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So I successfully dyed the reigns using coffee and got an effect that is pretty reasonable. First I lightly misted the reigns with coffee and swung them around to remove any heavy excess caught in buttons or that built up around the bottom. I then let it dry over night and repeated again the next day. This colored the rawhide back to a tone that appeared very natural and I could have stopped there but I wanted to see if they would get a little darker (attached are two pictures where part of the reigns were dyed and the romal was left unchanged to be able to see the contrast in the color). As a note, there was a little curling of the rawhide in a few spots making it somewhat rough to handle (particularly on the ring knots and up near the loop where the romal is attached. At this point I was concerned that any more liquid would make the curling worse and also not really darken the hide any further. So, I switched to the method suggested in the comments. I got a bit of rawhide cream and mixed in some instance coffee until in was a medium tan. I then rubbed this into the reigns making sure to evenly spread it over the reigns and work it in between the knots with a small brush. I let that sit for about 24 hours then took a clean terrycloth rag and wiped it down to remove the excess. This not only softened the reigns (expected) but also relaxed the turned up edges on the areas previously mentioned. The color wasn't too bad either, as you can see there is some build up on the edges of the strands where the conditioner settled in a little deeper but over all the color is nice and expect to weather even better. (attached are a handful of pictures of the process with better lighting with a nicer contrasting background. Pictures Continued

I was looking around Google trying to find some instructions on how to make French Waxed Calf when I came across a Google book that goes into a lot of detail on tanning a hide. I didn't read through the whole thing but the pages I did read laid out some pretty good instruction on how to prepare a hide for tanning. I figure if you adjusted the later instructions you would end up with some nice rawhide. http://books.google.com/books?id=RaZRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA293&lpg=PA293&dq=how+to+make+french+waxed+calf&source=bl&ots=ygQFHZFWgm&sig=07K3xih6R4oTdB-kcGYwtAK5wJQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mUR-VKyMIYXuoATy2oKoBA&ved=0CE4Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=how%20to%20make%20french%20waxed%20calf&f=false try that again. http://books.google.com/booksid=RaZRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA293&lpg=PA293&dq=how+to+make+french+waxed+calf&source=bl&ots=ygQFHZFWgm&sig=07K3xih6R4oTdB-kcGYwtAK5wJQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mUR-VKyMIYXuoATy2oKoBA&ved=0CE4Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=how%20to%20make%20french%20waxed%20calf&f=false Well they don't want me to post the link so if you go to Google Books and search for "how to make french waxed calf" you should come up with the information I was referring to

OG, I have not seen that video but will check it out. I might even have a small jar of instant coffee sitting around collecting dust, who knew it would ever come in handy. Thanks for the tip and I'll take a look.

Thanks Buck. I too was concerned that these might be over a rope core but couldn't tell for sure. My thoughts over the last couple of days align with yours. If I don't get any more ideas in the next couple of days I think I will spray them down and see how that works. Then depending upon the results maybe try the dyed conditioner. I'll post some pictures after I try something and give some feedback on what I learned. Thanks again for your thoughts.

I have been a visitor of this site for many years and can usually find the answer to my question without having to post (seems like everything I come across someone else has already figured out) but this one doesn't seem to have been answered before. My father bought a set of rawhide romal reins out of Mexico. The rawhide appears to have been bleached and he can't stand the color so he asked if I could figure something out. I have never worked with rawhide before so I'm unsure of the best way to go about this. I know a lot of people use coffee to dye their strands but this is done before the braiding begins. We both agreed that a similar color would be good if we could get it to take without destroying the reins. My concern is that if I soaked them in coffee the braid on either the body or the buttons would loosen or curl and the reins would be ruined? I also thought spraying or wiping them down might be safer and producer a good result? Lastly, I thought maybe I would dye some rawhide cream then work the conditioner into the reins (since the conditioner is supposed to be safe for finished products)? Has anyone ever tried something like this before that could lend some advice? If not maybe some insight as to what could be expected if I follow any of the outlined ideas above? Any advice would be very much appreciated. I have attached a few pictures of the reins so you can see what I'm working with. Thanks in advance.

You should have enough. For myself I have always used the rule of 1.5 times the desired finished length, per strand, and it had never failed me (this came from Gail Hought's books). However, this will also vary depending upon your pattern. Ultimately, if it were my project I would add about two feet to each strand just for variation, but I wouldn't worry. Good Luck. Garrett

Thanks for the advice, I had considered pulling through the braid as well like you said to then just covering it with a button. The only thing I worried about with this method was an lop-sided button or a funny looking tassle. However, I think your right That would definately insure that it doesn't pull out. Thanks again.

Hello, I am looking for some help on ways to attach a shoofly to a paracord mecate I just finished braiding. I have never added horsehair into any project of mine so I'm not sure if there is anything I should be aware of before attaching this. Also, because it is paracord I am worried the horsehair would not grad properly on the slick surface of the paracord and would easily pull out. Therefore, I was hoping to go over some ideas I had so people could comment on them, and also receive other suggestions on the best way to avoid this problem. The mecate is a 12 strand o2 u2 o2 braid with 1/8 (de-cored) paracord finished with a terminal knot at both ends. So here are my ideas: - Idea #1: undo about 3 inches of the mecate, cut out the core, then bundle and tie my horsehair rebraiding the mecate over it finishing with a terminal knot so the horsehair comes out the middle. Then putting a turkshead around the knot to secure it even more and give it a pretty look. - Idea #2: lay the horse hair long ways or fold it in half over the terminal knot, use wax string to lash the hair down, finally braiding over it with a turkshead. - Idea #3: use contact cement to glue the horse hair to the mecate just above the terminal knot, then lash it down with wax string, then finish it with a turkshead. These are my ideas but I'm not sure if any are good, please comment. Note: the lace used in the turkshead would be leather not paracord.

Mike, Really appreciate the information, Thanks so much and I'll let you know how it goes. Garrett

When I braided it I used a o1 u1 o1 and I am pretty sure I didn't mess up the pattern however I will go back over and take a look. Thanks for the input Mike, When you braided yours about how long did you make each individual finished strand? I kinda guessed instead of meassuring everything out and went with about 16" or so but am starting to wonder if that was too sort. what do you think? thanks for the posts

Hello, I am kind of new to the art of braiding and therefore, still come across many things I don't understand. So, please help if you can. I was braiding a 6 strand round braid to create a bit hobble. When I started it was round but after about 2" it became oval and stayed that way until the end no matter how much I tightend or loosen'd my braid. I have braided quite a few 6 strand round braids before but have never had this happen. I was able to roll some of it out (making it round) but it still looks funny and uneven when you rotate it. If anyone can give me some suggestions to avoid this or an explination why it happened I would be very thankful.

suze, Thanks for the info, this is kinda what I was looking for or at least closer to what I had in mind. I'll check it out more, thanks for the link.

Troy, Thanks for the answers, I appreciate it. And just a clarification I understand why they are braided and I will be rebraiding the cord to make my mecate for the additional strength. However, it's just that when I finish I sould like all my fibers within "my" braid to be in a straight line so it looks like I used raw materials. If that makes sense? Again thanks for the info and if that changes anything please let me know.

Hello, I'm trying to braid a mecate out of parachute cord but, I want to avoid having lots little of braids inside my final braid. What I mean by this, is that when looking at my finish pattern I want all the thread that was braided to be straight and not pre-braided inside my finished braid. However, the only way I can think to achieve this is to buy the cord and then unbraid the entire cord until I have the original raw thread used to originally braid the parachute cord. So my question is, does anyone either know somewhere to buy cord that is already in this condition, or is there a particular technique to remove the original braid quickly and easily. Any info on this would be very much appreciated.