HorsehairBraider

Hey, that is really cool, but now that you've said that about the tool... well, I think I'll just make my own tool! Then if it is uneven I'll know exactly who to blame...

Great to see another braider! I'm looking forward to checking out your site. This is a really fun forum - glad you are here!

Oh, cool! Thanks! I love seeing the knot work that is different from what I see every day. It's so fun to learn new stuff!

The strongest ones you can get are called NIB - Neodymium - Iron - Boron - magnets. Here is a link to some safety considerations for using them: Magnet Safety One thing to keep in mind, these very strong magnets can mess up the strip on a credit card, mess up audio or video material, and even your hard drive or monitor. Occasionally I have a call to use them in jewelry, so I know that places that sell jewelry supplies would have them. There is a necklace or bracelet clasp that uses them, they sometimes use them in earrings and so on. I've got one I keep on my bench. It's inside a tiny bottle, and when I get done sawing with my teeny tiny jeweler's saw, I sweep it over the bench to pick up the tiny fragments of saw blade from when they break. And just for fun, I have another jar with iron filings in it and love to watch the iron filings change according to the way the magnet is held.

Sorry to hear about your foot! Ouch! That frogskin pocket is really cool. I like the lacing too. Nice job!

Some people like a rough out saddle because they feel it helps them stick in the seat better. Of course, gravity, common sense, a well-develped sense of balance and self-preservation work better for this, but who's to say? Maybe it works. I know it *feels* more secure anyway.

Please do! Your work is *AWESOME* and I for one loving seeing it.

Yeah Scouter - I just don't get the alcohol! I think they meant you should be wearing the boots whilst spraying it with this mixture, but then, soaking in water to form the leather makes a lot more sense to me. Simply spraying it does not seem like it would do the job, but like I say, I am always open to learning new things. The person who "knows everything" can't learn anything. I'd like to thank everyone for their replies. This has helped me see the matter more clearly.

I don't have one but I actually bought someone else's... It had a lot of different types of leather, different colors and finishes, so it gave me a lot of leather choices for my miniature work without having to buy entire hides. It's a terrific idea. How cool! A dinosaur stamp... Awesome!

Thanks for the insight, guys! I appreciate it. I will pass on your information. Luckily the boots are black so no worries about the color changing. They are for his firefighting this summer. Color is the last thing he is concerned about!

Mr. HorsehairBraider just got a new pair of boots, and he was told to spray them with a mixture of water and rubbing alcohol 4 times a day to break them in and make the leather better. Now, that goes against everything I know about leather - wouldn't that make them dry out? But I'll be the first to admit there is always more to learn so I ask the forum - is this a good idea? If it is a good idea, please explain how it works! If it is *not* a good idea, could you please advise what he should do instead? I would have thought using a good conditioner - like Lexol, or even neat's foot oil used sparingly, would be a better plan, but I admit I might be wrong! What does everyone think?

I love it! The colors are gorgeous.

I'm sure someone smart will come along and help with a suggestion... but in the meantime, I have never heard of anyway to take all the dye out of a piece of leather until it is light oil again. Search the forum, there is a thread about dyeing black by using vinegar. Maybe that would work better. Oh yeah, and go through the house and throw out all those crappy brushes!

Well I use one and I agree pretty much with Dale - by itself, it does not produce enough light to suit me. I'm not strictly a leather worker, I am also a jeweler and a horsehair braider (obviously) but I do use that lamp whenever I am working. However I found one I like better. It's called a Daylight ultra slim magnifier lamp. Here's a link for one: Daylight Lamp but you can find them all over. I either work through it (looking through the magnifier) or I raise it up and work under it. I love it because I don't get shadows around my hand. It seems like I can never tell exactly where my tool is when I am doing basketweave due to a shadow, so I really like this lamp for that. This one gives off a LOT of light - when I turn it on at night we almost feel like we need sunglasses! It's great.

I'll second what David says about going to the doctor. Who knows what is causing the swelling but a doctor could give you some ideas. Also gloves are very helpful. So is stretching, just like he says. I've got carpal tunnel in both hands and I had to train myself to use my tools differently. I never bend my hand down towards my arm... I keep it in line with my arm, or else I bend my hand backwards. Even when I'm asleep I don't allow my hand to bend down towards my arm. (I think that is part of what those braces do for you.) I don't hold tools in between my thumb and forefinger. I hold them between my first two fingers, and then use my thumb to guide them. It's weird but you get used to it. I can even hold a pencil that way, and write. I was also told not to get surgery or injections, and by following the doctor's orders I have managed to overcome it to a certain degree. If I started using my hands and arms improperly again no doubt I would swiftly be in pain, but at this time I can do most things and not even notice any discomfort. It took a while to get to that point though.

First time I was asked to put one of my sculptures in a gallery, I said "I can't; it looks stupid." The gallery owner told me, "You don't know what is stupid and neither do I." Well, she was right. Within one week someone had bought that sculpture, took it home and displayed it with great pride and joy. You are not in charge of the universe, so it is not up to you to make decisions for other people. If they like, they like it. Don't question them or think they are "wrong". How would you like it if someone dictated to *you* what your favorite color should be? Do your work honestly and as well as you can, at that time. Yes, you will get better. When I die (whenever that will be) I will have made the best thing I ever did in my life right before that. That does not let me off doing honest work in the meantime.

Wow - that is so cool, congratulations! There are some really nice people out there!

I've got one of those and use it pretty frequently. This one, and any lace maker for that matter, require practice, practice, practice. Once you get the hang of it you are good to go, you can put it down for a year and pick it up again and cut lace just fine. First make sure your blade is sharp. Then as you pull through, make sure you are pulling on the lace, and not the rest of the leather. I also keep my thumb of the hand I am holding the tool with on top of the lace as it goes through the blade, keeping it flat against the tool, so that the lace does not fold up and cut uneven, and I guide the lace slightly down hill as it comes out of the blade. Here's a little tip to get it started through - try and push it through the correct slot for the size you want, and with the leather pushed up against the blade, reach in with a pair of needle nose pliers and grab the leather and pull to get it started. (They have to be a small, fine pair of pliers, obviously, or you could use one of those hemostat clamps that doctors use.) The better quality leather is real easy to cut, that really great "bargain" leather may not cut as easily, but they will all cut.

Great idea to post your pictures Timothy. I am by no means an expert on rawhide, but this is what I would say... Your shape is (to my way of thinking) suspiciously too oval. In the areas where the animal's elbow and flank were, typically, there is an area that extends up toward the spine in a little triangle shape that is thinner and stretchier. So I would not trim it by the shape, I would trim it by the feel of the hide. Those areas don't feel the same; I would try and trim so that what I had left all felt about the same. You might even end up with three circles as opposed to one big oval, just depending on that individual hide. Well, I can't wait to hear what the *real* experts have to say! That's just what my experience has been.

I found the link on the Knot Heads World Wide site. I was looking for someone to talk to about braiding... there is enough activity on this site to make it really fun, plus there are people who know lots and lots of things so it is also very interesting. I like to check the site from time to time as I am working... it helps break up the day. Counting horsehair for braiding is amazingly boring... it is good to take a break here. It's a great site that I really enjoy.

Yeah, really! I could not tell the difference until I enlarged them, and I gotta say - that's a pretty terrific job! You guys have real talent, and this Peter Main guy must be some kind of teacher!

That's nice. What a great idea - my card case is currently metal. That's such a nice way to show off your work.

Over the years my buttons got rounder and rounder... part of that was just experience. If I am making something - say, a horsehair tassel - in the past I have added to the hair a little, to make sure I am tying over a good foundation. I might add a little tiny scrap of leather or something if it does not look like a symmetrical base to me. I don't normally need to do this, as also with the passing years, I have gotten better and better at making the horsehair tassel be round enough to give me a good base, without my messing with it. I did not see the item you are talking about so I can't really say if they braided over a marble or something. It is possible they used something to tie over. However I would not actually regard that as "cheating", I would regard it as someone who recognized there is no point in tying a knot over a crappy, lop-sided base, and tried to come up with an answer to the problem. Here's a couple of mine:

Who hosts your site? Depending on who it is they may have some tool available for you. Also I will sometimes see a page on the web that I really admire, and if you go up to the top right hand part of your screen (this is if you are running Internet Explorer) you will see the word "Page". Click on it and a little menu appears. One of the options on the menu is "View Source". Click on this, and you will get a little window showing the HTML code that makes up that page. I taught myself to do HTML and reading the way other people did it was one of the things that helped me... Anyway, if you find a webpage with a counter that you like, you might try reading the code, and then seeing if you can do something like that. Or your BIL. Whoever. I'm not sure about the pdf files. All I can suggest is that the program makes changes in your files. Some programs will do this. Is there some way you can just use HTML? That might give you a little more control.

Round, if I think it will be an issue. You'd be surprised what being patient can do though, you can get a slot-type to work OK if you are careful and patient.