Rad Linc Crafts

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Happy Earth Day!!!

Hi all,

Happy Earth Day!

So, I have to apologize for not posting for a long while. Sometimes life just get's in the way. I hope to bring you something good and crafty soon, so stay tuned. For now, keep inventing!

-Fe

Sunday, April 12, 2009

DIY Super Easy and Inexpensive Dog Leash

When Radar was a puppy, (tho, I kinda still consider him a puppy), he went thru leashes like there was no tomorrow. One minute, he's sitting next to me as I talk with someone, the next minute, he was trying to dash off with the leash nearly bitten through. After this happened to the 3rd or 4th leash, I became pretty fed up with the growing cost of walking my dog. I decided to go to OSH and look for an alternative to the store leashes. My plan was to look at ropes and see what I can come up with. Well, it turned out easier than I thought. With some derby rope and some rope clamps, I had a leash in 10 minutes. Here's how I made it.

Materials:
- Rope (the length depends on how long you want the leash to be) Use something comfortable in your hand. I used derby rope on the first leash.
- Rope Clamps (make sure you get the proper size for the size rope you got)
- Clasp to hook the leash onto the dog's collar (if you have some dead leashes already, you can reuse them here).
- Optional: Rope sealant. This is to seal the ends. Burning them off works just as good, if your rope is the type to burn and seal together (it sometimes helps to wrap it with tape to keep the end together).

How to:

1. Cut the length of rope that you want to use. Make sure to add about 18" for the handle loop and a couple more inches for attaching the clasp.

2. Seal the two ends of the rope. Here, you can use rope sealant and wait however long it takes to dry, or if there's a bit of plasticy (is that a word?) or nylon rope within the rope you bought you might be able to burn off the ends.

3. Make the handle. First mark off one end of the rope, about 18" away from the rope end. Now fold down the end (the one that's 18" away from the mark), to meet the mark. Put both parts of the rope in the cavity of a rope clamp. Hammer down (towards the rope) the sides of the rope clamp to hold down the rope.

4. Connect the collar clasp to the other end of the leash. Slide the non-clasp end of the collar clasp thru the end of the rope, and fold down just a few inches. Lay down the rope end and the rope into the cavity of the other rope clamp. (see picture if that doesn't make sense - 2nd to last) Hammer down the sides of the rope clamp like before.

You're done! Like I said, a simple 10 minute project that's mighty useful if you've gone thru as many leashes as I have. The weird thing is, the very first leash I made for Radar is still the leash he uses... I never had to make another one. I guess that's a good thing.

If you want to make other things for your dogs, here are other posts you might be interested in.