bluerider

Are you splitting your latigo or do you have a source for thin hides. I ask only because about 10+ years achoo I was at a friends shop and he was using up the last bit of a 2-3Oz latigo hide he got from Siegal's not long after the Saltz tannery closed and it was very close in quality to the Saltz latigo. I later bought a 10 Oz latigo hide from Siegal's that was supposed to have been made using the Saltz recipes. It was good stuff but I never again saw thin hides. I recently conditioned a dog leash I made for from some Saltz largo for my own use. It had been out in the rain but when I conditioned it it was so obvious how much better qualify that saltz lartio was.

How about using a small oval piece of leather for under the chin. bring the four strands down to the oval and transition to two strands on each side as an edge braid. Then once you edge the oval transition back to a four strand round.

I have sighthounds and most of the tack I make is for other sighthound owners. I mention this because we tend to use martingale style collars so I have made a few in several different designs. The one thing that I am a bit confused by in your question is the comment about the part going under the dogs chin, the martingales I've made go around the dogs neck. Do you have a picture or drawing of the design you are working on? One way to attach a 1/4" wide strip to a ring would be by using a slit braid, two or three slits worth would work and add a nice design elliment. If both ends need to be attached to the same ring this wont work.

I'm glad you found Something that works. I run my roo lace through the saddle soap twice, once on each side and once it dries it's not tacky. I normally use it for knots tied on latigo leads but I have braided with it dry and it braids just fine. The soap allows the dry lace to be pulled tight with out excessive stretching. But it's not like braiding rawhide where you can braid a bit and then tighten up what you've braided. With dry roo you have to braid with even tension. I Don't know if out makes a difference but the lace i'm using is cut from a drum stuffed hides.

A lot of art nouveau designs translate well to leathertooling. Still floral yet decidedly non western.

I'm not familiar with this knot, could you please post a picture.

You can add water to white saddle soap. The stuff in the tin wool dry out over time, both by having the lid off when using it and with the lid closed. I add a bit of water based on how much the cake has shrink away from the edge of the can. I then place the tin on my stoves griddle and stir out a it melts. Out will look like you are burning out at first and the completely melted soap will have a yellowish color. Once cooled out will be white and good a new. I've never tried adding more water to make out softer but my experience suggests that out is most likely possible.

The last step I go through when making kangaroo lace is to hold it under my thumb as I pull it through a can of fiebing's white saddle soap. I run it through flesh side down and then flesh up. I then pull the lace through a soft rag to get any excess saddle soap off and then let the lace dry before braiding. There is enough soap still left after braiding to use a burnisher, though occasionally I will apply a very light amount of fiebongs after i'm completely done burnishing.