A Stitch in Time

[Redmeadow Knives]

Kind of a low impact day for me today, got Rodney Norman finished up. I think the 11th Commandment is "Thou shalt have a super freaking awesome day and stuff" isn't it?

 

[Horsewright]

Kind of a low impact day for me today, got Rodney Norman finished up. I think the 11th Commandment is "Thou shalt have a super freaking awesome day and stuff" isn't it?
View attachment 2238010

That came out great! Good job. A totally realistic rendering!

 

[Redmeadow Knives]

That came out great! Good job. A totally realistic rendering!

Thanks Dave! The portraits have really helped me get the hang of things and how leather moves, hopefully it helps out with regular tooling and floral carving.

I picked up a BK beveler, lifter and swivel knife. I'd always read a swivel knife's a swivel knife but this BK is way smoother and easier to manipulate than the Tandy. I got a slightly larger barrel and it seems to make tight curves a lot easier though it may just be the overall smoothness of it.

I know this is a knife forum and you guys would prefer blades coming out right now. Leather is all part of the process and I appreciate you guys tolerating me documenting it here. A knife deserves a proper sheath and all of this leads to that.

 

[Horsewright]

Thanks Dave! The portraits have really helped me get the hang of things and how leather moves, hopefully it helps out with regular tooling and floral carving.

I picked up a BK beveler, lifter and swivel knife. I'd always read a swivel knife's a swivel knife but this BK is way smoother and easier to manipulate than the Tandy. I got a slightly larger barrel and it seems to make tight curves a lot easier though it may just be the overall smoothness of it.

I know this is a knife forum and you guys would prefer blades coming out right now. Leather is all part of the process and I appreciate you guys tolerating me documenting it here. A knife deserves a proper sheath and all of this leads to that.

Good deal. Yeah those BK's are nice ones. We've got two or three but also have their blades mounted in a couple of others. i'd say part of it too might be the larger barrel fitting your hand better than a smaller diameter one.

I wanted to post this here as it to my mind fits the title of this thread. Kind of like the Viking talking to Omar Sharif in 13th Warrior: "This is the old way, you may not see this again...." Maybe a lil educational for my leather buddies too.

See this old reata (braided rawhide rope) on the top shelf. This reata is 60 ft long without any splices. That means it was braided from four 90 ft long strings years ago. That's a lot of work.

I'd rescued it out of an old stock trailer and it was given to me by the owner. I had it hanging around the shop for a couple of years too. So been working on rehabing the old girl. It had sat hung up for so many years in that trailer that it had kinda dried in a square. So the first thing I did was dunk it in a bucket of water for about 2 or 3 minutes and then stretched it along a fence line. I let it dry out for several days. This got all the kinks out of it. I then slathered a pretty heavy coat of Skidmore's on it and let it dry for a couple more days.

Every few hours would rub it with a rag pretty hard. The friction from the rubbing helps drive the conditioner inside the reata. After a couple of days of this I gave it a good coat of rawhide cream:

Same thing, let the sun and the friction from the rag drive the cream into the rawhide.

I did two coats over a period of three or four days. Starting to get to where it should be:

Now the reata can actually be coiled up like a rope.

While not done there's a whole nuther step to go, I was able to throw a few shots at the practice dummy and it worked. Didn't get any pics of that but here is the reata handing out with the dummy:

The final step is pulling the reata. Pulling a reata really starts to break it in and helps to uniform all the strands. This reata had never been pulled. Traditionally a reata was pulled through holes in a fence post. Years, decades ago I made a puller. I took this chunk of oak 4x4 and drilled holes in it. Fixed it up with a chain to hang over a solid fence post. Ya run your reata through this and then dally one end onto your saddle horn and ride off. Stop before ya pull it all the way through. Drop the reata and ride up and grab the other end and repeat. For a while. Nothing is fast with reatas. Might pull it several times over a period of days. Great work for a young horse as it takes some pretty precise riding, repetitively. My puller hadn't been used in some time. In fact I didn't even know where it was but Nichole did. She'd seen it in the barn not too long ago. It needed some rehab too with a sanding drum on a Dremel:

Got it hung over the fence but ain't had time to pull it yet. May do today. As I'll be grilling some steaks for Linner. Got some friends coming over, we'll eat and then head out to the ranch this evening. Evenings have been great around here lately. Last night:

I'll get some pics of pulling the reata later. This is the old way, you may not see this again.

 

[Redmeadow Knives]

Good deal. Yeah those BK's are nice ones. We've got two or three but also have their blades mounted in a couple of others. i'd say part of it too might be the larger barrel fitting your hand better than a smaller diameter one.

I wanted to post this here as it to my mind fits the title of this thread. Kind of like the Viking talking to Omar Sharif in 13th Warrior: "This is the old way, you may not see this again...." Maybe a lil educational for my leather buddies too.

See this old reata (braided rawhide rope) on the top shelf. This reata is 60 ft long without any splices. That means it was braided from four 90 ft long strings years ago. That's a lot of work.

I'd rescued it out of an old stock trailer and it was given to me by the owner. I had it hanging around the shop for a couple of years too. So been working on rehabing the old girl. It had sat hung up for so many years in that trailer that it had kinda dried in a square. So the first thing I did was dunk it in a bucket of water for about 2 or 3 minutes and then stretched it along a fence line. I let it dry out for several days. This got all the kinks out of it. I then slathered a pretty heavy coat of Skidmore's on it and let it dry for a couple more days.

Every few hours would rub it with a rag pretty hard. The friction from the rubbing helps drive the conditioner inside the reata. After a couple of days of this I gave it a good coat of rawhide cream:

Same thing, let the sun and the friction from the rag drive the cream into the rawhide.

I did two coats over a period of three or four days. Starting to get to where it should be:

Now the reata can actually be coiled up like a rope.

While not done there's a whole nuther step to go, I was able to throw a few shots at the practice dummy and it worked. Didn't get any pics of that but here is the reata handing out with the dummy:

The final step is pulling the reata. Pulling a reata really starts to break it in and helps to uniform all the strands. This reata had never been pulled. Traditionally a reata was pulled through holes in a fence post. Years, decades ago I made a puller. I took this chunk of oak 4x4 and drilled holes in it. Fixed it up with a chain to hang over a solid fence post. Ya run your reata through this and then dally one end onto your saddle horn and ride off. Stop before ya pull it all the way through. Drop the reata and ride up and grab the other end and repeat. For a while. Nothing is fast with reatas. Might pull it several times over a period of days. Great work for a young horse as it takes some pretty precise riding, repetitively. My puller hadn't been used in some time. In fact I didn't even know where it was but Nichole did. She'd seen it in the barn not too long ago. It needed some rehab too with a sanding drum on a Dremel:

Got it hung over the fence but ain't had time to pull it yet. May do today. As I'll be grilling some steaks for Linner. Got some friends coming over, we'll eat and then head out to the ranch this evening. Evenings have been great around here lately. Last night:

I'll get some pics of pulling the reata later. This is the old way, you may not see this again.

That's awesome, that's a lot of braiding right there and looks expertly done. My big question is.... what's a reata used for?

 

[Redmeadow Knives]

1.25" and a couple of 1.5"s

 

[Scott Hanson]

1.25" and a couple of 1.5"s
View attachment 2251536View attachment 2251537View attachment 2251538

Great job on the belts John.

 

[Texoma]

belts look great
nice work John

 

[Mack]

That's awesome, that's a lot of braiding right there and looks expertly done. My big question is.... what's a reata used for?

Roping critters.

 

[jlauffer]

That's awesome, that's a lot of braiding right there and looks expertly done. My big question is.... what's a reata used for?

Pretty sure that was a Buick back in the late 80s/early 90s

 

[Horsewright]

Redmeadow Knives , John those belts are fantastic!

Yep Mack hit er on the head! Reatas are ropes used for roping stock.

I for many years roped exclusively with reatas and have 8 or 9 hanging around the house here In different places. They were the traditional California rope but were used in other areas too. Look close in Charlie Russel paintings and they are there.

Here on the big paint horse picking up a front foot on this ornery cow:

Or branding this calf:

On his front feet:

Braided reins and reata:

Rarely you will see a reata that has been made by twisting instead of braiding.

I had one but didn't like it as much so traded for it and traded it away too after I had it for a while. Sometimes I split the difference. This is a braided rawhide honda, (pronounced hon dooo). this is the eye that the rope passes back through to form a loop. Here it is on a pretty well used nylon rope:

Some years back I switched to synthetic ropes as I was doing quite a bit of competitive ranch ropings. Here the cattle tended to be bigger and heavier and reatas can be delicate. Ya have to slide rope around your saddle horn more than with a synthetic rope. They won't take a sharp tug or pull so you allow your dallies (wraps) around the saddle horn to slide. Think more clutch and less brake. In that pic above with the reata and reins, you can see the grooves worn into the horn wrap, the grey leather, wrapped around my saddle horn. These grooves are made by allowing the rope to run whether reata or synthetic. There is heat generated from this and most of the time with a synthetic rope I'll rope with a glove on just my right hand to prevent rope burns. This is a poly rope here. Polys can get really hot. The horn wraps are replaceable on the saddle and lots of times ya might just stick the new one on right over top of the old one.

Roping at the Brannaman Pro Am ranch roping awhile back:

Kinda a funny story. In this roping ya show up to town with a team of two. Then a "pro" is selected for your team literally by pulling a name out of the hat. This guy coming to pick up the heels on this steer I'm dragging out was our pro. Turned out he was a long time customer too. I just hadn't met him in person before. I'd made him two pairs of leggings and four or five knives. Literally had just shipped a pair of matching knives that his father in law had got him and his wife (recently married) as a wedding gift like two weeks before the roping. Great thing about a big roping like this is there is a lot of vendors (we had a booth too). Lots of rawhide for sale in this booth:

A lot of our daily use tack is braided rawhide:

A different show but a close up of some of my friend Vince's work in his booth. Vince Donnoly is the master's master braider and has taught many of the big names out there.

Showing some of his reins:

Anyhoo.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

Redmeadow Knives , John those belts are fantastic!

Yep Mack hit er on the head! Reatas are ropes used for roping stock.

I for many years roped exclusively with reatas and have 8 or 9 hanging around the house here In different places. They were the traditional California rope but were used in other areas too. Look close in Charlie Russel paintings and they are there.

Here on the big paint horse picking up a front foot on this ornery cow:

Or branding this calf:

On his front feet:

Braided reins and reata:

Rarely you will see a reata that has been made by twisting instead of braiding.

I had one but didn't like it as much so traded for it and traded it away too after I had it for a while. Sometimes I split the difference. This is a braided rawhide honda, (pronounced hon dooo). this is the eye that the rope passes back through to form a loop. Here it is on a pretty well used nylon rope:

Some years back I switched to synthetic ropes as I was doing quite a bit of competitive ranch ropings. Here the cattle tended to be bigger and heavier and reatas can be delicate. Ya have to slide rope around your saddle horn more than with a synthetic rope. They won't take a sharp tug or pull so you allow your dallies (wraps) around the saddle horn to slide. Think more clutch and less brake. In that pic above with the reata and reins, you can see the grooves worn into the horn wrap, the grey leather, wrapped around my saddle horn. These grooves are made by allowing the rope to run whether reata or synthetic. There is heat generated from this and most of the time with a synthetic rope I'll rope with a glove on just my right hand to prevent rope burns. This is a poly rope here. Polys can get really hot. The horn wraps are replaceable on the saddle and lots of times ya might just stick the new one on right over top of the old one.

Roping at the Brannaman Pro Am ranch roping awhile back:

Kinda a funny story. In this roping ya show up to town with a team of two. Then a "pro" is selected for your team literally by pulling a name out of the hat. This guy coming to pick up the heels on this steer I'm dragging out was our pro. Turned out he was a long time customer too. I just hadn't met him in person before. I'd made him two pairs of leggings and four or five knives. Literally had just shipped a pair of matching knives that his father in law had got him and his wife (recently married) as a wedding gift like two weeks before the roping. Great thing about a big roping like this is there is a lot of vendors (we had a booth too). Lots of rawhide for sale in this booth:

A lot of our daily use tack is braided rawhide:

A different show but a close up of some of my friend Vince's work in his booth. Vince Donnoly is the master's master braider and has taught many of the big names out there.

Showing some of his reins:

Anyhoo.

I'm not sure what kind of camera you use, but the photography and it's subject are wonderful. Always feel like some of your shots could be right out of a magazine.

1.25" and a couple of 1.5"s
View attachment 2251536View attachment 2251537View attachment 2251538

You really have that stitching machine dialed in! That stitch line looks like a proper pain in the ass.

Nice oval punch btw

 

[Redmeadow Knives]

I'm not sure what kind of camera you use, but the photography and it's subject are wonderful. Always feel like some of your shots could be right out of a magazine.




You really have that stitching machine dialed in! That stitch line looks like a proper pain in the ass.

Nice oval punch btw

Thanks, I have an older Samsung phone, I think maybe a Note 7 and try to take pictures in the morning or evening. Edit: Oops, missed who you meant there.

Stitching the inside curves is an awkward dance, I turn the machine down to really slow and crawl. Using an awl and punching a hole at each of the diamond points befire stitching helps me line the needle up and keeps things square. Still need some practice but they're turning out pretty smooth.

I like the oval holes for the buckle but man they are tricky to line up straight!

 

[Redmeadow Knives]

Redmeadow Knives , John those belts are fantastic!

Yep Mack hit er on the head! Reatas are ropes used for roping stock.

I for many years roped exclusively with reatas and have 8 or 9 hanging around the house here In different places. They were the traditional California rope but were used in other areas too. Look close in Charlie Russel paintings and they are there.

Here on the big paint horse picking up a front foot on this ornery cow:

Or branding this calf:

On his front feet:

Braided reins and reata:

Rarely you will see a reata that has been made by twisting instead of braiding.

I had one but didn't like it as much so traded for it and traded it away too after I had it for a while. Sometimes I split the difference. This is a braided rawhide honda, (pronounced hon dooo). this is the eye that the rope passes back through to form a loop. Here it is on a pretty well used nylon rope:

Some years back I switched to synthetic ropes as I was doing quite a bit of competitive ranch ropings. Here the cattle tended to be bigger and heavier and reatas can be delicate. Ya have to slide rope around your saddle horn more than with a synthetic rope. They won't take a sharp tug or pull so you allow your dallies (wraps) around the saddle horn to slide. Think more clutch and less brake. In that pic above with the reata and reins, you can see the grooves worn into the horn wrap, the grey leather, wrapped around my saddle horn. These grooves are made by allowing the rope to run whether reata or synthetic. There is heat generated from this and most of the time with a synthetic rope I'll rope with a glove on just my right hand to prevent rope burns. This is a poly rope here. Polys can get really hot. The horn wraps are replaceable on the saddle and lots of times ya might just stick the new one on right over top of the old one.

Roping at the Brannaman Pro Am ranch roping awhile back:

Kinda a funny story. In this roping ya show up to town with a team of two. Then a "pro" is selected for your team literally by pulling a name out of the hat. This guy coming to pick up the heels on this steer I'm dragging out was our pro. Turned out he was a long time customer too. I just hadn't met him in person before. I'd made him two pairs of leggings and four or five knives. Literally had just shipped a pair of matching knives that his father in law had got him and his wife (recently married) as a wedding gift like two weeks before the roping. Great thing about a big roping like this is there is a lot of vendors (we had a booth too). Lots of rawhide for sale in this booth:

A lot of our daily use tack is braided rawhide:

A different show but a close up of some of my friend Vince's work in his booth. Vince Donnoly is the master's master braider and has taught many of the big names out there.

Showing some of his reins:

Anyhoo.

Great pictures! That's really cool, at 90 feet long I thought maybe they had a more specific use.

The length reminded me of this.

 

[Horsewright]

Great pictures! That's really cool, at 90 feet long I thought maybe they had a more specific use.

The length reminded me of this video.

No on the 90 foot strings ya lose about a third of your length when braiding. So you need 90 foot strings to make a 60 foot reata.
Those Charro guys are crazy good with managing all their coils. Those ropes are like 150 ft I believe cause if ya look close they have a bunch of coils under their left leg too not just in their hands.

I'm not sure what kind of camera you use, but the photography and it's subject are wonderful. Always feel like some of your shots could be right out of a magazine.




You really have that stitching machine dialed in! That stitch line looks like a proper pain in the ass.

Nice oval punch btw

Canon DLSR and an I phone here. Thanks

 

[Redmeadow Knives]

No on the 90 foot strings ya lose about a third of your length when braiding. So you need 90 foot strings to make a 60 foot reata.
Those Charro guys are crazy good with managing all their coils. Those ropes are like 150 ft I believe cause if ya look close they have a bunch of coils under their left leg too not just in their hands.



Canon DLSR and an I phone here. Thanks

Oh gotcha, that makes sense, I missed that part.

Also missed who's pics Swiss was talking about above. I agree, your photo skills are epic!

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

Thanks, I have an older Samsung phone, I think maybe a Note 7 and try to take pictures in the morning or evening. Edit: Oops, missed who you meant there.

Stitching the inside curves is an awkward dance, I turn the machine down to really slow and crawl. Using an awl and punching a hole at each of the diamond points befire stitching helps me line the needle up and keeps things square. Still need some practice but they're turning out pretty smooth.

I like the oval holes for the buckle but man they are tricky to line up straight!

Your pics are excellent too!

Damn, I had never considered that about the oval punch. Had always wanted to grab one for belts but thinking about that now... I don't think I ever will!

Many thanks

 

[Redmeadow Knives]

Your pics are excellent too!

Damn, I had never considered that about the oval punch. Had always wanted to grab one for belts but thinking about that now... I don't think I ever will!

Many thanks

Yeah, with a round handle there's no way to orient it. I've considered grinding flats on each side or drilling a hole through it and putting a piece of wire through as a guide. It takes a ton of time marking and repositioning to keep the obals in line though you can twist the holes a tiny bit afterwards.

 

[Horsewright]

Oh gotcha, that makes sense, I missed that part.

Also missed who's pics Swiss was talking about above. I agree, your photo skills are epic!

Thank you sir for the kind words! I had two great mentors in photography, both pros. Rob ran an outdoor adventure business and I worked as a guide for him one summer in college. He was a noted wildlife photographer too and often sold pics to stock agencies. Rob got me hooked up with good equipment and showed me what I needed and didn't need. Brian was the younger brother of the Celtic mysticism girl in the story related above some pages back. When I knew him as a teenager he was a huge photo bug and was constantly with a camera. Even then he was doing a lot of freelance work, portraits, sporting events, weddings etc. Some years go by and I'd kinda got into photography too with Rob's help but didn't know a bunch. I was ok on composition etc because I do have an SCE, (Scottish Certificate of Education), in art. An SCE is like a high school diploma but more like an AA probably but subject specific. So for instance I don't have a HS diploma (I never graduated HS) but I do have SCEs in Art, History, Modern Studies and English. Anyhoo, out of the blue I decide to contact Brian and send him some pics to see what he thinks. So I wrote him a letter and stuck some shots I'd taken at the Fresno zoo (I was at Fresno State at the time) in there. Couple weeks later I heard back from him. Now in his early 20s he was one of the most in demand commercial large format photographers in the country. He's literally booked out two years in advance. He sent back my pics with several sheets of comments and evaluations on them. He'd tell me what I did right, what I did wrong and how to do it better. He called it the difference between taking photographs and taking snapshots. This probably went on for a year and a half and then we kinda lost contact with each other. So if I take an occasional photograph instead of a snap shot now its pretty much Brian's fault.

Your pics are excellent too!

Damn, I had never considered that about the oval punch. Had always wanted to grab one for belts but thinking about that now... I don't think I ever will!

Many thanks

Yeah, with a round handle there's no way to orient it. I've considered grinding flats on each side or drilling a hole through it and putting a piece of wire through as a guide. It takes a ton of time marking and repositioning to keep the obals in line though you can twist the holes a tiny bit afterwards.

Had one of them oval belt punches. Threw it far far away into another galaxy!

 

[Redmeadow Knives]

Had one of them oval belt punches. Threw it far far away into another galaxy!

I don't blame you!

If anyone's going to be interested in a belt it may be a good idea to get a measurement ready beforehand. There's a thread in the stickies with a quick video I made on how to get the measurement I use.