horsewreck

Aermotor, Is wheat paste a brother to dextrin? As I understand it dextrin is modified starch of wheat or corn. What is in wall paper paste besides wheat starch? Sounds like you use the wall paper paste for the same things dextrin is used for, horn cap & wraps, swell covers and so on. Just wondering.... Jeff

Congratulations Steve, 38 years in this business is no small accomplishment. Allow me to wish you another 38 years..... Jeff

I have mild asthma which sometimes is set off by chrome tanned leather. There have been times when a new batch of chap leather comes in that I have had to unroll it outside and let it air out several hours. I have never had a reaction to veg. tanned leather, with the exception of some cheap blasted Argentine skirting which was sent to me by mistake and it stunk the place up for several days before UPS got it picked up. We use W&C or HO skirting alot and have never had a problem. Good leather smells good, bad leather smell like #!*#@^!?...... Jeff

Good topic, I use dextrin paste quite a lot. I put it under swell covers, horn caps and wraps, and I have even thought about putting it on my oatmeal in the morning. I know it is old school stuff but I like it because it works well for putting on pieces that are wet, it allows you to move a part around to get it where you want, it fills small voids, and it seems to stiffen the leather slightly as it soaks in and dries. That said I do not use it to put on skirt linings. In my area I very seldom remove a synthetic lining and replace it with woolskin as Dick has done in his article. Most of my relines are woolskin that has failed, and often we are going back with a Kodel or better yet 100% wool on a synthetic backer. In our hot and humid area woolskin does not hold up well over time and tends to let go of its fleece. On the other hand the only synthetic linings we replace are the cheap ones we call teddy bear material that is put on the real low end mass produced saddles. I have a saddle in my shop right now I built a few years ago and the first thing that has brought it back to the saddle shop is hair lose. I have started to use more 100% wool but on a sturdy synthetic backer, I know its not old school but it keeps the saddles out of the shop. I would warn anyone not to use dextrin or any other gooey water based cements on synthetic backer material as it will come through the material and gum up the fuzz. I don't care for ring shank nails used on parts that will have to be removed in future repairs. I like the old hot dipped galv. nails as they hold well but can be removed, its too bad they have all but disappeared from supply stores. The mass producers of saddles do use to many ring shank nails that are hard to remove, but they make up for it with their use of staples that fall out on their own. As far as bar pockets go. most of the time I will leave them on the saddle and hand sew them back through the new wool...... Jeff

I found your post interesting because I have seen a few of these real sorry saddles that have been bought off the net. This new generation of junk saddles aren't designed to even sit on a horse, some have so much rocker in the bars they won't stay on a saddle rack. I wonder how they plan on making money exporting leather and trees from the US making saddles and sending them back here to sell? As far as a mass a produced tree goes Steele Saddle Tree comes to mind...... Jeff

The problem I have had with western buckle sets is they are not heavy built to be used for gun belts. Take a look at Weaver Leathers "Paul Belt Buckles" They are plenty heavy and they feature a unique tongueless design. The buckles, loops, and tips are sold per each so you can buy 1 or two loops as you wish. Siegel of Calif. had pretty good ranger belt buckle, loop and tips in their catalog, I used a few of theirs and they were sold by the piece as well.....

As I read Monica's last post here I said to myself what about semi-custom work, Then I got down to Denise's post and thought great minds do think alike. The term semi-custom is used more I think in saddlery and often denotes a product that is hand made and has workmanship and features not found in most mass produced products. In my shop we use the word custom to denote a product that is designed and built based on the customer imput, while we only tell the buyer what we can't do for safety or functional reasons. If a customer asks for let's say a holster model that we build alot and only adds his initials to the front, I might call that a semi-custom product. While I am making that semi-custom holster I might cut out two or three of the same model and finish them just to have in the store for walkins, I would call them stock or production holsters. For me being in the position of being able to make all levels of product helps us stay in buisness and prosper, though I will admit that the custom-er can be trying at times I still love the custom business.

Cowboy 316, I think most saddlers cover the gullet first thing. As far as the ground seat goes I put down the piece that bridges the gap between the bars before I put on any lifts, plugs or other smaller pieces. No bigger than those two piece are that you have on, I think I would pull them off and do the gullet cover then the piece that bridges the gap between the length of the bars. I hope this is of some help to you..... Jeff

WOW, that chap belt is outstanding, I mean perfect!!!! The two tone layered fringe is to die for, I think I have just stole another idea!!!! Simply GRAND...... Jeff

A real stiff single or double ply belt can cause a comfort issue bad enough to where the customer will stop wearing the belt before it "gives" enough to feel comfortable , my point is that most belts that "sag" are belts that may also "give " easily to the body shape. Simply put on gun packers that may experience comfort issues from a stiff belt due to their body build it may not be a bad idea to build the belt on a contour. As I stated on most of belts I build I don't build them on the contour, but cut them straight away,and that's on single and double ply belts. I brought up building them on contour as a reply to Madmax who had noticed a long break in period on a ladies work belt. Also as K-Man noted due to some body shapes belts cut on a contour don't tend to have these comfort issues in the first. I'm sure we have all heard of Galco Holsters, they have been making their CB4 & CB3 belts on the contour for many years, and I like many other leather guys I proudly stole their design several years ago. If body build is an issue I use the contour, if it is not an issue I don't..... Jeff

Most of the belts I make are cut straight through, but if I'm making a heavy strap gun belt, and say the person is a small waisted lady or a guy with a beer belly, comfort can be an issue and this is where I would make one with the dip in it. It is true "most" belts will dip after a couple uses, but I thought we were talking about belts that aren't supposed to give....

Most saddle shops keep foam on hand for padded saddle seats and such. Most stock 1/4 inch closed cell foam and it can be stacked and glued to get the thickness you want. Most places that recover furniture will have different types of foam. As far as suppliers Weaver Leather, and I think Tandy should have closed cell foam....

Those little stamps are great!........ Jeff

I didn't see this when it was first posted. Very very nice work. Good sewing, great design of both pieces. I like attention to detail, like punching stop holes on each fringe cut. You can be proud of this work..... Jeff

I could be wrong but I don't think anyone is making a good dummy of the ruger single six. You might have to beg, borrow or steal an actual gun and do the oil and sandwich wrap drill. It seems to me I looked for one a couple of years ago and came up dry.....Sorry..

This has been a good topic. Rickyfro I'm sorry your supply dried up, but over the years I have not seen all that much constant quality coming out of Mexico. Chahin Tannery does a pretty good job but they are tanning mostly U.S. steer hides. The other tanners down there don't seem to put out that good a product. As far as heavy wrinkles in the neck regions and scars, that is a function of age of the animal, not just sex the of the critter, though old bulls will have a little more weight, and more defects to their hide at a given age. Another problem we would have with "BULL" hide is the low numbers of mature bulls going to market compared to the number of cows or fed steers, which leads me back to my original point much of the leather we buy as BULL is infact old COW. In the cattle raising a rancher might keep only 1 mature bull to breed 25 or 30 cows, the rest of the bull calves born are steered and end up in the feedlots to get bigger and become our next steak and our new boots. That is why there aren't many places turning out bull hide, and who wants to buy something called REAL OLD COW. I maintain to turn out a good belt and, or holster we should find a good supply of one brand of steer hide (wickett and craig, hermann oak, or even Chahin) and stay with it, as this will keep the people who buy what we make happy. When our supplier let's us down by shipping us not as advertised junk we should give them hell....... Jeff

WELCOME, I spent part of my youth in Douglas, AZ. Where are you located? It has become the badlands in the recent past. You will enjoy this site......

Have you tried cutting the belt blank with a slight dip or bow to it? Many feel this shape works best when new..... Jeff

Dave, I'm just guessing here but the leather you found might be something like what some tanners call "western bridle". The leather is a Veg. tan with a small amount of oils or tallow added to the product. This product is dry enough to take on water and can be wet formed somewhat and some of it does tool well though it is designed for tack strap goods mostly..... Jeff

Good debate on this one folks. One of the reasons we laminate belts is to be able to use the same leather (weight and color) as the holsters we make, also making a laminated belt allows us to bridge any weakness (seen or unseen) in our strap, and we should end up with less stretch than "some" single ply belts. So across the board the points go to the two ply deal. That having been said, Being a saddle guy I deal in a lot of heavy leather 15,16oz.. When we start with a new side of leather we first true up the top line in order to cut say stirrup leathers from this best part of the hide. In the act of make this first cut I often end up with a piece of heavy leather large enough to make a belt. Keep in mind this is 16oz. stuff. Single ply belts from this first cut near the butt on the top line of the hide are as good as single ply belts get, and I have a ready market from gun haulers and construction workers for these belts. Bottom line, I make and wear both types of belts and have examples of both belts that I have worn for over a decade, one of which is a doubled and stitched that I have worn the stitching off where the holster sits and now the stitch holes are closed up but I still wear it several times a week (my wife thinks she threw it away). The rest of the time I wear a single ply belt that I made @12 years ago that started out saddle tan and is now near black from age and wear (just getting good). My test has the following results. 1. Good belts can be made either way. 2. Across the board making laminated belts allows us to make belts from further down the hide than we can with single ply leather, and most holster maker's are not saddle guys and gals so they don't use a lot of 16oz. leather in their day to day work. 3. If holster makers turn out mostly laminated holster belts I will continue to corner the market on the single ply jobs.... HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!

Very, Very nice work real clean cuts and stamps. It is a classic western belt well done.......

Wow, I've never heard of such a thing. The only veg. tan horse done in the U.S. are horse butts and shell cordovan, but never have I heard of hair on horse, I suspect it is hair on cow hide, which is always a chrome tan. If you want to carve on some horse leather you can get veg tan hose butt from Siegel of California, or several other good suppliers out there and save yourself the grief in dealing with hair removal, which is best done before tanning. Hope this helps.....

The bag looks great. I think Mark is right in that it will also look great after it has wear on it. Long live the guy purse. Can't wait to see the next one.......