8 Strand Braiding - Different Styles?

[Laperla]

Hi,

I am new in this forum and in the world of leather crafting.

I´m german but have been living in Spain for 12 years by now. I am living and working with horses, trying to show spaniards the big advantages of western trained horses.

As in Spain it is not easy to find nice western tack I decided to make some my own.

As for the moment I don´t want to destroy leather:blush:, I just started to braid some tack using paracord.

There is this 8 strand braid, which gives a herringbone pattern and it comes out kind of squared. I wonder if there is any other technique for 8 strands braiding which produces a different look. I don´t want to use a core.

:cowboy:Saludos,

Angela

[KnotHead]

Hi,

I am new in this forum and in the world of leather crafting.

I´m german but have been living in Spain for 12 years by now. I am living and working with horses, trying to show spaniards the big advantages of western trained horses.

As in Spain it is not easy to find nice western tack I decided to make some my own.

As for the moment I don´t want to destroy leather:blush:, I just started to braid some tack using paracord.

There is this 8 strand braid, which gives a herringbone pattern and it comes out kind of squared. I wonder if there is any other technique for 8 strands braiding which produces a different look. I don´t want to use a core.

:cowboy:Saludos,

Angela

The reason as to why your braid is coming out square looking is because you most likely have not pulled the para-cord core out. Decore the para-cord and try the braid again. You will most likely have to use a core on the inside of the braid in order to keep the braid from caving in on itself. You can always use a couple of cut to length pieces of para-cord as the inside core for the braid to sit on. That's just my recomendation for that type of braid.

Another 8 strand type of braid is the Gaucho braid. This one the core of the para-cord will have to be taken out as before so you can get a semi-flat cord as you would with lace. Taking the core out of the para-cord itself will stop that square braided look. The thing is with para-cord, you have a round cord and you are trying to produce a rounded braid. That does not work in the braiding world. You have to take the core of the para-cord out in order to get a rounded braid. Any braid over 6 strands will require in most cases a core to be inside the braid you are making.

Brian...

[KnotHead]

Just got done with this dog leash. At the clasp point I did this 8 strand braid. Sequence, U1-O2-U1 from right to left / O1-U2 from left to right. It does not give a defined gaucho look like the round braid does in 8 strands. But it does look good for the area I put it in.

[Laperla]

Thank you very much Knothead! This helped me a lot! I don´t want to take the core out, because the rein (I am braiding a romal rein) becomes to thin in my opinion. And braiding around a core makes the rein too stiff. Of course, paracord is not THE material for romal reins actually. In the end I just finished it doing the squared 8 strand braid and I must say it is not too bad. It has a nice feel and enough weight for my needs.

I´ll try your gaucho braid. I experimented to find out something like that on my own, but it did´t work. Probably because I´m still a very greeeen braider:whistle:

[Aggiebraider]

I actually made a romal rein out of parachute cord for a friend and she loves them. She said she has gotten quite a few compliments about them as well. I used a 4 strand round for the rein and i think a either an 8 strand around 2 for a core or a 12 strand for the romal and still put the buttons on the romal for the extra weight. For an everyday using set, they work pretty well. Sorry for the bad picture its actually the only one I have of them and its from my phone.

Sorry didnt mean to hijack your thread, just thought you might like to see some that someone else had made as well

[Laperla]

I actually made a romal rein out of parachute cord for a friend and she loves them. She said she has gotten quite a few compliments about them as well. I used a 4 strand round for the rein and i think a either an 8 strand around 2 for a core or a 12 strand for the romal and still put the buttons on the romal for the extra weight. For an everyday using set, they work pretty well. Sorry for the bad picture its actually the only one I have of them and its from my phone.

Sorry didnt mean to hijack your thread, just thought you might like to see some that someone else had made as well

Yeeees, you´re right! I like to see as many finished objects as possible! I really like the one you made it looks very professional. I suppose you took the core out of all the cords? Even those of the 4 strand core braid?

[Aggiebraider]

Thanks so much for the compliments. Those are about like everything else I make, I can see all the problems, but no one else notices them. That was the first project I made after getting Gail Hought's books and was finally able to do the long pineapple knots. Even though they are huge compared to ones you would make from leather, They add alot of needed weight to the reins as they are really light when you get everything braided up since I used 4 strand for the reins. I had A LOT of trouble getting the knots to be consistently the same size and shape and atleast one of them I remember didnt cover the tape job very well and you could see tape through the knot.

I actually didnt take the core out of any of the strands, except for the ones I used to make the buttons. The paracord that I was getting was premo stuff, but I still had what you described with the 8 strand braid where the back is a little wider than the front. I pulled each and every braid as tight as humanly possible and this didnt change. It ALWAYS did it, and I used 8 strand ALOT (for neck ropes and jerk lines). It does go away when you use a core as I have a 10 strand (8 with 2 strands as a core) mecate that I made a few years ago and its pretty round. But having said all that, I think that with use, your braids will kind of settle in (not loosen), and this goes away. You might also try rolling your finished product just like you do with leather/rawhide, I dont know but that might help.