Mandrels and Tools

In this section I will discuss some of the tools that I have found to be suitable for working with the braided knots in leather. Tools are a very personal thing and everybody has their own preferences so every thing here is just suggestions. The mandrels are the only thing that need close attention as their use is probably not immediatly obvious.

Pinned Mandrels

While some of the small turksheads can be done in hand (around your finger), I have found any thing a little more complex such as long knots and those with a non-adjacent bight progression require a tool to keep everything in place while the work goes on. This led to the concept of a mandrel with removable pins for the bights. After a lot of trial and erroe I have settled on a system of using softwood dowels from the lumber yard and the small hardened nails sold as "panel nails" for the pins. The holes for the bight pins are drilled to half the depth of the mandrel with a numbered drill bit in a Dremel tool. A no. 49 or 50 drill bit makes o push fit for the panel hails I have found in several brands. I drill the holes at about a 30 degree angle downward from what I want to be the top of the mandrel to keep the pins in place when the holes get a little loose with use.

This is a 5 bight mandrel with a 9 part knot on it. It is 3/4th inches in diameter. There are several things to observe about the mandrel. First; the lower circle of bight pins are offset vertically from the top ones as for odd part knots and the horizontal pin spacing leaves an open lattice in the braid for placing a two pass interweave if desired. (The lace is 5/32nds goat skin.).
Secondly the lower set of bight pins are repeated downward in 1/4 th inch increments.This is to allow adjustment of the maximum length or diameter of the finished knot.
Notice in the second photo that the knot has been compressed vertically by pulling it up from the bottom. This results in the lattice closing somewhat and would allow the knot to be placed over work larger than the mandrel it was braided on. The main point here is that the diameter of the mandrel does not control the diameter or length of the finished knot. These are strictly a function of the core or work that the final knot is tightened on by pulling out the slack. The mandrel is simply a framework to braid the knot structure on in an orderly way.

These two photos show the same knot from the mandrel above tightened on two different cores or "work". The left picture is the knot placed on a pencil of about 1/4th inch diaater. This is probably the minimum for this lace and 5 bights.
The right is the same knot on a 1-12/ inch belt blank. (See Lesson Six for more about using these knots on belts and other strap goods.) The main thrust of this discussion is that once you form the structure of any knot on the mandrel, yuo can apply it to a great number of works by removing the exsess lace by pulling a little or a lot of slack in the reverse order that you braided the knot. Notice that to conserve lace I never cut the standing end from the hank or spool until the knot is "tight".

Mandrel Dimensions

The size of a working mandrel is mostly determined by the need to have room for the desired medium used in the braid an the number of parts desired in the knot. I leave enough space in the bight edges for an open lattice because I use a lot of the two pass interweaves such as the "pineapples" and "gauchos". For the simple single pass knots, they can be a little smaller but I use the same mandrels for both.
Any tool is a personal thing that has to meet the users need and trial and error is the best way I know the arrive at an end result6 that suits. A little work with a short piece of dowel and a Dremel tool takes just a small time and effort but can produce a tool that greatly simplifies the process of forming the braided knots. I hope this section will at least point you in the right direction. I reccomend a set of these with one for each number of bights from 4 to at least 11 for most of the small knots that are worthwhile.

Other Tools

The only other tools that I have found essential are lacing needles to braid with and something to tighteh the finished knot with.
The first three items at the left are two kinds of the clamp on lace heedles and a small "Life Eye" brass needle. The "life Eye" is my personal favorite. Some type of needle is essential when using leather and mostly negates the difference in over and under crossing, as ohe is about the same as the other with a needle.
The next two items are "lacing pliers". Actually these are 4 inch heedle hose pliers from the electronics indusrtry. The pair on the left are a 40 year old pair of Klein from an earlier career in the communications field with the old Bell System. The other pair are new from Harbor Freight Tools. These are what I use to tighten the knots. A new pair should be finessed by breaking the edges of the flat surface of the jaws with a pocket hone so they don't cut the lace. The tips of the pliers work well as a fid so I don't use the next item much ( a small fid ). Some braiders prefer to use a fid and their thumb to tighten knots and braid.
The last item is a slick hardwood dowel to use for rubbing down the finished knots after they are in place on the work. (A tack hammer handle works for this as well.)

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