Kanga

haha, no! but I can see why you might have thought that. sighthounds are the breeds of hunting dogs that hunt mainly by sight and then run their prey down, so greyhounds, whippets (my breed), salukis, afghans, deerhounds, wolfhounds etc. They have long slender heads and long necks so need wide collars. Linda

Hi and welcome. Are you in Australia? I get the impression from your name that you are. I am in Victoria an am also interested in roo hide plaiting. Never done a whip though, I am sure you'll be able to get some help here if you need it. have fun

Hello and welcome AnnieO, good to see another Aussie here. I am in the Yarra Valley, Victoria and mostly do roo hide plaiting and hand stitched sighthound collars, also from roo. hope you have fun here. Linda

Just letting any Melbournites know that Lefflers have relocated to 171 Kensington rd West Melbourne into a great big bunnings style warehouse. Everything is findable and accesable but that lovely old historic building with it's ricketty wooden staircase in South Melbourne is all gone. RIP old Lefflers

I always come away from his place on a high. He's a great man.

This is a friend of mine at work. He's a living treasure, in his mid 80's now and one of those wonderful people who wants to share his work and tell how he does it. I am very lucky to call him my friend. Just before Ron Edwards passed away he printed some photos of Dougs work and even gave it a name: the Kite reduction, it showed a way of reducing strands so you couldn't see where they'd been dropped. He's a perfectionist. You can see where he'd already undone this work, actually he just picked it up to plait with because I asked to take a pic of him working. Sadly he wouldn't let me take an actual photo of him.

I use Joseph Lyddy saddle soap when I plait. Doesn't darken it. The way I work out how much leather I need is to triple the length of each strand. So, if I'm making a 1 metre leash, for each strand that will be doubled over to actually plait, I cut 3 metres. So for a 6 strand 1 metre leash I would need a total of 9 metres, that is, 3 strands of 3 metres each. Linda

Try taking a photo outside on a dull day. I took a pic of my collars and leads by placing them outside but not right out in the open, I put them on the porch and took the pic. No shadows, true colour, this was using a film SLR and the pic came out so well I used it on business cards. It looks like a professional took it. try that. good luck

What cute babies they are. It sounds like you live in paradise to me, hummingbirds, elks, grizzlies, wow. I was watching a program on China the other day and they said Yaks are high altitude animals and get sick and die if they come down too low. Does that mean you live up really high or have they somehow acclimatised.

Oh, I've just found this thread, glad you made it. I notice I wrote the post on the exact day you landed, flukey! I used to live in Gippsland, it's a beautiful part of the world plenty of rain and mud in the winter though. I lived in Narracan, just out of Trafalgar for a year or two. overall I was in Gippsland for about 6 years. Have you taken yourself for a day trip to Walhalla yet? It's very pretty. Also you need to get down to Wilsons Prom for a weekend. I am about an hour and a half from you. That's great that your stuff is all through, hope you can settle in soon and find work. Good luck. I really hope you are happy here. Linda

I immediately thought of Medusa too. Roo, does the movie industry know about you? I suspect you could get alot of work if they did, in fact I think they'd be beating your door down.

Wow! there's a bit of everything in it, and all so beautifully done. I love your pony too, she has a very kind eye. I bet she's a good natured girl. Linda

thanks again! Didn't see your second post yesterday, I just emailed them because I haven't heard back from the US mob I emailed yesterday. Linda

I think I've just found somewhere. thanks

thanks for that Leatheroo! I think they're still a bit big though, they need to be quite small because the plait will be a fine one. Anything too big looks clunky. Linda

Hi, I need to get some solid brass rings to use on dog show slips. I dont want those gold plated ones or welded rings. I can get big ones from Lefflers but I need these to be small, about 3/8ths of an inch or 1cm. anyone know where I can get them? thanks in advance Linda

anyone know if she's moved over here yet? Hope it's all going well for her.

That's great news about the mag and the association, I am so glad it will continue. Hey, can you still buy those beautiful enamel badges for the Plaiters and whipmakers assoc.? I was a member several years ago and kept asking about them but they didn't have any at the time. Just before Ron died a friend of mine posted him some of his work and it went in the mag. "The Kite Reduction" Ron called it. Linda

Hello and welcome, another Aussie here bewdy!! I am in Victoria and work with roo. Had a quick look at your site. Have you taken over the mag that Ron Edwards used to edit? I was wondering what would happen to it. Glad to see it will continue. Linda

Are you in Australia yet? Let us know when you get here. Hope all goes well. Linda in the Yarra Valley

Oh No! What a loss! I have some of his books too. I always appreciate those who are so willing to SHARE their talent, not keep it all to themselves. He's certainly left his mark. My condolences to his family and friends. He will be missed. Linda

How come I cant view the pics? I keep getting the error message saying it may have been moved or deleted Linda

So glad to see you're back. I've been checking everyday. What happened?? OK who broke it? Sure hope you can restore all the posts, so much valuable information there, this place is a wonderful resource. It would be sad to loose all that. Thankyou to those of you who've been working hard to make it right again. Linda

Can I suggest that you dont need to splice back at the clip end. You can in fact start your plait there by just doubling over the strands, so if you are doing a six strand leash you cut three strands & double them over. Then you only have one splice at the handle end. It's much neater. I've just ordered a silver & a gold hide so I will be cutting my own lacing from them. I've never seen them before, I hope they're nice. Linda

I dont have a camera anymore so I cant post a photo Johanna. Never mind, I did what I said I would, cut a peice & scrubbed it in warm water, let it dry then oiled the skin side. It's fine so that's what I'll do with it in future. Linda