rgerbitz

If your strings are fitting together tightly then you may not be able to tighten it down. Which means that you either need smaller string or a bigger something to tie onto. A picture of your project may be helpful for me to be more accurate in understanding what you are doing. And going back and tightening a knot sucks, and with time and practice you shouldn't have to do that as often. You will learn in time what fits where and how much tension to put into the knot when you start so that when you finish everything will be just perfect. :glare: Hope this helps Rob Gerbitz

In regards to schools/classes there seem to be alot of options. Assuming that a person has spent some time in a saddle and has invested in and studied a personal library, what school/classes might be best in everyone opinions. There are everything from weekend schools to 2 and 3 months courses. What is to little and what is to much. For some people who are trying to put food on the table and learn a new craft taking a couple of weeks off, or more, can be hard to stomach. Wouldn't be bad if you knew that the time spent away from work, family, etc... would be well spent. I not asking anyone to bash any schools but if there is anyone that has some experiance with any of the schools out there, a couple of use are eagerly waiting to hear about them. Thank you all for your time, Rob Gerbitz "Don't make a big deal out of something you don't want to be a big deal"

Thought I would try out the shoofly, just finished it up tonight.

Here are a few things I've learned on.

I really like that tool handle which knot is that on there? Rob

Depending on what sequence you are using 6 will either turn out round or half round, I think half round is U1,O2 or U2,O1 and round is U1,O1,U1. Without a core 8 plait U2,O2 will turn out square, where U1,O1,U1,O1 will turn out round. Hope that isn't confusing, Rob

Looks a whole lot better than my first attempt, can't wait to see what you can do with some practice. "Those who have succeeded with anything in life have failed more than the so called losers."

Welcome Paulette, that looks like a lot of work. Hope you find all that you are looking for here. Lots of knowledge and good people hanging around.

Hey all, thanks for the feedback. I'll try and answer some of your questions. Didn't really keep track of my time except for the heel knot. That took about 2 something hours. The rest of it took a long freakin time. Couple of weeks altogether, evenings and weekends. Haven't had it on a horse yet, maybe next week. My wife rides horses as a career, so hers' are usually the last one on the list to be road. I am very excited to see how it works, and more importantly how it "feels" to her and the horse. Thank you all again, Rob Gerbitz

I finished making this for my wife this weekend. I call it the "Barb". (Wifes' name is Barb) This is the fourth bosal I've made and the first one that from start to finish I didn't have to cut anything off and redo! :D It is a 12 plait 1/2 inch bosal with a 6 bight nose button. Let me know what you think. Thanks Rob

Does anyone have any books by Gail Hought. Are they worth the price? Thank you all. Rob

You might check at menards or lowes some builders and cabinet makers by that stuff by the 4 x 8 sheets. Depends on what you are using but you can take a belt sander to some of those surfaces to smooth them out.

Last night I was working on a project and was using my two favorite tools quite a bit, a bench chisel and a long handled short bladed knife that I bought at a woodworking shop for whittling. And I was wondering what tools you all might be using that may not be "traditional" leather working tools?

Hey Mega, After seeing your bit hobble I was inspired to give one a try. Can't say that I was to pleased, but wife liked it, and slapped it on a bridle before I could let the dogs have it for a chew toy. Here is a picture of the beveler/cutter I use. Thank you for your input. I saw your hobble and the braiding looked good.

I like it, my wife wants me to make one just like that out of rawhide.

Whoops I put my relpy to your question number 2 on the post for string width, sorry about that.

Mike and Cindy Beaver sell cut and beveled string of different widths. I had gotten some from them a couple of years ago, they will sometimes bevel all four edges on their strings. I do beleive that it does help a braid to snug together just a bit bettter. I have also read that beveling on oppisite corners can only be done with leather as rawhide will end up with sharp edges. The last price list I had from Mike and Cindy Read: 1/16" .45 a Foot 3/32" .45 1/8" .45 3/16" .50 1/4" .65 Dyed rawhide costs .20 more per foot Hope this helps.

I've seen quite a bit of difference in thickness on stuff. On the last couple of bosals I used from 1 - 2 / 32. You can find strings that are thinner, but it would seem to me that there isn't a whole lot of using in those peices, not very strong. I use a cutter/beveler that a local machine shop made for me. I had one out of wood looked exactly like the one I have know, but the steel works much better. Hope this helps

I am still very new to braiding. The nose button took about 21/2 hours on the fouth and final attempt. the braiding around the core took about 11/2 hours. And the heel knot took about 2 - 3 hours. There were about 2 weeks of after work and weekends in hide prep and string cutting and beveling. I gave the bosal to a friend in trade for some ranch roping lessons. Even if I had charged him for it I might have made about 0.10 per hour. I sure did enjoy seeing it done. I am currently working on one for my wife... wonder what kind of trade we might come up with.

Hey all I had posted this prior to "incident". Thought I would try for a second opinion. Please let me know what you think. Thanks, Rob Gerbitz

Good lookin' knot! What do you use to build up under your knots?

I just finished cutting about 180 feet of string from a disc. I was thinking there must be a better way of doing this. I have a string cutter fashioned somewhat after the hansen's cutter. It seems to me that if there were a way to hook a variable speed motor up to a foot pedal like on a sewing machine, then have some way to clamp the cut string between two rollers that would leave both hands free to guide the string through the cutter. Has this already been done, does anyone have any ideas?

I am sure others will have some good ideas, one good source for anything braiding is Bruce Grants book the Encyclepedia of rawhide and leather braiding. As for spherical type knots the pinapple or heel knot had ought to work. That is what you would see on the bottom of a bosal, some folks use them to cover the tops of whip handles and such. There are other knots like a multiple string knot that would cover over a handle yet you would be able to run down the length of a handle. If you would web search for whip makers and methods you might end up with more info on the subject than you can handle. Or just hang in here and keep asking and someone some how will get you the info you need. Good luck, hope this helps. Rob Gerbitz

I got this finished at 9 on christmas eve, to bad the man I'm making it for lives 400 miles away. Thanks again to everyone on this site. All the topics of discussion that I have read on here have helped alot to give me the information and motivation needed to finish.

Thank you Johanna you and this forum have given me quite a bit in the short time I have been here.