megabit Report post Posted March 20, 2009 Here are some scarf slides I tied for practice. Not real happy with any of them yet. The latest one is the one on the left. That knot came out ok, other than I made the ground work to big and it doesn't cover. The two after that one the string was too big for the ground work and I couldn't get them to shape up nice. The small one after those has smaller sting and covers well and is almost shaped good, but I still don't think it is good enough to try to sell yet. The last two are both 4 bight vs 6. The larger of the two is what I think is overall the best of the bunch. It covers the ground work good, no twist, good shape. I doubled the interweave so it looks a little funny but that helped me cover the ground work. These things are hard to get to look good that is for sure. Hardest seems to be estimating how wide of string for a given knot and ground work. The thinner string seems to be a little easier to work with as it is more supple. Well critique away, I don't think I missed any pair splits or runs this time around. Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
entiendo Report post Posted March 20, 2009 I like the 3rd from the left. I don't know how many scarf slides I had to toss or redo before I was happy with the results I was getting. Rawhide1 really helped me with his way of doing it. A piece of rawhide or leather beveled and secured to the rod helps a lot! Then I went further by wrapping a very thin piece of tape tape around the base a few times to help get the rounded shape I would like. Truth be told I don't wear scarfs and I don't like doing slides so I haven't any pictures of what I'm talking about. I make them as a favor for the local feed store. Anyhoo, you really don't want space between the strings so I suggest an 8 bite turks head if a 6 isn't going to cover it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HorsehairBraider Report post Posted March 20, 2009 Looks good, and you do have to practice a lot. My knots in horsehair used to be lop-sided, but I finally did enough that they come out even now. I like to tell people that the first 500,000 were kind of hard but after that it got easier... and you think *rawhide* is hard to work.... One thing that helps is to make sure your foundation or casa knot goes on even. If it's not even, stop and start over. And for your knot on the left where the strings don't quite cover, just keep going and increase the sequence. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
megabit Report post Posted March 20, 2009 ... and you think *rawhide* is hard to work.... Compared to paracord rawhide is hard, compared to hair not so much. One thing that helps is to make sure your foundation or casa knot goes on even. The foundation for these is leather bands and floral tape so they are even. And for your knot on the left where the strings don't quite cover, just keep going and increase the sequence. Not sure I follow what you mean by increase the sequence. I did on the one knot take a second pass at the interweave. Is there a way to do it besides just following the interweave a second time? Thanks, Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HorsehairBraider Report post Posted March 20, 2009 (edited) Yes, you can keep going up. You have u2, 02. So the next would be u3, o3 then u4, o4 etc. I once covered a large round object with gold thread and went up to u17, o17. It looks a lot better than merely doubling, in my opinion. I know Bruce Grant talks about that in his book somewhere. Not sure on the other books, as that's the only one I have. ETA - Oh, and where I talk about the foundation knot, I mean the Turk's head knot you tie before you start interbraiding. Although of course you want the ground work to be right too. But those first turns you throw can be critical. Edited March 20, 2009 by HorsehairBraider Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
megabit Report post Posted March 20, 2009 Yes, you can keep going up. You have u2, 02. So the next would be u3, o3 then u4, o4 etc. I once covered a large round object with gold thread and went up to u17, o17. It looks a lot better than merely doubling, in my opinion.I know Bruce Grant talks about that in his book somewhere. Not sure on the other books, as that's the only one I have. Ok that sound cool I must have missed that in Grant's book, but I generally only read passages of interest while trying to figure out something. Do you still turn at the last X or do you keep moving the turn to the center? I will have to play with this some tonight with paracord. (sure comes in handy for prototyping and learning the knots/plaits) ETA - Oh, and where I talk about the foundation knot, I mean the Turk's head knot you tie before you start interbraiding. Although of course you want the ground work to be right too. But those first turns you throw can be critical. Ok, that makes sense to me and I have been working on keeping the base turk's head straight. Still need much more work, it sure is easier to say than do. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alan Bell Report post Posted March 21, 2009 Hey Mike, you need to get Robert Woolery's book because of the way he explains interweaves. Actually it is Ernie LaDacuer's explanation but it helped me look at things a certain way that make interweaves a lot easier. Vaya Con Dios, Alan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
megabit Report post Posted March 26, 2009 Got Woolery's book today, it looks like it has a lot of good info in it. Lost my perma lok needle the other day so I need to get some more. I ran across what may be the first knot I tied in rawhide about a year ago. Here it is next to one I tied the other day, can you tell which is which? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
