HorsehairBraider

Don't think he's got a website. It's him selling it on eBay. I'll ask him for some photos, and when he sends them to me I'll post them. I asked him to join here and I hope he will. We need good tool makers! I'd bet he was an engineer or something - this is a really well-made machine.

What a great way to spend some time! I really like the rawhide one... nice work!

Here ya go: linky and if you look there is a link to both a video showing how to do it, and written instructions. And Mensa from what I hear is not a very fun bunch.

Looks to me like it would work for most weights you'd be wanting to cut lace from. I mean... who would cut lace from a 12 oz hide? Seems like a waste of leather. But it looks like calf, kangaroo and lighter weight hides would fit it no problem, and I'll bet you could skive down thicker hides in strips if you needed to. So far I have tried out the skiver and I *LOVE* it. It is so easy to use! The best skiver I've ever used, that's for sure, real effortless. Also there is a nifty slot at the end of it for the storage of the hex key and pin you need for it so that is really handy. It goes on a piece of wood, and you clamp the wood to your work area. I am using some very strong spring clamps and they hold it just fine. Keep in mind I don't normally use rawhide. I bet if you were cutting rawhide, you'd want to clamp it pretty securely. The tool I have is a sort of "second generation" and not the one in the eBay auction listed in the OP. I wrote the guy who made it, nice guy, and he has offered to post pics. So, anyone wants to see pics, just ask, and I'll have him send them to me to post.

Haven't got a Hansen, so I can't really say... anyone want to send me one? I just got mine and it looks really well made. He included real clear directions. I've got it put together now, when I have a chance to practice with it a bit I'll give my impressions.

No problem with that here - it says "Leatherworks" right in the title. Even years after they got this card they will know what he does. This will be a great business card!

I like the one on the right. I'd still lose the list... But, that's just me. Why limit yourself, you may decide you love _____ and not what's on the list, then no need to make a new card. You've developed a much cleaner, more professional look than the first one, IMHO. Good work!

Well... you did ask... If it were me, I'd take off the list that starts out "Custom" and ends "and Much More". I'd also take out one of the photos... but then, I'm a "less is more" kind of graphic artist, myself. It's a business card so you just want people to get in touch with you. No need to list everything you do, and you can use the negative space nicely. Now you'll be sorry you asked...

I just bought one of these and I'm waiting to get it. I told the guy I would do a write-up about it, once I get it and have a chance to practice with it. Mine has an extra beveling slot cut into it, so I have three different beveling angles.

Thank you for the explanation... I appreciate it.

Hey - wouldn't those make terrific background tools! How did you accomplish this? Did you weld new material on? I have made some by filing away material, but that is really cool how it looks like you actually added material to the stamp. Nice job!

I've raised animals my whole life and I agree this is a tough decision for a 9-yr-old to make, but you know your daughter, and perhaps she is up to this. If it had been me at that age, I don't think I could make the decision to put the animal down before it had suffered a *LOT* - way more than is reasonable or acceptable. Of course I don't let them suffer now, but I've had a lot of life experience to teach me. This might be a time when Dad's life experience could come in real handy. No need to torture the poor little thing. I could sure help you out with some goats; but I probably live too far away. In cases like this you find yourself wishing the animal would either clearly get totally better or simply die on its own; but alas, it doesn't always work out that way. I hope this works out good for your family. And if you are close to northern NM PM me about a goat or two!

She probably wouldn't see that as "natural" - heck, I guess my idea of road kill isn't quite right either. And I must admit, road-killed animals don't supply the best hides. It was just the best thing I could think of. There are all sorts of dead dogs on the roads here, some quite respectable in size; if one had time to cruise the roads periodically you could even get them fairly fresh. You can get in trouble for picking up dead deer in some states, but I don't think they mind if you pick up the dead dogs. I just have a sneaking suspicion she would dislike the idea of dog leather even more than she dislikes the idea of cow leather, but perhaps not; perhaps she is fair-minded in this way. I hope NoahL can find a solution; he seems like a guy with his head on right and I'd like to see him stick around!

Would dog or cat hides be acceptable to her? Those often die without being killed for meat. You might even be able to find some along the road. The hide is small, but so are the hides of rabbits and those are often tanned. I know Tandy sells a home tanning kit. Usually though, when one wants leather, the best thing to do is get a hide from a place that actually kills animals for meat. Those hides are generally bigger. And for various reasons some hides are deemed more "acceptable" than others, depending on the animal it came from. To me, dead is dead, but I realize not everyone sees it that way. I do hope you are able to overcome this issue.

Hey, that's great, and you have to start somewhere! Good start. My business is based almost entirely on my website. My first page was not that great and was hosted on someone else's site... I had to hurry up and learn how to code, and my own first page was not that great either. But you know, you just keep going and before you know it, you've got a site! The important thing is to start. And don't worry about putting all sorts of gewgaws and gadgets on your site - plain and simple is just fine. It works for me, I get compliments on my site all the time. Personally, I don't care for sites that have flashing stuff on them.

Oh heck - these people aren't worth getting worked up over. All they want to do is get people talking about PETA - which is a PITA if you ask me. They just want to be sensationalist, so they can get people talking about them even if it's bad. Although they weren't so thrilled with the publicity when they got caught killing pet dogs and cats they were supposed to be "saving". Sheesh. They're just a bunch of losers who keep trying to be relevant in society. That said, I just got myself a new fancy lace cutter. I could braid up some dandy items from the rawhide, no need to go to all the trouble to tan it...

PETA does stuff in order to attract attention. Please notice that although they will cheerfully poor red paint on old ladies wearing fur coats, they conspicuously leave the Hell's Angels, in their leather gear, strictly alone. After all you don't want to pick on and terrorize someone who can kick the snot out of you... now do you?

I name goats, rabbits, horses - and vehicles too. And then some things don't have names so much as titles - "The Purple Truck", "BOB" (which was short for "Bucket of Bolts") etc. I call my vulcanizer "Seaview" because it has a large round handle on top which reminds me of being in a sub etc. And if you're wondering what a vulcanizer is, here's a picture - vulcanizer So, UKRAY - you are not alone. I too am barking mad.

Hey, LBbyJ - Always happy to have more braiders around - I hope you check things out here and stick around!

Oh hey - it's your birthday? Happy birthday! May your yaks produce many young!

If they were a little smaller than normal tools, I'd think they were for working metal, not leather. But even if that's the case they will still work for leather. I have some stamps that are meant for metal and use them on leather. They are a little sharper than what you normally find in leather tools, and if you hit them too hard they will go all the way through, but they do work and you can get some neat impressions from them. However I don't know that these are for metal. Just a thought.

Wildrose, think of it this way - if someone saw your box and said, "Hey, that's really cool, how quickly can you make me up 500?" how much would you want to get for it? Personally, I'd start at 125.00 or so. As far as marking stuff up: This really does work to increase sales. Many times people are buying a gift for a friend, and they think well of the friend - let's say the friend is an "over 100.00" friend. So then your box would be perfect. (It goes without saying that if you do this it must be quality, as this box clearly is.) I've got a bracelet I sell that I finally had to mark up to $150.00. It takes SO darn long to make. And it was SO popular, that I was basically a slave - I spent all freaking day and night making the darn things, with not much to show for it. I finally had to face up to the fact that I simply CAN NOT work 16 hour days every day with no days off. Much as I hated to, I raised the price, and glory hallelujah - I can finally get enough sleep!

It will run on just about anything. That is because Ritt is a "union dye". That means it has several different types of dye in it - some for protein fibers, some for cellulose (plant) fibers. This is why serious dyers don't think much of it. It is impossible to exhaust - you can't possibly come up with the right fiber combination to suck up ALL of the dye molecules. There is always some left over.

Yes, you can keep going up. You have u2, 02. So the next would be u3, o3 then u4, o4 etc. I once covered a large round object with gold thread and went up to u17, o17. It looks a lot better than merely doubling, in my opinion. I know Bruce Grant talks about that in his book somewhere. Not sure on the other books, as that's the only one I have. ETA - Oh, and where I talk about the foundation knot, I mean the Turk's head knot you tie before you start interbraiding. Although of course you want the ground work to be right too. But those first turns you throw can be critical.

This is not my first project but I made it MANY years ago - back when I was a teenager in fact, and I'm not saying how long ago that was... I used to work at horse barns and the other trainers would always steal my hoof pick, claiming it was theirs. I got sick and tired of buying hoof picks only to have them stolen, so I finally bought one and braided baling twine on it. Baling twine was all I could afford at the time... I was losing too much money buying hoof picks... Well, once I braided it, no one could steal it. I was the only one who knew how to braid, and for that reason I still have this hoof pick decades later. I use it all the time. As you can see it's pretty hammered but it still works! And no one will ever steal it... especially now that it looks so bad...