Beveling Uneven Lace

[yuliya]

The beveler finally arrived in the mail yesterday, so I was very excited to give it a try. This is my first time dealing with lace or beveling.

To my disappointment I found out that the lace varies in width. I really struggled beveling it as it had thinner and spongy sections, I ended up adjusting the

width on the beveler back and forth as I was going. It was very frustrating as when the lace would become wider again I would be taking too much off, before I realize that I need to adjust again.

Is the difference in width of the lace a norm and what is the best way of handling it?

[KnotHead]

What kind of lace are you dealing with?

• Spool lace or, other?

A lot of times when you deal with spool lace you will run into the stretchy parts of the lace. This is where the cut from the hide cut into the stretchy part of the hide. The stretchy part is where the process of making the hide did not take right, or when the stretch of the hide did not stretch correctly.

I deal with kangaroo hides that sometimes have those spots you speak of. So when I cut my hides, I cut only the good part, or the non-stretchy spot. If the whole hide has those spots on the outer edges I will cut wider in those areas so that when I go to stretch the lace those areas will come out the same as the cut lace in the good parts.

If you are dealing with spool bought lace, there is not much you can do about that except for this one thing.

Cut the appropriate length desired and the stretch that lace out and then try your cutting from that point.

Brian...

[yuliya]

thank you Brian, yes it was spool lace.

Anyway, here is what came out of it and my first attempt, also I have to say that this was first and last time I used metallic colored lace, I didn't like it at all.

[KnotHead]

Very good for your first braided leash. You're splicing at both ends look good. Your braid is even and there are no gaps in the braid that I can see. Metallic lace is really not the best to use. As you can most likely tell the lace feels different and is much stiffer to use. Most of the metallic part rubs off on your hands. I don't like the metallic lace much either. So, you're not alone in that department.

Brian...

[yuliya]

Thank you Brian!

The biggest problem I have, that you cannot see in the picture is that I "twist" the braid. if I hang the leash you can see how the strip of color slowly rotates around the center. I thought I figure out how not to do it while working on last paracord leash I've made, but I guess not:-(

luckily it's not very visible when you actually use the leash, otherwise I would have to toss it out as it would drive me crazy.!:-)

First problem with metallic lace was that the beveling it exposed the black edges.

Then as I was braiding, I was using liquid saddle soap as indicated in the book I have, making the lace wet caused the black color to rub on my hands, it also colored the edges of the blue lace black.

I really want to figure out how to cut my own lace at this point.

Yuliya

[megabit]

If you have to use spool lace, I would buy a larger size than you need and then trim it down to even it up before you go to beveling. It won't be long before you will just be cutting your own lace if you keep braiding. I think you will find that the store bought lace is more expensive and of an inferior quality than you can make for yourself.