Reins and a latigo bosal

[KAW]

Here is a working set of reins with a little color ( dyed rawhide with coffee) 12 srand body on the reins and a 16 romal , the latigo bosal is 3/4 16 strand 6 bight nose with no interweaves. 10 bight heel knot.

Someday I'm gonna get better taking pictures.

[KAW]

Here is another picture of the bosal with a removeable hanger.

[megabit]

Man, those are nice. The more I try to braid the more I wonder if I will ever get any good at it. I would love to have a nice set of romel reins like those.

Very nice work indeed.

Mike

[rawhide1]

KAW

Once again wonderful work!!! The way ya done your connecter strap is pretty cool as is the way ya do the popper. Great work, Great pictures. One can only hope to reach that level one day. Thanks for sharing your work.

Mike

[Warren]

Kaw that is probably the best bosal I have ever seen. Absolutely fantastic! I'm not saying the reins aren't great too, it's just that the bosal really knocks my socks off! Great work!

Warren

[skip]

very nice work, your knots look very precise and professional. is this a set you are selling or did you make it to use for your own pleasure? again great work where did you learn to braid like this. keep the pictures coming.

[TracyMoss]

Braiding rawhide intricately is a talent very few have. Congratulate yourself on a job welll done. Once I get past braiding rings, my braiding goes south. I jsut don't have the time or ability it seems to learn.

[rgerbitz]

Thank you for putting those pictures up KAW. That is some gear anyone would be proud to have and use. What did you use for a core on the bosal?

Rob

[KAW]

Thanks for the comments

Skip, I taugt my self out of Robert Woolerys book and Bruce Grants books, those were the only books at that time , lookin at old worn out gear and I wanted to make my own gear, because I didn't like alot of the stuff out there, so I made them myself. Now there is getting to be alot of books and videos out there. The best way to learn is to cut up alot of hides and ruin alot of projects till you get something that works right for you, using it your self will help alot. I sell everything I make anymore.

Rgerbitz,

All my bosals have rawhide cores.

[deadringer]

G'day,

Great job on the Romal reins very interested in your dying techniqe on the rawhide with coffee .

Can you elaborate on this a little more please.

Cheers

Chris

[Romey]

mmmm Looks like you been busy Pard

[KAW]

Deadringer,

I make a thick mud out of fresh coffee grounds then put my string in the mud and leave it for a couple of hours to over night depending on the thickness of the string and how dark I want it to be then let it dry. I try to dye enough for the project I'm workin on so I have a consistant color.

[deadringer]

Thanks KAW

Will have to start saving my coffee grounds.

Do you have any trouble with the rawhide taking to much moisture and swelling when it is cut in strings and dyed .

I mainly use rawhide roo and the strings are really fine so may have to adjust the time that they stay in the paste.

Thanks very much for the reply. Once again nice work mate never get tired of looking at fine work.

Cheers

Chris

[KAW]

Deadringer,

I usally dye my strings in a wider string, let them dry, then rewet them and cut my final strings along with my natural ones that way I eliminate that problem, another way I've done it is to dye the whole hide, I get the most consistant color that way. Most of my button string I make out of calf hides and I use a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 a can fresh coffee and the rest warm water and leave it till I get the shade of Brown I want then strech it and let it dry and work it when I need it, It should work about the same with roo rawhide.

Do you make you own roo rawhide?

I have never tried it on boughten hide only ones I made.

Hope it works for you

Willey

[deadringer]

G'day Willey

Thanks for the info will give it a try shortly let you know the results

I do some of my own rawhide roo not so much now because they are not as plentiful as where I was 12 months ago .Best results I had was dehairing them with hot water .They came out almost transparent. Have used some bought hides lately from Packer leather..

You can't beat rawhide roo for fine work ,you don't really want to work with it over 3mm because it so thin. I have used leather dye to dye my hides before but only when they are still wet straight from dehairing. Will have to try some test strips with the bought stuff and see if it works.

I found that it always darkened considerable after it had dried when using the water based Dye.

Thanks for the tips

Cheers Mate

Chris

[unicornwoman]

What finish are you using to set the color and prevent bleed?

[KAW]

Unicornwoman, sorry it took me so long but I haven't been on the computer much, you can use vinegar to set it, but I use alot of calf hides for button strings and try to dye as much with natural dyes over ritz and other dyes and don't have much of a bleeding problem and most of the time I will try to dye the whole hide when green so I get as deep of penatration as I can from the start and get a consistant color and if I do it that way it is alot easier to keep all my strings for a certin project consistant, I try to stay away from dying my rawhide if I can but some people just have to have the color, personally I like rawhide natural, but there are alot of people that like the colors.

[ArtS]

Wow, those are really nice! Someday I hope I can afford a pair like that. I'll be too old to ride by the time I could learn to make a pair.

ArtS