1St Reata

[blackhammer]

Well, I finished my first reata. I'm not terribly pleased with the outcome, but it has stoked the fire to make another. If you guys don't mind, I'll list some of the things I learned in an effort to help folks avoid my mistakes and try to attach a few pictures.

1) I don't know as much about moisture control as I thought i did. I kept my tamales in plastic bags as I braided, but some sections were too wet to braid. Which brings me to my next point.

2) If it doesn't feel right, don't braid it. There were times when I thought that a strand was too wet or too dry, but I braided anyway. i figured that it wouldn't make a significant difference. As you well know, I was wrong. Even after rolling and pulling through the block, I still have gaps. Lesson learned.

3) i cut and beveled all my strands by hand and eye and knife. Ehh, not too bad, but I can clearly see where a few more sophisticated tools would have made for a more consistent job all around. i split my strands with a joiner plane. That actually proved to be pretty effective.

4) The 2 dollar plastic caliper that I bought at Rural King is not an acceptable substitute for a decent set of calipers. And my eyeball is not calibrated enough to judge differences in the the /32 range.

Overall I had a good time building this. My braid turned out pretty straight, so my tension was fairly even. I did have to put in two splices. Alan Bell advised to try to finish the whole thing in one go. Work and family would not allow for that, but I can definitely tell how long I spent braiding a given section. The longest I was able to braid was 20 or so feet. Length turned out to be about 47 feet. thanks to every one for advice. Cant wait to start a new, better one.

Edited June 23, 2011 by blackhammer

[blackhammer]

Bah! That picture turned out way too big, and I can't resize. I shall endevour to remedy the issue and repost at a later date.

[megabit]

So how does it work? Have you roped anything with it yet? How long were your strings you started with? I am thinking I can get 4 strands about 90' from what I have cut so far if I don't screw up.

I have been working on my first one for months. In Jan I got the hide from Bill C. About 2 months ago I finally cut it into a round and made my rough cut. I streched that between some post and was about ready to start prepping the string when I came off my horse and broke 3 ribs and 2 spinal processes about a month ago. That sure slowed things down. The last week or so I have started working on it again and have the string cut down to a fairly even 3/8" and ran through the splitter.

Mike

[blackhammer]

So i threw my reata in the trough and rolled it twice. this closed up most of those nasty gaps (but not all. Cant fix some things I dont guess). I then stretched it between two feence posts using a pulley set up. When I took it down a coupla days later, it was a different animal. The braid was much tighter and it didnt try to go boa constrictor on me when I swung it. Megabit, to be honest, this is the first reata I have ever seen much less handled. I is NOT a 3?8ths moneymaker from your local feed store, but I figure most of you guys knew that before I told you. I had to find out first hand. It does a pretty fair job of snagging my 3 year old son who happens to make for a pretty tough roping dummy. So honestly, while the braid looks pretty good and I like the way it feels, it may not be worth throwing in a ditch to someone who knows what a good reata actually feels like. If nothing else, it'll provide a fair amount of bosal cores! Sorry to here about your wreck by the way. Funny how the ground just wont get out of the damn way in time, aint it. Mr. Bell advised me to go with 6/32x3/32 for a 5/16 reata. Sadly, I went a tad on the large side. Ill try to do better on the next one. I should have 6 hides coming from the old home place in Sept.

[blackhammer]

picture after rolling and stretching

[rawhide1]

I think it looks pretty dang good. You just need to find someone to try it out for ya.

Thanks for sharing it, Mike

[megabit]

Looks like it should work to me. Have you pulled it through a post? Drill some holes in a post thread it through them hop on your pony and dally up and pull it from each end.

[Nod4Eight]

I think it looks pretty good too. Tossing a reata is a lot different feel than your standard rope for sure. Sounds like you've done the right things with it so far: roll, pound, stretch. Be careful pulling it through a fence post if you have splices. It might pull just fine til you hit a splice - then you suddenly have two reatas. Nice work, I like seeing the reatas.

[megabit]

Just thought of another question for you. You say it is 6/32 X 3/32, is that dry or cased?

[blackhammer]

Thanks for the kind words all. Megabit, I made all my "measurements" cased. Like I said, it was more eyeball work than anything else.

[Nod4Eight]

Blackhammer - you say you went a tad big? What size strands would you go with on your next one? And how long were they? To get 47 I would guess about 70-75 each? I have a hide ready to prep when I get the time and am looking to have dimensions in mind when I start on it. Wanting about a 60 footer so I'm thinking around 90-100 ft strands?

Mike - sorry to hear about your wreck. How's the recovery?

[megabit]

Mike - sorry to hear about your wreck. How's the recovery?

I am healing up pretty good, been like six weeks now. Where I am having trouble is getting my confidence back on my horse. I wasn't too bad and a couple of weeks ago I went roping and she took to bucking when I faced up on one I had headed that didn't want to move. That kinda put a bit of a fright in me.

[blackhammer]

Nod, I started with 75' strands or thereabout. In Grant's book, he states that Ms. Mary Fields liked 75 ft for a 50 ft reata so 90 ft. for 60 sounds right. Err on the long side! Next time around, I'm gonna try for a 65 footer. I picked up a set of good calipers and I have a local machinest working on a splitter. my strands were a tad on the thick side. i havent measured since I stretched it, but I think I gained about a foot just from rolling and stretching. If you like braiding, you really aught to try one of these. Its humbling, but I think I learned more on this one project than anything else I've made so far. by the way Megabit, I'd really like to see one of your fancy hondas on the end of a reata. Get to it.

Edited June 30, 2011 by blackhammer

[Nod4Eight]

Thanks Blackhammer for the info, pretty close to what I thought. I agree - skimping on the tools just don't cut it. I need to find a way to get or make a better splitter too.

Mike - sounds like BH is putting you to work haha! Yes, the confidence thing is probably the most important and the hardest to overcome. Any amount of fear or hesitation can be sensed by the horse which will throw him off his game in one way or another, Wet saddle blankets is the only way I know how to get past it. Best of luck to ya.

[megabit]

Well I took yesterday off so I could continue my string prep for my reata. Only problem was Friday night I put my string in water to case it. Plan was to leave it in the water for 30 - 45 minutes and stick it in plastic bags for a few days. Only I forgot about it and it was in the water 2 or 3 hours. Now it is sitting out while I wait for it to dry all the way out so I can start again.

[blackhammer]

I dont know if its the "right " way to do it, but I usually soak my strands for at least 4 hrs and let them temper in a damp sheet. It may take a coupla of days (it tends to be a tad humid in the Commonwealth) and when they get right, I make my tamales and stuff em in plastic bags. Seems to work alright.

[megabit]

I dont know if its the "right " way to do it, but I usually soak my strands for at least 4 hrs and let them temper in a damp sheet. It may take a coupla of days (it tends to be a tad humid in the Commonwealth) and when they get right, I make my tamales and stuff em in plastic bags. Seems to work alright.

Four hours, really? They don't get all water logged and skunky?

[megabit]

I was thinking about this overnight and recalled you saying you had some trouble with parts being to wet:

1) I don't know as much about moisture control as I thought i did. I kept my tamales in plastic bags as I braided, but some sections were too wet to braid. Which brings me to my next point.

Also that you ended up with gaps when you were done. Well if you braid to wet you get gaps as the string dries out and shrinks (I learned that one the hard way )

I want my string to have just enough moisture to be good and pliable and almost seems too dry before you soap it up.

[curlyjo]

I've been gone a few days and missed the discussion on wet string. I've posted before but here's what works for me. Take a plastic container( a 5 gallon bucket works for most of what I do) and put a screen up off the bottom on top of some 1/2 bricks on edge, so about 4 inches off bottom. Put about 2 inches of water in bottom of bucket and then soak your strings for just a short time and lay on top of the screen so nothing touches the water. Cover with a loose plastic bag, the clear ones work good, just make sure it is fairly sealed. The rawhide will draw the moisture up into your strings and if its warm will do it quicker. With small button string you just have to run water over them before putting them in bucket. I've also used the long storage containers for large bundles if I've run out of time between sizing and beveling. Same idea with screen over water and plastic bag cover. As far as large tamales go, I've heard of fellas just prepping half the strings and braiding from the middle out and then prepping other half and going the other way. You just have to try and see what works for you. I tried the plastic bag wrap and always had wet and dry spots. Just another idea, Brad

[LonnieChambers]

hello there.Just wanted to save you some trouble. I think four seperat 110 long strings would get you a 65 foot long rope. A reata needs to be long. So When you rope something you can let it burn on your horn. If you dally of fast because your reata is short you will break it, and splicing them back to gether is not fun.

Nod, I started with 75' strands or thereabout. In Grant's book, he states that Ms. Mary Fields liked 75 ft for a 50 ft reata so 90 ft. for 60 sounds right. Err on the long side! Next time around, I'm gonna try for a 65 footer. I picked up a set of good calipers and I have a local machinest working on a splitter. my strands were a tad on the thick side. i havent measured since I stretched it, but I think I gained about a foot just from rolling and stretching. If you like braiding, you really aught to try one of these. Its humbling, but I think I learned more on this one project than anything else I've made so far. by the way Megabit, I'd really like to see one of your fancy hondas on the end of a reata. Get to it.