Hedge

This will be awesome! I share your trepidation about dying it. I've been in similar situations. You can practice on another piece but each chunk of leather is different and you can't count on it responding the way you want. Sure hope it turns out the way you want. Gary

Thank you leatheroo! That's a might fine compliment. I took a look at your site. Wish I had an imagination like yours. Too bad you're not in the states. I know some people who would pay to have you teach them how to make leather masks. Gary

Thanks Tig! You're not so bad urowndurnself. :D

Thanks Shirley! Oh man! You make Badass Seats? I was helping a fellow in CA who just started doing tooled seats. Did a search on the web to see what the competition was like and found your place. Darn near threw in the towel. But, he's a go getter and has a style of his own. Last I heard, he's still working at it. Gary

Thanks, Tom. I'll see what I can dig up. I tend to make stuff and forget to take pics. Man, do you make great looking helms! I know some guys back in CA who would love to be as good as you. Gary

Thanks, Grumpy. Luck, mostly. I started with a medium brown die. Wasn't dark enough when dry, so I added another coat. Still not satisfied so I rubbed in some brown antique and then finished with saddler's oil. That did the trick. Gary

Looks efficient. I'm surprised you get good retention. Glad to see that it works. Certainly a novel approach. mliebs8 has a good point about the hammer. I used to carry a 2 incher but I got the shrouded hammer frame. That hammer spur will catch on everything you don't want it to. I have a question about that knot you mentioned. Did you tie off the stitching? If so, it's still going to come loose, eventually. The best way to end the stitch is to back stitch it through the previous 3 or so holes. You'll get your production time down by quite a bit. Initial development time always takes much longer. Gary

Hi everyone! Man, what a bunch of talented people here! I'm almost embarrassed to show some of my work. But, the best way to improve is to get some helpful critiques from all of you. I do braiding, mostly. I like working with 'roo and am trying to get the hang of rawhide (a Nate Wald wannabe ). I've done a few knots and this bit connector/keyring. Still not ready to try something big in 'hide. The reins detail is from a set of ropers I did a while back. I've tried my hand at tooling and making belts and holsters. What I want to get right is an antique, used look in my holsters and cartridge belts. Here's a pic of my first try at this. If anyone can offer some suggestions at improvement, have at it. Thanks for any input, Gary

Here's a contribution to the thread. Long cowboy with Herringbone weave using 'roo. Gary

Mark, Contact Rosie Shores at the Fountain Valley Tandy store in CA. 714-965-0901. She's up to date on chemicals and hide restrictions. Gary

I used to hang around with a group called the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism). They used paraffin on their leather. But, the purpose was to make it hard and to hold shape for leather armor. It doesn't give you the nice result I think you're looking for. Not only that, but melting paraffin and hot dipping can be a hazardous activity. Those are petrol vapors you'd be exposed to...very flamable. Best bet would be a good water proofing cream containing bees wax like the Aussie wax wildrose mentioned. Gary

You're welcome, Rawhide. Yup, Hardtke are nice folks. I've delt with Peter, mostly. Let him know what type of braiding you want the hide for and he'll try to find the hide best suited for it. (sure wish they could get some nice Red 'roo hides in...big hides and thick. But the Chinese are buying them all and making shoes out of them.) Gary

Paris, Just a comment about the differences in the Tandy and Packer lace. Never used Packer but have used Tandy. My bet is that the Packer lace is made from drum stuffed hides and Tandy's isn't. That's the better process and produces superior lace, IMHO. Gary

It depends on what part of the hide you cut your strings from. When you get your hide, you'll be able to tell the stretchy parts from the firm part. Basically, parts of the hide that cover the extremities (legs) will stretch the most. The best part is a large oblong around the center of the hide. You won't get any appreciable stretch there. Here's a good link on where to cut: http://www.davidmorgan.com/braidedkangaroo.html 'Roo gets pricey, so I get as frugal with my cutting as possible. One thing to check before you make your cut is the flesh side. Sometimes a vein grove will make the leather thinner and wreck a nice string. I ran into that only once and sent the hide back to Hardtkey. They sent me back an awesome replacement. Don't know if that was a good thing or not...now, I don't want to cut it! Gary