Best source of Kangaroo lace

[Leerwerker]

I need to find a good source of bulk kangaroo lace 1/8th".

Who do you buy from?

Has anyone bought from David Morgan? Or Springfield?

Please give my your recommendations!

[whinewine]

JOhan: I've bought from Springfield and their prices are better than tandy's by a long shot. I think Springfield sells theirs in 50 yard spools, while Tandy only carries 25 yd spools. I think Springfield sells the most kanga leather in the US right now. I haven't bought from David Morgan yet, so I can't comment on them.

russ

Edited September 20, 2008 by whinewine

[Pepelimoco]

Jim Downey

PO Box 30

Skull Valley, AZ. 86338

USA

928-925-3365

Fax 928-442-9455

Pepelimoco

[jerryrwm]

Do you have the resources to cut your own lace? You can get about 130 - 150 yds out of a good hide. 'roo is selling for around $11.50/sq ft so for about $65.00 you can get nearly 50% more for the same money. Just a thought.

[roo4u]

the best lace is the cut it yourself kind...i find the commercially cut lace to be hard and nasty compared to my hand cut lace...

[entiendo]

I agree with roo and jerry. I did buy a bit of string so I could have more colors, but the string wasn't as strong and I still had to bevel it. I couldn't use the strings for the larger, tighter buttons.

When you cut your own, not only do you get more bang for your buck but you can use the best part of the hide for your smaller strings. When you buy string you get what you get and you don't know where on the hide it was cut from.

Since you want to buy string in bulk it only makes sense that you should probably cut your own. And believe it or not it's not difficult. Even with my first hide there was very little waste, course I get better each time but if you follow the directions you really can't screw it up to badly IF you have a good cutter. The only real waste came from the aussie cutter I couldn't figure out on my first hide.

Hello Pepelimoco, how are you doing and what have you been up to?

Edited September 21, 2008 by entiendo

[Leerwerker]

It does seem as if I will have to investigate the cutting of lace. I have an Aussie strander. What do you guys use and where do you buy the roo hides from?

[entiendo]

I use this one....

http://leatherbraidingtools.com/cutter.html

I buy my hides from a guy in Australia. He always has hides on ebay but I usually contact him directly. Here is one of his hides, it looks good for braiding. http://cgi.ebay.com/Whole-KANGAROO-HIDE-le...1QQcmdZViewItem I've been told he can be slow with shipping but the item always arrives.

Veg tanned hides .9-1 mm thick are the best. I've had 2 hides that were .8 mm, one was just fine and the other one gave me a lot of trouble. Any imperfections will cause it to break. In fact I was making a leash and had to ask a bunch of questions in this forum about splicing the breaks. It took me forever to fix all the breaks, there were 3 of them! Considering I had never broke a string while plaiting it was very frustrating. I've broke more than my share of button strings though... . Of course you can also buy a splitter then you can buy any thickness you like over .9 mm, but I haven't invested in one yet. I have also recently discovered anything over 1 mm may not lay right, even if it's beveled. I have a green hide that is a little thick, it needs to be split. Course I'm sure it also depends what you are making, how wide your strings are, and how many plaits.

You can also use chrome tanned, they come in more colors and are usually less expensive to buy. I probably won't buy anymore of the chrome tanned once I'm finished with what I've got though, I just don't like them. They are too stretchy and spongy. I'm spending to much time trying to cut them and make them work when I could have just bought a great veg tanned hide. But you know sometimes you just get a deal you can't pass up. I got a large white chrome tanned hide for $10...pretty darn good.

Hope this helps.

[jerryrwm]

Check with Chas. Hardtke in El paso, Tx for 'roo. Drum stuffed works well.

To cut the lace, I use a Williams lace cutter made by Deane Williams in Australia. Check the threads on the list for lace cutters. The Aussie strander will cut much lace fast and true - they just don't make a left handed model.

Another problem with spooled lace is the joins - where they splice the lace together. They seem to get at least one and sometimes more in every spool. They are hard to spot just looking at the lace, but you can feel it with your fingers, and if you need to run the lace through a splitter, the blade will find the join every time!