yuliya

Tracy, well when you said that you used two double length laces of roo, that makes sense now. I was trying to figure out the way to pull all 4 through the bolt, because I felt that 2 would create the weakest point at the bolt as it's only going to be attached by 2 strings instead of 4, I guess if the core is strong than it might work. I also wonder if I can tie the core on itself through the braid on the back braiding somehow. hmm. I still would love to see the pictures of your leads, didn't you mention in other posts that you used rein knots at the snap and at the handle? woody2shoes, I saw that tutorial, but I did not think the core there provides for any strength, at least not what I was looking for. Vaquero1, yeah I guess I should buy it. For some reason I got Gail's book instead. Yuliya

Joe, you would think that they would be trained not to pull. LoL. I have two kerry blues (30-40) and a giant schanuzer 80-100lbs when fully grown I am not worry about my dogs, I can walk them on the horse hair for a leash after we had finished the training, however I know that if it comes out good, then a few friends will ask me to make one. I want to make sure it's right. The reality is that even in the obedience rings, the dogs only behave in the ring. I've been almost knocked off my feet a few times after the dog walked out of the ring and was drugging the owner to it's crate in expect of the "jack pot" treat. The kerries are hot dogs although not very big. If you stay on the sidelines of the conformation ring you can see some near fights, or in the ring during sparring some dogs loose their cool. I would really hate to make a leash for someone that will break right on the brink of the fight:-) thanks for the description, that's pretty much what I figured you meant while thinking about it last night.

Tracy, but how did you handle the braiding around the snap? if your thread is doubled around the snap, then how do you braid around that core? I think I kind of getting the idea of the handle, I do not understand how to handle the snap. do you have any pictures of your leashes with the snap? I really appreciate the advice, i am just not getting it:-( thanks!

First of all, thank you very much for the response! I've been reading and re-reading it over and over trying to make some sense out of it. I should probably draw a picture to make sure I understood it correctly, but I will try without it first. Did I understand you correctly that I would make a leash out of just a core. I will make a loop for the handle and then I would make a much smaller loop that goes through the ring on the snap bolt, then will start braiding over it? that creates a whole new set of questions: 1) if the core has no end where and how would you start braiding? 2) this means that the braided loop that goes through the ring of the snap bolt is pretty large to allow braiding through. Is this correct? 3) I was looking at this website for a while. If you look at this page: http://www.leashesbydesign.com/Information/FAQ/FAQ.html "section 3 - how many strands do I need?", it says that all the leashes are done with the core, but if you look at the pictures of her leashes, the loops over the snap bolt are really small. so I really wonder what she does with the core, or does it mean that in her designs the core doesn't really provide the extra strength? For that matter, now that I think of it, none of the leashes I've seen have that visible loop through the snap bolt, except the one posted by "KnotHead" on this forum, that has a very visible loop through the bolt, but he said he didn't used the core ( it's in this thread: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=38294) Or maybe I just do not understand what you are suggesting.

Thank you! I saw that one. $70 or $90 is not that expensive, but it's way too much if I just want to make a couple of leashes. For now, I will make a few for myself and maybe a few for friends if it comes out well, but unless someone wants to pay for it eventually I do not see myself making a lot of leashes and just hanging them on the walls:-) I am sure I will have a blast making them, but I will not make them without a need. It seems that everyone is making roo show leashes now days, so I am not sure if I will have any inquiries from outside of the group of friends. will have to figure out what else I can braid if I like braiding and will have no need for more leashes.:-)

As I am waiting for the lace to arrive in the mail, I've been trying to figure out the rest of the pieces of the puzzle:-) I have a couple of questions: 1) I want to make a 4 strand lead, but I want to put a core in it to prevent stretching and for extra strength. It seems that everyone says that kangaroo lace is very strong, but how strong is it without a core? Considering that I want to make a show lead for myself for obedience and conformation rings, I want them to be relatively thin. For obedience, I don't need beads, but for conformation ring I would like to put the beads on. it seems that the largest beads I was able to find were with 5mm hole diameter. I have 30-40 lbs dogs and 80-100 lbs dog. What kind of core can I use to make a leash that is thin and strong to handle those dogs? Plus terriers are expected to spar in the ring and I've seen some dogs go bonkers and practically dangle on the end of the lead in the air:-) although my dogs will not do that, I still want to make sure that the leash can handle 40lb dog go crazy:-) 2) I think I understand how to braid around the core, but I can't figure out what to do with the core on the back braiding and how it suppose to prevent the stretching. Could someone please explain to me that? Thank you all! yuliya

Oh that's great! thank you. I think I saw a description of something like this in some old posts, but I couldnt visualize it.

I've been going through the past forum posts about beveling the lace and getting a bit overloaded:-) I ordered pre-cut lace and I assume I need to bevel it. I do not want to invest into any expensive beveling tools at this point. I had found a lot of discussions about pricey tools, but I wonder if I can do it cheaply somehow for now? Could somebody explain to me if there is a way to do it by hand and how? thanks! Yuliya

I know you are right. thank you. Yuliya

Thanks! That's what I wanted to hear. I think mine is about 1/8" thick, but I couldn't remember what weight I bought as it was a while back. I am trying to use what I have before I go and spend more money, so if it's not think enough, I'll double check, I might have to postpone it and do something else. So basically if I will buy a new hide I should be buying 8-10oz? yuliya

I got a Buck hunting knife for my birthday last weekend. I really like the knife but the sheath is just boring, so I want to try to make one. I never really done anything with leather, I got myself a hide and few tools two years ago tried a couple of things, but was scared to do the actual project. So the first question is what is the minimum and ideal thickness of leather would be required for this? The reason I ask for the minimum is because I have some leather, but after looking at it last night I think it might be too thin:-( Yuliya

Thank you!. it seems to be going better. Yuliya

I can't seem to figure out how to attach the image. I'll try again later. I am getting error " that I am not allowed to attach this kind of file" and the size is only 160k

hello everyone. I wanted to make myself a braided leather show lead, but to start with I've decided to practice on the paracord. The biggest problem I have is that it keeps on spiraling. I can't seem to be able to make it straight. I finished one lead and started another and it seems to spiral less, but it still not straight. I used two different colors so it's very easy to see that the lines are spiraling around. Could somebody give me an idea on how to stop it from happening? Should I just not make any attempts on tightening it at all? thanks! Yuliya