Dusty Leather

My two cents, Why would you not just use Chicago Screws? They can add style, are very strong, no need for presses or setters, allow for buckle changes, etc etc. The only rivets we work with are copper or brass, every thing else gets chicago screws.

Ok, here is the deal. In all my years in the trades I have never been a braider. I just don't have the patients for it. Further more I am very very particular. I have been using the same guy for my stampede strings for over 20 years. He has retired due to illness and now I am on the hunt for a new artisan. I would rather not be put on a waiting list. Please let me know what it is you can do. I will send email to you of the design specs I am looking for this time as well as pics of specific braid inlays and etc. Thanks

Excellent! Great Job Van Horn. If that is your second one, you are more than on the way to becoming a great saddleman.

Well, first off this is a pretty fine rig. If you don't mind I will offer some meaningless pontificating advice just so I can hear myself talk as though I have something real to offer. LOL Seriously now......... Latigo is a ware leather so over time it is going to stretch especially with elements such as rain so we try to avoid using it in places like buckles even for rope straps. If you take a piece of medium sand paper and go over that rough out you will get rid of all those ravines in the leather, finish it up with some hundred grit. The only other thing I see is that they way your stirrup leathers are laying they may pinch your leg but if you ride with chaps or chinks you should not notice it. Other than that it's a hell of a nice rig, never have seen that stamp used as a boarder with that pattern before it is interesting.

I agree some items go in the red very quickly when it comes to spending time. I have just gotten so quick with the Boss that I dont even want to deal with the fast machines. Plus that a hand stitcher gives a pretty good work out. LOL

Brent, Just got off your site, good Lord man your a maker and that aint no BS. Even on the high end leather you are using, I would still try the de-glazer idea. I used a piece of W&C to try it out on. Can I ask why you don't want to fine sand? Man you are a heck of a saddle man.

I built my first saddle when I was 12 my grand father taught me how. He was an old school cowboy all his life as well as a pretty well known saddle maker. Every single thing we ever made was sewn by hand. In all my life I never knew him to even look at leather sewers.

I have had several "kit" saddles come in to the shop for repair and or finish (we dont do that) The trees are always rawlide or fiberglass that is the first way to identify a problem. A saddle should never ever ever ever so on and so fourth have a tree made from these materials. Second the leather seems to be on the thin side and of very poor quality. Among other things it fails to take oil or dyes. If your looking for a pattern and direction there is a great dvd put out by Dusty Johnson. You can get it on his web site. Hope this helps.

The Leather Factory otherwise known as Tandy. We use them all the time.

Well, I'll tell you what I own to big speed machines and I never use them. We do ALLOT of hand sewing and the never fail never die all ways there Tippman Boss Hand stitcher. Along time ago I came to the conclusion that speed is no substitute for quality. All of our fleece is hand sewn. Every thing else depends on the project and my mood.

Works great, my granddad taught me how to do it and I have just all ways done it that way. just remember to lightly brush the hardware with a soft wire brush.

Oh come on we didn't mean to get you upset. On a serious note there is one way you could do this. Most leather comes from the tannery with a little coating on it this can be seen easily with low end leather. Use some de-glazer on the seat. make sure you clean it several times with the de-glazer. You will need to oil the seat again. I just tried it on a piece of scrap to see if I could come up with something for you. I'll keep trying to see what else I can come up with.

Another very old trick is is to lightly scratch the hardware up, then take three or four family sized caffinated tea bags in to a small post of boiling water. Now there are to different looks you can go for. 1) looks like forged aged brass. to do that simply drop the hardware in the pot. leave it for about 5 minutes and check to see if it the color you are wanting. continue this until you achieve the patina you want. The other way is to just age the metal by putting them in a metal screen type of colander and suspend the item in the boiling tea. Remember to leave the items in the tea for at least 10 minutes after cooling. (of course you can check through out the whole process to see if you have achieved the color you like. This works on all metals.