roo4u

you can get a bunch more smaller lace outta those pieces....looks pretty good...i think you have been psyching yourself out...and just needed to get started!

whew....ya circumference.....ya had us all scared..lol you do measure around to get number of strands but core measurements are usually listed in diameter. well my lil splitter is not nice even or clean...its a wreck...but it works. i would love to buy a nice one but just too much money...

why are you using such a big core? remember that on top of that you are adding your braiding so that seems a bit big to me...most braiders use sewing machine belting for the cores and it comes in 1/4, 5/16 and 3/8 sizes. so you would be better off using one of the two smaller sizes for the rein body and then the next size up for the romal....so say 1/4 for reins then 5/16 for romal. i think if you go much bigger than those sizes the reins will be too bulky and hard to handle. i have fairly big hands but would not like handling reins 1" or more in diameter. im still waiting to hear back from those braiders. hopefully they will call me and let me know if they are willing to help out a couple of rookies. i will let you know when i hear back

have you watched bernies youtube vids? i really liked his vid on how to cut up a roo for lace and then stretch it prior to cutting for width....i always cut wider, about an inch id say, then stretch then cut several strands out of it as that creates less waste. i do agree on the splitting, needs to be done...i posted a link a while back for a little wooden splitter, its not hard to make, works great for roo and just uses utility knife blades. in this vid bernie says he wants to end with 6mm strands so he cuts them at 8 mm then stretches and by the time he bevels it he is down to the size he wants.

it looks like an equitation saddle, horn needs recovered

alas your in montana? you lucky duck....by the way did you know that nate wald lives in montana? dont buy tandy lace....yknot or springfield leather are your best bet for precut roo....

dont sell yourself too cheap...i know its attractive to sell at low prices cuz you think your getting your foot in the door to a new market but i guarantee that they will all want those cheap prices. one of the first things asked will be how much was it. also in my experience if you are selling it cheap, like your only covering your material costs, then people will think its not the best quality. i have seen lots of braiding on the internet that i could see wasnt that great but because it was expensive people were buying it up. i would say figure out what your material costs will be, add what you need to make per hour to be cost effective. if you have braided a bit you should know how many inches per hour you can do of the however many strand braid you want to do. you can estimate cost from there.

any feed with corn has gone up....purina dog chow went up $3.00 here in one day. at tractor supply sweet feed has gone from $6.50 to $10.00 in the last couple of months.

its ok...she doesnt have to wish him ill....because what you do comes back to bite you and karma has big teeth and never forgets!

i think before we can help you have an idea of cost we need to know whether they ride english or western, and exactly what pieces of tack they are looking for.

wow...took your tools, thats cold. i dont think you will have any trouble finding good tools. do check the site luke recommended...and other than that most places sell osbourne tools. i would be careful about buying anything with an edge from ebay....its too easy to really mess up the edge on those punches.

normally when dyeing roo i use fiebings spirit dyes...but they always come off on the hands a little bit. i did mix some rit based spirit dye and using the pink i got a dye that on the drum stuffed natural came out a nice soft rose pink and on the crusted white i got a nice baby pink. though the spirit dyes dont penetrate the rawhide very well. the vinegar based stuff really penetrates thru and thru.

thanks knothead....i tried them on the drumstuffed natural roo and with the orange i got a really nice cantaloupe color....still have to do wear testing on that but the rawhide is dyed all the way thru.

i finally figured out how to resize my digital pictures...can you say duh? this lace was dyed with easter egg dye made with vinegar. red yellow and orange are good, the one that looks green was supposed to have been teal and the day i mixed the dye it came out much darker. but i couldnt get a decent picture of the tiny pieces i dyed the first day. and after sitting two days the blue pigments in the dyes faded away. the blue and purple were totally unusable after sitting that long. now to walmart to get more dye on clearance.

if you look at the pictures that go with the text you will see that alan is doing that knot a bit different than the bruce grant method. he did not start by wrapping the strings around before starting his braid. if you are not wanting to try doing the knot the way alan is doing then just try adding the lines to your foundation like he did. putting lines on will help you keep your strings crossing each other at exactly the same points.

check out one of alan bells tutorials, i think the bosal tutorial, he has good info on keeping those nose button type knots from coming out twisted. it is a problem that most braiders fight with. using bruce grants formula 6 3/32 strings should cover 2 1/4" around, and since we know that u need a bit more than his formula to actually cover you should be good.

i would try just continuing my braid but pull more downward on the tapering part to try to get it to snug up a bit tighter. then if that didnt work unbraid and try something else...its not much distance so not hard to undo and retry.

perhaps try to find someone to show you how, rather than trying to learn from pictures. if you can do 4 strand then you can do more the basic mechanics of 6 or 8 or more strands are the same as 4 strands. keep on trying!

awwww...look at that face...sleeping angel. nice looking leash, how long is it?

oh man i would love to do that...do you have any potential dates in mind? with fuel prices i will have to save up for a trip.

from looking at that saddle i would say that it has been altered....also looks like skirts are relined..

very cool..