whipit

Thanks Tom will try a eraser and see if that will work.

Please help! I'm a plaiter not a stamper. I have carved and stamped to my harts content. Now I'm ready to dye my creation but find I need to clean it before I start. I have marks ie pencil on it. Please please what do I use to clean it with and where do I get it from. Have herd lemon juice is this right. With thanks.

Unfortunatly Barney passed away a few years back now. I would say a expert on knots and turkheads. He didn't put out any books but did do a few sheets of papper to some close friends. I do have some, somewhere about my office. He is sadly missed. He's coin purses were a pice off art, made just out of a turkhead.

Thanks everyone. Yes It was made for Clinton. My sister knows him and his family well and stayed with them for a few weeks last year. She thought it would be a nice gift. ( It cost my sister abit of cash). And yes he is useing it. Bloody horse trainers LOL.

This is a 7foot, 24 plait, two tone Austrailan whip. It has interlocking dimonds. A gift for one of our ex pats

This is a 1/2 inch Bosal. It has a plaited raw hide core,with a 12 plait overlay. Nose button is 8 plait turn back with a over 3, under 3, interweave. The heal knote is a 12 bite, over 3, under 3, for the first 2 rows, then a over 4, under 4, for the center rows.

I'm looking for a computer program that I can use to draw up pattens for braiding. At the moment I use papper with diagonal lines drawn up and colour in the squares to give me the patten to follow. I would like to know if there is any programe that I could use and be able to save it. Please help. Bob

Hi Skip, This is where I get my hides from. 1. I'm lucky enough to live on a dairy farm with Jursey cows. At times we have to destroy a cow that has trouble calving and can't get up. If you let your farmers in your area know that you would like the hides off any animal that needs to be destroyed you'll be surprised what will show up. Only thing you'll have to have a sharp knife and be prepared to do a bit of skinning. I often have people ring up with an old cow and want to know if I could do something with her. 2. Slaughter houses - I have a small one that is fairly close to where I live but are expensive. (I pay by weight $110 - $130 AU) 3. Tannery - Some tanneries will sell there hides at any stage of the tanning stage. This saves a lot of hard work. I can get a hide that has the hair off and ready to be pegged out. The only trouble it is a fair way to drive from where I live. (I pay by full hide $130AU) 4. Home butchers - In Australia we have butchers that go around to farms to butcher cattle for the farmers table. (I have paid $60 - $80 AU) Bob

I'm with Allen and Chris on this. Don't change your lime wash. Depending how soon I get another hide, I sometimes use the same wash. I use a large plastic drum and lift the hide out and turn by hand. I did try a washing machine once. I found it ideal for small hides eg; goat, roo, calfs. When it comes to cattle hides you will find it a bit to heavy for your washing machine. I'm like Chris and use vinegar (cleaning vinegar, or white vinegar). If you use lime you must neutralise it. Battery acid can use but very dangerous and you can use to much and ruin your hide.

I have used goat rawhide as an overlay on a bosal. It has a interesting finish to it. The only thing to watch is that it has a lot of stretch so cut your strands wide, stretch, then re-cut to sizes required. All it can be very thin so watch how much pressure you apply. If you are after something different in look and texture try rawhide pig. good luck.Bob.

Hi, Just a quick question. I'm looking at buying a Weaver Hand Crank Leather Splitter. I would like too find out if anyone is using one and if so are they worth the money. I live in Australia and these items are hard to find, is their any other company's that will sell too overseas customers. Any thoughts would be helpful. Bob.

Just a quick Question. I would like to make a set of spur straps but need too know what OZ leather should I use. With thanks Bob.

Victor, A peace to be proud of. I love the patten in the handle. How do you draw your pattens up? I sometimes do mine on grid papper.

Not long finished this stock whip. The thong and handle are made of 24 strand roo. Length of the thong is 7'2". The patten on the handle is also through the thong. Sorry that the photo's are a bit blurry.

needed. I need to know if this is to much silver as the reins and romal have silver ferrel's. Should I drop the silver interweave out and use rawhide instead. Any comment would be helpful. Thanks

Hi All. Well the hides are ready to come out of the lime. By this the hair is starting to slip. Put the hide over your fleshing beam and push the hair off first than turn the hide over and flesh it. I use a fleshing knife that can be obtained from a hunting store or E-Bay. I also hold a water hose in one hand with one of the handles of the fleshing knife. This helps keep the knife clean and washes the hide at the same time. For a fleshing beam I use an old concrete water trough. Now that the hide has the hair and flesh taken off you will need to de-lime the hide. There are 3 ways to do this. Sulphuric Acid, Sulphate of Ammonia, and Vinegar. I will not go into the acid unless someone asks. Sulphate of Ammonia: Can be obtained from a garden store as it is a fertilizer. To 90L (20gal) of water add 2kg (4 lbs) of Sulphate of Ammonia. Handle the hide in this than leave for 24hrs. I use this for large hides or for a large number of small hides. After 24hrs the hide is washed and is ready to go to the next step. Vinegar: Can be obtained from a grocery store. I use white cleaning vinegar. To every 20L (4.4gal) of water add 2L (4liq pt) of vinegar. Handle the hide in this than leave it in this for 24hrs. I use this for 1 - 2 small hides. After 24hrs the hide is washed and is ready to go to the next step. Pickling: This step is not required but helps the tanning process go a little quicker. Most times I skip this stage and go to the next but if I only have a few small hides I will pickle them until I have 8 - 10 hides to tan. Pickled hides will keep for several months if kept moist and in a sealed container. To 90L (20gal) of water add 7kg (16lbs) of salt and 118mil (1/4liq. pt) of sulphuric acid. Work the hides in this and leave soke for 24hrs. Note: Always add the acid to water and NOT water to acid. Now I will tell you of another way to cut out all the hard work. Surch around for a tannery that deals in wet blue hides. Some tannery's will sell these hides too you and all the hair and flesh has bean taken off. Saddle tree makers use these hides so ask around it dose save alot of work.

I have never Brain Tanned myself so I won't comment on that topic. As for chap leather as far as I know it is made from split cow hide. This is then tanned with chrome salts. Chrome leather can take a lot more punishment then veg tanned leathers. I have tried to get hold of some chrome salts here in Australia but it is a restricted chemical. One of those chemicals that is bad for the environment. Veg tanning will do the job but will not be as durable is chrome. I have tanned hides with the hair on using a alum salt. It is very durable but the salts will wash out if the hide gets wet. Alum tanning is a great home tan for floor mats but if you use too much Alum in the tanning process the hide tends to weep salt in humid weather. At the moment I am trying too explain veg tanning in this forum. If you can wait and are interested I could go though how I do a alum tan and also a type latigo. So in the long run I probably haven't helped you at all. I would like to know what type of hide is it. I will end by saying that this is what I have learnt over some years and I have been wrong on many occasions and if I am, I'm open too comment. Bob

Hi! Thanks to everyone for their comments. Just to answer one question about sheep skins with the wool left on. This is one I haven't tried. I have taken the wool off and tanned it like leather. The skins need to be scoured too allow the tanning to place. This is another subject and I will have to leave it too the end. So if I forget please remind me so I can explain. I have just required a calf hide so I will start too take some photo's of some of the steps. The following solutions are for small hides so if you are doing a large hide just double or even triple the amounts. At no stage should the hide smell like it is rotting. If you get that smell it is likely something has gone wrong and the hide will become useless. Their are 3 ways to take off the hair. 1. Hot water:- I will not go into this as it is covered in the Braiding Forum under making raw hide. 2. Hard wood ashes:- I did use this one when I lived in town. The main reason is that the water, hair, and ashes and be put into your compost heap. As stated their shouldn't be a rotten smell so it shouldn't upset the neighbours to much. All countries have some type of hard wood. I use the ashed out of my wood fire. When I say ashes, I mean the fine stuff not the big charcoal size peaces. Into a plastic container put 50L (10gal) of water, 5 to 7 kgs (5pound) of ashes, and 1kg (2pound) of fine salt. Mix it all together and add the hide or hides. This amount should do 2 to 3 calf sizes hides. The hides needs to be handled at least 4 times a day for the first few days. Then twice a day until the hair starts to slip. This should take about 5 days. If the hair doesnt slip then you should dump the ashes and a make up a fresh batch. 3. Lime:- This is what I use as I always have it on hand and I know that is is going too work. You must use hydrated lime not agricultural lime. Into a plastic container put 50L (10gal) of water, 2kg (4pound) of lime, and 3kg (6pound) of fine salt. As with the ashes the hide need to be handled as much as possible for the first few days. You should find that the hair will start too slip within 3 to 5 days. If you take the hide out and find that their patches that won't just put the hide back into the lime bath for another 24hrs. You should always wear gloves as lime will burn your hands over time. I don't do much fleshing until after the hide has been in the lime bath. I find that the lime helps when fleshing. I do however put the hide across a beam just to take off big peaces of meat and fat before putting it into the lime. Hydrated Lime can be obtained from a builders supply store and is very cheep. I get my fine salt from a agricultural store. Tanneries use lime and sodium hydro-sulphide and the process only takes half the time. Here in Australia I can not use it unless I have a permit from the E.P.A. It is bad for the environment. On that so is a lot of lime, so if you use this method don't put it around the wife's plants as it will kill them. Then the wife will kill you. Been their and done that. I need to go so I will cover what too do next soon. Please ask if you have any questions. Bob

The Whip took around 15hrs work. I have done 24 strand whips and time has run out into 30 odd. It is hard to get money for time as anyone that dose fine time consuming work knows.

To answer a few questions. Most of the tanneries in the world today use a product from South Africa. This product is called Mimosa Power. After a lot of googling I found an import company here in Australia where I can buy it in 25kg bags. I have used it and it saves a lot of time and work. Try ringing a tannery in your area and ask them what they use and where they get it from. Mimosa Power comes from a Acacia tree that grows naturally in Africa. It is very high in tannin so is farmed like a corn crop. I have come up with some tree and fruit from America that can be used. North Americans can use leaves from the Sumach trees, fruit from the Tara tree or bark from the Spanish Chestnut or the Jack Red. The Eastern highlands has Hemlock. Central America can use Divi-divi (one of the best it contains about 40% tannin.) Most of the oaks can be used. Quercus sessiliflora Quercus pedunculata Quercus densiflora (this is the Californian Oak. The twigs contain 30% tannin, while the bark is around 9%). White oak Red oak Black oak Scarlet oak These are just some of the trees that I could come up with. The best thing is to try some of the trees in your area but on a small scale and see if you can get tannin out of that type of tree. If not try another tree. With containers, you don't have to use big bins. When I started out I was using 5L (1gal) buckets. Works the same but on a smaller scale. I use to shoot and tan rabbits as they are a big pest here and if I made a mistake it cost me nothing but a little time. So to start with just get a little bit of bark an leach it in a 5L bucket to see what the tannin is like. I will try to get some photos in the near future but please bear with me as time gets away from me at times. Happy Cracking, Bob

Hi as a new member i though I should show some of my work. Prob hard to see a two tone whip black and red 16 strand. The second photo is a set of reins and maching a bridle. Reins have a raw hide core and a 12plait overlay with whisky roo hide buttons.

Hi everyone! I was talking some what in the braiding forum a little about veg tanning and was asked to post how I do things. I will post this in stages and if anyone has questions I can answer before I move to the next stage. The first stage is to obtain a tannin liquor. Here in Australia we use bark off the wattle tree. Most trees and nuts in the world have some tannin in them. How much depends on the type of trees available. So some of this will be by trial and error depending on if you know what trees or nuts could be used in your area. Anyway this is what I do. I take the the bark off the trees in spring when the tannin is at it highest and the bark seems to strip off easier. I live on a big farm and have plenty of trees to choose from. Once I have the bark I run it though a hammer mill to break it up into smaller peaces. If a hammer mill is not available see if you can rent a garden mulcher. The bark can now be used or you can leave it for a few weeks to dry before the next step. You get more tannin out of dry bark. I use five (5) big rubbish bins plus a 200L (44gal) container for storage. On the first day I put sufficient bark in the first rubbish bin too quarter fill it, than cover with water. After 24hrs or longer if possible the liquor from the first container is poured into the second container which also has been quarter full with bark. Repeat at 24hr intervals, by passing this liquid through all 5 rubbish bins with are quarter full with the bark. At the end of 5 days or longer you should have a very strong liquor and can be stored in a plastic container until required. Note:- must not use any metal containers at any stage as it will weaken the liquor and make it useless. The bark should be discarded after 5 leach processes have taken place. So after 5 days the first bin can be emptied and filled with fresh bark and be put at the end of the line. Even if the liquor is black like tea it still might not be useful so I take a hygrometer (used for making beer and wine). The liquor should read a minium of 1.000. The higher the hygrometer sits in the liquor better the liquor will be. This is the end of the first stage. Please ask any questions and if you want me too go to the next stage let me know. :scratchhead:

rawhide1 I tried using clippers years ago and found that you couldn't get a fine enough cut and after about 2minits the clippers became blunt from dirt and fine particles in the hair. If you are keen enough and have some time up your sleeve try some broken window glass at an angle. Gloves are a must. Hold the glass at a angle and draw it towards you. It works once you get the hang of it but but is time consuming. Hot water is the best because their is no chemicals but I have found that builders lime works for me. The only trouble is the waist. Not good if you live in town. Lime raises the PH of the hide to around PH11 so it has to be naturalized so the PH comes back to around 7. I use vinegar, it isn't as dangerous as sylphic acid. I was using sylphic acid but found that if you put the wrong amount in with water to naturalize the lime it can ruin the hide. With vinegar it doesnt matter if you put too much in. I hope this is some help. Bob

Rod & Denise The reason you don't use salted hides for raw hide is that salt draws out the natural 'glue' in the hide. This 'glue' is what gives raw hide what I call life (stiffness).

Hi! I live on a dairy farm and I tan a lot of my own leather. This includes Raw Hide. I found Jersey cows make the best raw hide as the hide is fairly thin and even. I put the hide in Lime and water until the hair starts to slip (around 3-4 days) then on to a fleshing beam. I use an old concrete cattle trough turned upside down. I'm not overly fussed on getting all the flesh off as when the hide is on the drying rack and is dry I use a sander to take what flesh is left off. After all the hard work is done I then put the hide in water and vinegar for 24hrs. Than I put it on to a drying rack. I veg tan all my own roo hide but that is fairly indeath. I have been doing this for over 7 years now so if anyone has any Q please feel free to ask.