fid work

[megabit]

Very nice indeed. I like the back cinch sheath too. I have been thinking about picking up a tomahawk from this place http://www.2hawks.net/AHAWKS.html but I don't know that I can justify it no more than I manage to get into the backcountry. Sure do like your fid work though.

Mike

[jerryrwm]

While looking up rawhide braiders on the web I came across this site. He is from Argentina and the language is not English, possibly Portugese or something. But the fid work he does is unbelievable. Not impossible but it gives one something to strive for.

http://www.armandodeferrari.com.ar/home.html

Check it out.

Jerry R

[HorsehairBraider]

Thanks for the link, he does beautiful work. He also does metal work!

The language appears to be Spanish - at least, I can understand some of it, and I don't know Portuguese.

I was interested to note he does some fid work that is similar to hitching horsehair - where you have one long piece of rawhide that goes around the core in a spiral, and many pieces of rawhide that make half-hitches around the spiraling piece. Anyone else do fid work like that? I'd love to see it if so.

Also note that really cool fid he uses! I wish I had one like that!

[troy]

the guy from that link is in argentina, can't remeber if it is spanish or portungese they speak but have seen his work before when Ron Edwards reviewed it and imspired me alot but I feel it is one of those skills you could spend a life time trying but never quite get as good as the argentinians - but no harm trying!!!!!

I saw his fid as well and ye - the mouth waters - I ended up making my own from an old large needle I found and does the job for me until the million dollar cheque arrives. I did a multipe conqustitor braid once on a handle when I first started messing with rawhide - pictured below - its not very good but is that what you were meaning horse hair.

troy

[HorsehairBraider]

Troy - that's not quite it... I don't know if I can link to a pic from the guy's site or not. OK nope, just tried it. When you go to his index page, there's a pic of a large wooden round base (perhaps of a whip handle or some such) and that is what I'm talking about. It's oriented straight up and down, and the rawhide has been worked up it from the bottom to about half way up.

This is one of those times when I wish you could see me waving my arms around in the air... although that probably wouldn't help much either. :D

[KnotHead]

Spanish Hitching is what you see there in that photo that quickly passes by. Thing about that kind of hitching is that you can almost the unlimited patterns and colors with it. You can even when half way on your handle switch to the fid work layout, insert a name and then switch back to the Spanish Hitching again. There are just about limitless possible workings from that type of work. Takes a while but with some desire to see it to the end, you can accomplish it.

Brian...

[HorsehairBraider]

Thanks Brian! I'll do a search on that term and see if I can get more examples of it. It's a very cool technique.

[KnotHead]

I pulled that info from Bruce Grants book Rawhide and Leather Braiding. He gives a few sample techniques in there of the Spanish hitching, just with fewer strands. But the core structure of the hitching technique is in there and with some brave ambitiousness and a big heart for success, your desire will take you to the end of the project.

[Spence]

Ahhh, Spanish Hitching. I can feel the blisters now!!!

A thousand years ago - or more like 50, I was "tasked" with putting Spanish Hitch fenders on the stanchions in the mess hall of a ship I was stationed on. I vividly remember doing 8 of them. The diameter of the stanchion was 8", I believe, and the length of the fender was 3'. Then came the 4 coats of shellac and 2 coats of paint (battleship grey, of course)

Two weeks later, I was transferred.

[Alan Bell]

Armando is now a member of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association along with fellow Argentine Pablo Lozano featured in the July issue of Western Horseman magazine. They will both be at the TCAA event in Sept in OKC. if you would like to meet them. They are probably THE BEST braiders in Argentina now and have both spent years seeking out the best of Los Viejos (The Old Ones) to learn from. They know just about everything there is to know about braiding and are genuinely nice and open people. They have helped me out and are really the ones responsible for bringing the Argentine influence that Grant mentions in his books to a reality in American Rawhide Braiding techniques.

Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell