curlyjo

I tried to look at the next part of the long pineapple knot and was told it would cost me 29 dollars. Whats up? Brad

Don't know anything about horse or bison but the ideal hide is a cow that died of a combination age and starvation death. Tough hide and no grease. Brad

I'm just guessing but I think that piece in the rounder is maybe a piece of leather to protect his reata while he's braiding. My guess is he clamps it down, braids a little, and then shortens it up and clamps it again. That way it keeps it snug but not strung out to far. Brad

Another way of braiding a long reata is to split your tamales in half and start braiding in the middle and you don't have such big bundle of strings to deal with. That way you can mellow out half the strings and start to braid and when you finish one side just prep the other bundles and go the other way. I know one fellow that starts multiple string Hackamores in the middle so he doesn't have to deal with large bundles of string. He just figures it all gets covered up with a nose button anyway. Brad

I believe you are talking about Four Strands of Rawhide, is Randy Rieman and Bill Dorrance. Tom was Bills younger brother and was an exceptional horse person that started the Horse Clinicians we see today mainly Ray Hunt. I started braiding at Bills place when I was a teenager. The tool you are referring to is a wood plane blade set at 90 degrees in a framethat can be adjusted up and down for different thicknesses of rawhide. This is the tool Bill Used until someone built him a splitter similar to an Osborne. He still used it on occasion. Bryan told me he uses his quite a bit. You just have to make more passes and keep it sharp. I'm pretty sure rawhide only. I have one somewhere but could never get it sharp enough. A friend built it for me in Salinas 35 years ago. I need to get that video just to remember the time I spent in Bills rawhide room making strings and visiting. I would come home from Nv or Or and go visit about the different outfits I was working on and listen to his stories of his younger days in northeast Or. But thats another story Brad

I agree with Shelly on using a container with a screen. What works for me is a 5 gallon bucket with a screen about 6 inches off the bottom. You can suspend it from the top or put in some small pieces of brick under the screen. Just keep it out of the water. Then soak your strings just a little bit, Sometimes just dunk in water and place on screen with an inch or so of water under the screen. Then lay a pastic bag over the top and keep in a warm place. Not to hot of a room. This will pull moisture up into the strings evenly and you need to check once in a while to make sure they are not to wet. I did this with heavy honda strings on Sat. morning and they should be ready today. If you don't have the time to work with the strings when they are ready just pull back the plastic on top a little and let it breathe. But not to many days or just take out and start over. I do that now when I'm braiding and can't quite finish a bosal or something, I throw it in the bucket and finish the next day. I also use a long plastic container with a screen to prep large amount of string if I'm running late between splitting and finish work. I hope this helps and is understandable. Brad Need to clarify. Just put an inch of water in bottom of bucket, not inch under screen. Sorry, Brad

If you have it on some sort of stretcher it won't hurt at all.

Vaquero1, thats supposed to be 1and1/2 minutes,( 90 seconds.) Sorry about the misunderstanding. And when you boil the burner, place it on the the honda then drive it back on the shaper stick. that will open up the honda. then just enough water in the pot to stick the burner end in the water. It will get a little of the honda on each side but thats never been a problem. When that dries it will retain that shape for a long time. Another thing you might try is braid a honda with wedges or whatever and when you get a size and shape you really like then build your shaper to that honda. Thats what I did and have 3 sticks identical so all is the same. Also have a round one. Hope that helps, Brad

Heres some pictures. One is the long taper of the shaping stick, One is the pins I use to form the rope hole and let dry with a finished honda next to it, and the last is the big end of shaping stick. It measures about 1 1/4 on small end to 2 1/2 on large end.Overall 9 inches. I build my hondas so I can just get them over the small end and drive them down to the large end. That takes out all the stretch with the boiling after . It can get pretty tight but thats what works for me.

Vaquero1, I'll try to get pictures on here as soon as I get some tech. support. Meaning my wife since the grandkids aren't here. Brad

Vaquero1, to make the rope hole, get a short(21/2 inch) stainless steel 3/8ths bolt and grind the end to a sharp point. Also grind off some of the head making sure not to leave any sharp corners. What I do is drive the honda onto my shaping stick, mark where the bolt should go, drive it back off and push the bolt through. Then drive it back on and leave it on til its dry. You mentioned your rope not running through very well. Thats where you can use a single shaper or wedges and make the honda rounder and more open on the top. You need to do that early on so that when you put on the burner you don't squeeze all the size down. Any bolt will work but I use stainless so no rusting. And use a 3/8ths as a 5/16ths is just a pain to get a rope through. You'll never know the difference. Hope that helps, Brad

I've used the wedge system that Bill Dorrance used but switched to a single stick to build hondas. The very first was a spoke from an old wagon wheel, shaped up to a point and rounded where the final honda is placed. Now I have 3 hardwood shapes that are identical and are tapered to allow driving the braided hondas down and stretching to the final form. I can get 2 hondas on each stick one being just a tiny bit smaller than the other. I then boil for about 11/2 minutes and allow them to dry. I then put on the burners and drive them back on the sticks and dip just the burners in boiling water for about 30 seconds. This really takes the sap out and makes them really hard. When you first build the hondas don't make them full sized as they will stretch when they get wet. And don't dry them in a hurry. Bill D needed 2 in a hurry and stuck them in a warm oven to dry. When he took them out he tapped them on the counter and they shattered in pieces. I hope this makes sense. Happy New Year, Brad

Bill Confer has different size string down to lace. I don't think it's beveled but it sure is uniform. You might have to wet it and pull it some to straighten the curve as it looks like they cut out of a dry disc. He can get you about any thing you need to braid or make buttons. Brad

You probably figured this out but when I braid paracord, I always stop so that I start again with my right hand. And when I stop even for a minute, I use a safety pin and pin my strings together where I stopped just to start up straight. In the past I have sure taken plenty of things apart to figure how to continue. Maybe this could help. Brad

Thanks Leatherpownder, I just picked one up on Ebay over the Weekend . An#86 that looks to be in good shape. I appreciate all the help from all. Brad

Thanks RC for the info. I'm leaning toward a bench mount as I like to cut and split 150 to 200' of string at a time and also use it to build larger projects as in bosal and hackamore hangers. Rawhide and Leather. Some of my Honda strings can be 3/8 or better before sizing. But it looks like a good tool for Roo string and small lace. I see your from Lewistown. My uncle was born there and his sister, Judy Fiedler, still lives on the family ranch south of Stanford. Jim Fiedler passed 11/2 years ago and I took my dad up to the services in Stanford. Pretty Country in the summers but my Ca. thin blood would take a beating in the winter. Thanks again, Brad

Rawhide, thanks for the input on the 2 styles of splitters. I just got to get busy and find one that will do the job. 30 more years and I can retire the new one. Brad

My 35 yr. old Tandy splitter needs to be retired. The roller is out of whack and it just is not working on small string. Would like some ideas on a 6 to 8 inch splitter without breaking the bank. Used is OK if everything works. I like the Osborne but know there are more styles and makes out there. Thanks, Brad

Megabit, since i have to buy all my hides I cut my Honda strings just a little over 1/4 " and split then size them up from there. 3/8ths plus some would be better. My finish string is just under 1/4 and 1/8th thick. The split bullhides from Bill Confer will give you plenty of leeway. ten years ago I figured out a shape of Honda I liked and had a friend build me 3 tapered stretching forms. I can put 2 hondas on each stick with one just a little smaller then the other. As for boiling the hondas get yourself a wide deep pot and keep it seperate from the wifes. Keeps everyone happier.Brad

Megabit, I'm far from an expert on building these hondas but I learned long ago to braid them pretty small (two thumbs for the hole) and then drive them over a shaped piece of wood or slide in wedges and expand them to the correct size. This takes the stretch out at the very start. They can keep getting bigger and bigger if you use them in wet weather if made full size. One shaper is a spoke out of an old wagon wheel rasped down to a point. I use 3/8 bolts with the heads trimmed down for the rope hole. After you drive it onto the shaped piece of wood with the bolt in place, boil the whole honda in rolling boiling water for about ninety seconds. Take out and let dry for 2-3 days. That takes the sap out and and there is no more stretch left. I then put my burner on and put it right back on the same shaper and boil just that part in shallow water for 20 seconds. You're going to get some of the honda under the burner again but when thats dry its as hard as its ever going to get. The only way ive built a swivel type was to put the San Juan on a rope, get it straight, and then put a neck down the rope. Not really swivel but keeps the rope from breaking down under the honda. I hope this is understandable. Brad

San Juan Hondas is what I've been building and selling through an internet website of someone else. Have started building Bosals with rawhide bodies and Roo buttons. Lots of learning curve there and need to sell some to pay for my Roo habit. No profit but just felt the need to get back in after quite a few years and learning from 2 old rawhiders. Also, keeps me busy on rainy days. Megabit, your honda looks good. Did you stretch it over anything or build it to size? Thanks for all the info on this page. Brad

roo4u, the 30"discs are pricey but top quality rawhide. The whole cowhides give you more string and more options on size string. Call Tejas Industries, Bill Confer, Hereford Tx for current price list. acox4t4, reading your last entry you mentioned using noodle wet string to build projects. If your string is noodle wet, your'e not going to get anything done. You need to learn the proper moisture to work with rawhide. I'd stay with leather or Parachute cord to learn the basics before tackling rawhide unless you have someone right with you. Goodluck and keep trying. Brad

I've gotten the the whole cow hides but a little to much waste with the belly. The perfect string is the 30" diameter hides. I've cut up to 200' of under 1/4 " string and then sized down from there. But it is a little thin for Honda string so I get the split bull and size accordingly. I've bought different size string precut but it seems to be cut dry and carries a circular shape to it. If you are just starting I'd go with the 30" discs as they are really free of blems and a controllable size. But you need to be able to cut small string and not waste to much. Brad

If you are determined to make your own rawhide then the easiest way is to take the hide, nail it to a real strong wood wall out of the sun with the flesh out. As it dries, peel and cut the flesh off until it is totally dry. Then take down, lay it over something round and start scraping with a large, sharp rounded Knife. Go with the grain but its going to take awhile to figure direction. If its long hair use clippers to shorten it up. If this is your first time with rawhide and no one to help you I would advise going with Bill Confer at tejas and getting a hide to start with. It will save you a ton of frustration and then you can work with the raw product without the first numerous steps. Ive scraped until I hurt and am glad I found a good source.Brad

Those look really nice