barra

I'm the grandson of a jockey. My first memory is of a horse (well shetland pony). I grew up one street back from a racecourse and was going to become a jockey. Well at about 12/13 the hormones kicked in and put paid to that idea so I thought well if I can't ride in saddles, I might as well make them. I could not make up my mind between saddler or soldier so at 15 I left school and started a saddlery apprenticeship, thinking that when I finished I could still join the Army. At 17 I joined the Army reserve while still learning saddlery. This pleased the boss no end as he was in the British Army before, during and after WW2 (it'll make a man of you boy). After a couple more years I decided to fly the nest so to speak and branch out on my own, knowing the old boss was still close at hand if I got stuck. The only problem was as the Boss was retired even before i started with him, he did not have a sewing machine. Time was not money to him. A few years down the track and I was involved in Australia's ANZAC day commemoration Services (sort of our version of Memorial day). This usually ends up in the local RSL (VFW). It was here that I got talking to a retired Airforce member about what I did in civvy street and somehow it got around to not learning how to use industrial sewing machines. He suggested I join the Airforce as there is a trade that amongst other things maintains the Aircraft interior and uses Industrial sewing machines. I mulled this over for a while and eventually walked into a recruiting centre. Of course they ask what you do in civilian life and when I said I was a Saddler and "harness" maker, their eyes near bugged out of their heads. Hmmmmmm we have a trade that maintains safety equipment including the manufacture of Aircrew "harnesses" and we will teach you. So here I sit 21 years later having well and truly learned to use that stitcher. In fact i taught the trade for 4 years. Many of the skills I have learned in the Airforce I have been able to transfer back to leather work and many Saddler skills have come in very handy in the Airforce. Barra

Are you after an exercise type tree or more of a half tree. My internet is having a fit this morning so half my sources are unavailable. but for starters I have added a link. You might also try Aulton and Butler or Beebee Trees. I'm not sure if they do racing trees. http://www.exselle.com/product-list.php?section=Trees Barra

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...55&hl=clams If your keen to try steam bending, youtube "steam bending wood" Barra

Store them with toilet rolls. The rolls absorb moisture. Off topic but do the same with your fridges that are being moved or in storage and turned off for any lenght of time. Chuck in a few toilet rolls. Barra

I cut out the belt and form the point. I cut the point with a round knife by eye but I know lot's of people use the point punches. I then attach my lining over sized. I rarely glue but use cut tacks to hold things in place. When done I trim the lining, including the point. Give the edges a tidy up with a bit of broken glass used as a spoke shave, maybe a fine sand and then edge/bevel the lining and burnish. Barra

Here's a plough guage. alternatively look at Bruce's thread on Barnsley plough guage in leather history. Barra

I have been researching the ingredients of some of the major brands of leather dressings. RM Williams Saddle Dressing Ingredients: Tallow, Neatsfoot Oil, Waxes, Water, Emulsifier, Preservatives. My version. Tallow (solid blocks of tallow are sold in the cooking oils section of the supermarket, usually next to the lard. Beeswax (disolved in gum turpentine) Macadamia oil (similar to mink oil) Botanical alternatives to mink oil as a source of palmitoleic acid include macadamia nut oil. Alternatively use neatsfoot oil Water Lecithin (to emulsify the oils and water) Small amount of eucalyptus oil to act as a mould inhibitor (also keeps the vermin at bay) Jay-el Beeswax, Special waxes, Oils Tallow, Perfume Oakwood Teatree Oil - Eucalyptus Oil - Bees Wax - Lanolin Some dressings mention using coconut oil. In the course of my experiments. I have found a ready source for coconut oil, well at least in Australia. Every Aussie kid knows what Copha is. I have found that most of the commercial dressings have similar ingredients thanks to MSDS sheets. I keep going back to my version of the RM's. To be honest I can't tell the difference. All ingredients are available at the supermarket except the beeswax. I have read Keith Seidel's post about how you apply oils and that makes perfect sense to me. Barra

Jim. I have a similar recipe. Tallow Beeswax (disolved in gum turpentine) Macadamia oil (similar to mink oil) Water Lecithin (to emulsify the oils and water) Small amount of eucalyptus oil to act as a mould inhibitor Barra

Stitch back a couple of stitches or when you have sewn around an item and end where you started, just stitch over a couple of stitches. Cut off the threads off close and poke the ends down into a stitch hole. Barra

I use a few different preparations depending on the item or season. Strap goods. Dales gold medal dubbin, made by Carr, Day and Martin. This stuff is a honey colour and has a gell like consisitency. I really do not know what is in it but do like the effect. I notice it is no longer on the Carr, Day and Martin website as a listed product anymore. Saddles and harness. Either a couple of Australian dressings called Ge-Wy or Jay-el or RM Williams saddle dressing. I live about 10 minutes drive from the RM Williams factory so it is easy to come by for me. Barra

Easy.

Bruce. Are there any other distinguishing marks like a logo or slogan. I assume that if you have done an internet search that you have seen the flickr photo's of the factory. Leave it with me. I'm putting the feelers out. Barra.

If your after small quantities maybe check out a local motor trimmer and see if they have some offcut vybac. This is the stuff used for boat or convertable car windows and outdoor cafe roll up blinds. It comes in various thicknesses. Alternatively get some office laminator sheets and run them through the laminator and then cut to size. Both are easy to sew through. Barra

Steve. I hope this helps. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751932 Barra

Work out the part of the belt you want 1.5 and the part you want 1". To me the distance from the wide to the narrow is a bit of a by eye thing. You want it to be a gradual blended in taper and not abrupt. As an example taper it in over say 2". Set you compass/dividers to 1/4" and scribe a line down each side (taking into account the distance you want to work in your taper). I use my round knife and work the taper in over an aesthetically pleasing distance but you can ever so lightly scribe in a faint straight line between the wide and narrow areas. Just use this faint straight line to guide you in blending in the cut. Some people use a large round punch to get the effect like in the pic. Barra

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...6&hl=rolled Another method is to split down the length you want to roll so that it is still firm but will bend over in half. Before you fold over mark your stitches. A length of scrap strapping is used as a core. It needs to be a little wider than the width of your rolled strap to allow for final trimming. Place the scrap bit into your fold and make sure it is butted up tight. Hold it in place with a few cut tacks and stitch it up. When stitched you trim off the excess. Take the edge off with a relatively large edge tool and then give the rolled section a final sand, spokeshave or use some broken glass. Moisten, burnish and then apply some sort of dressing. If you have a rein rounder you would then place it into the appropriate hole, clamp shut and rub it back and forth vigorously. If you don't have a rounder you could get by if you rub it up with a burnishing stick. Barra

Deeanna touched on it. Could you have consciously or unconsciously been pushing or pulling on the piece as you stitched? One of the primary rules of machine sewing is to let the machine do the work. All your hands do is steer the work. In other words do not fight with it. It is kind of like driving down a steep gradient in a car. Select the appropriate gear and let the motor do the work so you aren't trying to drive your brake foot through the floor. Barra

R&D. I know your after more of a Western side saddle tree. If you look at Wendy's site she has a Pic of a Mexican side saddle. This shows more of the tree exposed which is more western. I am getting the impression that not a lot needs to change except the swell will need a total redesign to incorporate the fixed pommel. This is the curved part that is a fixture of the tree. When a woman sits to the near side her right leg goes over this fixed pommel. Then you just need to fabricate and attach the leaping head which is the curved part that goes over her left thigh. Barra

I used to work for someone who specialised in side saddles. I'll see if I can track him down. Beside Lillian, you could try and contact. Laura Dempsey http://www.lauradempseysaddler.com/ Wendy Tidbold http://www.wendyssaddlery.com.au/wendy_tidbold.htm I note she has her own tree maker. I wonder who that is? Barra.

I don't have a huge call for laquering my leather but when I do I have been using shellac, cut fairly thin with metholated spirits (denatured alcohol). It is cheap as is the metho so one bag of shellac flakes and a bottle of metho lasts a very long time. I make it up as I go in small batches as I am led to believe that pre mixed has a shelf life of about 1 year. I have found that depending on how thick/thin you mix it you can get a high gloss or a mellow satin finish. I started using it when I worked out that traditionally in Australia and I assume elsewhere, that whipmakers use shellac as a finish. I then researched uses of shellac and found it has been used for a multitude of items like glazes on confectionary, pharmaceuticals and leather dressings. My initial thought was well if it is used on whips which surely get a lot of punishment and a lot of flexing then it is worth a try. To date I have been getting good results. I have also applied the shellac and when dry I have attacked my test peice with a mallet and nil cracking was evident. I also on occasion apply it to the edges of my strapping goods as a final coat after burnishing to get that factory made look that some people want. It also works well as a resist and has a low toxicity level. Barra

Claybuster101. Sounds like we do something similar. The rafts we use and maintain are Aerolite 10's and Switlik SAR 8's as well as various life preservers, survival aids and immersion suits. I am also a qualified weapon's instructor and RHIB driver. Barra

Oh crap the dodgy bloke is me. I thought he might be in this pic too but I'm not sure

Freakin hilarious

I don't know about the guy in the white hat but the bloke behing him with arms folded in pic 1 and immediately above JW in pic 2 is a dodgy lookin rooster. Barra

http://www.webbingindustriesaustralia.com.au/elastic_all.htm Scroll down Barra