What Leather are you Totin Today .

The knife is Al Mar I think its Falcon
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For tutorial on bracelet I will try to explain with parts of diferent tutorials.First you have to cut your lace or buy precut lace. It should be of consistent width so braid will look nice.Each lace have to be no more than 70cm in lenght. Bracelet can be done with four strand braid which is easiest or like the one on the picture which is eight strand square braid.
https://youtu.be/I1Fwmi6E3yQ
8 strand
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Those braids are main part of bracelet which is made buy making loop on the middle of the braid (either 4 or 8 or some other). After that you start to braid a spanish ring knot to connect two sides of braid( I did five of them)
http://www.hought.com/Articles.html
When you finish that then its time to somehow connect the end of two sides of the braid at the end.You can cut and glue the end and somehow fatten the end like epoxy ball at the end, or like i did make the stopper knot like terminal.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/188025353163016832/
It is important to tie your knots and braid tight, if not, your bracelet wil stretch, and your knots will loose. The difference between 4 and 8 strand bracelet is in that you have to deal with 8 strand at the four strand braid at the terminal or sixtheen strands at the the 8 strand square braid. It is square only if you pull tight strands
After you have tied terminal knot you start to braid pineapple knot which is interweave of two turks head knots. The basic turk head for my bracelet is six bight turk head which you can learn on the hought.com also. It is used to cover the terminal knot.When you done that then you start to interweave
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO1tfOYy4QA
As you can see its a little complicated but well worth the price because its a lot of fun. Again pull tight your knots (use some tipe of fid) and check your lace for any defects because you will pull it real tight at the and of any knot, and if it snaps at the and of your hard work ...I suggest to get one of books like Encyclopedia of rawhide and leather braiding b(Bruce Grants) which is excellent and cover everything you need to know about braiding, and worth every cent as it is something most valuable in my possesion. When you learn the basic skills than you can combine everything and then fun starts. I hope this will help because its a lot of work to make step by step tutorial
 
Thats cool .
I think I might try an experiment with some cord to see if I can follow the diagrams .
Thanks for that :thumbup:

Ken
 
Back at home early this week , have to go to a friends Birthday dinner tonight .
Haven't posted anything for the last few days because quite honestly all I've carried is that " Beltless Combo sheath " at work and your all probably sick of seeing it :)
But tonight I'm totin my BBQ Combo and Dave's belt .
Not the best pic , but the Sun's gone down and there is no natural light .



Ken
 
Ken I always like your combo cases! Thats cool. Hey what do you think of the makers mark there on the belt? Little debate at this rancho right now about where it should go. Visible like that or on the lining.

We had a request for a pair of roughout spurstraps. Liked em so much made another pair to sell. Whadya think? They are lined with bridle leather. We have a vendor's booth at the local rodeo. Starts tonight. Maybe they'll sell.

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A very good book which I keep on my coffee table is "Leather Braiding" by Bruce Grant. It details everything from Flat Braids, Round Braids, Buttons, Edge Lacing, Buckle Covering, Turks Heads and Spanish Knots, to even more complex braids.

My favorite for a lanyard with thin leather (i.e. kangaroo) is the Chris Reeve knot. http://chrisreeve.com/Knot-Tie
 
Ken I always like your combo cases! Thats cool. Hey what do you think of the makers mark there on the belt? Little debate at this rancho right now about where it should go. Visible like that or on the lining.

We had a request for a pair of roughout spurstraps. Liked em so much made another pair to sell. Whadya think? They are lined with bridle leather. We have a vendor's booth at the local rodeo. Starts tonight. Maybe they'll sell.

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Oh My Lord .
I dont even own any Spurs but I could be tempted :)
Dave , you know anything Rough Out gets my pulse racing .

Ken
 
Hey what do you think of the makers mark there on the belt? Little debate at this rancho right now about where it should go. Visible like that or on the lining.

Sorry Dave I was so busy looking at the Rough Out that I forgot your question .

Personally I like the Your Makers mark exactly where it is , so my vote goes to the visible side of the debate .
I think it adds to the overall look and professionalism of the product , but then maybe I'm a bit biased , because this belt means a bit more to me than just any I've ever bought .
The history of how we have got to vaguely know each other via this forum adds to its worth for me , and having that mark there reminds me every time I wear it .
As a matter of interest , and something that adds nothing to your question .
I have never put a mark on any of my amateur sheaths apart from two that I stamped a hat on ( Unsuccessfully to my liking I might add :) )
Maybe one day when I'm dead and famous those two will be worth millions .

Ken
 
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Ken apparently you are not alone with your affection for roughout. Those spur straps sold quickly. I actually could of sold em twice cause one guy came back with his wallet for them while another guy was walking away with them. The purchaser had whipped out his wallet but didn't have quite enough green (had em priced at $75), so he ran off and found his girlfriend who had the plastic. Guess his girlfriend was closer than the others guy's wallet. Also before they sold they generated a lot of interest. That part of the table had three pairs of spur straps on it and this roughout pair people kept picking up. I like to stand back and watch people look at your stuff. Keep your eyes open and you can learn alot. There was enough interest in these roughout spur straps we're gonna build a couple more pair today before we head back this afternoon. And this wasn't the full crowd, this was just the sponsors thank-you dinner where the rodeo folks thank all their sponsors. So maybe only 300 people there total. Tonight and tomorrow are the full rodeo performaces with the thousands of spectators.

Thanks for the feedback on the makers mark. You know of course I won't win this one. In fact that pic of the spur straps is an example. Normally I would put the makers mark on the thin strap piece just in front of the hole for the spur button. It is however conspicuously missing (because its on the lining). However she is rocking that Cobra 18. Thats 9 stitches to the inch (I measured) and I can't find a single oops.

I see amateur sheaths all the time. People send me their knives all the time for sheaths. Mostly they are shipped in the sheath, factory or otherwise. I open the package and think the world needs us sheathmakers. I have one of your sheaths. The world needs you too, it is far from amateur work. Mark em and rock em.
 
Hey, just wanted to let you know that today I received another additional piece of leather... My belt.
 
This tread has stimulated me to get some of my old sheaths out of retirement and put them back in daily rotation .

Carrying and wearing my Hobble belt and SAK sheath today .



Ken
 
Continuing the theme of a different sheath each day , I'm totin the Delica in its sheath today instead of just clipped in my pocket .
I'm really enjoying revisiting some of these , and reanalysing the designs and function of the different sheaths .




Ken
 
very nice, i totally dig your stuff. curious about the rough out, did you treat the rough side with anything or is it just due to normal use on your part?
 
very nice, i totally dig your stuff. curious about the rough out, did you treat the rough side with anything or is it just due to normal use on your part?

Rough Out is the only way to roll :)
It has so many advantages for the type of life my sheaths endure .
That sheath in the picture has done a lot of work in very harsh environments , it is scuffed up but no where near as much as a Smooth Out would be .
I think I mentioned it somewhere else here , but I now rate my leather by the quality of the rough side not the smooth and I look for a dense Rough side with as little knap or fluff as possible . I just dye it like I have always done , but I do really put the dye on heavy to really soak it in to get deep penetration and to harden the leather as much as possible .
I came to a realisation awhile ago that my sheaths when I was chasing absolute cleanness Smoothside Out quickly looked like they had been dragged behind a truck after being used for a short time . I don't work in an office and my sheaths are subjected to harsh treatment in often abrasive conditions which play havoc with a normal sheath .
Rough Out isn't for everyone but I love the look and results that I've achieved with it so far .
If your looking to try something different then there is no easier way than to just turn the leather over :) .

Ken

Edit - I'd like to issue a challenge to everyone here to make something Rough Out and post up some pics .
Dave has already contributed , what about the rest of you
So come on , turn over a new leaf .
 
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Rough Out is the only way to roll :)
If your looking to try something different then there is no easier way than to just turn the leather over :) .

Ken

Edit - I'd like to issue a challenge to everyone here to make something Rough Out and post up some pics .
Dave has already contributed , what about the rest of you
So come on , turn over a new leaf .

Already have something started. Hoping to have it finished by week's end.

Chris
 
got really agitated a week or so ago when I went to take this somewhere and didn't have a holster for it. The 640 Pro was a wedding gift from my brother in law.....in March. Hopefully it didn't leave him feeling under-appreciated going so long without. The holster I made sports a caiman reinforcement panel and has a new 1.5" lined and stiffened belt. Last belt I made myself was made in 2012, so it was time to start breaking in a new one for nicer occasions.

 
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