Cutting roo strings

[rawhide1]

Howdy All

I'm fixin to order some roo to cut my own strings. Probably from Hardtke but waiting on a sample from Panhandle leather. My ? is when cutting strings how much to allow for stretch. Any help would be appreciated.

[TracyMoss]

if your asking for purposes of braiding, as in bosals and the such I don't know, but there is very little stretch to the kangarooo that I use. Maybe 5%

[rawhide1]

Mr Moss

Thank you for your repley. I guess what I'm trying to figure out is if I want a string that is a 1/8". Do I need to cut my string a little wider or narrower. I guess when I get the hide I'll know soon enough when I go to cutting. In a previous thread someone had stated ya need to allow for the stretch when cutting strings. I"m just trying to get a jump on it.

Thanks, Mike

[TracyMoss]

well, if you are going to bevel your lace You definately will nee to cut it wider, so that your razor can catch the edge.

[Hedge]

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

Edited March 19, 2008 by Hedge

[rawhide1]

Gary

Thanks for the repley and the link. I haven't got a chance to do any braiding lately life kinda of gets in the way sometimes. But when I get back at it I think I'll order my roo from Hardtke. They seem like real nice folks and the samples they sent were nice.

Mike

[Hedge]

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