ClayB

I think its a good idea too. There was a discussion on demo videos several months ago, and I think everyone thought it was a good idea. Like a lot of good ideas, it just didn't go anywhere, YET. I would be willing to try doing some, but I am not sure I have the equipment to do it. Maybe short videos could be done off my digital camera, I just haven't tried. Then loading them would be tough for me with my limited bandwidth on my internet connection. Even so, I will see if this is something I can do. If there are other people with the capabilities to do so, I encourage them to give it a try and see how it works. I think it would be a great addition to the forum. Clay

I think the other Clay (aka Bert) gave good advice. I think the quality of leather, and the casing will make a difference. Some leather is just easier to work with and when your casing is just right, carving goes better. If you leather is too wet, your cuts and tool impressions tend to close back up. If it is too dry, the impressions just wont go very deep. Another thing that helps on thinner leather is to rubber cement it to cardboard, poster board, etc. This allows you to get deeper impressions without your tools going through the leather. I don't use a real heavy mallet. I think proper depth to your cuts, and proper casing will make more difference than a heavier mallet. Clay (aka Ernie)

http://www.cabincreekcds.com/Western.htm This place has lots of the old saddle catalogs reproduced on CD. Should be a lot cheaper and easier to get than the originals.

I haven't used leather glow, but from the description in the catalog it looks like it may be similar to Highlighter or Drake's X-1 (a Fiebings product) In one of Robb Barr's videos, he added purple acrylic paint with Highlighter to darken it. If the leather glow is an acrylic (I would guess it is), you could try adding shades of acrylic paint to it to see what it does. Try it on scraps first so you dont ruin a good project. If you are using a lacquer product such as Neat Lac, you can add color to it by putting a few drops of alcohol based dye in it. I have done that before to give just a tint of red to roses or green to leaves. Hope this helps. I will be looking forward to seeing what others might have tried. Clay

Stephanie, You shouldnt have any second thoughts about posting pictures of projects that turn out like that! I haven't done a lot of chaps, but those sure look good, and like they fit good too. Thanks for sending the pictures out. Clay

Just wanted to pass on a note I got from Anne Newkold today. Just wanted to let everyone know that the Pro Series Tools by Robert Beard catalog is finally on line at the website. www.robertbeardtools.com Tool impressions will be on line in the early fall. With the recent updates to the catalog well over 200 tools have been added. To request a printed copy or one on CD (in a pdf file) you can request one by email at robertbeardtools@sbcglobal.net As new tools are added to the Pro Series line they will be posted on the website under the new tools page. Robert also plans to occasionally post tutorials on the site from time to time. Thank you for your interest in Pro Series Tools, Anne robertbeardtools.com web mistress

I would like to introduce my friend Kathy to any of you that dont know her yet. I may as well tell you how we met, becuase she surely will if I dont. A couple years ago in Denver at the IFoLG show, I was looking for the restroom. I passed a door that said "ladies" and just naturally figured the next one must be "mens". I live out in the boonies and never suspected that one restroom could have 2 entrances. Well, when I opened the door, there stood Kathy. She has never let me live that down. I am just really glad she didn't scream and have me hauled off to jail. At the banquet later on during the show, Kathy took about 50 awards for her leatherwork (ok, maybe not 50, but it was a LOT) and was certified as the newest master in the IFoLG. Kathy has been teaching a class called An Introduction to Professional Leathercraft at the Sheridan and Wickenburg shows. She also taught a class on dyes and finsihes in Sheridan this year. She is the vice president of the Columbine Leather Guild and also writes a very entertaining newsletter. She can even draw! (I am jelous of anyone that can draw) She has had several of her carvings on the cover of the Hidecrafter Digest, and will have one on the cover of the Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal in the near future. Kathy lives in the mountains in Colorado where she has horses, a pig, and 3 yaks. There was one more, but he was naughty and now resides in her freezer. You wouldn't think a little lady like her could be so mean! Glad she was in a good mood the day I accidentally walked into the ladies room. Kathy carves all kinds of stuff, but really enjoys figure carving. I am going to post a few pictures of her work for you all to see. The ones that are blurry are my fault, I took the pictures. The carving really isn't blurry like that. I hope you will all welcome her to the forum.

I found out this morning that Johanna will be out of town for a few days due to family stuff, so I'll try and put a few pictures up here myself to tide you over until she gets back and has time. WC and his carry on bags. Carving on an Aaron Fendek saddle Saddle by Paul VanDyke Detail on saddle by Lyle Henderson Saddle seat detail by Ben Swanke Saddle bags by Don Butler Jim Linnell's pig Chaps by Cody Young Jacket by Linda Barker Hackamore by Timothy George Trout by Jan Schoonover I am having some internet troubles, so I didnt get as many on here as I was trying to, but maybe this will keep you all happy until the rest get up ???

Hi Regis, Sorry to take so long to answer you. I am slowly making my way through a long list of things to do. On the hair on the elk, there really is no rule as to where to place the next row. You are just trying to fill up all the space without leaving gaps. You want to start at the bottom as the photo shows so that each following row will overlap the row before without leaving any bare spots. For longer hair, place rows farther apart and making longer tool impressions. For shorter hair, place the tool closer together making shorter tool impressions. If you end up with small open areas, you could texture them with short knife strokes. You always want to watch the direction of the hair. Not sure if I can explain this right, but Jan Schoonover said that as a general rule, hair direction should allow water to run down and off an animal. Hope that helps a little. If not, let me know and I'll try again

I headed down to the Sheridan show on Thursday morning. It is always a beautiful drive across southern Montana this time of year. This year it was even greener than normal. I pulled into Sheridan about 1 in the afternoon and headed to the Holiday Inn where most of the show events take place. I headed off to the room where my friend Kathy Flanagan was teaching the Introduction to Professional Leathercraft class. She had 4 very enthusiastic students and they had done a great job in 4 days. They were finishing up a belt when I arrived and had done a checkbook cover the day before and a couple other projects before that. The classroom seemed to be a gathering place as several other people wandered in all afternoon. One of them was Charley Bay who hummed Pomp and Circumstance for the handing out of the diplomas for the students. It was pretty impressive, several verses along with special effects. I had met Charley in Denver a couple years before.I met Kathy there too but under different circumstances which I am sure she will tell everyone about if she ever starts posting here on the forum. They are both a lot of fun to be around and 3 days with them was just what I needed after the last couple months of pouring cement. That evening everyone in town heads to the King's for their reception. They have a big feed and the 7th Calvary drum and bugle corp come through and play for the crowd. It's a great place to catch up with old friends. While we were standing in line for food, we walked past the table where Bob Beard was sitting. He got up and gave Kathy a big hug. Then he gave me a hug and a kiss. You gotta know Bob. He told me it was ok, if the girls think you are gay, they feel safer and will come over and talk. When I asked if it was for my benifit or his, he said " I dont care about your love life!" Bob always has a crowd around him and among them were Anne Newkold, Jeff Mosby and Wayne Christensen. I ran into several other people there that I hadn't seen since last year of longer. I also met up with Clay Miller for the first time. We made plans to get together the next day so he could show me how he goes about drawing patterns. We hung out there until they locked the doors and then when the rest of the crowd was headed across the street to the Mint Bar, I took Charley and Kathy back to their vehicles and called it a night. Friday morning I headed back to the Holiday Inn and helped Kathy get set up for her class on different finishing techniques. I acted like I was helping out and ended up staying for the whole class (for free!) I will have to remember that trick next year too ) When the class was over, it was past time to meet up with Clay M, so I found him and we headed to a quiet table in the corner of the bar (after a quick trip to WalMart to get some paper and pencils) He makes pattern drawing look easy. I know it's going to take me a lot of practice but hopefully I learned a little. Then it was time for some lunch before a trip through the vendor room. Our first stop was Bob's booth where I picked up a couple swivel knife blades. Now I have no excuse for a dull blade. Bob gave me a discount on them. I think I deserved it after what he did the night before. While I was there, Jan Schoonover stopped by to say "hi". I have taken a lot of classes from Jan in past years and it's always nice to see him. I found out he has been having some health problems, a heart attack in January and some other lingering problems. I hope he recovers from it all and has a lot more years of carving and teaching in him. When we finally got tired of playing with Bob's tools, we wandered on to Barry Kings. Tried out a few of his stamps too. Next stop was Jeff Mosby's booth were he talked to Jeff and Wayne Christensen again. Wayne had his saddle bags over his shoulder and I got a picture of them. He does great work. Then we were going to try to get to Wickett and Craig's booth before we ran out of time, but ended up at Verlane's booth where she showed us a carving she had done and colored. We talked for quite awhile about coloring techniques and by the time we left, they were closing up for the day. Next stop, Sheridan Leather Outfitters and more free food! This is another good place to just hang out and talk to friends and meet people. When they locked the doors there and chased us out, Kathy and Charley were kind enough to come over to my motel room and look at some of my work. They were supposed to offer a critique, but all I got was Charley asking "when you die, can I have this picture?" I guess that means that he liked it. First thing Saturday morning, I made a trip through the World Leather Debut which is the competition room. Lots of amazing leather work in that room. There were 16 saddles, most I have seen in the competition. Almost every form of leather work imaginable was represented. I took a LOT of pictures, trying to get a couple of each piece in case I messed some up, and also tried to get a picture of the name card because someone always asks, "who did that?" As soon as I got my first round of pictures finished, I headed off to Jim Linnell and Tony and Kay Laier's kids class. I think someone said they had 29 kids and 15 adult helpers in the class. Jim and Tony are really good with the kids, and it's quite entertaining. Kid's really do say the darndest things. I was helping one little girl and we were talking while she was sewing. I found out her dad was a boot maker so I asked if she was going to learn to make boots. She said maybe when she was a teenager. I asked if she would make me a pair of boots and she thought about it for awhile and then said "you'll be REALLY old by then!" I told her I'd still like a pair of boots when I was REALLY old, and she said, "Yeah, lots of REALLY old people come into my dad's shop". All the kids finished up thier projects before they left and if they didn't have thier very own set of tools, Jim lets them take home a set. I saw another little girl showing her parents what she made in class and she was jumping up and down with excitement. Jim and Tony are great with kids and keep the class fun. That's how working with leather should be. Last year in Sheridan, Jim Linnell asked me if I had brought along the picture that Silva Fox had carved for me as he would have liked to see it. I brought it along this year in case I had a chance to show it to him. Jim said he would be eating in the bar as it was quieter and quicker, so I brought the picture in there to show him. Kathy and I were invited to sit with them and 3 hours later we were done with lunch and on out of there. Good thing we ate in the bar where it was "quicker".If you have to be stuck with the waitress from hell, at least it's nice to be there with good people with lots to talk about. Jim told us about all the new water based dyes, antiques and adhesives that will meet new environmental standards. He said the new dyes will be consistant from lot to lot, and will be vibrant colors. He said they will absorb into the leather like spirit dyes, but clean up with water. It will be interesting to try them out. Jim said he hopes people will give these new products a chance as Tandy is working hard to see that we have choices available to us. He also said they are working on making the Craftool stamps more uniform and back to the original shapes they were designed to be. These things costs a lot of money, but it sounds like Tandy is trying to fix some problems and make changes that will benefit leatherworkers. If buying us lunch wasn't enough, Jim was also kind enough to take a look at some of my work. He offered a couple ideas for future projects and how I might make them work out. Maybe I can get something worked out for the show in Fort Worth this fall. Then it was time for a slower trip through the room where the leather debut items were displayed. I got to meet Brian who works for the Journal and was in charge of watching the room. The Journal has some really nice people working for it. Saturday evening was the banquet, but instead of going there, I went to Rick and Sherry Vine's house where about a half dozen members of the Columbine Leather Guild were getting together for dinner. We had a nice meal and a lots of fun conversation. Then it was time for a few handshakes, a hug or two, and the long drive home in the dark. I had a great time in Sheridan as usual. For those of you that have never been, if you get the chance, GO! For those of you that do go, I will look forward to seeing you next year. I heard that Pete Gorrell was the winner of the Al Stohlman award this year. If any of you know who won the Ann Stohlman award I'd like to hear. There was a young lady from Larimie Wy. that I have taken classes with in past years that was up for the award and I heard rumors that she got one. There, I finally got this done! Hope nobody is asleep. Pictures should be up soon. Clay

Which piece are you refering to Pete? If it was background, I usually use med brown fiebings spirit dye just because I have a couple quarts of it. It works ok. I use spirit dyes for background because they will flow into the small areas and stop at the cut lines if you know what you are doing. I think if you want to cover something solid with one color, the oil dye works better, less streaky, doesn't need as many coats. I was talking to Peter Main a couple years ago in Sheridan and he said to use the oil dyes, but I dont remember what his reason was. He did say you could dilute them with alcohol just like spirit dyes so that's what I use. Verlane showed me a piece she had just finished in Sheridan and she colored it all with Liquitex acrylic. I asked her about the background and she said that was acrylic too. I asked her if it wouldnt be easier to use spirit dye in the background and she said it is, but she uses acrylic on everything because of the fading factor with spirit dyes. She says she uses a very tiny brush and almost has to push the paint into the tiny areas. That's why I use spirit dyes, they will flow into those areas and it's just a lot faster and easier. Not sure if that helps or not. Clay

On Saturday, Jim Linnell, his wife (sorry, I'm terrible with names) Kathy Flannagan and I had a quick 3 hour lunch (really long, sort of funny story) in Sheridan. Jim was telling us about the new finishes and glues Tandy is working on. They are all water based and eco friendly. Water based dyes sounds strange, but Jim says they seem to work very well. He says the colors are more vibrant and consistant, they absorb like spirit dye, not like acrylics. Tony Laier was wearing a belt colored with the new dyes and it looked really nice. Jim said he hoped people would give them a chance, try them and see how they work. In talking with Jim, I felt that Tandy really is working on some of the problems people have with Tandy. There will be some changes in the Craftool stamps in the future. Jim is working with 4-H for a new teaching curriculum. He is a busy man, and working hard to ensure the future of leather work. I am slowly getting my Sheridan report typed up. Hope to have it done by the end of the week. Also tried to load my disk full of pictures, but that didn't go so well. I am mailing a CD of them to Johanna today so she can do her thing with them. I can say that I had a great time, met up with a bunch of old friends and made some new ones, and gave out the address to Leatherworker.net to a pile of people. Wish I would have made up some cards. Gotta run, busy week. Clay

Kate, My wife tried ordering a maul from him and he said he wasn't making them anymore. She asked about a swivel knife and he said he would put me on his list. I think there was some problem getting parts for them, but have since heard he is back to making them. I am off to Sheridan in the morning, so I'll find out for sure. Clay

I just recieved a copy of Robert Beards updated tool catalog. The new catalog contains a LOT of tools that weren't in the last catalog, and current prices. Bob hand makes a full line of tools from floral (including Sheridan) to figure carving, to basketweaves and geometrics. He also makes swivel knives and blades, modeling tools, edge bevelers and more. You can also order his videos and the book Southwest Inspirations from this catalog. Bob states in the catalog that the normal wait time for tools ordered from him runs between 3-6 months depending on current demand and the fact that each tools is made by hand, by Bob. The bad thing about the catalog is that it doesn't have individual impressions from each of the different tools. It does have a few pages of different impressions, but not from all the tools. I think this is being worked on to put up on his website in the future. www.robertbeardtools.com I use some of Bob's tools and I think they are some of the best quality tools you can get. If you want to use some of the best made leather tools out there, you owe it to yourself to talk to Bob. He makes it to quite a few of the shows. If you cant make the shows, give him a call at (505)632-7039.

I think the answer to that is Yes. I tried an edger from Ron's Tools one day when I had stopped in the local saddle shop and couldn't believe how they worked. Came home and ordered a couple. When I got the ones from Ron's tools, they came with a rod to use to sharpen them but no instructions. Someone told me to put a piece of emery cloth or wet dry sandpaper over the rod, and run the edger over that to sharpen them. I tried that on the Craftool edgers I had planned on throwing away and I was amazed at the difference in them. They actually worked pretty decent when they were sharp. Mine were probably from the late 70's so maybe they are different than what is made today. If you cant sharpen yours, then I would definately recomend getting some better ones. There are several people that make them and I have heard good things about most of them. You might want to do some shopping around to find the best deal. Do a search here on the forum for edgers and you will find another thread that discussed them pretty well.

Since they did post pictures from thier guild project, I saw we take it easy on them this time. How about no doughnuts for a week? But if it happens again, then I think you are gonna have to go to the adult section and get a whip from someone

Siegel of California also has the punch with one hole and the slot. https://www.siegelofca.com/view_cat_product...id=43&curpage=3

Just wanted to pass on this info. Thanks for your interest in my production of the Dazzling Color, Vol. I DVD. I want to clarify that this is the same program featuring the artwork for "Big Dreams" that was sold in VHS tape format. It was also produced by Hide Crafter Productions in DVD format. The DVD is now being produced exclusively by WelshVideo.com, the original makers of my program and sold through my website. I am now in possession of those DVD's (new package shown below) and my website will be updated by Saturday, April 28. The cost is $29.95 plus $5.00 S&H first class postal with tracking. Silva Fox visit: http://wdstudio.net/foxart

Hi David, The book I got the original design idea from was one of Al Stohlman's. I went back and looked at some more of his patterns, and he did both 4 and 5 petal dogwood style flowers. I figured if he could get away with it, so could I. Like I told Don, I am just playing around here and that is just one thing I tried. I am not necessarily trying to make it look like Sheridan, I just wanted some flow in my pattern. The other idea I have to try is competely differnt and maybe you will like it better. I have the carving part down a lot better than the pattern drawing part so I am open to any ideas and will try any of them that sound interesting. I appreciate your input too. I am going to have to check out the book you suggested. Clay