rgerbitz

I'm from Illinois so can't help you much with the local talent but I thought I would give you some of the books that can be useful in figuring out everything. There are more and hopefully others will chime in but these are the few I have. The encyclepdia Gail Hought and a couple of videos Bryan Nuebert There are some very good braiders around here if you get into a tight spot just start asking questions, we all learn when you do. Good luck, Rob

Hello all, I am looking to get a side of latigo. Will be using it to make bosal hangers mainly, and for other odds and ends repair work. Possibly may look at using it to braid a bosal or two. Can anyone suggest which latigo maybe best for these uses? Which weight and suppliers would be best to look at. Thank you for your time, Rob

Pip, I cannot speak for the other cutters but for mine I have to keep a close eye on where the cutting is happening and keep everything feeding into the blade just so. Otherwise what you are experiencing will happen. Assuming you are cutting from a circle and cutting rawhide it is possible to get to much hide between the blade and collar which will either cause the rawhide to roll or put enough pressure on the blade to snap it off. (Watch your eyes) Like most things done well there is a element where timing and feel become very important and experience is about the only teacher that can help. Rob

KAW, Very nice work, I'm sure you have told us before, but what do you put on your braiding as a finish? Rob

Chalk another one up for white saddle soap. Used Rawhide cream on some Roo not sure yet if I like it. Rob

The vinegar helps to nuetrilize the effects of the lime and dissolve what may be remaining off. I have had hides that I did not leave in the vinegar long enough turn out with a kind of chalky film on them in places. Rob

Good work, looks good!

Hello everyone, I don't do a whole lot with leather I mostly mess around with braiding. My nephew asked me if I could make him a holster for this replica gun for him. I'm not sure if I am capable but I said I would try. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to how to go about making or finding a pattern for this gun and what weight leather should be used? Thank you for your time Rob

Mike here are some more pictures, sorry, I didn't really take them at the right time now that I look at 'em. But maybe you can make some sense of it. And as far as the length of string goes I cut each string 6 foot long. I have about a good foot to a foot and a half extra, but my math isn't very good and I have had to cut several buttons off cause I ran out of string. That makes me cuss alot. I would rather waste about 10 foot of string instead of 60 foot cause I can't properly work a calculator. Rob

Hey Mike, Each end gets turned back and run back the length of the button. Depending on what I want I will either bury the ends around the end buttons or make a row towards the ends which when it is rolled out forms a kinda of flat spot this seems to be the way that Gail Hought buries her ends at least in the one book I have. When I get to burying the ends I will try to put some pictures up. Rob

I have seen several different ways of doing this and thought that I would post a couple of pictures of how I have been doing it. The only reason I have for doing it this way is that I haven't been able to figure out how to do it any other way. I know, its a great reason. Rob

Very nice job Mike. I had the similar thing happen the other day with the strings being a bit thinner than desired and found that if I grabbed the core and pushed up everytime I pulled a string around that it would tighten up a little better. Don't know if that works every time, but it worked that time. What did you do to get that brown color? Rob

Very cool Alan, how much time were you able to spend with Nate? Here is a Link if anyone else wants to read the article.

Thank you KAW. I solved the problem this time by squeezing it on up to an 8 bight knot. I know it cheating. What do you mean by "knowing different interweaves" is there more than one way to do it? Rob

Hey Mike, I am currently having the same problem on tool handle I am practicing on. If I understand KAW, you are saying that the O3,U3 passes must run with O2,U2 and that it cannot start more in the middle of the knot on a 6 bight knot?

Hello Crow, I haven't had this problem unless it went into storage smelling bad. I have some of the first rawhide I made from two years ago, and it still smells fine. Moisture is a problem here, very humid, even with a dehumidifier running non stop. I am guessing that maybe some fat and meat got left on the flesh side. Once that gets split off you should be in good shape, unless the hide itself got damaged in some way. Good luck with it. Rob

Hello Kevin, If I remember right from your tut. that got lost you said to not let the water get above 140 degrees? And what diameter is your hoop? Thanks for your input. Rob

Hello Tom, A bosal is part of a set up called a hackmore that is used as an aid in suggesting what direction a horse might travel in. The third horse back shows how it is worn on a horse. There is also some thoughts on the hackmore here if you want to know some more about it. Rob

Nice job, you don't see alot of gear like that in that setting.

Hey Carr, Nothing wrong with your rope, the hondos everyone else is talking about are, like Alan said, removable. And allow the rope to twist a bit without getting the hondo out of position. Here is an example of a very fine riata and hondo. Rob

Twin Oaks thank you as well. Rob

Thanks for breaking down that paper a little for us Denise. It all makes alot of sense. I just strethed out my last hide in a frame last night to let it dry. And while I was able to remove the majority of the hair there were just a few more stubbourn than the rest. I whole heartedly agree with the temp. thing. The previous hide I did I know sat in water that was to hot for to long, and that made it so that when I went to scrape or scud the hair off I could easily break through the top layers of hide. This last hide in an attempt to keep the odor down abit I added a healthy dose of antibacterial dish soap and an ounce of clorox to the lime bath to help control the bacteria, and I believe it worked at least I haven't heard my wife and daughter gaging when they walk through the barn this time. And I think ( not Know, THINK) that the soap helped in getting the surface of the hide cleaned up alittle better. I am hoping that with in the next two weeks I will be able to try the sodium sulphide on a hide.

Sorry trastu no hablo espanol, tell me again please.

I have tried to do the dry scrape method once on my first hide I did. It looked to be the simplest method at the time. I did it in November and we happened to have a bit of a wet spell then. It took over 3 weeks for it to totally dry out. As I learn more I think that I will try that again some day but maybe only with half of a hide. And I will clip the hair off before setting it out to dry. With the hair being longer in areas than others it allowed sections to dry out quicker than others which allowed the hide to "dimple" making it very difficult to scrape the hair away without getting to deep into the outer layer. The string that I did salvage from that did turn out very cool. I would like to talk to rcsaddles a bit more about how he goes about it. There is a neat video here that gives a guy an idea of one way to do it. I would also like to try making a paste of ashes and trying that some time, maybe with the other half a hide. Thanks for you input Alan! Rob

Thank you Heather, I would agree that taking the fat and extra bits of meat is best done when the hide is fresh. I have tried it after it has soaked, and also after the hide was a day old. And both times it was very difficult to do a very good job of getting the fat off. Not to mention the smell after a day or so starts to get a little rank. Thank you for your input. Rob