9 Strand Flat Braid

[Timothy]

Howdy,

Someone requested this braid in the How Do I Do That? section, so I thought I'd see if I could do a tutorial. There are several different 9 strand braids, but I think this is my favorite. It is an over two under two pattern that gives a nice herringbone effect. Just for your infrmation, it is commonly used to braid the tails on bull ropes.

Note: All numbers refer to the starting position of the string, begining with 1 on the left and continuing to 9 on the right. My braid is left loose to show the path that each strand takes. The first few steps show how to close up the top of the braid to make it more attractive when the end is already fastened in place.

Begin by arranging your strings next to each other with the hair sides up and lash, tie, or glue them together. I used contact cement to stick them to a piece of suede, then folded it over the top of the strings. Clamp them in a comfortable position to work.

Split the strands so you have 4 in your left hand and 5 in your right.

Cross strand #4 (the center strand in your left hand) to the right understrand #5. Now #5 is in your left hand and #4 is in your right.

Take strand #6 from your right hand and cross it to the left over #4 so that it becomes the inside string in your left hand.

Cross strand #3 to the right under #5 and #6 so it is the inside strand in your right hand.

Cross strand #7 to the left under #4 and #3 so it is the inside strand in your left hand. This completes the closing up of the top of the braid.

Now the main braiding begins. At this point you should have 5 strands in your left hand and four in your right. Take strand #1, the outer strand in your left hand, and cross it to the right over #2 and #5, under #6 and #7. Add it to the inside of the right hand group so that it contains 5 strands.

Take the outside right hand strand, #9 to the left over #8 and #4, under #3 and #1. Add it to the left hand group.

[leatheroo]

thanks tim, it is great to see another tutuorial.

[Timothy]

Now take strand #2, the outside left strand to the right over #5 and #6, under #7 and #9.

Take the outside right strand, #8 to the right over #4 and #3, under #1 and #2.

At this point you will have five strands on the left and four on the right. Continue working the outside strand from the group with 5 strands towards the center over two and under two to add it to the inside of the other group so that it now contains 5 strands. Repeat the procedure with this group. Try to keep the bights on the edges even and the braid pulled tight.

Here is a picture of the completed braid.

I couldn't find anything I had made using this braid so I'll have to figure out something to use this short piece for.

I hope ya'll enjoy this and make use of it.

Timothy

[Hilly]

This is a very nice tutorial. Thank you for posting. I wish it was in PDF format so I could download it to my computer.

[tonyc1]

This is a very nice tutorial. Thank you for posting. I wish it was in PDF format so I could download it to my computer.

Hilly, you could just copy and past it like I have done.

Tony.

[Beaverslayer]

Tim, great tutorial, very easy to follow and very good pictures to look at. Thanks so much for adding this to the forum, it's people like you that really make this a great site.

Hilly, go to the top of the page, on the right side of the posted thread at the top is an "Options" button. Click this and it will give you the optin of downloading it in such a way that you can then use a PDF Virtual printer on your computer to make your own PDF. If you don't have a Virtual PDF printer, you can download one at www.tucows.com, just do a search there for virtual PDF Printer.

Ken

[TomSwede]

Thanks Tim!

This was a nice tutorial and I'm sure it'll come handy one day, I really like braids.

Tom

[CharlieR]

Hey Tim--thanks for the tutorial--I am sure it took quite a bit of time-thanks for the hard work. It is folks like you that take the time and effort to make this forum a winner!

[Timothy]

Thanks for the feedback.

This was my first tutorial, so I thought it turned out pretty good. Only took 3-4 hours, but most of that was spent typing. The most used key on the keyboard is the backspace button.

I used to do this braid in string, and realized I had never done it in leather so I gave it a try. Been thinking I'll use it to make a hatband when I get done with current projects. I started one with a 7 plait but messed it up (still learning to handle this rawhide), so I used the leftover string for this tutorial.

I can't take credit for the pictures. I don't always get along with a camera, so I got my Dad to come take them. That really made it work because you could see what both hands were doing and I didn't have to stop to reset timers or anything.

Beaverslayer, TomSwede, Hilly, et. al.,

Your work amazes me. I've learned so much from your posts that I thought I would do my part and pass on what little I know. Yes, this really is a great site.

Glad ya'll like it,

Timothy

[festus]

Hello Tim,

I was asking about the 9 plait braid. Thank you very much for the help and a very nice tutorial I really appreciate it.

Festus

[carr52]

Great tutorial. Thank you. I tried it out and thanks to your pics it was much easier for me. Is there a formula or a rule of thumb for the length of lace you need to acheive a given length for the finished braid?

Tom

[Timothy]

Glad this helped.

Carr52,

For length of lacing I use the finished length I want times 1.5. This usually gives plenty of leftover for terminal turks heads leaving tassels hanging, etc. For simple braids I usually wind up cutting off several inches, but I'd rather have too much than not enough. I'd be interested to see how others figure this too.

Timothy

[MatthewD]

Here is the pdf version of the tutorial. I hope that you don't mind Tim that I put into a PDF9_strand_flat_braid_tutorial.pdf

9_strand_flat_braid_tutorial.pdf

[McJeep]

Take strand #6 from your right hand and cross it to the left over #4 so that it becomes the inside string in your left hand.

Hmmmmm, complete newbie here so please bear with :0)

Should this not read "to the left under #4" ??? Like I said, I'm a complete newb at this stuff and saving everything I read at this point so if I'm not understanding lemme know LOL

edited to add: muchos gracias for taking the time to post this - this type of tutorial helps clear some of the smoke and mirrors aspect of things like braiding for me :0)

Edited November 24, 2008 by McJeep

[Timothy]

Sorry I haven't kept up with this post. McJeep is correct.

I'll fix it if I can figure out how to edit posts.

Tim

[KnotHead]

Here's a pdf file of the braid.

Nice work Tim. Very nice work.

Brian...

9strandflatbraid_Herringbone.pdf

9strandflatbraid_Herringbone.pdf

[Rayban]

Tim, you know those bolo ties??? they are usually some sort of round braid....I have lots of leather lace I would like to make sumpin with....figure maybe lanyards, etc. but I don't know how.....can you help??

Thanks!!

[Timothy]

I don't think I can edit a post this old. If a moderater sees this, please edit to read: "Take strand #6 from your right hand and cross it to the left under #4 so that it becomes the inside string in your left hand."

Thanks to MatthewD and Knothead for making this available in pdf format.

Rayban, I've never done a bolo tie, but i personally would use a simple 4 strand round braid. Maybe with a pineapple knot instead of a big silver slide? I haven't been braiding lately but have a knife that I could put a wrist lanyard on for a tutorial if this would help.

[Rayban]

Rayban, I've never done a bolo tie, but i personally would use a simple 4 strand round braid. Maybe with a pineapple knot instead of a big silver slide? I haven't been braiding lately but have a knife that I could put a wrist lanyard on for a tutorial if this would help.

YES!!. that would help...let's do r.

[Timothy]

Rayban,

Sorry I haven't got it done. I promise I'll get to it. I have a couple of things to finish first.

Tim

[Rayban]

Rayban,

Sorry I haven't got it done. I promise I'll get to it. I have a couple of things to finish first.

Tim

Okie Dokie

[Somawas]

I've braided a bunch of string, not so much leather. I use hemostats to hold the strands, and they work great. Buy cheap, Made in Pakistan, stainless hemostats on ebay.

[entiendo]

How do I add a couple of strings to this braid?

thanks

[bullrope braider]

Sorry I haven't kept up with this post. McJeep is correct.

I'll fix it if I can figure out how to edit posts.

Tim

I know this is an older post but thought I'd add a little more for those that were asking questions on braiding. in the area of braiding rope which can be used to braid leather, rawhide, para cord or anything else that you can hold in your hands, the topic list's this post as a 9 plait flat braid but it is only because it has a flat appearance to the finished project for the sake of the original post topic . let me explain this, in my world of bull rope braiding the standard nine plait braid for bull rope building would be called "9 plait" which in rope terms is using the 9 strands/bundles with the one outside strand/bundle going over two then under two. the true 9 plait flat braid made on a bull rope tail braided flat is actually over one then under one. the 7 plait flat braid is just the same - over one, under one. but the 7 plait braided like the 9 plait standard braid is braided - over one, under two which is what us bull rope braiders call a "cheater nine" braid, other wise simply called "7 plait" when I get an order for a bull rope with a 7 plait tail I'll braid it out in the "cheater nine" style. Most braiders use the standard braiding technique of over two, under two for all the handle and tail braiding when asked for the 9 plait handle and tail combination. very few bull riders use a flat braided 7 or 9 plait anymore, they all or most of them want the tail braid to look like traditional nine plait even though it may be braided with 7 bundles or strands. for instance if you look at some of the bull rope pic's on my website at http://www.jwebullropes.com you'll see we braid the bottom handle on most of our bullropes in the true 9 plait flat braid but all the handle's are braided standard 9 plait (over two, under two) and the tails are mixed braids of 9,7 or 5 depending on what the customer has asked for. the only other braid on the tails might be if someone wants the tail braided 5 plait then it's a true flat braid of over one, under one.

if you would like to try this take nine strands of colored chute cord attached to a small steel ring to make a key fob. I'll actually use ten pieces five foot long (you can shorten this up but the finished two foot is easier to work with) and fold them through the ring using one strand to wrap around the others so you have about two foot of the 9 strands hanging, use the tutorial in the above posting to start your braiding from the center out and braid out your fob using that over two, under technique. if you braid it out tight and even it will make a really cool looking key fob. at the end of the braiding when it's the length you want wrap up the strands with waxed sinew thread using the rope whipping/cable whipping method to seal the end leaving the strands about an inch long past the whipping. I made some of these for christmas presents once and everyone loved them, I'll make one up soon and post the pic's here

thanks, John

[Timothy]

Bullrope Braider,

Thanks for that explanation. Most of my experience with bull ropes was trying to hang on to them.

Tim