barra

I have known of this site before but just revisited it. I found some of the info an interesting read so thought I would share. Barra http://www.militaryhorse.org/resources/ord...940/default.asp

Our premium imported saddle skirting is tanned exclusively for us using a tannage that produces leather with excellent tooling, embossing and molding qualities. It is used by top saddle makers across the country for price and quality. Extra large sides average 22 to 24 sq. ft and 13 to 15 oz. in weight. I got hold of some of this when I was in the States last xmas. It can have some hard spots and when you hit one it is like cutting thru wood. Even tho it can be flawed in this respect it has still served my purpose. It was cheap and I am using it to experiment with before I blow my dough on more expensive skirting. Like everything, you get what you pay for but I still think it has it's place. Barra

First of all great topic Go2tex. I hate to play devils advocate but i thought I might add a few possible scenarios. We live in a litigious society and my side of the pond is not far behind the US in ridiculous, frivolous lawsuits. I am sure a certain money grabbing profession fuels the idea into some equally money grabbing plaintif to go after these huge sums of money. Ridiculous (to the average person) lawsuits like the hot coffee one or the recent dry cleaning suit because some hard working mum and dad business made the fatal mistake of using the age old slogan of SATISFACTION GUARANTEED are becoming common place. Oh and who can forget the Darwin award candidate who put his Winnebago into cruise control and left to make coffee or something, then sued because no warning was added saying leaving a moving vehicle is unsafe. We make horse tack that is then put onto a living breathing animal with a mind and a will of it's own. The most bomb proof horse on the planet can not be guaranteed not to ever go off the rails. Now while most of us fully accept the inherant risks associated with our equine pursuits and apply what most of us assume is common sense, common sense is relative. How do we judge that the person using our tack has the same level of common sense as us. Where have any of us gained our knowledge of saddle/tack making. More than likely it was via an old well respected saddle maker and in my case a 3rd generation saddler. Your mentor gained their experience from tried and true methods in saddlemaking. Used what are generally regarded as the best materials available to make that saddle. More than likely they never went to any formal teaching institution and even tho they call themselves a master saddler, never gained a recognised qualification. The skills you now have have been passed down from generation to generation and were formulated pre litigious society. Who then has carried out the engineering test specifications to say the ticket 18 3 cord you have used to stitch up that item is rated to tensile strength X and that the worlds best practice for that item is to stitch X stitches per inch for X distance using ASTM stitch pattern 301. Or what about the buckle you have used. What stresses can it withstand. How many tree makers have had engineering testing done on their trees. What is the life of that spool of thread sitting in the shelf for umpteen years before it degrades or the Nylon spool sitting by the window being degraded by sunlight before we decide to use it. We can go on and on with all the materials that we use. Add to this the saddler who allows a customer to come into their shop and venture past the display case into the actual workshop. That customer then leans against the splitter and cuts themselves. What about the apprentice you take on who electrocutes themselves on the stitcher that has not been electrically tested since Jesus played full back for jerusalem or who uses the Neatlac made from Toluene and heaven forbid you have not provided the correct PPE or disposed of the empty tin in accordance with local chemical regulations. Do I think some of what I have said is ridiculous, ABSOLUTELY. But when your item of tack has broken and someone injured riding that living breathing animal listens to the advice of a certain money grabbing profession BEWARE. We are involved in an old profession/hobby in a modern society. Is it any wonder some saddle makers are getting their customers to sign disclaimers. Just my 2 bobs/cents worth. Barra

This is my home made stitching horse. I am not a carpenter but it works for me. What I did is work out the height that suits me for the horse to be above the actual base. I glued the wide pieces of wood to the upright bits to form the jaws. Added a couple of screws to the bottom of the jaws. Then I cut both the upright board and wide wooden bits in one hit. I then stapled some scrap leather to the jaws to protect my sewing jobs. The left hand side is bolted firm and the right side hinged (L&R is when stitching). This way I am pushing against the firm left hand side. The strap goes from the hinged right side, through a hole in the left side and connects to the pedal. The jaws open and when the pedal is pushed on, it tightens the hinged side firmly against the rigid side. I have my splitter attached to the wide front as I don't want it on my main bench and where it is works for me. When stitching I cover the splitter to avoid accidents. I like the front being wide as I can also place done odd tools eg Awl, knife, pliers. The only thing I am going to change is the wide part at the back where the cushion is as it is a tad awkward to swing my leg over when sitting. I am going to modify this base one day. Anyone with basic wood working skills can make a workable horse. It may not look pretty like some but it works. Oh yeah, do what Darc said about angling it. Mine leans over about 20 degrees to the left at a guess. Barra

http://www.petermain.com/parent.htm Go to studio workshop 2 words. I wish. Barra

http://www.jaeberly.com/id38.html I have used cutters like the smaller rotary cutters mainly to cut carpet. I then came into one similar to the RES 4" /technix RC1000 models. It has an inbuilt sharpening stone and will cut thru leather like the thicknesses suggested like butter. These might not be so good for small curved areas but it will handle easily items with a large sweeping curve ala skirts. I just thought I would add a link to these types of cutters particularly for those into the rough cut out method or as a possible alternative to expensive clickers for those doing small production runs on items. Barra

Sorry to put a dampener (pun intended) on the grand plan Go2tex but post flash flood mould. Sorry. Barra

I was just reading about people having problems with the edge of punches rolling over. I was then wondering what type of surface is being used to punch into. I only punch into a lead block and this seems to protect even the el cheapo punches. When the lead has been used to death I panel beat it smooth again with a ball pein hammer or every know and then re melt it. I just make sure I wash my hands before eating but I'd do that anyway. Barra

I ebonise the leather. I make up a solution by placing steel wool (not soap pads) in Vinegar. Let it sit for about a week for the chemical reaction to take place and then apply to the leather with a brush, dauber or sponge. This stuff does not rub off. Please be aware that this works equally as good at ebonising wood aka the bench top when you knock over the jar. Barra

I used to live in Darwin NT which is the north west of Australia and not far from Indonesia so it was definately tropical. Mould was a major problem and I used a couple of methods. I would spray my leather with undiluted vinegar as part of the cleaning process. Let it sit for a bit and wipe off. I then oiled with neatsfoot with either a little tea tree oil or eucalyptus oil in it. Barra P.S. The vinegar smell soon dissipates so people will not mistake your leather shop for a fish and chippery

Happy Birthday Johanna. I hope it is a good one. Many happy returns for the day. Barra.

Ed. I would probably use the latter. I would prepare your bags as you have been, just don't glue the lining down from the stitching to the edge to allow you to get in there and trim off. See the Major's response on page one. This will achieve the same effect but make the skiving a quick job. Barra

Ed. You can trim off the lining neatly and consistantly with a large edge tool. Make a small cut with something like an exacto knife to get started then run around with the edge tool. Holding the tool as flat as possible and having the edge tool sharp will give you a skived appearance. Barra

Drooling Now Greg. I will most emphatically concur. The Pearson 6 is a sweet machine and was probably if not still the most common harness stitcher in Australia. I owned one in my younger/stupider days and kick myself every day for letting it go. I would buy yours in a heartbeat if I was in the states. I will pass on your details to a few friends in the States who may be interested. I will be surprised if this lasts long. For those who want to see what this type of stitcher looks like http://www.tools4leather.com/12_used_machines_available.htm# P.S. Re Linen thread. Are you after sewing machine linen or hand sewing thread. I have a spool or 2 of machine thread made by a company called Millers. The paper label actually says Pearson thread. Problem being I can find no reference to a company called Millers. I have been searching for Linen thread and come up with http://www.somac.co.uk/linen.htm If hand sewing thread is what your after and you are not happy with your current brand, Is rolling your own with No.2 Common hemp an option. It only takes a min or so to roll and you can have control of the finished thread. I am still chasing up details of Finlayson linen thread for you. Barra

Using wool felt to line is very common in Australia on the Hybrid western X stock saddles. My guess is it holds up better on outback cattle stations where the saddle is going to be used in some of the harshest land on earth. Shearling linings get too matted with the various forms of prickles and of course a stockman being a stockman, the saddle will be treated rough with 2 parts of no maintenance. During WW2 a lot of our sheepskins got used for lining Bomber crew jackets Barra

http://www.ramsskullpress.com/crafts.html Rons books have been mentioned a couple of times so I thought I would attach the link to the rams skull press for a full range of his books. For those that don't know, the illustrations and explanations are easy to follow. Not only does he do leatherwork books but general bushcraft/making do with what is on hand books as well. If you want to make a stock saddle or mend a fence, then Ron covers it in his books. Barra

http://www.leffler.com.au/ Scott. Lefflers are in York St. South Melbourne. If it aint there it aint in Australia Barra

I just use a metal rod that has had coarse canvas tightly wrapped around it and is tightly held in place with cable ties. I then just rub a bit of bees wax on it, chuck it in the drill and burnish away. Works fine. Alternatively I have an old wooden sewing thread kreel that has a bolt thru it and this goes into the drill. The shape of the kreel means that I can burnish any width piece as I just manipulate it around the wide part of the kreel. I use a drill to wind bobbins for my stitcher. I have just made a few modification and will post pics soon. My other machine has a bobbin winder attached. Barra

I have attached a couple of pics of a kangaroo lace, twin ring plaited stockman's belt I made myself. I have posted it mainly to fluff around with my camera. I'm yet to work out the flash. Kanga has reignited my interest in plaiting so I will get off my rear end now and finish the red hide stockwhip. Barra

How dumb am I. I was just reading Art's response about Tandy/Radioshack. In Australia to my knowledge there are no Radioshacks but we have Tandy electronics stores everywhere. We used to have dedicated Tandy leather stores but I have not seen one in years. Now we just have certain stores who may carry Tandy branded products. I guess I have thought about the name Tandy electronics and Tandy leather but never really knew that the company is one and the same. Thanks Art for shedding some light on one of lifes great mysteries. Barra

Linda. I have just dug out one of my Ron Edwards books and he explains it this way. He refers the term plait to ye olde England Shakepearian times and quotes " Her haire nor loose nor t'id in formall plat" Braid appears to be from an old teutonic word Bregdan "to pull quickly hither and thither" In Australia braiding is used to refer to things like braiding hair/horses mane or is used when referring to lacing over the edge of something or to apply patterns onto solid leather belts. Items like stockwhips or Stockmens belts that are made entirely of kangaroo lace are referred to as being Plaited. Barra

Linda. Whee are you getting your Roo from? Barra

Mudman. If you are cutting seperate fringe to attach to something you get 2 fringes out of the one piece of leather. Best way for my addled brain to explain at this time is like if you connected 2 hair combs together by interconnecting the teeth, there is the width of the 2 fringes. When cut out you have 2 fringes. Like Greg has said cutting out the little pie shapes will assist shaping around bends. Barra

Coooooooooeee Back to you too. Welcome aboard fellow Aussie. You will have fun and learn heaps here. Sit back and enjoy. Barra

Pat. I have friends in Burbank around the LA equestrian centre and will have a place to store a machine at a barn in Los Feliz right next to Griffiths Park Barra