rcsaddles

Looks like you remembered most of what you knew. Kind of like falling off a bike or horse, you never forget how.

What I have read in a book, what works for me, and what I tell any and all of my students is, "braid loose, pull tight". That works on both flat and round. Many people tend to pull harder with the strong hand than with the weak hand. I tend to be the opposite if I think about pulling when I braid. I know that sounds funny. I had braided about 40 feet on a reata and my rawhide instructor looked at it and asked, "How do you braid so even?" I asked her what she ment and when she explained about the lines being straight i noticed it. Since then, if I think about pulling even, I always pull harder with my weak hand. Yes, I am kind of odd. My point is, practice, ask questions, listen to advice and take all you see, hear and learn and use the best that works for you and throw out the stuff that doesn't work.

Looks very nice. As a suggestion, hold on to both ends and rub the flat part back and forth over the corner of your desk if the corner is a little rounded. That will make the lace lay against itself better and make it smoother. When you braid your next one, if you have any saddle soap or leather conditioner that will work for paliting saop, use it and you will get a nicer pull on the strands. We all started somewhere and it looks like you are off to a very good start. Keep asking the questions.

Tracym, if you are not really interested in cutting your own lace and don't want to invest in a lace cutter, PM me and I will let you borrow my Aussie Lace cutter for this project. Just pay the shipping both ways.

Very interesting, Buck. I just might have to try this and see how well it works.

You can cut your lace with the Y-Knot tool you have. It is not real easy but doable. I have cut lace with it and in my opinion, it takes a lot of time to cut much lace. If you are going to cut lace, make sure you keep a sharp blade in it and that will help. If you cut from a circle, you might try and have some kind of support for the circle to rest on so you don't have to hold it up also. Remember to cut your lace wide so you can stretch it and then resize it and bevel it. Feel free to ask more questions and remember to post pictures.

Been a lot of years since I have been back in that country. I love that area. I think I'll have to plan a vacation back that way. What are you using for soap? I know there is a lot of different ideas on what works and what is best but I'm just curious as to what you are using.

The best I have found is from Stern Tanning. Jeff Stern is the owner and is doing a great job of processing rawhide. his e-mail is info@sterntanning.com You can also call him at 414-578-8640. Jeff supplied some rawhide disks for a lace cutting class in Sheridan this past May. They cased and cut very nice.

Very nice.

Robert, I've spent some time around Lakeside, NE. I clipped a bull sale for Immage Hereford Ranch back in the late 80's. Sorry if I spelled the name wrong. I was actually born in Broken Bow and raised in Mason City on a small ranch. Clipped cattle in the Sandhills quite a bit and just love the area. That being said, when I make a reata, While it is still a little damp, I will use an anvil and hammer and pound it. |'m not talking about trying to kill the thing but lightly pounding to help the strings lay into each other. This process also softens the rawhide to some degree. Keep asking the questions because it is good information to all of us.

Very nice, Brian.

Very nice, Buck.

Nice job.

Well Buck, I have to say that I have been told, by Mary Fields, to never use neetsfoot oil on rawhide. I can't say that she ever said why or that I have heard why. I use a mixture of tallow and beeswax on my rawhide. Not much new info here but wanted to put my 2 cents in.

Very nice, Buck. Where do you get all your "spare time" to make this stuff. Great idea by the way.

I know that Maidas Belts in Houston, Texas does a lot of alligator belts and I bet they have the ability to do the repair job. Their number is 1-800-785-6036. You would want to talk to either Jason or Jay. Feel free to mention my name when you talk to them.

TXAG, check out www.sterntanning.com Jeff is making rawhide rounds that are very good. We used some at Sheridan for a lace cutting class and they worked great. Nick Carter made Hondas out of the lace we cut. Jeff is great to work with and reasonable on price. Tell him Joe gave you the info if you would please. Everyone likes to know where their advertising works.

Thank you all for the information. I think I have a plan now. Buck, good idea on using rawhide, I think I'll do that. Ramrod, what can I say? I know where you are coming from. I'll post a picture or two when I am finished with this. Thanks again.

I am trying to make a leather tube for a spyglass to fit in. I am windering if anyone has any suggestion on the best and easiest way to stitch the bottom in? I have not done one of these before and would greatly appreciate some info before I get started. Thanks,

In my experience you lose about 1/3 while braiding. If you want something to end up at 8 inches, you should start with your strands being about 24 inches long. You half them to start the flat braid and that will give you enough to hold on to to pull tight at the end.

So where is this show? Sounds like someone needs to do some PR work to get people to enter whips.

I think I heard this is sold.

Those are very nice. I also like that pattern. I hope to make a set or two of those this summer.

Very nice, Brian. Quite an undertaking you are going at. I am looking forward to seeing the finished product.

That is absolutely beautiful. I love the checkerboard look of the seat. I'm going to have to start collecting different woods to make something like that.