Sovran81

pretty much says it all.

Thank you. Upon viewing the pic I said "WOW" which caused my other to look over my shoulder. We were able to get her jaw up off the floor, but I dont think her mouth will ever close again.

@ Skyout, yes it helped, almost to the point of information overload. Thank you. I have bookmarked several of the linked pages for reference.

Interesting Louie. Perhaps I am doing something wrong, having learned it all on my own without any sort of m Ientor. I roughed out the strand then greased and stretched through a hook. Most of the stretch remained in the strand. My strand was 15 feet longer after the stretch. Then I oversize the strand and grease and stretch again. I get about another foot or two of strand here. Then final sizing, tapering and beveling. I plan on splitting after the first stretch. I really didnt get much relaxing, possibly because I saturated the strand with grease before and during stretching. By grease I am referring to dressing made from tallow, soap, beeswax and a touch of glycerin. Do you see an issue with my maddness? BTW love the new site. Sorry OP hijacking not intended.

I saw a webpage somewhere that I cannot find now. It compared the cell structure of various leathers for strength. Roo was by far the strongest, while goat was stronger than cow. That being said, I bought a few veg tanned goat hides to try with. I agree 100% with Louie. It is very stretchy and needs to be prestretched quite a bit before doing anything else but roughing the strands out. I also noticed that the parts of the strand that stretched the most also got thicker (like the suede bunched up a little bit.) It seems to be plenty strong but now I am waiting on the arrival of a new splitter before I can braid with it. Hmmm maybe buying that goat was a blessing in disguise. :D

A few more questions. The Osborne 84 and 86 splitters. The 84 seems better built and by the price I guess it is. The 86 has an adjustment that uses scissor bars to move the roller. Has anyone had issues with inaccuracy of the split from one side being higher than the other from a single adjustment point? The 84 and the Campbell keystone appear to be competitively priced. How do they compare in performance? Thanks again.

Beautiful work. Would you be willing to share the basic pattern? I like the way it contours the body.

Thanks folks. @ Jam I was looking at the 6 " model and I dont see a way of locking anything down by twisting the handle. Could that be an option only on the 8" model? edit: nevermind. I found a picture of a copy of the 8" osborne, I understand what you mean now.

I am looking at various inexpensive splitters. The handheld models are out because I will need to split more than just strands. The bulk of intended work will be strands, bellies and shotbags. I am drawn to the heritage splitter but dont see much need for the lap lever. What concerns me is roller adjustment on only one side. It seems to me that with wear it will not split evenly. I dont like the cheap tandy splitter but it has adjustment on both sides. Can anyone shed some light on these splitters for me? Thanks

I make compasses out of a push tack and bits of fishing line, or other no stretch string. As Aggie said, section the hide so the strands of the same section have the same strength.

Thanks Brian I will give it a try. One thing I noticed right away is that it computes for single pass. What I was really looking for was something that could compute for multiple passes. Would it work by just multiplying the strand width by the number of passes to give an accurate base diameter?

I have trouble getting the base for turkshead the correct size. I either get gaps between the strands or it bunches up and wont lay flat because it is too crowded. I have found a calculator online but it gives length of cord needed. Does anyone know of a calculator that I can plug in the other variables to come up with the size base needed?

I am pretty new to lace cutting, practicing on cheap hide and scrap, and I ran across that problem. I turned the hide over and tried again and had much better results. I'm not sure if there is a reason I shouldn't do this but it worked.

I have friends asking for whips that glow in the dark. Has anyone out there tried mixing optical brighteners with dye? OBs tend to add a touch of brightness to colors and allow a bit of glow to almost any color when viewed under black light.

Has anyone used this process for whips? The strands are little more than top grain and the strength of the leather is critical. I like the idea of a cheap deep black but any weakness developed either immediately or over time would not be good.

I have been searching for powdered lead also. I have found this supplier that will sell any amount requested. http://www.espimetals.com/index.php The kicker is you need a account with them and I dont have a tax number to create an account. If there is anyone in the U.S(preferably the south east) with a business license that would be willing to put together an order. Please contact me. I would like a couple kilograms. Edit: they have 2 sizes. 100 and 350 mesh.

Very nice. It makes choosing the section of hide to use so much easier.