bullwhips

I was going to post some videos here of me cutting, paring / beveling and splitting by hand to show you don't need to buy any fancy tools to make dog leads, but for some reason this forum wasn't letting me post them. I put them up on my blog at http://bullwhips.org I hope they inspire someone to learn a new skill! Louie

You don't need to buy a splitter, just buy leather that's thin enough to start with. Once you start making more complex projects (say 8 plait or above) then splitting leather can come in handy. Also you can split by hand and get great results. Lately I've found that for smaller projects I prefer doing it this way. All I use is a box cutter and a bit of practice. The same goes for cutting and beveling, if you learn to do it by hand it cost you nothing and as a bonus you learn a skill.

Braiding Fine Leather is by David Morgan and has a great 8 plait dog lead pattern which could easily be adapted to a 4 or 6 plait. Here's a link to the book:http://amzn.to/wAkCUJ

You can split any leather down. However if you were to split a 3mm thick leather down to 1mm, in my experience it's not as strong as getting leather that came from the tannery in the 1mm range. If I was planning on doing 8 - 12 - 16 plait whips I wouldn't waste my time with latigo I'd stick to kangaroo. Unlike kangaroo where a skin makes about 1 whip (give or take) a side of latigo is an investment in somewhere between 3-6 whips depending on what you are making and how you are making it. So regardless of whether or not you end up liking latigo you've got a lot of it. I make a ton of 4 plait bullwhips from veg tanned cowhide that's about 1 mm thick. At that thickness it's thin enough so that you don't have to do any splitting and it allows you room inside to play with internal structure. Louie

You can make a bullwhip out of pretty much any leather. Veg tanned cowhide works for lower plait count whips. The project will determine the weight of the leather. You can make a 4 plait whip with a heavier leather, but if you plan on making a 24 plait whip you'll need something a bit lighter.

A great lace cutter that I think is very under rated because of its simplicity is the David Morgan Lace Cutter: http://www.davidmorgan.com/product_info.php?products_id=1139 For the rare occasion that I'm not free hand cutting this is what I use and I love it! I find it's much more comfortable to hold in the hand because of its size.

Horsehairbraider, I wish I could take credit for the plastic ring idea, but I got it from David Morgan: http://www.davidmorgan.com/product_info.php?products_id=1043 I picked up the D rings from David's shop in person...it's always good to have a reason to head up there and chat with them! Louie

In the past I've only done a couple of plaited belts and those where when I first started braiding. I made this one for myself and it's made with plastic D's because I'll be doing so traveling and don't want to deal with having to take off my belt when I go through metal detectors. There's a close up pic and more info on my thoughts when making it on my blog: http://bullwhips.org This plaited belt has me itching to make more stuff for myself!

I think my first tools for braiding leather were a $1 box cutter and a $1 yard stick. So for $2 you can get started...then if you can find some scrap leather you can probably get going for under $25! Those two tools are still my two main tools that I used today. Louie

I should have clarified a bit, my strands for plaiting were greased and didn't have a relaxation problem. However my bolsters which I don't normally grease until it's fitted had the stretch and relax problem. One way to try to "stabilize" a stretchy skin is to grease it. Filling the pores usually does the trick.

Joe, I found it a bit challenging to split because of the stretch. Some if it almost has a sponge like density, where it would stretch and thin out going through the splitter so virtually nothing would get removed, then relax going back to it's pre-trip through the splitter thickness. Louie

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but here's a veg tanned goat skin bullwhip I made a while ago: Like I posted earlier in my opinion it's not as nice as kangaroo and very stretchy, so cut wide! However the whip that I made with it is a solid whip. This was made with the veg tanned goat from Tandy which is dry, so I had to had stuff it with dressing before I plaited with it. Louie http://bullwhips.org

Veg tanned goat skin works for making a bullwhip. Here's one that I've got in the works right now: http://bullwhips.org/?p=4836 The thing to consider is that it's got a lot of stretch, so cut wide! In my opinion is it as good as kangaroo...nope. However it is cheaper. Louie http://bullwhips.org

I love my osborne #86 splitter: http://osborneleathertools.com/product_details.php?pid=33

Brian, The more flat braiding I do I"m staring to like the vice for...but I for the most part I live by my hook. Roo4u, The core is twisted rawhide with a cane center. Louie