BarryS

I can't give you the information on sizing. However, if you like your Barry King edgers, why don't you just call up Barry King and ask if he is able to do this. I know that I have had them custom make me thinner swivel knife blades and they didn't cost anymore. I cannot speak for him on the handles, but with talking to Barry periodically and Brad who is his main shop hand, they are more than happy to help out all of their customers if possible. Both Barry and Brad are really nice guys and willing to take the time to help all. I would maybe try this, but this is just a thought.

That all depends on what type of carving you are doing. As with any type of craft there are those that specialize in stamps for the different styles. If you are stamping in the Sheridan Style you will want to look at Barry King and Gomph Hackbarth by Lonnie Height. Of course there are other makers on a smaller scale for Sheridan stamps, Chuck Smith and Jeremiah Watt are the ones that come to my mind.If you are into figure carving then Bob Beard is who you will want to look up. Wayne Jueschke makes very good geometric stamps as well as Barry and Lonnie. Most of these tool makers do not have websites. In fact, only Barry King and Bob Beard do out of all of them. The best way is to call them and get them to send you a catalog. All of them are extremely nice and really knowledgable. As a side bar I personally like using Barry King tools. His tools are very reasonably priced and it helps that I only live about an hour and a half from his shop. He will also custom make stamps for you if you need it and it can be done. Well here are the contact numbers for the other ones that I posted. Gomph Hackbarth by Lonnie Height 520-642-3891 Wayne Jueschke 775-738-4885 Chuck Smith 760-749-5755 Jermiah Watt 559-935-2172 http://www.ranch2arena.com Bob Beard http://www.robertbeardtools.com/ These tool makers are in no particular order. Hope this helps out. Have a great day.

Sheridan Leather Outfitters sells Big Horn Latigo and I have used it on many projects. It is firmer than other latigos that I have used. Call and talk to Luke he is very knowledgeble and friendly, he'll be able to help you out more. Here is there contact information. Sheridan Leather Outfitters 2047 Coffeen Avenue Sheridan, WY 82801 1-888-803-3030

Bob Douglas makes one called The Colt. I know that you can get them from Sheridan Leather Outfitters and you can also order them straight from Bob Douglas as well. The price in the catalog that I have is $75 plus shipping. If you need a picture let me know and I could possibly scan one and post it out of the catalog.

I agree with all of the comments on this board. I personally use Barry King bargrounders and would love to own some Bill Woodruff bargrounders. The only thing is if you order Bill Woodruff tools you are going to be waiting awhile before you get them. So if you need them now your best bet is to get them from Barry.

I have two 3/8" barrel Barry King knives and love to use them when I am needing the smaller barrel. However saying that, I have had some problems with the yokes sticking. I talked to Barry in Sheridan during the show and he said that he figured out what was going on and has fixed the problem. When I did have problems with my yokes he sent me new ones out right away without any questions asked. I haven't used them lately, so I can't tell you whether or not the problem is fixed. I instead have really been using the crap out of my Chuck Smith Leathersmiths in 7/16" barrels. The smoothest knives that I have used. But to go with my Chuck Smith knives I use Barry King blades in them. I really like my knife blades to be thin and he makes them thinner for me when I request him to. Hope this helps out. Have a great day.

I second the opinion on the Eco-Flow line. I have not ever had any luck with it. In fact when I did use the Super shene it actually cracked on me and left a horrible finish. Wyo-shene (Neat Lac) is the way to go.

Thank you for your kind words. At first I was not sure how this belt pattern would look, but in the end I was extremely pleased with the outcome. I guess I just need to trust myself more with my pattern drawing. Glad you like it. And thank you for the advise on the belt holes Dave, I will have to remember that for future belts. Thanks again for your comments.

Hi all, This is the latest belt that I have finished. It is only the second belt pattern that I have drawn. Please let me know what you think of it. Thank you and have a great day. Very Respectfully, Barry

David, After talking to Terry in Sheridan and looking at the picture posted below. His knife blades are made out of ATS-34, which is a stainless steel. It should not have the micro-bead of rust on the edge. Atleast not in the sense of rust being red. Stainless does not rust, instead it stains. However, I do have to agree with you his knives were freakin' awesome. I was skiving a length of about 4" through saddle skirting and it was cutting like butter.

Al, I can answer some of the question that you are asking. I primarily carve in the sheridan style and do some geometric stamping. The toolmakers that are of note in the Sheridan style would be Barry King and Gomph Hackbarth (Lonnie Height). Robert Beard does make some Sheridan tools but not as many as the afore mentioned. Other tool makers of note for new tools would be Gore tools and Chuck Smith. I personally use Barry King tools and for the money you can't beat them. They average about half of the price of Hackbarth tools and create excellent impressions. His geometric stamps are also very nice. Sorry I couldn't be of much help, but told you what I could. Have a great day. Barry

Thank you for all of your kind words. I am glad to see that I was not skewed in my thinking that I did pull this off. It is nice to see others think it looks nice and that it the final product worked out. Once again thank you and have a great day.

Hello all, Well about a month ago I recieved a request from one of my wifes friend for a scrapbook album. She started of by stated that she likes the western floral designs she sees on the internet sometimes. That started to get me excited and thinking I could go to town on it. However, then she kept going into saying that she loves peace signs. This is where I had the WTF moment, because I knew it was coming. She states that she wants the two elements combined somehow. As I stood there in astonishment and bewilderment I was completely lost as to what to do or say. About a week later I finally told her that I would start working on something, I didn't know what but I would start trying. About 2 more weeks went by and while I was at work one day I grabbed some paper and started sketching. Well a whole day of drawing and the opinion of a local gun engraver later the photos are what we came up with. I have never been so bewildered by a design in my life. I really had to step out of my comfort zone for this one. I think that the final product was a good compromise though and to fill the rest of the cover I used the small crescent shell stamp from Barry King. To get into the specifics of it the outsides are made of 4/5 oz HO and the lining done with 2/3 oz HO with the binding portion done with 1/2 oz thoroughbred. The finish on it is the traditional sheridan finish - neatsfoot oil, WyoSheen, Sheridan brown antique and then Tan Koted. The edges were slicked and Fiebings chocolate brown was applied, then skidmores bees wax. Oh yeah the conchos on the back cover weren't suppose to be there, that is until I got into a hurry and accidentally punched all the way through both layers. That was my fix, it doesn't look horrible, but not the look I originally started out looking for. All in all I feel pretty proud of this one, not just for being able to figure something out but overall the tooling isn't to shabby. Please let me know what you think. Thank you and have a great day. Thanx, Barry

Well everyone this belt is the latest belt that I have finished. It was for a friends wife and he wanted it to be oiled and antiqued. The belt is and 1 1/4" and the pattern is one that I got from Clint Fay the last time I was up to Sheridan to see him. He told me that it was a pattern that he doesn't use very much anymore and that it was popular in the 70's. I don't know about you but I think it is awesome and we need to see some more of the older patterns. Retro is always better in my opinion. One thing that I am not really sure about is how I ended the carving toward the tip, but is the only thing that I drew that looked half ways decent. However, she likes it very much and I myself have just started to carve this pattern on a belt for myself. I hope that it comes out as decent as this one did. Please let me know what you think. Thanx, Barry

Awesome carving Bobocat. I really like the flow it carries your eye throughout the whole piece. Well done!!!

Chris, I agree with Spencer. For the price Barry King stamps are really nice. I use them almost exclusively, the other stamps I have are homemade or modified. Barry King also has fairly good edgers, however if I were going to get a new set of edgers I would get them from Bob Douglas. I have tried some of his edgers out and there is no comparison. He also makes the versagroover which is an excellent tool, leaps and bounds above my tandy groover. You might also look into some Ron's edgers. I myself have not used them but have heard many good things about them from other acquaintances. Just remember that good tools aren't necessarily going to be cheap, especially bought brand new. However, you will be amazed at how much easier and better good tools are to use. Not to mention what the ending product looks like. Hopefully this helped a little. Barry

That's looking really top notch. Please make sure to post the whole saddle when complete for others to drool over.

I also do not know everything, but to add to the following posts you do not have to hit a maul as hard as you do a mallet to make an impression. I have found that instead of using my arm to swing the mallet I am able to use my pinky finger to move the maul head up and down. The actual weight of the maul does most of the work, not you. I have found that this allows me to stamp longer and I do not get as tired.

James, I agree with the other postings in here. I myself just started tooling in the Sheridan Style around a 8 months ago. The tools that I use are almost all Barry King. If you go to the link below Barry King has actually lists of the recommended tools for the sizes of projects that you are going to be tooling. However, when I bought my tools Clint Fay instructed me to buy bevelers, thumbprints, undershots (lifters) and bargrounders first. Then he told me to buy camouflagers, mule feet and flower centers next. Hopefully this helps out and post some pics when you get to completing some of your Sheridan Style projects. Have a great day. http://www.barryking...om/sizelist.htm

Very well done indeed, she has a real talent for leatherwork. She should be very proud of what she has done. Please keep posting her work for everyone to enjoy.

I agree the way to get better is to have critiques done on your work. Now to fix the problem of the photo size. If you open the photo in some form of a drawing or photoshop program, it should give you the option to resize the image. After you do this resave your image and then try posting that image again. Good luck and have a great day.

Sal, I myself, as of just a couple of months ago, just used Tandy stamps. However, I had the privelage to have a class with Clint Fay. I asked him this same question and he told me that many people get by with tandy tools and do very well, however, when using tools quite a bit they are more prone to bending. They are also made of a steel and then plated. With your more expensive tools being made of stainless steel and polished. I myself had many of my tandy tools plating flake off and leave really nasty scratches in my tooling. Granted you can take some emery cloth and polish it back down but, in my opinion it takes time away from tooling and I just shouldn't have to do that. I now use Barry King Tools and am extremely satisfied with them, in fact my tooling has gotten better and I feel that for me they are easier to use. Hopefully this helped a little. Have a great day and happy tooling.