mecate help

[gbsbullet]

Hello,

I am looking for some help on ways to attach a shoofly to a paracord mecate I just finished braiding. I have never added horsehair into any project of mine so I'm not sure if there is anything I should be aware of before attaching this. Also, because it is paracord I am worried the horsehair would not grad properly on the slick surface of the paracord and would easily pull out. Therefore, I was hoping to go over some ideas I had so people could comment on them, and also receive other suggestions on the best way to avoid this problem.

The mecate is a 12 strand o2 u2 o2 braid with 1/8 (de-cored) paracord finished with a terminal knot at both ends. So here are my ideas:

- Idea #1: undo about 3 inches of the mecate, cut out the core, then bundle and tie my horsehair rebraiding the mecate over it finishing with a terminal knot so the horsehair comes out the middle. Then putting a turkshead around the knot to secure it even more and give it a pretty look.

- Idea #2: lay the horse hair long ways or fold it in half over the terminal knot, use wax string to lash the hair down, finally braiding over it with a turkshead.

- Idea #3: use contact cement to glue the horse hair to the mecate just above the terminal knot, then lash it down with wax string, then finish it with a turkshead.

These are my ideas but I'm not sure if any are good, please comment. Note: the lace used in the turkshead would be leather not paracord.

[megabit]

Number one sounds the best to me of what you list. I think you want to make sure you fold the horse hair through your paracord so that it can't just pull loose. Does that make sense? So you need horse hair twice as long any you want for your tassel.

[gbsbullet]

Number one sounds the best to me of what you list. I think you want to make sure you fold the horse hair through your paracord so that it can't just pull loose. Does that make sense? So you need horse hair twice as long any you want for your tassel.

Thanks for the advice, I had considered pulling through the braid as well like you said to then just covering it with a button. The only thing I worried about with this method was an lop-sided button or a funny looking tassle. However, I think your right That would definately insure that it doesn't pull out. Thanks again.

[megabit]

You can mouse it up some with florist tape and carve it back down so it is more symmetrical if that is a problem.

[HorsehairBraider]

You can mouse it up some with florist tape and carve it back down so it is more symmetrical if that is a problem.

Not sure but I think he means the actual hair... Horsehair has a taper in it, it is thicker at the part where it grows out, and much thinner on the ends that fly free. Nothing you can do about that though - it's just the way hair is.

I'd fold it in half as suggested, and then trim it to a nice length when finished. You can't get away from the taper, but you can turn half the hair backwards if you see what I mean. That will help.