rawhide1

Shelly Thanks for the help. I wound up cutting that knot off I didn't like how it looked due to handling it so much. My wife thought I was crazy after all the hrs I had in it. Plus it was the second knot I've cut off after spending a lot of time on. I do have one of Mrs. Hought books and it is easy to follow. I would like to get them all but they are kinda of out of my reach right now. Which one would ya recomend for building interweaves. I have the one on rommels. BTW very nice web site. Mike

KAW, Alan Thank You for your help. KAW I figured it had something to do with the bights and # of interweaves because as you say I keep coming out at my starting end every second pass. But I just don't know enough about the structure of knots so thank you for the explaination. So I went a differnt route before I read these last post. I was able to do the interweavs in sets of two and it all worked out. Why and how it worked I have know idea but everything came out where it was supposed to I think. Here are a couple of pictures of it. Once again everyone Thank You. Mike

Shelly That would be great if ya could do that when ya get the time. It would be nice to see. But there's no hurry on my part. I think I figured another way of skinning this cat. Hopefully I can post pics. tomorrow (I guess it's today) if I get it licked. Once again Thanks Mike

Alan, Shelly I hate to keep bothering y'all. Maybe I just need to be hit in the head with a hammer. When I start my interweave I follow the one to the left I go up o3u3o3u3o3u3o3u2 making the turn. Then down following the one to the right o3u3o3u3o4u3o3u4making the turn. Going back up following the one to the left o3u3etc... Now when I get to the top I should be going o3u3 making the turn and splitting a pair since this is my second pass. But I don't the pair from my first pass is on the other side. I've studied this wreck for hrs and the only answer I can come up with is on my first pass when I get to the top is to go under six which sounds absurd. I'm starting to feel dumber than a box of rocks. Maybe if someone had a picture they could post that would help. Once again THANKS for any help y'all can offer. Mike

Shelly Thank You for your replies and help. I'll have to try your suggestions this evening when I get time. And I think I will use a black roo string for this interweave so I can track the pattern better as you stated. It is a six bight knot. Once again Thank You Mike

Here's two more I can't figure out why I'm coming out at my starting point. I don't know if ya can see it but in one of the eight pictures after I went over three I had to go under four. And I don't think that is right. Mike

Shelly I'm going to attempt to post some pictures. I took a black marker to the string I'm working with hopefully making it easier to follow.

Hello all I'm working on a pair of roping reins for my daughter and the long pineapple knot I'm using to cover the turnbacks will have a o/u 3 or 4 interweave when I'm done. Well i've started on the o/u 3 interweave. When I started I followed the one to left but when I get to the top of the knot if I go under two when I continue down and make my turn under four I wind up at my standing end. So when I make my turn at the top should I go under four or more. So I was wondering if somebody could tell me how many to turn back under on a o/u three and a o/u four interweave when ya get to the bottom and top of the knot. I'm having a huge brain fart and can't remember the sequence. Thanks in advance for any help' Mike

Crow Nice looking work. Mike

Congratulations Allen !!!!!!!! I don't usually get WH but I'm going out tomorrow and getting it. Mike

Rob Thats a great idea. It would really help people like me out who haven't gotten around to trying to make their own yet. Mike

Rod and Denise I'm by no means an expert but I've always been told the rawhide is a lot weaker when it is bleached. Not much help but it's all I've got. Mike

entiendo Just as knothead said it keeps the snap from wearing through your braid and ruining all your hard work. All ya need is a small scrap of the roo ya made your strings from. Ya'll want to cut it just smaller than the dia. of the braid and just long enough to cover the bottom of your loop with a little coming up each side. Once ya have the piece cut fold it in half and cut the ends at a slight angle. Then punch a couple of small holes the length of the boot on both sides so that the holes are striaght across from each other. Then take and lace it together. These directions are probably as clear as mud. So maybe someone can explain it better. Or ya can find a picture of a reata and look at the boot (burner) that is on the honda. Hope this helps a little. Mike

I use Bryan Neuberts string cutter/bevler. It is well worth the $400.00 Mike

entiendo Nice looking work. The only thing I would suggest would be to sew or lace a boot on the buckle end. Mike

A day of hell in the hay field!!! well I put my hay down and it dried real nice. Real thick wind rows lots of hay. So we started baling and got two racks up and the baler shattered a gear so I borrowed a buddies baler and got one bale through it before it busted a needle. Well it was going to rain that night so my nieghbor said he would get his round baler and put it up so it wouldn't get wet. Well he got six bales rolled and his baler busted. And to top it off I had my head up my butt and pulled a rack under a tree and bent the heck out of it. What a day!! So needless to say I had pretty wet wind rows today. But I racked them over so maybe tommrow I can finish baling If I can find someone to bring a baler on this ground. I hope everyone had better luck than me. Mike

well we put the hay down today yea!!! I'am on duty but the wife said the windrows are 3 foot wide and probaly 3 1/2 to 4 foot tall should be alot of hay. It's probaly 95 out and windy so hopefully if I turn it tomrrow it will bale Monday evening. It's supposed to rain Monday night and Tuesday and plus I'am on duty Tue. So Monday is the day hopefully! I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th. Mike

Howdy everyone!! I've been trying for a month now to get the hay down. But when it rains every three to four days it's kind of hard to do. So i'am not to sure how good or how stemy the brome will be when I do put it up. I've never had to wait this long to bale brome. I think it will take 3 to 4 days for the windrows to dry because the hay is so thick this year. But I guess the horse's can eat tuff hay or go hungry. Hay goes for 4.25 to 4.50 around here for good brome. It cost me 88.00 dollars a acre to fertilize, 10.00 a acre to have it swathed, .30 cents a bale to have my neighbor run his baler, and me and my brothers stack it on the trailer and put it in the barn. And then maybe 100.00 for pizza and beer. Have a Great 4th!!!! Mike

Rob Nice looking work! If that lady dont want it ya can mail it to me!! Mike

Congrats Wolvie!!!

Well I feel everyones pain. I started dipping skoal when I was 12 and and contiued with about a can a day until I turned 32. I quit dipping because my gums were gone. So I started chewing redman about two pouches a day. I also started smoking about a pack a day. Since the nazis here decided we couldn't smoke in the firehouse bay anymore or the bars or in any other place like the legion or VFW go figure. I've cut back to about a pack a week. We can still smoke outside the firehouse but it's a hassle. I mostly like to smoke when i'm drinking or after a good fire. I'm just a nicotine junkie hell sometimes I smoke and chew at the same time pretty sad. I was going to to quit but I was told nobody likes a quitter (just kiddin)But with my kids on my butt about quiting I know I will pretty soon just to keep them off my back. I wish everyone the best of luck in breaking thier bad habits. Mike

Steve I've got Mr. Neuberts string cutter/beveler and I think it works great. I can cut very fine strings with it. I don't bevel much because my strings are so small but what little beveling I do it works great. The cutter/beveler is pretty easy to adjust in small amounts due to the dail that you use to make adjustments. Mr. Neubert is good people and will take the time to answer any and all ?'s on all aspects of braiding. Just my .02cents worth Mike

sometimes i'll ty off around a stair banister or what works good is if ya can set a eye hook somewhere then ya can move your work through it and ty it off as it gets longer. Or ya can clamp it in a vise or get ya some strong spring clips and clamp it to a kitchen self. Just a few things I've done or still do. Hope it helps Mike

Gary Thanks for the repley and the link. I haven't got a chance to do any braiding lately life kinda of gets in the way sometimes. But when I get back at it I think I'll order my roo from Hardtke. They seem like real nice folks and the samples they sent were nice. Mike

Rob I find that after I punch my hole in the leather or work a hole in my braid. I separate my hair into two piles of equal size. I then tape the hair on each pile so that it forms a long point so I can get it through the hole. I then bring the hair through the hole from opposite sides. I find in doing this I get a lot more symmetrical foundation to start with. I then use tape to form the shape and size of foundation I want. I hope this helps and ain't to confusing. Let me know if I can clear it up any. Mike