wantmorelandandcattle Report post Posted December 2, 2010 Finished these up over Thanksgiving. One is a natural rawhide Gaucho knot. One is dyed with coffee and onions. It's light brown with kind of an orange looking interweave. The other one is roohide, chestnut with a tan interweave. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aggiebraider Report post Posted December 2, 2010 Great job on them! I keep wanting to use up some of my roo scraps and make a few slides, just havent gotten around to it. What are the dimensions on these? CW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alb Report post Posted December 2, 2010 THey are lovely. I am not a braider. How long does it take to complete one of these? Ann Finished these up over Thanksgiving. One is a natural rawhide Gaucho knot. One is dyed with coffee and onions. It's light brown with kind of an orange looking interweave. The other one is roohide, chestnut with a tan interweave. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rcsaddles Report post Posted December 2, 2010 Those look very nice. You did a great job. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
megabit Report post Posted December 2, 2010 Those look great! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rgerbitz Report post Posted December 3, 2010 Nice job. Sweetie says I should buy her one. What are you using for the fondation, is that wood in there? Rob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ljensen Report post Posted December 3, 2010 Those look nice. I like the colors you got from the dyes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wantmorelandandcattle Report post Posted December 10, 2010 Thanks everyone! To answer the questions... These are all built on a leather foundation. I cut a strip of saddle leather that is around 1/16" thick (7 - 8 oz leather), 5/8" wide and 3" long. The length is dependent on the circumference of the mandrel that you use. I use a dowel rod that is 5/8" in diameter for a mandrel for most (I also use one that is 1/2" for smaller wild rags and one that is 3/4" for larger wild rags). I don't do the math on these, I think it works better to just wrap the leather around the mandrel, mark it, then cut it. I make it just a hair longer than it needs to be because when you stitch it together, you'll loose a little length, plus it makes it easier to get it on and off the mandrel. I stitch it together with the hide side inward. I place it on the mandrel and build up the foundation to make the shape (sometimes I use ring knots, turks heads, floral and/or masking tape, chap leather etc.. to make them a sphere or square with round edges like these). Then braid the button on! I do use scrap pieces that are left over from other projects. You really need a string that is 5-6 ft long or use 2 that are 3+ feet long (1/16", 3/32" or 1/8" in width) and do a pineapple with an interweave. These usually take about 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours from start to finish and I sell them for $35 - $50 depending upon what they are made of and how complicated the knot is. Not bad for something you probably would have thrown away as waste. Thanks again for the compliments everyone! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites