seveneves

I aquired a great hide from an old skinny cow. I've heard they're the best for making rawhide. Right after I stretched it out the temperature dropped and hasn't come back up for several weeks. Is this going to weaken the hide or does it have any affect at all?

Wow it's interested to note that great minds think alike! I thought I was the only one. Way to burst my bubble. I have a couple other designs that I want to put into practice this really is a good way and keeps things straight. I'm not sure how you would do with for a basketstamp. The vinyl I used was just stuff my wife makes lettering out of. It's not super heavy but does the job. I just received my next tree in the mail last week. It's a leuallen tree made by Timberline in Vernal Utah I'm building Randy a website in trade for a tree. It looks really nice and has a wood post horn which is a little out of the ordinary for that type of tree.

This is sold. Thanks.

@Pete This was a long process for me to get the stamping down right. At first I would score a line but then after a while it would start to warp. So I made a design in Photoshop then I printed it out and pasted it to some vinyl. Then I tool a razor and cut out my pattern which was about 4 inches. Then I laid it out on the cased leather and rubbed the impression into the leather. From there I would simply stamp over top of the light impression. It keeps things straight and true.

Thanks would really love to get into carving. Thanks everyone for your nice comments

I just call it a lewis roper because that's the kind of tree it's built on. I just call it #2 because it's the second saddle I've built. Sonny Felkins is a tree maker in Southern Utah. I'm not sure if that anwsers your questions but if not let me know.

Thanks Casey. It's a Jeremiah Watt stamp and I just played around with it and came up with this. It was super hard to get it looking even consistent. I sure waisted a lot of leather getting it right.

Thanks Steve, This was a big improvement over my last saddle. Thanks for the compliment. I think I'm hooked now.

I would be interested in these let me know when they go up. Thanks.

Looks like you do a great job. What are you selling these for? Whats the details on the head knife?

I tried this yesterday and it worked awesome. It's such a simple solution. And it just saved me a whole lot of money that I was going to spend on round punches.

I once had a guy ask me if we had any young stud colts for sale so he could raise him be a stud. I said, Yes, to which he promptly inquired if I had any young fillies the same age.....yes....He wanted to mate them for life. I thought is this guy serious?

That's just part of the process. I have ruined many good hide. It's a lot of trial and error type of thing. It sounds like you're doing it right this time. I think in a couple days the hair should start to slip. Then once you get it all off you'll want to rinse it out really good and let it soak for 24 hours in about a gallon of vinegar to neutralize the hide. I usually have trouble with fleshing the hide. Some say that you can use a fleshing beam when it's fresh off the cow and get all those little bits off before you do anything else. It's never really worked for me. There's some good videos on youtube if you haven't checked there.

Yes it's still available!

what about basket stamps? is the main difference the depth you can get? How do they make stamps anyway? Are they poured into a mold? Or cut with files and grinders?

Thanks Kate for the reply. You said bevelers as number 1. Is there a big difference?

I have always wondered what stamps I could go without spending a lot of money on. I agree that custom made stamps are the best way to go. But they are so expensive and some stamps are pretty basic like a seeder for example. They are so basic that in my opinion there wouldn't be a lot of room for improvement. However on something like a basket stamp or other geometric stamps I can see there being lots of room to improve. I'm just getting into carving and stamping what stamps are a must and what ones can I do without? Side note: Maybe there's a post on this already but is there a list of Custom stamp makers with a website? I know of Barry King, Jeremiah Watt, Bob Beard so far. Who else is there?

This is my method for what it's worth. I first get the edges wet. Then when let it soak into the leather and return almost the it's original color. Then when I edge it, it sort of burnishes it automatically. Then I rub beeswax on the edges, this get's the friction going which is what you're looking for. Then I get a heavy cloth like canvas, denim or anything it doesn't matter as long as you get the heat going in your hands you know you're doing it right. You should get a nice dark brown look. Hope this helps.

It's hard to say. When you wrap your strip around the post make sure that you're not overlapping I believe that will lead to rotting. As long you have air circulating on both side you should be fine. I've never tried cutting into strips like you did. The best rawhide I've made has come from heating some water and putting the hide in the warm water and then you can scrape it off. KAW has a tutorial on here.

Here's some bouncers I made in the last little while. They are made out of black walnut. I made a nice handle for a maul. I will have to post that one too. It's really neat.

Wow that's one of the cleanest looking horns and cantle i've seen. Great job.

This is my second saddle and I learned so much even from this one. I can't wait to get started on my next one.

I do still have these if you're interested. Thanks. Sorry for not getting back sooner.