HorsehairBraider

I just saw them on the "U Braid It" site. Here's the link: Tom Hall Books I've never seen them in person, just heard about them.

Watch out, next everyone's going to want to know how you got the rawhide that color, and you will be out experimenting and becoming the expert on it!

Your link does not work. : Not sure why. I would love to see this... if someone can figure out the correct link...

Don't worry pal - the great thing about life is, no matter how much you learn, there is always more to learn! And learning is FUN! I have come nowhere near the end of knowledge - there is always more. I've got two books now. (I learned to braid by taking apart old braided stuff and writing down all the turns of the knot, but don't do it that way! It is too hard!) My two books are, Bruce Grant's Encyclopedia, and Woolery's Braiding Rawhide. I do believe you could get by with only the Bruce Grant book. Get that book (you can find it on Amazon) and then teach yourself the very simple way of keeping on in the knot and making it bigger. Piece of cake. Heck, if _I_ could learn it, one of my chickens probably could! There is nothing better (to me) than learning a new knot. I envy you all the fun you have ahead of you. Also, as an afterthought: I _MUST_ braid to the final tightness the first time - horsehair is too subject to kinks to allow me to go back. Well, I braid leather and rawhide that way too! Try and teach yourself how to do it at the right tightness the first go round, and you will save yourself lots of time and headaches.

Wow, those are great! What a wonderful Christmas your friends and family will have... and the nice thing about making them yourself is that you can spend that time you make it thinking about the person it is for. Nice work!

Charlie, when I run into this "problem", I simply use a bigger knot! For example, if you have tied your knot with an O2, U2 sequence, just increase to an O3, U3. If it *really* does not fit, back up to your foundation knot (turk's head, casa, whatever you call it) and increase the foundation and do a different, bigger, knot. As far as tension, that is experience. I always remind myself as I begin, to tie my foundation loosely. Now, I can't go back and re-tighten - I braid horsehair and that has to be tied right the first time - but still, you might want to remember not to tighten the foundation part of the knot down real tight, so that there is room in there for the interweave part without getting too tight. If you are using those knots that do not have a foundation (I call them "built knots" because you start at one end and just keep filling in) then your recourse would be to increase the sequence to make the knot cover more.

I have three goats that are about to make their last trip - into the freezer. I was wondering if anyone is interested in the hides? It would be in the next week or two that they would be available. If I know someone wants them, I would be more careful how I took them off. I've got enough hides right now and don't need them. Two are Boer cross 8-month-old kids (wethers) and are white. (They have red heads and legs but you won't see that on the useable hide.) They probably weigh about 50 lbs each. The last one is a 3-yr-old doe, part Angora and she does have some mohair-like curls. She is jet black. The mohair looks very very dark charcoal. She probably weighs around 80 lbs. i'm giving the weight of the live animal to give you some idea of size - I have to guess, as I don't have a scale. I'm asking for $5.00 for both the white ones and $10.00 for the black one. You would have to pay shipping, of course. I can freeze them - that might be the best. They'll weigh a bit more than if they were dried, but you might have to wait a real long time for them to dry. If anyone is interested, PM me and let me know. I'd be happy to take a picture of the animals and send it to anyone who wants to see what they look like first.

Great! You got it! Fourth time's the charm, eh? It looks good... Is that leather, or rawhide? It looks like leather but it can be hard to tell in a photo.

Oh man - she is going to love those! They are really beautiful.

I found a bag of these once at a thrift store. I immediately thought of braiding... but I think they are really used to hang clothes, or maybe gloves or socks. There are no marks on them, just a sort of arrow on the metal showing how they open up. Here is a better picture, with the one on the left being open and the one on the right beign closed: That is pretty big, so you should be able to see the little arrow, and that it is the only mark. So I've no idea where these came from, just that they look like a department store would use them to hang a pair of gloves for display, or something like that. They sure are not strong enough to hold a rawhide braiding project but I have occasionally used them for leather braiding. Every now and then I break one, so I don't have many left now. When I run out, I'll just have to try and find more! They work perfect for horsehair.

Well thanks guys! But... no one found any mistakes? I was sure I had spelled at least one word wrong, used the wrong term or made some mistake. Nothing, huh? Well, cool. Glad you enjoyed it!

Wow - what awesome carving. That sure gives a person something to strive for! I used to carve but never like that...

Here's a video of a guy doing this - go to this site and then scroll down to Doug Krause. There is a short video of him twisting a horsehair rope. That's the nicest rope-twisting machine I have ever seen. There is probably some information on how to contact the guy, so you could ask him about it. Unless you were looking for something more basic...

That is really neat - it looks terrific. The guy is going to love it.

I just wrote and uploaded some pages to my website that show the steps I go through to make a braided horsehair bracelet. I start out with this: And end up with this: The link to the first page: Braided Horsehair Bracelet, page 1. There are two pages, and the link to the second page is at the bottom of the first. I hope you enjoy seeing a little of the process. This is what I do all day long... The pages have not been seen by anybody (except for me of course) and if anyone has any feedback I would appreciate it. Also, if you spot any typos or other errors, please let me know! I have not linked this to the rest of my site yet, so only people who follow the link from here will be able to see it for now. Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions!

Well, for me personally, I like it when it feels cool but is not slippery. It seems to me it gets slippery when it is too wet and is almost hard to grab and pull. I don't know if this is right, but I have always wrapped it in a damp towel to keep it good over several days - but I try to do all the work at once. I use a spray bottle on the towel now and then. Do you have any pictures of your work to share?

Nice! Clever idea...

(ETA: I think the way you are doing it, with 6-strand braid, is a good way to start. It wasn't clear when I posted.) I think that is a good way but of course the same thing can be accomplished several different ways. You could try to just practice on something (like a piece of broomstick) and make your knot a little shorter - those short strings could be used - and see if it still twists. Are you pulling one part tighter? Maybe that is making it twist. You could also just spiral the strings, turn them and make the O1 U1 start of the knot, creating the knot more from the start, than what you are doing. When I do that I tie it down on both ends, and then start my O1 U1. Once I have it started I take off the ties. (However please note, I usually work in horsehair which is a more tricky substance than leather or rawhide, so you might not need to do that.) Another way is to just use one really LONG freaking string, and tie the whole thing out of one string. I've done it that way too, but prefer the way you are doing it. Doing it a different way, you might find a way that works better for you, or is easier for you. It's also good practice. I think it just takes practice, practice, practice. Just go slow, remember to breathe, and keep at it.

Glad you are here! Nice saddle! That's a funny story about roping the dog. I hope you post more of your saddles!

Skinner, welcome! Here is my advice: find someone near you to teach you how to spin. Yes, I mean on a spinning wheel or drop spindle, with fiber (wool, mohair etc.). Once you learn how to spin it will all make sense! I remember when I learned, it took several hours and cost me something like $20 bucks. Once you know how to spin you will understand exactly what you need to do - it is all the same principle. That goes for making horsehair ropes too. That's cool you have that machine! I am quite sure it will work with rawhide, as long as it is "strong" enough. The rawhide will exert more pressure than say wool, so the machine needs to be sturdy. Also, unless your machine is diffent than the ones I have seen, this is not a one-person job. You will need some helpers.

Is the saddle a McClellan? Man oh man, those are nice.

Wonderful work! Thank you so much for sharing, it was inspiring.

Sorry about the wrist! OUCH! And it's very hard when you have an injury that keeps reminding you about its presence. Here's hoping the surgery really helps, I have friends who have had the carpal tunnel surgery and it has worked amazingly well. I've got both carpal tunnel and tendonitis in both hands/arms. What I have done is re-train myself on how I hold tools and how I use my hands as I work. If I can avoid holding a tool between my thumb and first finger, I do it. I often hold tools between my first and second fingers, with my wrist bent backwards (NOT inwards) which may look peculiar but it sure helps. I NEVER bend my wrist inward. In fact, I gave up playing the guitar for that very reason. I even make sure I don't do this while sleeping at night. If I am doing a task that requires me bending my hand inward, I just keep trying to find a different position until I do. I keep my arms, hands and shoulders flexed and stretched. If I have a difficult work session ahead I take a few minutes and stretch out my hands and arms. I made sure my chores were not quite so hard. That meant selling the rare breed of sheep I had been raising for years and years, because of course the shearing is very hard on the hands and arms. I also sold my very old colt-breaking saddle because it weighed about 75 lbs and was hard to put on a horse. (That can still bring tears to my eyes... I loved that saddle.) I got a lighter, more modern saddle. I can't say I like it as much, but it sure is a lot easier. I guess you can see I had to make some major changes. Now, I have friends who had surgery and they had excellent results, but I do think you have to be reasonable about the demands you make on your body. I do think every little bit helps, so even starting with small changes can probably make a big difference. At present I normally have *no* pain in the hands or arms and I am able to do most things. Now, right after we put in the hay for the winter (about 600 bales) yeah, I could hardly hold a coffee cup without pain. But already I feel much better, and I've been working like a fiend for all the Christmas orders.

You got a wonderful 3-D look, especially on the antlers. It is really beautiful. The dye set it off nicely.

WOW! Hey, that profile thing is really cool, now that I can see it! Oh great, I can see I won't get much work done tonight... too busy reading threads and profiles...