Deerhide Lanyard? And Cutting Lace?

[Tracym]

I have been asked to make a friend a lanyard. Needs to be deerhide, as he wants it to be made from the deer he shot. Which is fine, except of course, I'll need to cut lace which I have never have done before. Good thing I suppose is it can be rustic haha.

So the first question - do I need to get the Aussie strander or something? Or is it possible to do it with the y-knot combination beveler and lace cutting tool that I have? I can cut lace down narrower very nicely with that tool, I am wondering if I could actually cut lace from a hide with it.

Is there any reason I can't braid the deerhide? I suspect it is soft and stretchy - I intended to put it over some strong core - paracord or some sort of braided core, as I need to also anchor dangly bits for duck calls.

Finally, I'm guessing deerhide wouldn't be good for fine knotwork? I should perhaps use my kangaroo for that?

Thanks!

Edited October 20, 2014 by Tracym

[bucksnort]

Tracy, my experience with deer hide is as you said, it's really stretchy. Should work OK over a core. I can't think of any reason it wouldn't work fine for your buttons. Buck

[Tracym]

Great, thank you.

Anyone have any idea if the y-knot tool I have would work for cutting lace from the hide? And with deerhide, I still cut around a rough circle, same as people do with kangaroo?

[rcsaddles]

You can cut your lace with the Y-Knot tool you have. It is not real easy but doable. I have cut lace with it and in my opinion, it takes a lot of time to cut much lace. If you are going to cut lace, make sure you keep a sharp blade in it and that will help. If you cut from a circle, you might try and have some kind of support for the circle to rest on so you don't have to hold it up also.

Remember to cut your lace wide so you can stretch it and then resize it and bevel it.

Feel free to ask more questions and remember to post pictures.

[Tracym]

Great. I don't generally cut lace (well I never have) so I'm not real enthused about buying another tool if I don't have to. But I'll give it a try. lol thankfully the one they showed me that they like is 'rustic' at best, so they will probably forgive, or not even mind, lack of perfection.

I don't need a lot of lace, just enough for one lanyard. And maybe little extra bits that hang off to attach duck calls to, but at a push, I can use kangaroo for that part.

Thanks for the help! If I manage, I will post photos.

[millwright]

You might take some good scissors and cut your strings if all you need is enough for one lanyard. Use some sandpaper to knock the edge off for a bevel. Bret

[Tracym]

Thanks. I have a beveler. I think my little lace cutter tool might get it straighter than I would manage with a scissors - I can't even draw a straight line

[Tracym]

Well, I have my deer hide. First, I am considering getting the Aussie strander, as it isn't that expensive. Would that be a lot easier than using my y-knot tool?

Second, this hide is a very light gray, almost white. He wishes it was more medium tan. Can I dye this? If so, how? And would I dye the hide, then cut the lace? Or dye the lace?

haha this project seems to be growing... and growing...

[Tracym]

I should add that (helpfully) we do not know how this hide was tanned. So I'll just have to cut a tiny piece off and experiment with dye. I'm looking for something easy to apply, if that's possible...

Looking at that Eco-Flo dye at Tandy - is that a good idea?

Edited October 24, 2014 by Tracym

[millwright]

Heard of people using Ritz clothing dye or coffee/grounds. Mix dye, soak strings good let them dry, then when ready to use just get them wet and case for braiding consistency. Try a search in the braiding forum.

Edited October 25, 2014 by millwright