gloomis

I have a pattern for a forest service style leather draw halter I can scan it , and send it if thats the kind your looking for.

Tina:I have three rotary punches two thats 30 yr's plus old one thats 100 yrs plus old all are C S Osborn it pays to buy quality.

What Randy said was right on,but I like to use is a glycerin base saddle soap like Farnam Leather New or Leather Therapy wash and conditoner , which I just tried and it works great.also if you press the skirts, I use two pieces of ply wood with c clamps and block the skirts back to the tree. I'm not a fan of a top coat I prefer pure neatsfoot and bees wax.It takes about three or four weeks of treatments of saddle soap to get leather back to normal.

This is an old one maybe 30 yrs. It came off of a barrel racing saddle,that didn't quite make it into a horse trailer. but it looks like the ones that I was forced into making when I worked in a production shop.

It didn't take much to pop this one off.

Here is one made about 45 years ago when there were more moose than money. It has a two groove creaser and a edge slicker with a porcelain doorknob for saddle seats

Every part of the hide will have more or less stretch in it,if one pattern is lower down on the belly it will have more stretch.I only use patterns to get close and then tailor make each one.

Dan:It depends on the type of buckle, but a 3/4 for 3/4 or 1" leather is usually fine. for 1/2" straps 1/2"punch is better because it dosn't cut as wide of a slot as a 3/4" will

Dan: The ones I seem to use the most are #5,6,7 and 8 belt punches and 3/4, 1 1/8, 1 1/2, 1 3/4 and 2 inch oblong punches. I like single tube better than drive punches as they are not as thick as drive punches and cut a smaller hole. one of the few times I use a drive punch is to punch holes for blevins buckles then I use #8 for rivets I use a drill and bit

Daggrim,The patch machine is a Singer 29k171 it has a motor that goes way to fast,so I use the hand wheel.I only use it for making a cell phone case or something very lite weight. I would like to get a treadle for it

glad to see someone using a champion stitcher,i have been using mine for 40 years for saddles,harness and holsters it still sews good. it has a foot clutch and can sew very slow, yours is a good looking machine

I have used glass to scrape cow horns while making powder horns. When it dulls, just break it to get a sharp edge.