rcsaddles

Very nice, Brian

Very nice indeed.

I am wondering if everyone else noticed tht 8th in the design. This is absolutely beautiful. Maybe you can work in the year it was made or the name of the person it is made for. Just a thought. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished whip.

Forgive me please but I think you are all making this way too hard. Here is my process for making leather barb wire. I will take the round lace, up to 30 feet of it and put it in my jug of brown dye. I use rubber gloves and also as I pull the lace out of the bottle, I pull it through a piece of sheepskin or similar to wipe the excess dye back into the bottle. After the lace is out of the bottle, I will fold in half to have two strands next to each other. I take the looped end and attach to something I can pull against. I usually put it through a hole in the punched angle iron that is the support for the garage door track. I put a piece of wood dowel through the leather loop so it won't pull out of the hole in the angle. Then I pull on the two loose ends and start to twist them together. When it is twisted as tight as you want, attach that end to something heavy enough to hold it. I have a 4 inch vise and a piece of railroad iron. I stretch the lace and let it dry. After it is dry, it will not untwist by itself. The barbs are a little tougher. I will cut pieces of round lace I have dyed and dip them in water and wrap around the wire. Have to keep tightening them to get them to stay but it works. Hope this helps. Hard to explain, easier to show.

Absolutely Beautiful!!!!!

Very nice to each and every one of you. Tell me,if you would please, how tall and wide is the cross? I am going to have to make some of these and think that over Thanksgiving I may have to soak some rawhide and braid. Helps in the digestion of the turkey and the relaxation with 8 kids in the house.

I was just coping Knothead. He did it first. I had the decency to use another braid though. I have been looking at all the neat stuff people do and thinking I should do the same. Never considered using a different braid. Thanks for the heads up on that one. I so much love the people on here. Isn't it great tobe able to have fun like this?

Very nice. I had never thought of using the plastic snaps. Looks like it will work well.

Very nice, Brian. Is the stainless pretty hard? Did it eat up the grinding wheel pretty fast? I have a few pieces of stainless that I should do that with. I do have a few fids made of stainless 3/16 key stock that have a twist in them. I'm waiting to see the finished product also.

I used to cut all my lace with the Aussie Lace Cutter. Leather, rawhide or roo hide. I would venture a guess that I have cut a couple of miles of lace with it. It will only cut from the outside of the circle, not from the inside. For the money, you can not beat it in my opinion. If you are not going to cut a lot of lace, I would highly recommend it. If and when you get one, play with it a while and then ask how to use it.

Very nice. How many ways can it be said?

I was approached by a woman wanting to sell her late husbands equipment. Not a complete list but what I have seen so far. Champion needle and awl stitcher 2 Singer lightweight sewing machines on flatbed tables Randall single line creaser 6 in Landis crank splitter 6 in pull thru splitter (needs blade sharpened and cleaned) 2 Fur machines (Not sure what these do) Standard rivet setter (wall mounted) Another rivet setter (bench mounted) 5 or 6 sides of Pattent leather Lots and lots of Harness Hardware as well as harnes 6 to 8 square feet of harness leather I you are interested in any of this, please e-mail me at rcsaddles@yahoo.com and I can give more info. I am planning on going back next week and getting some pictures. These items are in Lewistown, Montana so yo may want to consider this and possible shipping. Thank yo uvery much for looking.

Very nice work Brian. You keep coming up with these ideas that just are amazing to me.

Beautiful work. String or thong is makes no difference to me either. I'm still getting used to the idea the shoes are now flip flops and no longer thongs. Tells ya my age and how things change. Enrique, please keep posting here. I feel you are going to be a wealth of information. I have always admired the Argentinian way of rawhide braiding. I would give my left arm to spend 6 months there working with some of the older people that braid but then I could not braid. Your work is very beautiful.

If you can find any Ron Edward's books they are, IMHO, the best. I have Grant's Encyclopedia and use it but it can be a little hard to follow at times. What exactly are you looking to do? Most times, anything more than four strand will need a core. I have learned that if you worry about the front, the back will take care of itself. If you look at the pictures of the Rattling Antlers that I posted here, the black rope is an eight round around a 3/8 inch cotton rope. Over two / under two. Give us some more ideas of what you are looking to do and I will help anyway I can.

Thanks, everyone. I talked to the guy that sent them to me and he was very pleased with them. I told him I would be happy to do this to all the antlers he could send me. I think I will get a set and make for him to display in his store. Anyone know where I can buy shed antlers?

Try www.y-knotlace.com Barb has many colors and sizes of roo lace. Only thing I don't like about it is that t is not beveled. If you pull tight and rool your round braiding when done, it does not make a big difference in my opinion. Not trying to take business from Brian. I'm confident his lace is top notch. Brian, if you are looking for other colors of roo hides, pm me and I will give you a name to contact here in the States.

I too want to thank you for your concern and willingness to help. I will be praying for the situation. Might not mean much to him but tell him there is a leather worker in Montana that says, "THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SERVICE TO THIS COUNRTY." I sincerely mean that. I was not able to join the military because of knee problems. I make it a point to alwasy thank a Vet whenever I can. Once again, I will be praying about the situation and please keep us posted.

Thanks All, After teh learning curve on teh long button, they were actually fun to do. I need to do more braiding like this. After so many attempts, I finally "got it" and the process of braiding the buttons is sinking in.

Thanks again, Brian. The antlers wee sent to me by a silversmith in Texas I do a little braiding for. As far as braiding around them, I braided the knots on a mandrel and then slid it onto the antlers and tightened it. Makes life much easier. Especially when you use the pins in the mandrel. I had to rebraid the long buttons enough times I finally "got it" and they make sense to me.

Thanks Brian. One day I hope to be as good as you and others here.

Here are some antlers I braided around for a guy in Texas. All comments welcome