roo4u

i started with the wooden one and then when i wore that puppy out i tried a draw gauge and hated it. then i found a metal version of the wooden style....i love it. i looked and it is also a crafttool. i have used it many times to cut 6" straps out of full sides.

well i am a braider and not a carver so i dont see anything wrong with the carving part....i agree with the others, very nice colors. edge and stitching are a bit rough, i agree with bruce, shorten your stitch and you can use some sort of sander on the edge to take off the bumps... the things that make a handcrafted gift special are the unseen things you put into it...if a friend gave me this as a gift i would treasure it. Please accept the kindly given advice offered here and ignore those who choose to be, well, downright mean with what they say.

wow...it doesnt even really look like leather.

for high quality dog leads i dont recommend using commercially made lace...i have been braiding leashes professionally since 1998 and i have never used it..... others that have still end up having to do all the same prep work on the lace, and add to that using a conditioner to make the lace pliable. otherwise it is much harder than lace cut by hand and does not braid as smoothly for leashes.

thanks spinner....i think i tried searching for it too soon...cuz it does show up now...

could you post a link i have searched ebay and cant find it

the best way to get a nice soft lace is to cut your own!

oh...cool...learn something new every day

what the heck is that? sorry but thats the first thing that popped into my head...just a rather odd looking thing isnt it? or is it just me? i would just use a good quality leather conditioner on whatever that is...i think that someone else just asked about conditioning old leather so you might look at recent topics for the info you seek.

ive laced a few bracelets together and just always used one of the edge braids from bruce grants encyclopedia...ive also seen a few sets of hobbles done that way...

well for leather there is pecards... i got mine from davidmorgan.com it is non animal product....works really well, i dont know about using it on rawhide

NICE!!!

HA! kevin you took the thought right out of my mind....since most people are vegan because they think slaughter is cruel how can she justify keeping and riding a horse....hmmmm

if you like the look of the buttons you have then congrats you are done...good job! the original purpose of buttons on romal reins was to create weight to balance a spade bit, which is the traditional final bit for a bridle horse. nowadays its mostly just decoration....

its a cool looking saddle....i could see some of these younger ropers wanting something like that. ive seen some tattoed pierced hard rock heavy metal looking kids out team penning and jackpot roping that would probably love somthing like that.............................heres the link to leatherpounders tutorial on edges http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18101 keep em coming...

oh yeah....thats the coolest....we used to braid leashes for one of the top dog handlers then every time he was showing at a dogshow that was on tv we could see our leashes...knowing you made that...thats the neatest thing ever.

spirit dyes, easter egg dyes, natural dyes like coffee, beets, onions, walnuts, and also some types of permanent markers do a real good job of penetrating the rawhide.

looks like you got a great start on it!!!

of course you can use rawhide for leashes....but i wouldnt recommend using it on a dog that is allowed to have rawhide chewies....i have some goat rawhide and was actually thinking it would make a very nice leash but would have to seal it cuz if goat gets too wet it stretches BAD....

i think the one in plate 137 would work very well, because it would also give you a covered bottom end of the sheath. the other one would work as well but would not cover the bottom as well. also check out plate 86...the lone star braid...it would cover the bottom of the sheath and gives a pattern thats a texas favorite...there are numerous other braids which would work as well.....i love this book.

the only problem with rawhide leashes is most dogs find rawhide hard to resist....

it doesnt actually look top grain on both sides to me....if its not then it is a trenza patria....if it is then you can flatten out any round braid, but your lines in the braid must be STRAIGHT. in bruce grants encyclopedia he mentions square, half round and triangular braids and also using pliers to shape coreless round braids into multi sided braids

oh sure teasing poor ole roo. i almost listed rawhide in my post but its not really a typical material for dog stuff and a bit tuff to learn...i think less forgiving....your right though, cheaper than kangaroo by a bunch.

rawhide is an awful tuff place to start...im still trying to get started working the rawhide. the learning curve with it sucks.

in bruce grants encyclopedia there is a picture of an eyeglass case...it is covered with an elongated turkshead knot...i would guess you need to do something like that over a molded form of leather or rawhide. there are a few other braids and knots in that book that could be used to make those types of cases...well worth purchasing...it is 20 dollars on amazon.com