Tex181

I'm next door to you- Los Fresnos. what kind of patterns do you have? I have a friend, Don Gonzales Saddlery {no relation}. Maybe he would be interested in some of them.

Have you looked at Youtube - El Rincon Del Soguero. He uses instant coffee in his braiding soap to give the work a brownish aged look. OG

What you maybe asking for is used with roping hard and fast (calf-roper). The knot is use to release the rope off the saddle. The knot that I have seen used in South Texas (King Ranch) is the Bruce Grant Knot "Gaucho Knot of Three Passes with a long tail to assist the quick release. This knot is made of 1/4 in. X 1/8 rawhide. Any other knot or turk's head will work as long as it stout enough to take pressure. Smith Bro. in Denton, Tx. has a knot that is made of 1/4 braided nylon string and is hitched. They also show some made out of aluminum. But then that is of some other forum.

hope its not to late but here goes. Bruce Grant's "Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding" has one he calls Two-Bight Turk's Head of Any Length or youtube- A Long 4 bight Paracord Turk's Head Knot. The 2 bight knot would needs to be increased to 4 in your case.

jbrana The quirt you described sound very much like one that the Mexican charros use. It is a rawhide twist of about 1 in. folded back on itself with leather falls of about 3/4 in. You may find one if you google mexican charro.

Hell Bent 4 Leather; There is a feller on youtube that has the 1 to 5 and 1 to 7 edge braid videos. You will find him by the name of El Rincon Del Soguero (Rawhider or Leather Worker's Corner ).

Sissy To braid the scabbard cut a pvc pipe about 10 ins. long. This will give you something to hold on to and room to braid. You can hold in a vise in order to use both hands. Make the scabbard a bit longer than how you want it to cover the knife, to allow for the shrinkage and around the end of the knife, when you go back and tighten the braid. To give the scabbard its form, cut and shape a 1X4 board to the size of the knife being cover. Giving the braid a good temper, slip the braid over the knife form and rub toward the top. Then let it dry over night. Ex. Case Trapper - 1X2 in. pvc pipe Case Soddbuster - 1X2 in. pvc pipe Case Old Timer - 3X4 in. pvc pipe I use 1X8 rawhide single. Multistring (I used 6 string when I started) may be better for you to start of with.

You will find that the knot you have is made of two knots. The foundation knot is a gaucho knot ( Bruce Grant books) with a spanish ring knot inter-weaved on top. The knot on ether side are of the same knot only the size changes. El Rinco Del Sogero on You Tube is where I found this style of braiding. He calls is marine work. Mr. Grant calls these knots Turk Head Knots. This effect can be used on a Gaucho knot ( runs across the length of the line ) and on the Herringbone knot ( runs along the length of the line).