Amanda Powell

I wish I could make it out of Oregon! At the moment, travel is pretty restricted due to my work schedule.

You guys have been so helpful! Thanks!

Cool. I'll have to start scouring Facebook!

https://facebook.com/b00snuffles13 I'm excited to hear there are people close to me!

I'm in the Rogue Valley.

I was wondering if there are any rawhide braiders in Southern Oregon (or if no one in this forum, maybe you know of someone?) I'm not too good at learning from books only... I pick things up much better if I can watch things done; learn with a hands on approach. I want to learn the whole process- from taking the hide off the animal to the finished product. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd be very grateful!

Thanks! This gives me a good idea of where to start!

I recently got an older breastcollar which, at one point, was dyed black. The dye is rubbed off on the more raised areas. It looks like it also had a smei glazed finish. Is it possible to stripe the finish and dye from the leather without ruining it? The leather looks like it's been fairly well maintained, although it's a bit dry right now. I'm holding off on conditioning at the moment until I know the best course of action. I'm not interested in re-dying it black (in the ideal world, it would match my very dark oil saddle) even though I know that would be easier. I've restored old leather before, but I've never dealt with dyes, so like I said, I don't even know if this is something doable. I'd appreciate any insight into this!! Thanks!

Cool! Hopefully some time after I move (if I have any money left!) I'll be able to take you up on that

I was just wondering if any of you guys have ever made a set of Santa Ynez romel reins before. I've been cruising online looking at options, and it doesn't look like there's a big selection. I've been really impressed with a lot of the braiding work in this forum. I'm hoping to get a set within the next year (holding off for now, until I can move and get a car) and was wondering if anyone here would be game to make them.

Try Fire Mountain. They're a jewelery supply place, so they'll have more options than Tandy. http://www.firemountaingems.com/clasps.asp?navsrc=2

Thanks for explaining the reasons to do it each way!! It's much more helpful for me to learn things when someone explains the reasons I'm supposed to do something, instead of just saying to do it

Awesome, Mike, that's just what I was looking for!!!

Hey guys, I apologize if this topic has already come up....I swear I came across something about this earlier, but I can't seem to find it...Bear with me. Just got some rawhide lace from Colorado Leather Goods (I'll let you know what I think of it when I get a chance to work with it!!). The lace is cut and split, but not beveled. Which leads me to my question: When beveling rawhide lace, do you want it to be dry, wet, or somewhere in between? I've managed to find all sorts of advice on how much to bevel off, do the flesh side first, etc, but as I said, I couldn't find anything about water content, even though I could have sworn I've run into it before on this forum. Thanks for any advice!!

Awesome. I need to learn how to do this. Hondas seem to be a good place to start....Or am I totally wrong?

gorgeous.

Ah, ok. Thanks!

I've never done rawhide work before....Why do you boil the honda before putting the burner on?

Cool. Thanks for the info!

What are the advantages/disadvantages or different hides? (specifically cow vs horse vs buffalo) Thanks

Very nice

I think the top leather is an upholstery leather to be honest.....the lining was a thicker generic leather....I was going cheap, because I wasn't sure if things would work out or not. But both seem to be very nice. The thicker leather was stiff and cardboardy but it softened up nicely after conditioning. The conchos I found on eBay. The guy sells a bunch of white bronze conchos and buckles, and his supply varies at any given time....Here is his shop.

These are almost done!! I'm waiting on the buckles, and once I put them on, I can finish stitching the lining to the bottom edge of the bib of the strap. Everything is hand-stitched, cut by hand, etc. I have a pair of straps that are kind of vaguely almost not quite the same.....so for a pattern, I traced them and modified the design to get these. Went back to kindergarten for a bit and used colored construction paper for templates The conchos are white bronze. The buckles will also be white bronze, and match the conchos. I managed to find two scraps of hair on hide that were just barely large enough and matched at the Tandy store. Here's how things look so far:

Awesome I agree, pictures of lacing the burner on would be great too Thanks!!

Wow. I *love* that headstall.