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

[Tracym]

Rit dye I have, it'd be nice and easy if that worked. What do you mean "get them wet and case for braiding consistency"? Will they be stiff after dying?

[bucksnort]

Tracy, Rit dye works fine, but will fade fairly quickly. To avoid this I first soak in ice water with vinegar when coming out of the dye. Then rinse it with hot water until water runs clear. This will set the dye & it won't fade. I think what millwright was referring to is if your using rawhide. I get the impression your using a tanned hide? If so, just dry & braid like you would with roo. Buck

[buckwhip]

I make bullwhips with deerskin. I use the Aussie strander to cut my strands, and I get really good lace after I resize my strands. You can set the strander to a very small width, but you can get the lacer tool from Tandy for $8 and it will do what you want.

You can certainly use deerskin for fine braiding. I just finished a white deerskin bullwhip today that tapers down to a 6 point fall hitch with 3mm strands.

One bit of advice - after cutting your lace, dunk all of the lace in warm water, then stretch it by winding it around a hook and pulling all of the lace through the hook. This will squeeze most of the water out, but you still need to let it dry. I usually wind the damp and stretched lace around the legs of a table without any slack and then let it dry. This way any stretch you get will not revert during the drying process. If you skip this step, you will have a lot of gaps in the braid because of the stretch. Also, you will find that the lace is stiffer and, in my opinion, easy to work with after it dries.

Edited October 26, 2014 by buckwhip

[Tracym]

Yes, this hide is tanned. Fading I would not like. I know instructions for the Rit on some things say to add vinegar when you're soaking the item in the dye.

Thanks buckwhip. I have a lace cutter from y-knot which works very nicely for cutting lace narrower. So I suspect if I could get the intial strands ok, I could cut lace nicely with that.

Re. the getting it wet, stretching, and drying - you say the lace is stiffer and easier to work with - for kangaroo lace (which is what I've braided with), I'm trying to get it nice and soft and supple, don't want it stiff. Is deerhide different? I can see maybe wanting it stiff for a whip, but since this is a lanyard someone will wear, I was thinking it should be soft...

[rcsaddles]

Tracym, if you are not really interested in cutting your own lace and don't want to invest in a lace cutter, PM me and I will let you borrow my Aussie Lace cutter for this project. Just pay the shipping both ways.

[buckwhip]

Yes, this hide is tanned. Fading I would not like. I know instructions for the Rit on some things say to add vinegar when you're soaking the item in the dye.

Thanks buckwhip. I have a lace cutter from y-knot which works very nicely for cutting lace narrower. So I suspect if I could get the intial strands ok, I could cut lace nicely with that.

Re. the getting it wet, stretching, and drying - you say the lace is stiffer and easier to work with - for kangaroo lace (which is what I've braided with), I'm trying to get it nice and soft and supple, don't want it stiff. Is deerhide different? I can see maybe wanting it stiff for a whip, but since this is a lanyard someone will wear, I was thinking it should be soft...

By stiff, I mean not "floppy soft" the way deerskin usually feels. It is still soft and supple, and will regain the typical texture once it has been handled enough, but there is a bit more stiffness after drying. This makes it easier for me while plaiting because the strands don't all drape next to each other and co-mingle, which causes less tangling while plaiting. I wish I had a video to show you what I mean, all I have is this one of me plaiting deerskin that is drenched in plaiting soap.

[Tracym]

Thanks so much for all the help everyone! I see re. the softness of the lace, thank you.

Re. borrowing the strander, that is really nice of you! I may take you up on that, or may just go ahead and get one. Still thinkin'

[Tracym]

I got a good deal, and ordered a strander. I'll report back once it arrives

[Tracym]

Well I got the strander. And a Tandy splitter.

omg I do not like cutting deer lace What a hassle. Sooooo stretchy. Sooooo soft. aaaaaah!

But I guess I have enough cut for a lanyard.

I may not even bevel this (as it is even horrid to bevel) - guy wants rustic, and thick. It's so soft, the lanyard might be fine without. Thoughts?

[Tracym]

OK, the beveling doesn't matter, this is soft and smooth anyway. However, I am having terrible trouble trying to dye the strands. I posted this in the dying/staining/etc forum, but haven't gotten any replies, figured I'd try here.

I do not know how this skin was tanned and cannot find out. The guy said some "fairly new method" whatever that means. It is very soft. When he got it back from the tanner a few years ago he said it was a weird greenish gray color. Now, just from sitting around, it is almost white, slight grayish tone. If I get it wet, it looks greenish gray.

I have been trying the Rit dye on scraps. But the results were very weird. Tan dye = greenish gray. Medium brown dye = red. Dark brown dye = lavender (!).

I tried soaking the leather a while before dying it. I tried soaking it over night, didn't make a difference. I heated up the water, added the dye, soaked the leather from 45 minutes to 3 hours. Then soaked it 30 minutes in ice water with vinegar.

In addition to the 'lovely' colors I am getting, it seems as if it gets wet again that it will release the dye, obviously not workable.

What I am trying to do is just this darker somehow (tan brown etc) as for duck hunting, he can't have a real light color as it would stand out. Funnily enough, most macho hunters aren't really into lavender.

I cannot seem to figure out how to dye this stuff - any ideas?

[bucksnort]

It may not be your leather. I've never had Rit tan turn out anything but greenish, brown runs to red or lavender, black is kind of blue. You might try different strengths of coffee for your browns. also a different kind of dye might work better. If you stay with Rit it requires a lot of rinsing, set it with vinegar in ice water, let it dry completely & then rinse in warm water until the water remains clear. Hope this helps. Buck

[Tracym]

Thanks.

I kept reading about using Rit, but I've given up at this point. I use it for other things, but it apparently is not going to work with this leather. I did the set it ice water with vinegar, and it is still running. Plus ridiculous colors.

I'm not experienced at dying things - can you give me any more detail as to how to use coffee? Or, you mention other types of dye - like what?

[bucksnort]

Tracy, Brew some coffee, experiment with the strength to get the color you want, soak your strings till they look right, dry & braid. The Argentinians use tea the same way. Both hold the color & don't tend to fade. I have been using Fiebing Dye I been ordering from Ebay, it paints on with a dauber, The light tan I ordered was really yellow, other than that it seems pretty good. Buck

[Tracym]

OK thanks, I can try the coffee maybe.

In the meantime, I called some very kind tannery in CO, they told me to use the Fiebings dye, and finish it with leather balm w/atom wax. I was going to try medium brown.

Fiebings thought I would have to use deglazer first - the tannery thought probably not.