entiendo

Oh my goodness, that is beautiful...I'm making my first quirk/shoo fly combo and I'm feeling a little inadequate.....

I was connecting the two ends together so it worked out okay, my problem came when I went to tighten the terminal knot and I broke one of the strings down low in the knot. The piece just doesn't look right and I'm not sure it will hold over time. I'll have to see if I can make it shorter. It was the stretchy part of the hide so sometimes it doesn't work out, even when just plaiting. Thanks for the help, you too Dick. I really need to do 6 plait more often. I also need to find a 12 plait project, I've never done that. I"m looking in Grants book and would like to make a quirk.

I braid them too. I love hats, so I love stampede strings and hat bands. I have several colors to choose from too. I make them with button holes and cotter pins for attaching. Here is a sample of each but I have made a few with more buttons. As much as I love horse hair though I don't touch it, my skin hates it. And here is one with a cotter pin... It's a little busy I know, not quite what I was expecting, but someday someone will show up that loves it. Oh and no fine hat is complete without a fine kangaroo hat band...

OK, I've got about 6 inches braided, it looks good. But I was wondering about the terminal knot, I'm assuming 2 sides with 1 string and 2 sides with 2 strings, or is the terminal knot done differently? Probably a silly question but I just wanted to know if there is something I should know.

Yep, round braid, and thank you very much I got it!

It's been almost a year since I did a 6 plait and I only did it once, I have gail's braiding book but I still can't follow it, can someone help me...I've got to figure this out again. I know how to do both 4 and 8, if that helps anyone.

Do you have Gail's book on cutting a hide? Easy to follow instructions and you can start on roo. As already stated a circle or oval is very important point. When I make a mistake it's usually because of a corner. What I do is find the center of the hide and then measure roughly were to start. Oh and the circle cutter roo mentioned is great! I use it to cut up all my scraps! It's a must have.

Absolutely lovely! Speechless. I've actually never seen rawhide gear I've liked so much.

Wonder why I thought she was in Oregon. Must have been thinking of someone else.

I flew to Florida for a few days to learn the basics and then I have Gail Hought's first book and this board. I've been able to figure most things out and most my stuff looks pretty good for a rookie. The the friend of mine that I learned from learned everything from Gail's books, so it can be done. I do believe Gail does do classes at her place from time to time and she is in Oregon.

I've never cut rawhide but with roo if you have instructions it isn't difficult, even for a rookie...like me. Gail's first book shows you how to cut a roo hide and the cutter I bought also came with those same instructions. It is true that experience will perfect your lace, as mine is getting better, but done properly anyone can cut a roo hide pretty good.

Yes, that makes sense now...thanks roo!

What does "parts" mean. I know what bites are.

I use white saddle soap.

I think you should picture what you are doing so all of us can learn. Many of us haven't been doing this for long and would like to learn new knots. I learned how to extend a pineapple knot in another thread. I don't even know that a 6b7p turks head is....??

I'm pretty excited to...I only hope I can do it again.

I use this one.... http://leatherbraidingtools.com/cutter.html I buy my hides from a guy in Australia. He always has hides on ebay but I usually contact him directly. Here is one of his hides, it looks good for braiding. http://cgi.ebay.com/Whole-KANGAROO-HIDE-le...1QQcmdZViewItem I've been told he can be slow with shipping but the item always arrives. Veg tanned hides .9-1 mm thick are the best. I've had 2 hides that were .8 mm, one was just fine and the other one gave me a lot of trouble. Any imperfections will cause it to break. In fact I was making a leash and had to ask a bunch of questions in this forum about splicing the breaks. It took me forever to fix all the breaks, there were 3 of them! Considering I had never broke a string while plaiting it was very frustrating. I've broke more than my share of button strings though... . Of course you can also buy a splitter then you can buy any thickness you like over .9 mm, but I haven't invested in one yet. I have also recently discovered anything over 1 mm may not lay right, even if it's beveled. I have a green hide that is a little thick, it needs to be split. Course I'm sure it also depends what you are making, how wide your strings are, and how many plaits. You can also use chrome tanned, they come in more colors and are usually less expensive to buy. I probably won't buy anymore of the chrome tanned once I'm finished with what I've got though, I just don't like them. They are too stretchy and spongy. I'm spending to much time trying to cut them and make them work when I could have just bought a great veg tanned hide. But you know sometimes you just get a deal you can't pass up. I got a large white chrome tanned hide for $10...pretty darn good. Hope this helps.

I did it!!! I did it!! I studied the pictures on page one of this thread and Gail's book. I was trying to figure out exactly what a turn was. I don't know how many turns I did but it's a pretty long button and it appears to be OK with 6 bites, but I haven't tightened it yet. Thank you sooo much for this thread!

I agree with roo and jerry. I did buy a bit of string so I could have more colors, but the string wasn't as strong and I still had to bevel it. I couldn't use the strings for the larger, tighter buttons. When you cut your own, not only do you get more bang for your buck but you can use the best part of the hide for your smaller strings. When you buy string you get what you get and you don't know where on the hide it was cut from. Since you want to buy string in bulk it only makes sense that you should probably cut your own. And believe it or not it's not difficult. Even with my first hide there was very little waste, course I get better each time but if you follow the directions you really can't screw it up to badly IF you have a good cutter. The only real waste came from the aussie cutter I couldn't figure out on my first hide. Hello Pepelimoco, how are you doing and what have you been up to?

I need the knot longer to cover a couple of things at once. It's a very small piece so I don't need more bites. The turns are what's getting me. I don't understand how to make the knots longer. I successfully made the 3 turn knot you pictured, but I still want it longer so I pulled it all out. Thanks a lot.. And crow that is beautiful work, I failed to mention that in my last post. I love the combination of colors.

Can I ask question now? OK, I managed to follow some of the instructions in the first page. I got to the point where there was an X in back and 2 X's in front, how many turns is that? I have gail's book and I know how to do a pineapple knot with 6 bites and I can even add bites but adding the turns is really confusing me. Anyway I ended up only doing 6 bites on that button and it wasn't enough, (thanks for the pictures, they really helped!)so I went back to do 8 bites but couldn't figure out how to make the knot even a little longer with another 1/2 turn or full turn.

I have that book, but I didn't see it, I better look again...

Oh geez, I didn't get that at all Alan. I'm trying to do the same thing so I put them on hair pieces. Maybe if I read it a few times it will come to me.

I LOVE it. I've had a brow band started for 3 weeks but haven't been able to work on it. I'm also having a heck of a time wrapping the rings. I just can't follow the directions for some reason...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Kangaroo-Leather-Lace-...1QQcmdZViewItem Here ya go. 3/32" or maybe 1/8" is about the right size for scarf ties. You will have to bevel them yourself though.