Drac

wolvie no prob. you got home about the same I did from the regular job *L*

cut the strand off as close as you can while still pulling it tight. use your fib (he lies! it's a FID!) to tuck the end just a little bit back under so it can't be seen and press down on the top of the strand so it's even with the others. really messes with peeps when they can't find the overlap and the end. make sure you do all the above bits quickly so the super glue doesn't dry before you get it done. now check the end and make sure everything's centered and even. voila! you be done, yo! at least with the end turkshead. to do the one for tails, you just follow all the steps above for the most part. one thing I've found that helps is to hold the tails instead of the handle, so you're making the loops around the handle. now then, love peace and chicken grease! I'm outee like 5! gonna get ghost! time to make a banana and leave!

run your needle through right across the top of the strand you just cut. pull it through until there's a loop about an inch to inch and half big from top to bottom. now put a line of *look! down on the table! it's a bump! no, it's a lump! no! it's stuck to my hand!* super glue on the inside of the loop. pull it through quickly before it dries... tune in for the next post of how to make your head explode!

keep going with the over one and under one (since that's the turkshead this tutorial is attempting to teach... and it's the only one I figured out ) until you get to this point. this point being you can only fit one more strand through. by now your turkshead should be tight enough and the strands close enough where you'll need to work your fid under a strand (from the opposite direction that the needle is coming in from) CAREFULLY. the is where that slight angle comes in handy on mine. you can also work the fid back and forth a bit if you need more room for the strand. once the needle is about halfway through you can also grab it with the needlenose pliers and work it back and forth a bit for extra room. now you've made back around to your starting point. oh no! what to do! turn the page, true believers and find out! or look at the next picture and read the text. pull the starting end fairly hard and cut it off as close as you can to the turkshead. heeere's fiddy! I think the picture kinda speaks for itself, so on to the next one. you guessed it! *CONTINUED*

aaaaaand, here's how I do me turksheads. things ya need. your handle with the base done and ready, lacing (I use about 7 1/2 feet of 3/16" wide lacing from tandy *item #55006-01*), small needle nose pliers, a fid (mine's an old screwdriver with the tip worn at angle. that comes in handy), gel super glue (more control with the gel type), lacing needle (I like the 2 prong ones) and scissors. after you've cut your length of lacing, put your needle on one end and trim it at angle on both sides like this put about 4 or 5 inches against the handle and hold it there, then loop the lacing around the base with the loop being across the top on the backside and crossing over your start on the front. the edge of the lace is usually against the edge of the base on the backside. make another loop around the backside, crossing over the first loop in the back (I'm lefthanded so my loop goes to the right), then run it under the first strand on the front. bring your strand around the back like you were doing another lop, but this time run it under the first strand before bring it back to the front. *photo of backside* now finish bringing the strand around to the front and go OVER the first strand, UNDER the second strand, and OVER the third strand. at this point, I hold the piece up and make sure that the "V" that's now created is lined up to the center of the 3 loops in the back. if it's not, I take my fid and adjust the backside until everything's lined up. the previous picture was taken at a slight angle, but they lined up on the piece. that's a secret nobody else will tell ya. if they line up correctly, everything else is cake... mmmmmm... caaaake... *drool* I find it helpful that as I'm making my loops over the edges to hold it there until I've gone under the next strand. when I go under a strand, I push the needle (before pulling all the way through) against the strand it's going to be right next to and pull through at a slight angle towards it too, sometimes using a finger or thumb to guide it and keep it there. also remember, turksheads are a self tightening knot. you don't have to pull real hard. just enough so your strands are a little snug and won't slide around unless you need to adjust them. *CONTINUED*

so here's my templates for handle braids. thought I had one or two more figured out, but here's what I could find. they all use 1/2" wide strips except for the "button braid" which uses 3/4" wide AND 1/4" wide strips. with the "button braid" I usually use just 2 colors so the "buttons" really stand out, but it looks good with 3 colors also. have fun! button braid checkerboard chaos braid candycane diamond or enclosed braid multi-diamond

wag it is a little long. I was going to stitch across it but decided not to at the last minute and I already had it attached to the slide and soaked for forming. that embossed piece was a piece of pre-embossed scrap that I had laying around. thanks for the compliment!

well, here they are. pics of me first try at forming a holster. did it for a pistol of of me roomies. designed for concealed carry at the small of the back. double layer backing and double layering plus embossed around the throat and down the spine. hand forming done with some help from a folder. stitching was done on a tippman boss as always. whut ya thunk?

"that boy suffers from from that rare and sometimes fatal disease known as noassatall!"

looks grrrrreat! *L* had ta do that one. I'd paint the rivets on the helm though.

thanks for the kind words on the tutorial. showing how I do these is much easier in person, I must say. glad i went in depth enough for everyone to understand. spider I'll post up pics of the other pattern templates I came up with in a couple of days so there's more handle braid choices.

folded to look braided or woven, now that's interesting! I'd love to know that grid/pattern!

*L* yeah, mine did too. several times. but I was having to figure it all out meself without a snazzy site like this. maybe I'll attempt a tutorial on how I do mine. and BTW, I've gotten to the point where to do a flogger from start to finish takes me about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. that took me awhile though.

so, everybody's had a few days, let's see some pics o' work!

tom go to a store that sells aquarium stuff and get a bunch of the colored glass dots. that'll work too and they're fairly cheap. if you can't a place that sells 'em like that, go to a gaming/comic bok shop and ask for glass bead counters (yep! I'm a comic geek). they're the same thing, just cheaper at the fish stores.

you can get the standard punch set and a semi-cheap drill press to chuck 'em into. it's quiet and a LOT easier on the hands. I've gone that route before and liked it when I had to do the quiet thing. I'd say hit up any machine shops in the area and see if they have any old nonworking drill presses they're just gonna toss. might be able to pick one up for free. as long as the throat's fine (still goes up and down in a straight line) and the chuck works, it's fine.

pip lining the cuffs comes down to preference. I've lined with suede, sheepskin, and garment. depends on what the customer wants and/or what you're going for. always glue and stitch though. as far as money in BDSM crafts though, there can be. it depends on getting the right contacts, making the right items, and being in the right location. I don't put my stuff in places on commission. if they can find the store, they can find me. I'll occassionally sell wholesale to stores though, but only if I like the place. maeshin you make your list, and I'll check it twice. *L* luke I have worse stories than that. beliiiiieeeeve me!

alex *L* thanks, but I'm actually no good at the round braiding. I can only do a 4 strand round braid the normal way, and I'll still screw up on those occasionally. that's why I came up with doing the handles with the wrapping and pulling the other strands through. made it much simpler, quicker and easier for me. the hardest part was figuring out how to do the turksheads. me head exploded several times over those, not to mention the migraines. that's why I only figured out the one turkshead braid.

maeshin well if you have any questions about anything, just let me know and I'll answer as best I can.

check at outdoor sporting goods places in the camping section. the boy scouts used to have one like that too.

buff there's a couple of nice looking "exotic" cow hair on hide dye jobs out there that would look great on there. there's a great looking leopard print which I use (and a crappy one too. looks more like cheetah and not a good looking cheetah either), tiger, and zebra.

leatheroo I figured if other professionals here were nice enough to show how they make some of their items, then I could too. making this stuff was me livelihood for a long time, but I'll still share (unlike most in me biz). chitin with the way I attach tails, no loss of durability. you can hang from me floggers. also, I've seen 'em done the way you're talking about and seen the handle break during a hard session. plus it's very hard to get a consistent handle size. I actually used to do them like that (never heard of any of mine breaking) and I'd used electrical tape to do a compressing wrap before doing the handle braid. another problem is when done like that you get a seam that runs down the handle. it's not that noticeable with softer leathers, but something like latigo definitely shows it. also I've noticed the balance tends to vary a lot from flogger to flogger when done that way. when done this way the balance point is about a 1/4" into the top turkshead out from the handle. but let's face it, balance doesn't really mean anything since there's so many different ways to hold a flogger. it's more about what feels right for an individual. howard I don't think of the the handle being braided until is done since I suck at round braiding anything more than 4 strands. that's why I came up with the way i do the handle braid. it's much quicker and easier. try it and you'll see what I mean. the only semi-difficult part of it is figuring out how snug to wrap and pull, and you figure that out fairly quickly. plus, an advantage to it is if you have to let go it for some reason it's not gonna unravel itself.

I'd say skip the rotary punch (don't like 'em, meself) and get a set of regular punches.

Use the kite string to gather the tails tightly together about ¼" from the ends at the base. 4 or 5 wraps is usually enough. pull is snug as you're wrapping it then tie a square knot. Do your Turkshead, remove the kite string, make sure you know how to use it and voila! Spankies all around!

Take the long straight edge and place it on the leather lengthwise, and use the metal ruler to measure your tail width. Cut towards the line to prevent stretch. Get close to the line but don't go past it. When you get to the end cut off that bit of excess. Now take the exacto and finish the cuts right to the line. This way you don't end up with strays when it's used. Make a line one inch from the end all the way around on the end opposite the Turkshead on the handle. Now attach the tails to the handle the same way the other end was done making sure the edge lines up with the line.