Two leather books

[Goonhorse]

I've had my eye on these two books:

Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding

And....

Braiding Fine Leather

But I don't want to spend money on something that's hard to understand and won't help me. Are these good books? And if you have any other book suggestions, feel free to tell me about them!

Thanks,

Ariel

[Myriam]

Hi Ariel,

The Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding is quite complete. It has a lot of knots and braids in it. However, I find that the drawings can be misleading and hard to understand sometimes.

Don't know about the other book, never seen it.

I don't know if you're just starting braiding or not, but if you're beginning, I'd suggest getting a copy of "The Art of Braiding, Basics - Revised Edition" by Gail Hought. Not as many knots as in the Encyclopedia but her instructions and pictures are clear and easy to understand. She has other books too but they're for specific projects. Here's a link to them: http://www.hought.com/brbooks.html.

Hope that helps!

And welcome to the forum!

Myriam

I've had my eye on these two books:

Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding

And....

Braiding Fine Leather

But I don't want to spend money on something that's hard to understand and won't help me. Are these good books? And if you have any other book suggestions, feel free to tell me about them!

Thanks,

Ariel

[Butch]

Ariel,

I have four different books on braiding:

Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding - Bruce Grant

How to Make Cowboy Horse Gear - Bruce Grant

Braiding Rawhide Horse Tack - Robert L. Wooley

Braiding Fine Leather - David W. Morgan

I'm just learning how to braid myself and when I attempt to braid something I usually pick up Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding. Although I fully agree with Myriam that some of the illustrations can be misleading. I've only seen some of Gail Hought's braiding instructions on the internet and did find them a lot easier to follow. From what I've seen her books are expensive, but I've read they are well worth it. I've also heard that some of her more advanced books refer back to some of her other books to tie certain knots, etc.

How to Make Cowboy Horse Gear is a condensed version of Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding with a section about saddles.

Braiding Rawhide Horse Tack is very hard to understand, so I don't even open it up.

Braiding Fine Leather has sections for round braiding, flat braiding and then sections on how to make projects such as a Key Lanyard, Whistle Lanyard, Dog Leash, Hatband and Belt. Again not one of my favorite.

My personal pick is the Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding and I still have plans on buying The Art of Braiding, Basics - Revised Edition by Gail Hought as Mariam mentioned.

Good luck,

Butch

[Goonhorse]

Myriam: Thanks for the book suggestion! I don't know that I'd ever seen those books before. I'll have to check on eBay or Amazon to see if I can get them for cheaper.

Butch Thank you, as well for the "book review". That gives me a better idea of what the books involve.

[unicornwoman]

Myriam: Thanks for the book suggestion! I don't know that I'd ever seen those books before. I'll have to check on eBay or Amazon to see if I can get them for cheaper.

Butch Thank you, as well for the "book review". That gives me a better idea of what the books involve.

I have Bruce Grant, but sometimes he's hard to follow. I've also got books by Tom Hall and Ron Edwards.

Tom Hall's method is a more detailed written method, so if you are better at reading comprehension than visual comprehension that might be a good choice. He breaks it down to a formula as well.

Ron Edwards has excellent illustrations and I absolutely adore his books. Now that I carry them for sale in my business, I've been able to afford to add 1 every other order or so to my personal collection. Otherwise, they're a little hard to find already here in the USA.

Edited April 2, 2008 by unicornwoman

[rcsaddles]

I began braiding leather belts while in Australia in 1988. I started with Bush Leatherwork by Ron Edwards.

In 1993 I met Mary Fields who is in the Bruce Grant book, Encyclopedia of Rawhide book. She taught me everything I know about rawhide.

Grants books are hard to follow when you start to braid the buttons and such.

I would have to give my vote to any Ron Edwards books for learning to plait or braid. His instructions and drawings are easy to follow. He has drawn his pictures so all steps for each pass are flat instead of three pictures for one pass. You can check on www.ramsskullpress.com to see a description of his books.

I hope you find a book that can get you started. You can also do a group search in Yahoo and look at the Marlinspikeknotworks group. Robert Black has some DVDs out that are easy to follow for Turks heads.

[Gremlin]

The Bruce Grant books are fine for someone that has some braiding experience as they can be confusing. The ones by Ron Edwards are much better to start with. Don't be afraid to look at some books on knots as well. You would be surprised what you can find related to braiding in them. Altho they may be geared to rope work, the mechanics of braiding are the same for rope and leather. I suggest this because the photos in some knot books can clarify things immensly. I learned the Turks Head from a book on knots when I was not able to understand the concept in any of the leather braiding books. You will find the books on knots to be a lot less expensive as well. Check some of the local bookstore bargin bins before laying out the cash.

Good luck and keep practicing. It is very satisfying and somewhat addicting. Once you figure one thing out you want to try something else and it just keeps going from there.

Edited April 9, 2008 by Gremlin

[Goonhorse]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I'll be looking into the Ron Edwards books, since that seems to be everyone's favorites for beginners like me.