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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As Good As It Gets, June 13, 2006
This is pretty much as good as leather braiding instruction books get for people who want to make authentic, impressive, usable things, right now.
It describes and illustrates how to braid a range of items, plainly and clearly. The content is wider than it is deep (Grant later produced an encyclopedia that is exhaustive), but the items chosen are core items in the craft: belts, straps, handles, grips, decorative thongs, more.
Most items shown in the book you might see anyplace today, not common or rare, but probably admired. At least one item is from Conquistidor days, and is now seldom seen anyplace at all: you might have to go to a museum to see an original. The braid itself is simple and effective enough that it's a puzzle how it became rare. In this way, for tidbits of this sort, it is a neat book.
The illustrations are usual quality for 1940's craft articles, which is how the content was first published. This can surprise a modern eye, one used to the present efforts to make books buyer-attractive. But this too is authentic. Writing and content are fine, practical and direct. However, there is no hint of "tricking the process," as is sometimes seen now in instructions on how to do things. Mr. Grant goes straight to the method that a cowboy or outdoorsman, or the Lady of a working farm or ranch, might use to produce things better than, more beautiful than, or more suitable for use than what they could buy.
There is a low tool count, and a short materials list. Plain instructions for making or improvising tools unique to braiding and making leather lace are given. There is no cure, of course, for the acute shortage of cows and their hides seen now in the typical city, as compared to the mid-19th-century Texas Mr. Grant grew up in.
For a person who needed one braided item today, say to complement a basket or a box purse, or some themed item for a Western or outdoorsy room, and who also wanted to be able to say "I did that," this book is a good choice.
It is also a good choice for people who like books, on any subject, that won't sing or dance but which carry a full load of reliable information on their subject matter, and which are good either to give or to keep. Any copy of "Leather Braiding" that lasts long enough will find a friend.
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by B. Grant
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