curlyjo

Zina, get a small bundle of paracord and use that to learn and practise. Cut your strings and melt the ends and you can do braids and buttons and all kinds of things and the material will be the same when you tear it apart to do again. Don't give up. I've got quite a few buttons and braids I've cut off to start over so if I can grasp the concept, anyone can. Goodluck, Brad

I used the least expensive Tandy splitter for close to 30 years until I found an old Osborne #86 on ebay. Thats my 1st choice now but wouldn't hesitate to use the Tandy in a pinch. It just requires a sharp blade and constant sharpening. Check ebay and put in leather splitter and it will give you several options. Brad

I'm thinking it's OUO both ways, just like 12 in pairs is OUO each side. Or UOU whatever you start with. I just finished a 12 strand Roo bosal in pairs that was UOU. I think if you do U2 and O1 each side you end up with one side flat. Brad

Vise with a bent nail

Sounds like you're on the way to figuring out rawhide. The splitter you are using is probably the same one I used for years. I now have an older Osbourne that I got on ebay 3 years ago that I like better. Moisture is the key to rawhide. Split then wait to gauge, then wait to bevel, then add a little to braid or do button work. High humidity helps when you're braiding but drives you nuts making string. It just takes time to figure. Today I cut 165' of small string, stretched it along a fence til ready to split, stretched it again til ready to gauge and beveled right away. 2/32 x 4/32 for some small bosals and buttons. Practise, practise and practise and just when you think you've got it down it will bite you on the butt because a different hide didn't cut the same as the previous one. But if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Just keep trying and write down what worked so you can look back to help along. Goodluck, Brad

I was given some wide rough cut string just like that and tried to make honda string out of it. After soaking I went split it and the top grain cracked so bad I decided to maybe use it for cores only. Try soaking and splitting first and then you can tell if it will work. I'm with Megabit. You're about 300' short of reata string. Use it to braid cores and get some fresher hides for projects. Brad

Not sure if you're looking for rawhide or leather. Rawhide from Bill Confer at Tejas Ind. in Hereford Texas. Quite a few selections to choose from. If I was looking for uniform rawhide get the 30" discs and go from there. A little pricey but really even and I can get close to 180' of honda string out of each piece. There's another place in Idaho that is selling scraped hides for 125 dollars shipped and they make good Bosal size string. Don't have that info. handy but can get it if interested. Leather is really a different story. Just have to figure what you're doing to determine wt. and type. I have taken some pretty poor leather and used the white gas and wax method in Bruce Grants Encyl. and made some nice strings. But be careful. It works but don't set the neighborhood on fire! There's my 2 cents worth and you could get back change. Brad

Very Nice. Brad

Thanks Rob, I appreciate your suggestions and will work some in on the next one. That Bosal went to Washington State and so far horses and new owner are pleased. Brad

Lets hope this is larger.

I just finished a 5/8" 12 strand rawhide and roo bosal over a rawhide core. Let me know what you think. Thanks, Brad

I've read about beveling rawhide on top and leather onthe bottom. I'm sure it's a personal thing but I've always beveled on top on everything. I like to see the edge fall into place especially on string with the color only on top. The slight difference in color between the center and the bevel is what I'm talking about. Thats just my 2 cents worth. I have beveled all 4 corners on rawhide to lay well but that is a lot of extra work. I'm only working with tiny roo strings now and it works for me. Buttons on rawhide. Brad

I,also, have had no problems with orders from Hardtke. Just got 2 hides 3 weeks ago and no mention of shortage. Brad

Buy yourself some Parachute cord and practise braiding and buttons on a piece of broomstick handle. Then work with leather and figure out how to cut and split string and use that to make Anything that you are interested in. Leather is forgiving and you can stop and pick it up and don't have to worry about moisture or anything. Then work on Rawhide. I do both but it is much easier to work with leather buttons on rawhide braiding as the time frame is a lot easier. And Kangaroo, drumstuffed with color, is the best and easiest hides to cut and also the strongest. Tools are pretty basic and there are a lot of people on here that can help out. I hope this is helpful. Brad

That just turned my stuff into dog chew toys. Thanks for sharing but the bar just got raised real high. Brad

Bill Confer at Tejas industries, Hereford Tx. sells all sizes of hides and also unbeveled string. Don't have the # handy but thats a great place to start. Brad

I've posted this before and I'm not good at posting pictures but the broomstick handle Megabit was talking about is the only tool I use on both rawhide and roo. Just different widths per tool. Maybe Megabit could post a picture of the one I gave him to try. Theres a picture of it in Woolerys Book Braiding Rawhide Horse Tack. I have cut Thousands of feet of string with these tools and I won't change now. It takes me about 15 minutes to make one and then you just need injector blades to cut with. Width is determined by the distance from the blade to the nail as a guide. I even pull the nail out and move it one way or the other to change the width of cut. From a 30 inch round i've gotten over 200 feet of string just under 1/4". I'll try to post a picture but that might take a while. I did post pictures last year so maybe you could track those down on here. I'ts probably so simple that it does'nt make sense but it works for me. I've got some Bosals posted on here not to long ago and every thing was cut out first with these tools before the finish cuts. Probably bored you fellas to death but as my Gkids say, Whatever. Merry Christmas, Brad

#2 Bosal is Sold. Thanks, Brad

Another idea. The top grain might be to thick and your hitting spots that cause it to break. You might try a yearling hide for that thin of string. A heavy cow would really have to split down to get 1/32 string. I worked with a fellow that would make multiple passes and than use the split pieces after sizing up to build foundations under buttons. Brad

If you haven't tried this yet maybe make more passes and don't try to do it in one pass. Brad

Heres a description and price left to right. Allroo,3/8 12 strand body 11 1/2 inside real soft, $150, next 3/8 rawhide with roo buttons 11 1/4 inside,$120. #3 1/4" all roo 8 strand 11 1/4 inside $125 #4 5/16 rawhide 8 strand with roo buttons 10 3/8 inside for a smaller horse $115

Here are four bosals, two all kangaroo, two rawhide with kangaroo buttons. All with rawhide cores. If interested they are available. Let me know. Brad

I don't cut them into perect circles. If the piece might be say 2x3, I just start around the outside after rounding the corners. I never cut anything bigger then 5/16ths as most of my string is under 3/16ths finished. When a corner starts to get to sharp just stop and round it off. Circles are sure nice but thats the way I do it. The discs from Tejas are as clean as you can get but a little to pricey for me. Brad