Braiding clutch lever question

[Ian]

Thought I'd give a shot at braiding clutch levers - my first attempt at any braiding beyond edge braid.

What is the problem here? How do you avoid the gaps at the beginning of the braid?

I haven't figured out how to finish the end yet either. I have the Bruce grant book to work from - any suggestions?

Thanks for any help

Ian

[rgerbitz]

I have never tried to do what you are doing but I do have some ideas. To eliminate the gaps you could put an interweave in of the same or different color. If your braid is of a o1, u1 sequence you would expand it to o2,u2. Or you might be able to do what the whip braiders do and cut your laces wider and taper them down. I would be apt to go with the first one. Assuming you have a o1,u1 braid in place look in the encyclepedia at plate 50 and start at figure 11 and you ought to be able to figure out how to add the interweave.

Good luck

Rob

Edited January 9, 2009 by rgerbitz

[Opagon]

Go to "Bosal tutorial, Reprise" here on the site. Starting at post three is the set up that you want.

I kept the strings equal length and use an over one under pattern. Make sure that you are keeping the strings very tight.

When you get to the bottom you need to either tuck the strings under three to finish or pull the strings evenly to the bottom of the lever and finish with a knot.

Hope this helps....

Keep Braiding,

Heather

[Ian]

Thanks folks. I did that with a 2 over 2 under, so that might be the start of my problem. I was looking at yours, Heather. It looks like whenyou started you had the thongs facing the oposite way, then flipped them over to start braiding. Correct? That was a scrap of 2/3oz upholstery leather I was experimenting with. Should I be using something thicker? Thinner?

[Ian]

second effort is a little better - still got to figure a better way to start and end

[jerryrwm]

You might want to try starting the braiding like this. This is from Ron Edwards' book "How To Make Whips"

Make sure you get it tight right from the git go or it will slip on you. This shows 12 plait, but it can be done with 8 or 16 etc. Works best with multiples of 4

.

[Ian]

You might want to try starting the braiding like this.

.

Thanks Jerry, I got to study that picture some more - looks difficult, but a lot neater start