Braiding Rifle Slings

[Horsefly]

I've always wanted to learn leather braiding(I remember my Grandpa calling it platting),and have bought a couple books that only confuse me with their drawings that look like a can of worms.My ultimate goal is to make rifle slings from scratch since we go to so much trouble building a gun from a box of parts.My Grandpa was a great leather worker in the days of horsepower farming.He repaired everybodies harness for miles around,but I never saw a thing he done for looks,always for strength.Emy posted a site to buy leather,and they had several books listed,but after getting stung a couple times,I'd like a recomendation on a book someone has used with good results.Sorry Tony if this isn't the right place for this post,I just couldn't decide where to put it.Jerry

[fritz]

I've never been any good at leather work, and when I see some of the fine finished products (like a saddle down at the feed store) going for around $900, I realize I never will be able to do it. Those folks are true craftsmen.

 

There is a big leather factory in Yoakum and they had a major fire in part of it last month. Many of the employees showed up in the late hours of the night to help move saddles, etc. from the fire. They saved a lot of them.

 

This company hired a lot of people (in fact Yoakum is called the leather capital). But being in a small town, the company is doing the right thing and is going to rebuild and everybody will eventually get their job back.

 

Glad that I'm not a horseman, those saddles are expensive.

 

fritz

[usmc0332]

I remember playing with braiding ropes a long time ago, possibly scouting. I remember a many rope braid we did. You might want to try it with para cord or small rope. Sometimes when you look at a diagram it makes little sense until you try your hand at it. Then the light comes on and you get it. I remember Bosuns Mates doing all manner of amazing things with ropes and braiding on ship. There may be some good info available related to Navy or sailing stuff. I look at a diagram of a new fishing knot and find myself not understanding it until I try.

[Emul8]

I must be some kind of a savant, I find it incredibly easy to braid/plait leather. I can braid 16 plait overlay whips (but they are so time-consuming that I don't generally do it...maybe I'll make a very fine quirt or something less tedious), and fewer strands are much easier. My favorite leather work is knots though...I love to make knots out of leather. Some of them are practical, most are not but only decorative, II like to tie them either way.

 

Until recently, I just sort of intuitively did this stuff, looking at the diagrams in books and then breaking them down in my head to barest elements, that way I could tie the knot, or plait the strands SLOWLY at first, working up to speed as I practiced. And it took a lot of practice, I think I tied and retied knots for months before I tried anything serious...anything meant to last. Then, about a month ago, I was looking at a website where someone who does this incredibly complex leatherwork for a living had made up a software program that diagrams these knots and plaiting out in what appeared to be mathematical terms...THAT was lost on me! I'm good at lots of spatial stuff, but math isn't a strong suit for me...so I am pretty sure that I understand what Horsefly is saying about how he feels when he looks at most of those diagrams. It's a matter of interpretation.

 

However, being as I managed to learn my tying/plaiting skills from a single book, I know that, given enough time, ANYONE could do it...you just have to start at the very beginning...seriously, I know that sounds overly simplistic, but it's true. Even the most basic knot can teach you something you NEED to know as you progress to more complex knots. And after a little while, the diagrams become easier to read as you start to sort out what's intended. If there are tools involved in doing the work, get or make them, it will save you time and frustration.

 

I would say that as in the case with most craftsmanship, one needs to dedicate a lot of time to perfecting their craft, and how many of us really have that kind of time? I know that I don't. So, learning to do good leatherwork is going to take anyone who's serious about it years to become proficient at it. Particularly if you can only part-time the experience. Don't be such a perfectionist that you can't learn from your mistakes, because you WILL make them as you progress. Either untie the imperfect work and condition the leather so that you can try again, cut it into straps or laces, but move it out of your work-realm ASAP, and get to the next exercise...that's the best advice I can offer you. Good leather isn't exactly cheap, so being exacting without getting in your own way by being a perfectionist is going to help. Don't be wasteful and chalk everything around this stuff up to experience!

 

The book I learned my "skills" from is: Bruce Grant's "Leather Braiding". It's been priceless to me as a resource, and, I feel that the diagrams were very easy to follow. I know that the book is available from Amazon.com much cheaper than it is from say, Tandy Leather.

 

I hope this helps, Horsefly!

[Horsefly]

Thanks Emy!I have a bid on ebay,and if I don't win it,they have several of the books at Albis.Jerry