Twisted mecate reins

[kiwibraider]

Hi again all! 
 

hopefully this is an okay place to ask this, as I’ve exhausted all other options now! 
 

Is there anyone out there that has experience making twisted mecate reins? I’ve been braiding them for a few years and would love to learn how to twist them by hand. 
 

any and all information/advice welcome!! 
 

thanks again !

[LatigoAmigo]

3 hours ago, kiwibraider said:

twisted mecate reins?

This book, "Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding" by Bruce Grant, shows how to braid many types of reins. Could be helpful to your search.

Encyclopedia_of_Rawhide_and_Leather_Braiding.pdf

[BigSiouxSaddlery]

There is a Facebook group for people who braid, hitch and twist horsehair.  I believe the name of it is Horsehair- Hitching, Twisting and Braiding.  If there is educational material available, people in that group would know where to direct you.

[bland]

Doug Krause in California makes horsehair macates 

.  They sale his macates at  https://www.ricottisaddle.com/.  I don't know if he takes students or has books or videos.  I'm sure there are some other makers in the California, Oregon, Nevada area of the US.   

[kiwibraider]

20 hours ago, LatigoAmigo said:

This book, "Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding" by Bruce Grant, shows how to braid many types of reins. Could be helpful to your search.

Encyclopedia_of_Rawhide_and_Leather_Braiding.pdf 648.48 MB · 5 downloads

Thank you! I love this book, unfortunately not all that much help as far as twister mecates go! Thanks again though 

[kiwibraider]

6 hours ago, BigSiouxSaddlery said:

There is a Facebook group for people who braid, hitch and twist horsehair.  I believe the name of it is Horsehair- Hitching, Twisting and Braiding.  If there is educational material available, people in that group would know where to direct you.

Thank you! I will have a look for this group :D

[LatigoAmigo]

2 hours ago, kiwibraider said:

Thank you! I love this book, unfortunately not all that much help as far as twister mecates go! Thanks again though 

I had no idea what it was you were looking for, but the video that @bland posted really helped me understand. 

[Rahere]

I didn't post earlier, because I wasn't absolutely sure. I now know I practice every one of those skills, and it has zilch to do with leatherwork other than the tags in the end.

• Firstly, he uses a drum carder to align the hair. 
• We use several intermediate stages to create a very airy rolag to spin with, in wool.
• He then spins a twine from it. That's the skilled stage, feeding a constant thickness.
• We now move onto a ropemaking spinner, which adds more spin to pull several twines into a line, and then selects lines for colour to make a final rope with.
• What you don't see is that he's very likely run a flame along the twine to burn any sticking out hairs off.
• At each stage, the direction of twist reverses, so the twist of the previous lay pulls the current lay together.
• For completeness, several ropes laid together form a cable, and several cables a hawser. Any thicker than that and it's impossible to bend.
• Finally, he uses a Turk's Head/Crown Knot combo to stop the ends feathering.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Rahere

[MikeRock]

Rahere,

Remember when spinning, you must over twist the twines you will be reverse spinning into pairs, as you will be untwisting them as you twist the pair in the opposite direction. 

God lbess

[Rahere]

I do, but not by so much as to break the thread. This is why we transfer the bobbin to niddy-noddy, to skein up for storage, it evens out tension and spin. I'm using an Ashord E3, electrical, for size. What I'll often do once I'm ready to ply is reload a bobbin from the skein, allowing me a further chance to increase the spin if I need. 

Given there's more fibre-workers here, a drum carder for wool creates a pad of generally-aligned fibres called a batt, which is gently eased apart. A sizeable wadge is passed through a size gauge called a diz, to become the starting point for spinning - it's dragged over comb cards to align and loosen, and feeds straight to the wheel.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Rahere