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I'm having trouble figuring out how thick to make my roo lace for making both turksheads and standard plaiting around a core. I've been able to make do so far by just stepping up the turkshead until it fills up the space provided for the knot, however this is only good when I don't care about consistency between knots. I would like to be able to just measure the diameter of where the knot will be and apply a simple formula and arrive at how thick the lace needs to be. I've used bernie46's method for regular plaiting (take diameter, multiply by 4.5, divide by number of strands) and it seems to work ok. I'd like to know if there is a different multiplier if you want the braiding angle to be different (ie so it results in differently shaped diamonds when braiding).

Hi all! I've just received 3 natural veg tan kangaroo hides (for the first time!) and I plan to cut the lace from it and use it for braiding. The question is, what would be the best way to go about dyeing/coloring the lace? So far I haven't found anything posted that would be specifically related to this, and I apologize if I have missed it and might be duplicating some other thread. I don't like the idea of coloring the hide first and then cutting the lace. I wan't to have the option of different colors from one hide. I also wonder if the color would actually penetrate deep enough. If not, the edge/bevels might remain "natural". So far (using other types of leather to learn the basics) I've cut it with the lace cutter. Then I stretched it and tied it's beginning to a cable (like a clothes line which is streched under the ceiling of my work room) and then used a piece of wool or sponge soaked in color which I wrapped around the start of the lace, and just rubbed it / dragged it through to the end by pulling on the dyed part. If it was too long and might touch the floor, I simply tossed the colored part over the same cable. After the dye was dry/set, I applied the finish (Satin sheene) in the same manner. After that I split and bevelled it. In this particular case do not plan to split it (before or afterwards), as the hides already seem to have been thinned down to an even thickness. I wonder how the rest of you do it? Is there a simpler or more effective way? It is just too expensive not to ask and see what the best practices might be. I am also wondering, if It could be done by simply dragging the lace through a cup filled with color. I could hold the string down at the bottom with a stick of some sort, and perhaps have some sponge (in a function of a wiper) on the exit part of the cup (so that I don't waste too much color and too prevent uneven blotches after it dries). I believe that stretching should be done with saddle soap (I haven't done it with other types of skins, but I think I should do it with kangaroo). And I also believe that stretching should be done before coloring, or the color might end up being uneven (lighter in parts where it stretches more). Would saddle soap affect the dyeing? Can I stretch without it and achieve the same result? Thank you for all your thoughts!

First off i would like to say thank you to everyone who posts a reply to this thread. For years now i have been re-lacing baseball gloves for supplemental income and have recently decided to take the operation up a notch. This year i am planning on setting up tents at baseball tournaments, buying and restoring neglected gloves to resell, and possibly selling my own custom lacing to local shops and on the web. In the past i have always ordered my lacing from various websites and i typically pay around $3.00 -$4.00 for one 72" strip that's 1/4" wide or 3/16" wide. To do a full re-lace on a glove i typically use around 3 - 4 72" strips. I am spending around $12.00 - $16.00 in lace per glove which does not leave much room for profit when i charge $40.00 - $50.00 per glove. To save myself money and to expand my business by selling lace to other glove repair shops i am exploring the idea of making my own laces and offering around 10 different colors. Based on my calculation i can get around 80 - 90 72" strips from a 3' x 3' sheet of leather which would make my cost per strand way less that $1.00. My question for all of you is what type of leather should i buy and what oz thickness? I was browsing the Tandy Leather store near my house and they have this http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/department/cowhide/99606-02.aspx at a very reasonable price. Something like that would make my cost per strand around $0.40. I want my laces to be thick and stiff like you get with high end glove models like the Wilson A2000. My second question is with how to dye these strips. I want the laces to be dyed all the way through so i assume that i will need to dip them rather than wipe all four sides. Should i dye the sheet before cutting or dye the strips after they have been cut? Colors that i want to make are natural tan, black, white, red, royal blue, green, purple, orange, pink, yellow, orange, and possibly a tie dye. Has anyone ever dip dyed an entire hyde?

Hi fellow Leather Workers!! I have a question. I am stumped on the type of lace patter/technique this belt is adorned with. I have looked through my Stohlman and Baird books thoroughly. I am not able to quite match it with any of the techniques and types listed. Any feedback, help, questions, directions will be so gratefully appreciated. This is a refurb project to be delivered by Christmas. Thank you for your guidance and help. -Justin L.

I'm working on making a replica of a holster my grandfather had for a SA revolver years ago. It was made by George Lawrence, but I've been unable to find any holster of the same model. Finding a holster for my Dragoon has been a nightmare and they are way too costly, so I decided to fashion a replica styled after this one. For the belt loop, there is a section the wraps around which has been held together with lace. I measured the lace and it is 1mm thick by 5.5mm width. I've been unable to find anything like it. Can anyone help to determine where I can find something like this? It looks like latigo but feels much stronger than the normal stuff at 3/4oz weight. Could it be 5/6oz that has been split? I'll post a better picture tomorrow, but it is a George Lawrence 7 1/2 SA with no tooling. -Anders

I have a real problem finding some quality round leather cord (all from these 0,5-1 mm's, up to the real "fleshy" ones on several mm's), both natural and colored. All I find is this glossy looking Asian made leather cords, which look more like plastic than leather. It has some thin finish layer which indeed is quite plastic, after a few days or use that finish is like worn off, and the cord becomes all fuzzy and dull looking. The strength of these are quite dubious too, and at places you can easily snap them off.' Years ago, you often found these more "fatty"/"waxy" looking cords, which was way more durable. They didn't look that sad-excuse-of-a-cord after a little use, and the strength was way more reliable. Another problem of cheap'o cords, is the dye of them. They shouldn't literally BLEED dye if they get wet, and then end up gray and stiff. So the "waxy" ones, if you get my point. I would like to know of flat cord too (for lacing), that doesn't have this horrible plastic looking finish. If anybody know of any. I am pretty sure I could start make some cord/lace, but at the moment I feel my precious time is better used for more productive work.

2001 Road King seat complete (finally). Design partially based on family crest. All comments welcome. Thanks for looking!

Hi everyone, I'm working on my capstone project for my degree in Operations and Supply Chain Management. For this class I have to create a company from cradle to grave, that manufactures a "Simple" product. Knowing nothing about leather, I ended up with leather shoe laces. After researching the product, I've realized how much goes into the creating this product, so I have a ton of questions I'm hoping someone can assist me with. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. I've decided that I will receive the leather from a supplier as wet-blue, to reduce the manufacturing processes. I will do 1/8" by 32" strings and one color. I think I'm going to produce somewhere around 250,000 to 5000,000 pairs of strings a week. I've been researching but information is limited for the short amount of time I have. Now for the questions: Where is a supplier that I can regularly order wet blue from? Should shoe lace be split leather or unsplit? Is there any certification for person inspecting the wet-blue or a special name for the person that inspects it? What is the name of the dye tumbling machine and is there a link? What cutting, shaving, sammying, vacuum drying, staking, dynasec, trimming, buffing, dry splitting, milling machine should be used for this size production? How long does the dyeing, drying, cutting take? How much leather can fit in a tumbler? What employees are crucial for the manufacturing process? Thanks again for any help.

Seat finally complete. About 15-20 hours of lacing. Designed off my last name and family crest. All comments welcome. Thanks for looking. There is some amazing work being posted lately! Good job by all.

Found a 270 page PDF called Bush Leather Work by Ron Edwards. http://blog.survival-goods.com/LIBRARY/Manuals/bushcraft%20leather%20work%20PDF.pdf Lots of info on lace cutting, plaiting, making pouches, bags, belts, etc. Hope you enjoy looking through it. Tom

Has anyone tried the Y-Knot lace Combination Beveler? It looks well made and the price at $150 seems very fair. So, . . . how does it really work for cutting and beveling? What blades work best? How does it cut on soft and hard leathers? How narrow will it bevel? All comments welcome. Cheers and Happy holidays!

I'm cleaning up around here and need some space. Getting back to leatherwork more often but need to finish some home projects (new siding half done, and I'll be doing some plumbing ABOVE my shop). Selling good quality materials at big discounts. If I don't have it, I don't have to move it 5 times! I have some leathercraft clutch purse kits, some leather already cut out for handbags (including lining leather), some wallet and checkbook parts, belt blanks, half a dozen spools of leather lace, a few craftaids, patterns & books, not sure what else until I get in there. Not selling the tools, as I can wipe those off and get going. More when I get organizing. Pictures as I get time, but message if you have interest in some of what I mentioned. These will not be seen on Ebay (I hate that camp). Shipping in US only, Paypal is preferred. Personally rather see this stuff go to someone "new" and learning, but not necessary.

OK so here is the latest seat...a simple ND Fighting Irish Seat, he wanted it to look like a football, so here it is:) And some money shots of the bike for ya:)