Covering handles for crops and other items

[Drac]

glad ya found it useful and thanks for the work praise! one of the good things about this way is that each section doesn't take that long to do, so you can do a part, come back later, do another bit and before ya know it's finished.

[flyingcuda]

well...my piece has been sitting on my counter since october!...looks awesome, followed the tutorial...really nice..black and blue handle...blue tails...pretty. all suede. she sits there because i can't do the turks head i have read and re read the tutorial but to no avail...it actually stings when i see it sitting there waiting for me to finish her off. i haven't attempted it since december. funny how an unfinished project nags at you even when you aren't thinking about it. i will somehow dig up the patience and try and try and try......again...WHEN i do get it done i will post a pic. can't say enough about this community...i'm glad to be a part of it.

[Drac]

practice and patience, young grasshopper! take your time and keep trying. you'll get it.

[Hedge]

well...my piece has been sitting on my counter since october!...looks awesome, followed the tutorial...really nice..black and blue handle...blue tails...pretty. all suede. she sits there because i can't do the turks head i have read and re read the tutorial but to no avail...it actually stings when i see it sitting there waiting for me to finish her off. i haven't attempted it since december. funny how an unfinished project nags at you even when you aren't thinking about it. i will somehow dig up the patience and try and try and try......again...WHEN i do get it done i will post a pic. can't say enough about this community...i'm glad to be a part of it.

Have you tried this site? Excellent tutorial on a 6 bight Turk's head. Might give you a different way

of looking at the construction.

http://hought.com/art.6bth.1.html

Hedge.

[flyingcuda]

no, i haven't.. but at this point i'm willing to bight anything .. sorry i know... that was bad...but it's either scream and yell or it's bad humour. thank you..when i get my nerve back i will check it out, but i did get a braiding book and all the bights and stuff hurt my head..it had me lost at the intro page

[Ravenquille]

Turkshead! I'll let you decide what kind you want to use. Mine are always this one (the only one I figured out) and are made using 3/16" beveled lacing and the end is super glued when finished and tucked.

Drac,

Thanks so much for the pics and tutorial!

One question:

How do you make the Turks Head?

3/16th beveled lacing:.....but what do you do with it? How do you get it to look like your photo??

Ravenquille

[Drac]

you're very welcome! the tutorial for the turkshead starts on page 2.

[flyingcuda]

aaarrrggghhhh! i tried again...wanna rip it all apart and forget about it! there..done ranting. i can get the front to look good..but around the back is a mess! doesn't look good at all...i have no clue what i'm doing wrong, i am left handed but i only eat and write left handed...everything else is done right hand...i'm wondering if i am conflicting with myself..you know..left and right brain trying to dominate each other ...i'm sure my stubbourness won't let me give in yet...sorry..just needed to get that out of me.

[Drac]

as you're going along, rotate the handle around so that whatever part you're weaving is facing you.

[OTKentucky]

I have been trying for years to learn how to do a diamond braid...never quite learning how from the many braiding books that just can't quite explain how. Your pictures are great, I think I can finally do it now. Many thanks!!! )

Bill

[BlkDougal]

Using Drac's instructions, a few tips from The Better Build Bondage book and a few tips from a local craftsman, I managed to put together two floggers:

Tips I'd pass on to others

- Drac is absolutely spot on about braiding the Turks, make sure after three 'loops', that the front and back line up VERY well. Otherwise, the whole thing will be off. Small adjustments are possible.

- If you want to weight one end of the handle, I found that 5x 1/8oz egg type fishing sinkers hammered into a 2" deep, 5/16" hole works well. Seal the end with epoxy.

- The handle braid should be fairly tight, otherwise you get some slack when wielding the flogger and the leather may tear.

- It's fun, do it! You can make one in about a day when you have all the materials together, less time once you get more comfortable. The turks take me about an hour each now.

Cheers!

[WolfCoug]

2010 - Thanks to Drac! Great tutorials - This is turning out to be even more interesting and fun than expected. Bumped into this site just looking for leather braiding to enhance the toys and build a bullwhip - boyhood fantasy. Braided a few turks back in the 70s on various toys. Believe it or not, I went to the Boy Scout handbook for a refresher. Sidney Woods over on KHWW really made my head explode anticipating all the Parts x Bights. Recently made a few quickie leather items for playtime but nothing this nice. Time to step it up a notch and make something that looks as good as it feels.

[WolfCoug]

Drac,

Your tutorial is great! The handle in the tutorial does not look like your tutorial handle. Do you also have a more elaborate style? BTW - this thread was the best read so far. I was planning to build a turks mandle tonight but you are more interesting.

[Drac]

wolfcoug

glad you enjoyed the tutorial and are inspired by it. the reason the handle I used for the turkshead tutorial section looks different from the handle braid tutorial section is that it's braided stainless steel instead of leather. other than the stainless steel and some stitched and laced ones, all the styles I do on a regular basis are pictured on page 2 as templates. there are examples of the others on me myspace page if ya wanna see those.

[Drac]

just posting this post so peeps will look and get the views on this topic to 10,000 on me birthday.

[Drac]

just over a day late, but it's hit 10,000 views. woo hoo! too bad I couldn't charge admission. could use da money right now!

[TrustCommunicationConsent]

Waouw,what a tutorial ! Clean,clear,easy to learn !

You've said "i suck at round braiding",i don't think so ...What a fantastic work.

Its so generous,thank you for sharing.

when braiding arund a solid core the more strands the harder it becomes to keep the line of the braid straight. The trade off is it number of different patterns you can make and that incluses changing patterns during a braid.

Not the way I make my floggers (different is not better or worse it is simply different) but very nice indeed.

[TrustCommunicationConsent]

Turkshead! I'll let you decide what kind you want to use. Mine are always this one (the only one I figured out) and are made using 3/16" beveled lacing and the end is super glued when finished and tucked.

Now cut your tail blank. (W = tail width, X = number of tails, plus ½". My usual is 25 tails that are ½" wide, so I have ½" x 25 + ½" = 13". (WxX+½"=T)). for length whatever length you want plus 1". my tails are 20" long so my blank is 21" on the long side and 13" on the short. Take a scratch awl or pen and mark a line 1" from one of the short edges. For darker leathers I use the silver ink pen, for lighter leathers the black ink pen, and for suedes the scratch awl. You can see the line I made on this piece.

I am not sure (when I click on thumbnails I am not getting a larger pidrure) but that looks to me like a 7 part 6 bite turks head (also have not been about to find the discussion on turks heads) and if so it is very likly you also know how to make a 3 part 2 bite turks head and a 5 part 4 bite one as well. I say that because they way I make them 7/6 is raised from a 5/4 which is raised from a 3/2. Mind you there are at least 3 different ways to tie one (that does not even including tieing and tightening in one step (which is what I am working on now.)

Today for the first time got to work with kangroo and I am amazed at how much easier thurks heads are to tie with it. Now I understand how people can make knots of 3 - 3 or more passes which allows for different colors and even different strap sizes for seperate passes.

[Drac]

I am not sure (when I click on thumbnails I am not getting a larger pidrure) but that looks to me like a 7 part 6 bite turks head (also have not been about to find the discussion on turks heads) and if so it is very likly you also know how to make a 3 part 2 bite turks head and a 5 part 4 bite one as well. I say that because they way I make them 7/6 is raised from a 5/4 which is raised from a 3/2. Mind you there are at least 3 different ways to tie one (that does not even including tieing and tightening in one step (which is what I am working on now.)

Today for the first time got to work with kangroo and I am amazed at how much easier thurks heads are to tie with it. Now I understand how people can make knots of 3 - 3 or more passes which allows for different colors and even different strap sizes for seperate passes.

dunno why you're not getting a larger piccy. *shrug* I just make da goodies. *L* as far as knowing how to make other types of turksheads, nope. no clue whatsoever. seriously. the discussion on the turkshead starts about halfway down page 2, I think.

[TrustCommunicationConsent]

leatheroo

I figured if other professionals here were nice enough to show how they make some of their items, then I could too. making this stuff was me livelihood for a long time, but I'll still share (unlike most in me biz).

chitin

with the way I attach tails, no loss of durability. you can hang from me floggers. also, I've seen 'em done the way you're talking about and seen the handle break during a hard session. plus it's very hard to get a consistent handle size. I actually used to do them like that (never heard of any of mine breaking) and I'd used electrical tape to do a compressing wrap before doing the handle braid. another problem is when done like that you get a seam that runs down the handle. it's not that noticeable with softer leathers, but something like latigo definitely shows it. also I've noticed the balance tends to vary a lot from flogger to flogger when done that way. when done this way the balance point is about a 1/4" into the top turkshead out from the handle. but let's face it, balance doesn't really mean anything since there's so many different ways to hold a flogger. it's more about what feels right for an individual.

howard

I don't think of the the handle being braided until is done since I suck at round braiding anything more than 4 strands. that's why I came up with the way i do the handle braid. it's much quicker and easier. try it and you'll see what I mean. the only semi-difficult part of it is figuring out how snug to wrap and pull, and you figure that out fairly quickly. plus, an advantage to it is if you have to let go it for some reason it's not gonna unravel itself.

I have never heard of one breaking but am guessing it is possible if the dowel had a weak spot such as a knot. I turn my handles so I do not need to build up the ends, takes more time but I like the effect so it is worth itto me. One thing I noticed is you do not use a hanging strap.

Compleatly agree that way to many do not share. I and working on cores and or bellies for scene whips and will post how I make them after I am finished with the CAD drawings (learning a CAD program as fast as I can).

[flyingcuda]

i'm giving it another shot today, when i get it done i will post pics..unless of course i don't get it right and decide to rip it all apart and pretend it never happened

[flyingcuda]

i did it!!!! finally! i can't believe it took me this long..but i did it!!! the pic is posted in the adult section. thank you Drac

[alberta]

thanks so much for the excellent tut. made one turned out great ,but only because of your help and generous sharing of info.

[Ryan Barto]

I know I'm bringing back an older topic here, but i gotta say these instructions were awesome. I've got everything done except the turkshead. I did have one about 3/4 completed, until I hit the end of an 8 ft. piece of lace and realized that I was using 3/32 instead of 3/16. No wonder it was taking so long to braid, lol. It'll be awhile until I get to place another order of leather, but when I do, I'll make sure that I post pictures. Thank you for the great instructions for this.

[KCrimini]

Just want to join the many in thanking you here. I haven't conquered that knot, but used a simple 8 bight turk's head (I think, anyway). I wish I had found this sooner!