Rawhide Bends?

[broncstompinben]

I'm new to braiding rawhide, and being limited in both work space and money i can't justify buying a whole side of rawhide, i see Tandy selling rawhide bends for around twenty bucks does anyone know how they work out for braiding, and what exactly a bend of leather is.

[lilpep]

Dont doo it !!!!!!! dont buy a rawhide bend. long story short its only a peace of the hide and from what i got from our tandy guy it is also a split so hence no grain !!!! if you want to get into it just buy lave on ebay its pretty cheap (relative) or get tejas industries, Bill Confer ive heard good things about him havent bought any myself cause i have my own a side will be way more use full to you not only in cutting lace but in practicing " casing the strands" even how you are more comfortable cutting. look around make sure its not a raw hide split basically they split at the tannery before the tanning and then just make it raw hide. take care hope this helps and

PS. how about a cooperative purchase ? we can split the hide any one else interested? for those of us who need the practice

[broncstompinben]

Thanks for the info lilpep, i was lucky enough to score a peice of old rawhide from one of my saddle marker buddies in trade for a little time skiving ground seats, and was able with the help of my eight dollar tandy lace cutter to turn it into a functional headstall. The headstall is based off the Bruce Grant pattern with a few modifications, all the braiding excecpt for the browband is done in a simple a four strand and the browband is a nine strand flat braid courtesy of the thread by timothy. I hope to sell this for enough to buy a whole side of rawhide and continue my education in the art of braiding rawhide.

[lilpep]

looks good !!! hope you find a buyer soon