Beveling Latigo Lace For Bosal

[larena]

Hi Larena,

I have done a couple latigo bosals. I beveled flesh side only at 45 degrees. They turned out pretty nice. You won't really know how rough or smooth it will be until you roll it. It will look totally different after rolling. One tip for you is to be careful when pulling your strands tight while braiding. Latigo doesn't have the tinsile strength of roo and trust me, it isn't any fun lacing a new strand back through after you snapped one 3/4's of the way done. Another thing that helped me in beveling is running your strands through some white saddle soap or rawhide cream. It seems to condense the edges and they don't come out so fuzzy. If you search latigo bosal you can see the ones I braided. Where did you get your latigo from? I'm am doing a 5/8's latigo bosal tomorrow for a customer.Good luck with yours.

Jamie

Jamie,

Thanks for the tips. I got my latigo from Sheridan Leather. I really like it but is seems a bit on the dry side. So you run your leather through the rawhide cream before you bevel? How about when you split it? I did run the strings through rawhide cream as I braided them and it worked out really good. I've got the core braided now. Started it over twice because I got a little curve to the braid. . .. a little OCD on straightness I suppose. I am building a 3/4 inch bosal with a twisted core covered with a braided rawhide to get it up to 1/2 inch. It now measures "exactly 3/4 inch". I guess it is going to be a starting bosal. I was just wondering, after you finish the braid do you wash the saddle soap off before rolling it? I guess I will start the nose button tomorrow. I have only made one bosal before this one and I did the nose button with multiple strands. I am not sure how to figure out how many strings to use and what size. Any suggestions?

Let me know how your's turns out. Have fun.

Larena

[barbiesdude]

Hey Michael,

What I do is take the lid off the tin, stick the end of a strand (flesh side down) hold it down with two or three fingers and pull it through the soap. Then I take

the strand and pull it through my closed palm to once or twice to work in the soap and get rid of the excess. I don't suppose it should be to wet.

Jamie

Jamie, do you let the strings dry for a while after running trough saddle soap before beveling? it does not work well if it´s to wet, isn´t it?

[barbiesdude]

I do run it through before I bevel, it seems to keep the fuzzys down and seems to give the blade a better bite. I havent soaped before I split though. I have a little OCD with my braiding as well. I have washed and took a real soft brush to get the excess flaky stuff out of the v's. I can't tell you exactly how many strands or what size because I haven't done a 3/4" but I can tell you what I did for my 1/2" ones and what I'm going to use on the 5/8's. The 1/2" I did 6 strands 1/8 wide x 1/16 thick give or take 32nd x 7' long. On the 5/8's it will be 6 strands 3/16" wide x 3/32" thick x 7' to 8' long depending on how long you make your nose button, mine are 7 1/4" to 7 1/2" long. On your 3/4" bosal you might use the same as the 5/8" but cut two more strands and do 8. I would also suggest doing the braiding method like in Alan Bell's tuttorial. It has worked REALLY well for me in keeping it straight ( OCD ). Hope this helps.

Jamie

Jamie,

Thanks for the tips. I got my latigo from Sheridan Leather. I really like it but is seems a bit on the dry side. So you run your leather through the rawhide cream before you bevel? How about when you split it? I did run the strings through rawhide cream as I braided them and it worked out really good. I've got the core braided now. Started it over twice because I got a little curve to the braid. . .. a little OCD on straightness I suppose. I am building a 3/4 inch bosal with a twisted core covered with a braided rawhide to get it up to 1/2 inch. It now measures "exactly 3/4 inch". I guess it is going to be a starting bosal. I was just wondering, after you finish the braid do you wash the saddle soap off before rolling it? I guess I will start the nose button tomorrow. I have only made one bosal before this one and I did the nose button with multiple strands. I am not sure how to figure out how many strings to use and what size. Any suggestions?

Let me know how your's turns out. Have fun.

Larena

[Vaquero1]

right Jamie, i totally agree with you- if you do it exactely like in Alans great tutorial you can´t do wrong Larena... i would choose 8 strands for your 3/4" project and use about 3/16" strands before beveling ( it´s way thinner afer soaping, streching and beveling...)) and about 6 feet long...

[larena]

right Jamie, i totally agree with you- if you do it exactely like in Alans great tutorial you can´t do wrong Larena... i would choose 8 strands for your 3/4" project and use about 3/16" strands before beveling ( it´s way thinner afer soaping, streching and beveling...)) and about 6 feet long...

I watched Alan's tutorial and I think I will give it a try. I have been doing it Gail Hought's way and have done well with it too. Is there a formula you use to figure out the strings needed for different circumferences on nose buttons?

Here's another question for everybody, if you make a nose button say . . . . 7 1\2 inches long, laying flat, how long will it actually be when it is bent into shape? Is there a formula for figuring that and does it change with the circumference?

Sorry for all the questions, but this is the best place for answers.

Thanks to everybody for all the help,

larena