Peter T

That is a very nice and tidy piece of work, Sovran81. Well done. Any critique will be really picky because you've done a really good job. Here are some of my thoughts as this is how I would look at my own work. The angle of your strands is pretty well spot on, which means that you cut them to the correct width. Your patterns and lines are very straight. Are the 'rings' straight as they go around the handle? They certainly look like it from what we can see. Test that by rolling it across your bench to see if they are straight or whether they wobble. The only things that I can pick up is that the horizontal line of 6 single diamonds in the pattern towards the right is slightly offset to the 6 in the pattern towards the left. Both lines are good and straight, just not quite in line with each other which would be the best outcome. Also, some of the strands are slightly uneven in width which is why some of your single diamonds are different sizes. Hard to tell whether this was due to strands being cut slightly different widths or some strands stretching a bit more than others while plaiting but these are some possible causes. Like I said though, that is being very picky! That's the sort of thing I look for in my own plaiting and I look forward to the day when I can't find any of those issues in my own work! Keep up the good work. Pete

Hi TXAG, Is the pattern I posted yesterday with the codes down the sides what you were after? It's a couple of posts back. That's what I follow when I'm plaiting. Pete

Yep, pull tight, plait loose alright. I very rarely use a fid when plaiting, except if I'm undoing work. The strands at the top of that pic should be tighter and in position much more than they were. I remember having a hard time getting them where they needed to be. The sequences are simply the overs and unders that a strand needs to do. I sometimes call this the code and these are the numbers and letters written down the side, not the patterns themselves. The standard sequence for a 4 plait is u1 o1 and you would alternate each side. For an 8 plait it is u2 o2. For the 24 plait pattern I posted it starts off as the standard sequence of u6 o6. That pattern is one that I plaited into a thong. So I would be plaiting u6 o6 on each side. When I get to the part of the thong where I want the pattern to be, I start following the code that I've written, plaiting each strand according to the overs and unders it needs to do. At the end of the pattern it goes back into u6 o6. There are two examples of 24 plait patterns done like this in the photo of the top section of the thong in the original post. For a handle, I would have about 4 of the pages like the one I posted all stuck together with the codes or sequences written down the sides. I start at the top and just keep following the code down, alternating sides, right down to the bottom. I hope this is all making sense. If not, keep asking and we'll get it sorted. Pete

That's some nice stuff you've made. Pete

They look really good, Buck. Pete

I pretty much like everything about that. Very nice work. Pete

This is a 32 strand handle in progress to give you a bit more of an idea of how it works. Pete

Here is an example of a 24 strand pattern that I have drawn up. The middle red zig zag line is the seam that I try to keep straight as I'm plaiting. I keep it in the middle on top of the handle as I'm going. I find that if I've prepared the strands correctly and well then it is much easier to keep straight. Note that the dark strands on the left hand side are unders, but on the right hand side the dark strands are overs. When setting up for this, you would have 12 dark strands coming towards the left and 12 light strands towards the right. The top sequence on the left is U6 O6. You would take the highest light strand on the right around the back of the handle and take it under 6 dark strands and then over 6 dark strands. The next sequence to plait is the top one on the right. Again O6 U6. This time you would take the highest dark strand on the left around the back of the handle and take it under 6 light strands then over 6 light strands. Next sequence is second one from top on the left (U6 O5 U1). Then second one from top on the right. And so on... Sovran81, hopefully that helps explain what I mean by a sequence. Good luck with your 24 plait handle. Let me know if I can help you out in any way. Buck, I've been in that fetal postion haha. The thong in this whip is actually take 2. I spent a whole day and night plaiting it but wasn't entirely happy. After a few days of vigourous debating with myself, I decided to pick it apart (with the bittersweet fid!) and do it all again. It was worth it though. I added a few more patterns and was a lot more satisfied. Hope this helps. Pete

Haha! Thanks Joel. I can tell you I am definitely not a genius. The whole process of designing the pattern is more time consuming than difficult. I learned about how to do it by reading whipmaking books by Ron Edwards. Bushcraft 9- How To Make Whips has some descriptions on how to plait patterns. Once I understood the concept, I developed a way of doing it that suited me. Thanks again for the kind comments, everyone. Pete

Thanks everyone. Joel, the two colours are from two separate kangaroo hides that I cut it all out from. In this whip it was a saddle tan and a black hide (oops, just realized I said whisky in my first post). I pencil in my patterns on a grid and then write down what each strand has to do when you are plaiting it. For eg if a saddle tan strand is the next one to be plaited, i will follow the sequence I have written down for it to go through the 16 black strands. The sequence might look like U2 O2 U3 O1 U4 O2 U2 I will have all these written down before I start plaiting (For a 32 strand handle there are over 400 sequences). I then organise with my wife to look after our boys for the day, make sure I've got nothing happening the next day (so I can sleep in!) and away I go. I'll see if I can post a picture of a pattern I've drawn up when I get a chance. Hope that helps. Pete

G'day Everyone, Here is a 24 x 32 Plait Stockwhip I completed recently. 24 strands in the thong and 32 strands in the handle. Colours are saddle tan and whisky. Pete

Very good looking! Nice work. Pete

Thats a very nice hatband you have made, Mike. So is the one in your other post. I like the way you started this one and formed the loop for it to come through after going around the hat. Looks good. Pete

Very nice work, Traceym. Well done. I hope your dog appreciates all the work you've put into it! Pete

Very cool. Good job. Pete

That's a pretty cool technique, Brian. Well done for figuring out how to do it. It looks great. Pete

That's great stuff! Thanks for sharing it with us. Pete

Now that I think about it, the only fid I have broken is the only one I've had that was a bought one. All the rest I've either made myself or have modified old screwdrivers. I retired one of these the night I buried it about one and a half cm into my thumb behind the thumbnail. Not a good night! It took months for the resulting black part of my thumbnail to grow out. Pete

That's pretty cool. And I like the story too. Thanks for the show and tell. Pete

G'day Everybody, When I was camping recently, I found a stick and carved a handle from it to make a fid, just for something to do (did I need a new fid? No, but that's not the point!). I carved all the lumps and bumps in it so that it is just right for my hand. Finished it off at home. Very bitter-sweet. Sweet because it is so comfortable to use. Bitter because I only use it when I am undoing my mistakes... Pete

That is a lovely piece of work. Pete

They look superb, Bret. Pete

Nice work, Buck! Pete

Regarding the strander, if your on a budget you could cut the lace free hand, but it will take a while. Having a strander will make it a lot easier. Either way, cut your strands a bit wider than you need them, stretch them then trim to the width you want. Pete

Amazing! Pete