Lillian

I have used white vinigar ( 1cup to a quart of water.)to kill the mold & spores and then if there are water stains or dirt stains I use oxalic acid wash and clean it and then use a baking soda wash to stop the acid action. Always use rubber gloves though. It wrecks your hands otherwise. I have saved lots of old leather that way. Even old saddles that have been abused and knocked around. I can clean them up this way and then I use conditioner to make them look good. Sometimes the mold will literally eat pits into the leather so you might have to cut around such pitting. Hope the leather you found is good to use . regards, sadlmakr

I am the lady in California that makes sidesaddles. The market has taken a tumble for the last couple of years, but it is starting to warm up and I have ladies wanting new sidesaddles again. I need a tree maker who will make my trees for me MY way. I need a tree maker who will listen to me and try to do the design of the trees to fit a wider range of horses. I know there are tree makers on this web group. If you are interested in learning the right way to make a Western sidesaddle tree I'd like to discuss it with you. How do I know what I want is right? I have been doing sidesaddles for 43 years. I ride them. I don't mind if you use a duplicating machine. What ever works to make them at a lower cost is OK with me. I have done rawhiding so I understand the cost. I have had some in the past that have had Arma-coating sprayed on them. It works OK for me. I just want a traditional design made to fit modern horses and modern women. If you want to talk trees contact me. Regards, sadlmakr

I second that.Use some kind of conditioner before you try to take them apart. Dry leather tears easy. I use an old Phillips screwdriver too. Go easy. Before I re-assemble them I use Leather New on the strings and rossettes. It helps. Regards, sadlmakr

We care about you! Don't sell your tools. Use them. Make things that people need. Business card holders. Fold over credit card wallets. I just used a scrap and some leftover lacing to make a credit card wallet. It looks good. Very simple Useful. I moved into my little house 20 years ago single with 3 kids to finsh raising. Hubby left me with nothing. I could not get a job in my small town and my old staionwagon would not last commuting 45 miles to the next larger towm. All I knew well was saddlery and leathercrafting. It was hard but I started building clientelle. Yes we lived on short rations. My kids thought we were "Poor". We weren't "Poor". We had a home and we had food and we had clean clothes. I learned to fix saddles and began to specialize in rstoring antique saddlery so one could not tell where the new leather was. I took apart old English saddles to learn how they were made. I found out whay the cheap saddles were cheap. It took me a long time to build up my business but I finally did get it going to where I could support all of us. I prayed alot. And He was always there. I had to pay my Income Taxes one year and I had not saved enough to pay them. I was sweating it big time. A woman backed her SUV into my little Toyota and bashed in the door. I got the insurance check for the damage to the car. Guess how much it was? Exactly the amount I had to pay the IRS. To the penny. I fixed the door onmy car myself. Do not give up. You get busy and practice on scrap and work hard and build up your skills. You do not give up. Depression feeds it's self. Wake up in the morning and be thankful you woke up to another beautiful day of Life. Overweight is a national problem. Sugar and wheat put on lots of weight. I used to weigh 296 lbs. I realized no one would take me serious if I didn't pare down the fat. I eat no wheat because I found out I have a wheat allergy and that can cause depression. If I fall off the diet wagon I gain 15 lbs at a whack. I ate way too much at the holiday season and now I am fighting the fat again. What do they feed the cattle and pigs in the stockyards to make them gain? Corn, wheat and molasses. Sugar. I eat 2 eggs and a slice of ham at breakfast with a cup of coffee and hit the workbench. I don't eat French Fries.I don't eat junk food. All it is is empty calories. You change your diet and you do not give up. If you got one job you can get another. Henry J. Kaiser said "find a need and fill it". I did janitorial work for a while. I had my own business doing that. Yes it was hard work but I did it the best I could. I made more money in the saddlery so I left that and kept on studying everything I could find on saddlery , harnes and gun leather. I have made holsters, belts and wallets. Bridles and driving reins. Dog collars and leashes. There are people out there who will pay a decent price for a good, well made dog collar and leash to match. Do not give up. I quote the lady in Auntie Mame, "Life is a banquest and most poor fools are starving to death." Tomorrow you will get up and get a shower and eat a high protien breakfast and you will get going. Start searching for a job and also you start practicing your leather craft. Make up a dog collar and do the edges with an edger and crease it, Stain the edges and buff them. Put good quality buckle and D on it and take it to the local pet store and ask them if they would like a supply of them. Figure out the time and materials and ask a reasonable price. Anyone can tell the difference between a hand made one and a factory made one. I had terrible experiences with Anti Depressants. I tried them. They laid me out on the bed and I could not function. Another one made me sleep 14 hours a day. The time I was not asleep I was in a stupor. Changing my diet changed my life. You do not give up. So if you stumble and fall do you lie there? No you get up and git going again. Believe me I have been down the same road. I learned one thing. It is up to me to get with it and keep on keepin on. Nothing worth doing is easy. All the easy jobs are taken. You've got to do something unique. Something not everyone can do. OK now I have given you my wisdom, go for it. regards, sadlmakr

Here is my humble opinion. Mind your own business and stay out of it. I have done what you are presenting hypothetically. I got trounced on by the parties involved. There are lots of self declared Prophets of Leathercraft out there. They are filled with self importance. Even when there is a person of superior skills they do not repect that nor do they appreciate the quality of the work or the materials used. I had someone verbally attack me because my prices were higher than than what he thought they ought to be. The fact I used high quality leather and used top quality methods and the fact it took lots of my time to do the work made no difference. I work in leather for a living. I have to charge more than the guy down at the feedstore that butchers up more saddles than he ever fixes. I had some one say that because I was a woman, I should not expect to get as much as a man gets. Really? I specialize in my trade. I work mostly with women and these kinds of people are everywhere. Both male and female. It is pointless to try to educate them. Why? Because they already know all there is to know about leathercraft. I just let things like that pass. I just walk away. I do not need to get involved in such trivialities. I'd have ulcers if I did. Let the Prophets of Leathercraft go do their thing and hope their victims can see through the smoke. I know some will say I am cynical. NO I just learned the hard way to butt out of other peoples discussions. I didn't need a second dose of what I got for trying to teach these dummies about leather. JMHO sadlmakr