help you immensely. CW

A reining saddle construction wise is no different than any other saddle.....they just have parts that are shaped differently and use a different tree.

Call or email Bruce Johnson http://brucejohnsonleather.com/content/index.php/leather_tools_for_sale/ He always has nice old knives on hand that he has restored and sharpened for a good price

Thanks a bunch I appreciate it. Ive seen quite a few sets of all leather reins, but they arent usually daily users. For the most part it seems that people are using them for showing, but with proper care they should hold up just as well to every day use. CW

Yeah if you watch Four Strands of Rawhide, you can see Bill Dorrance using this splitter style, and if I remember correctly he says you have to have your strands really wet since its really just scraping the flesh side rather than cutting material away. Looks good I always enjoy seeing people making their own tools. CW

Nice Job! I just finished my first all leather one (have made a couple nylon bosals) but havent gotten any pics of it yet. I wish that my nose button turned out as good as yours did! Did you do a multiple string nose button or just a single string? CW

While I dont have as much experience cutting rawhide as I do kangaroo, I do know that it depends on where you are talking, what you are wanting to make, and how thick the hide is. What I try to do is cut a few 1" strips from the back for bosal cores. Then cut the hide into circles, typically 1 from each shoulder, and either 1 big one from the side/flank on each side, or 2 smaller ones. The rest is basically just scrap. The belly isnt good for much as far as braiding as far as I know. Go to harbor freight, or look online for a large compass. I think the one I got is like 18". Lets you cut a pretty large circle if its opened all the way up. You can also make one for yourself for large circles using dowel rods and a little wood. Hope that all makes sense, CW