| Sode are the plates which hang from the shoulder straps and protect the shoulders and upper arms. They are always suspension laced.
Pattern:
Take a piece of poster board and mark out a rectangle 2.5" X 11". That's it.
Construction:
* When you are cutting the sode (and the kusadzuri), all of your horizontal cuts will be the exact same width. The best way to do this is to clamp a board down on the top of your table saw and simply cut the plastic into long strips that are 2.5" wide.
* Next, mark the strips with the pattern pieces and slice them up on the table saw. Cut the pieces off squarely each 11" until you have 12 pieces.
* Scrape the edges with your knife and melt them with your propane torch.
* Decide how many rows of lacing you want to use.
* Mark the pieces and drill them.
Lacing:
* The majority of the lacing you will be doing is through the six hole pattern, just like in your marker punch. The Sode and Kusadzuri are laced the same way.
Lay out the pieces, overlapping them by ½". Measure the distance from the top hole on the top plate to the bottom hole on the bottom plate. Multiply this by four.
This will give you plenty of lacing for the row. Remember, you've got a thousand yards to play with, and it's better to cut off and throw away the excess than it is to have to relace the damn thing.
The ends of the laces need to be cut to a long, sharp point. There are two ways to do this. The best way is to put the lacing on a block of wood and cut/ melt the ends with a sharp pointed soldering iron. The more difficult way is to cut the ends with a sharp pair of scissors and then melt them with a lighter. The longer and more pointed the ends are, the easier the lacing will be.
Always start at the top and work your way down, and lace all of the rows at the same time. From the back, push the laces through the top holes. Cross them to form an ‘x', then put them in through the second set of holes. Cross the laces to form and ‘x, then bring them out through the bottom set of holes. From the front, your piece should now show a small ‘x' with two cords sticking out underneath it.
Take the next piece and pull all of the laces through the top row of holes. Snug the laces until the second piece overlaps the first by ½". Use a couple of small clamps to hold the pieces together while you finish lacing the holes on the that plate.
Continue lacing until you hit the bottom row of the last piece.
When you get to the bottom row, pull one side of the lace through one of the holes, then feed it back through the second. This will make it so that the ends of the lacing are hanging out of the back, not the front. (SEE DIAGRAM T-4)
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Turn the piece over and tie a square knot. With your soldering iron or with a hot screwdriver blade, melt the knot so that it can't come untied and then melt off the long ends of the lace. Attaching the Sode to the Do
There are two methods. The first is to hang the sode by small leather straps which are riveted.
The second is to drill small holes and lace the sode on. I prefer using the lacing. It is very easy to repair or replace lacing, and doesn't require any tools. (SEE DIAGRAM 2-1)
NOTE: The sode are where many people choose to decorate with lacing. For example, if you are using five rows you can alternate colors-- red, white, red, white, red. With a little
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