Art

Bruce, Dusty, David, Pictures, Pictures, Pictures. If we are all to learn something most of us need to see what you are talking about. Most of what I do in this area is making pads for existing saddles and of course whatever horse the owner has at the time. I have never seen a perfect fit english or western even with new and fairly expensive saddles although some came close, I probably wouldn't know perfect fit if I saw it. With english you see very few custom saddles. When you said that working cowboys were using at most one or two saddles, that needs to be tempered by the fact that the horses that they had to select from were all of a general type. More so for military mounts. Today, there are as many configurations of horse as one can imagine available to the buyer/rider. There are also as many configurations of rider buying those horses. Working cowboys were generally not over 150lbs (Dan Blocker from "Bonanza" excepted) and most probably under 6ft. Today, I can show you kids who can double that and adults who are bigger. Being 6'1" and 275lbs I am considerate of the horse and am very cognizant of saddle fit. With the proper saddle, a horse can function with a considerable load; with a bad fit the horse at least will take a beating and at worst may become uncontrolable. With an 87lb teen or pre-teen up, you can get away with a lot, but proper fit will make a difference in performance. I guess what I am trying to say here is that mitigation is more important than the original fit because the horse/rider will change dramatically over the life of the saddle. Here in the East, boarding horses, darned little knowlege of them (even by "trainers"), what's in vogue (breed) and low frequency of exercise is more the norm than for horses that actually work for a living (Amish excluded although that is another story). We should know that you can't fix a bad saddle (construction) or bad design (fit), but the non-saddlemaker is quite often called upon to do just that (you do leatherwork or harnesswork? please fix my saddle). You do what you can for the horse, there is not much you can do for owners. Art

Hi Regis, Don't let the oiling get you down, it takes less than a minute to oil any of my machines. Doing belts would get old quick with a Boss. If I ever needed a machine to go on the road with, that would be it instead of my No.9 that weighs 175lbs. However, after doing a small piece of harness or a few belts with a Boss, you will see why a powered machine or a No. 9 or Classic or even a Landis #1 are better. If you don't have to go on the road regularly, get something with a motor. If you are going to be at or under 16 oz total, get an Artisan 618 SC-1 or a Consew 206RB5 or a Pfaff 1245 set-up for leather and you will probably never buy another machine that size and your kids will be using it when you're gone. As far as mess goes, there isn't much, about as much as a fabric sewing machine. As far as slow goes, with the new solid state motors and speed reducers you can do one stitch at a time. If you want more control, there are Efka needle positioning motors available. After you use your machine for a month or two you will be wondering how the heck to get it going faster, it is just experience. Practice will bring you up to speed, scrap leather is great for practice. You might want to note that you won't be able to use the thread size Bruce uses in the 618 or 206RB, for that you will need a Toro 3000 or better. After you determine the size machine you want, you set it up to sew what you do all the time, like belts, and any small adjustments are really easy. The 3000 is a couple hundred more than a Boss and that decision if you are not on the road a lot is easy. Art

You do welting more with upholstery leather, you would have a helluva lump if you welted 5/6oz. Pix attached where the top of seat meets the boxing there is a welted seam, around speakers etc and on edges of seats. On box cushons usually all around the box. Art

Hi Davis and Regis, I have also had good luck with Artisan. I have the 4000P and the 618 SC1. The 4000P is a special machine that is a Tiwanese casting with U.S. and Japanese parts, a little different looking than the 441. Most parts are interchangable with the Juki 441 with an occasional adjustment (feet). It uses a Japanese shuttle as opposed to the Chinese one in other models. I haven't torn it down to see if there are Juki part numbers on the internals, but if I ever have to replace anything (no indication of that happening after 2+ years) I can get Juki 441 parts easily. The 618 is also a good machine and just runs and runs, however I do break and bend needles (#19) doing step-ups or step-downs sometimes, but then I am usually doing something I shouldn't be doing with that machine anyway. It never complains and makes a nice stitch so if it goes under the foot or I want smaller thread, the 618 gets used. They never flaunt it but their customer list is impressive. Steve does know his machines if you need help. Art

Hi Davis and Regis, I have also had good luck with Artisan. I have the 4000P and the 618 SC1. The 4000P is a special machine that is a Tiwanese casting with U.S. and Japanese parts, a little different looking than the 441. Most parts are interchangable with the Juki 441 with an occasional adjustment (feet). It uses a Japanese shuttle as opposed to the Chinese one in other models. I haven't torn it down to see if there are Juki part numbers on the internals, but if I ever have to replace anything (no indication of that happening after 2+ years) I can get Juki 441 parts easily. The 618 is also a good machine and just runs and runs, however I do break and bend needles (#19) doing step-ups or step-downs sometimes, but then I am usually doing something I shouldn't be doing with that machine anyway. It never complains and makes a nice stitch so if it goes under the foot or I want smaller thread, the 618 gets used. They never flaunt it but their customer list is impressive. Steve does know his machines if you need help. Art

Hi David, The 206 is a great machine and is a workhorse of the canvas industry; the Artisan 618 is also a good choice. I have seen many Consew and Pfaff machines in canvas shops and few get oiled or filled regularly. If you buy one of these, get a new one. You should see a used one before buying and know what you are looking at. If you see any wear, give it a pass. I have seen the 206 new for about $1200 with table and motor. You might want to get a speed reducer also. Two pieces of 9oz is right on the border for that machine so if you want to make belts like Bruce makes, an Artisan 3000 would be a better choice at around $1900. Generally, buy according to the biggest stuff you do, however if you do a whole lot of one thing, buy based on that, you can always hand sew the occasional piece that is too big for your machine. Art

Hi Ed, I would not use WD-40 to lubricate, however as a cleaner I don't have a problem with it. I guess I would/have used it to lube a door hinge and the like. I get ballistol from Weaver in liquid form and use it for anything. I have used it on leather just because I spilled a couple of drops on a piece so just spread it all over with no ill effects. Darker just preceptably but maybe in my immagination also. Ballistol is also somewhat anaseptic and if I get a small cut, I will squirt a little on. Hasen't killed me yet. Mineral oil is the recommended oil for sewing machines. It comes in different grades (thickness) and is the primary ingredient in hydraulic fluid, however they have been fooling with those formulations in recent years and it can have vegetable oil, esters, ethers and who knows what else, mostly as additives. Primary qualification for hydraulic is don't foam, don't compress. Weaver has Lily Stitching Oil, Campbell has SO-5 Stainless Machine Oil, they are all made by Randall (which is now Campbell) and consist of 50/50 light/medium mineral oil. In a pinch go down to Jo-Ann's and get Dritz or Zoom Stainless machine oil, it is practically the same stuff but maybe to the lighter side for fabric sewing machines. Lubricate every time you sew any appreciable amount. I lubricate after I am finished sewing for the day so the oil will distribute and get over dripping before the next session. Wipe everything down before you start sewing. I am sure there is a reason to oil before sewing too. Take the side place off of your machine and look at everything. Pull the machine through a few times to determine the wear points, then put the plate back on and figure how to oil those points. Get a couple small engineers oil cans from eBay with long thin spouts (I have uploaded pictures before) so you can get into the machine with the side plate on and oil the wear areas. Some of the oil holes are mearly drip holes and could use a good shot occasionally. Learn how to get your shuttle in and out and make sure the race that the shuttle rides in gets oil, don't flood it, just a little bit of oil is all that's needed. I used to oil bobbin thread and didn't have to worry about oiling the shuttle, but since I have stopped doing that I occasionally oil and clean the race. If you ever break a needle (no small feat for a big stitcher), it is imperative that you find all of it, quite often a piece will fall into the bobbin case and or race and scar things up badly if it stays there for awhile. You won't hear it but it will mess things up. A new shuttle cost about $250 for a big stitcher, and you will have to put it in yourself. Oil early and oil often. If oiled properly, I can't imagine one of us wearing a big stitcher out in our lifetime. Not so for some of the used machines on the market, a lot of them need a total rebuild, which is a nice project, but not for the beginner. Art

Hi again Alex, Acetone and Toluene are two others that come to mind, both have contact problems and both definately have inhalation problems and obviously you shouldn't drink the stuff. Contact: Acetone -- Butyl Rubber Gloves Toluene -- Viton Gloves. The trouble with industrial chemicals is that they are industrial and mitigation involves industrial prices: Butyl Rubber Gloves are $22 a pair (14mil) Viton Gloves are $60 a pair. You can't use viton gloves effectively with Acetone or Ethyl Acetate. Respiration: The minimum respirator for both chemicals should be a WELL FIT half face with organic vapor cans. If you can afford it get a full face with organic cans and better yet external air with organic vapor filters. This is industrial stuff and won't be cheap; they will last forever if taken care of and your lungs and body are your responsibility, court settlements don't make-up for carelessness. If you get the full mask, your eyes and face will have protection too. If it smells, take it outside, to a fume hood, or a spray booth. Toluene is also an insidious little bugger as the body must metabolize it instead of excrete it. About 95% of it will be converted to benzyl alcohol which is ok, well not really but better than the other 3% which ends up as benzaldehyde and 2% which is other cresols which are both proven carcinogens. Do not dispose of Toluene in the ground, this is probably its biggest danger. It finds it way right to groundwater and this kind of contamination is 100 times worse than inhalation. I only have to bring-up Love Canal to emphasize my point. Hooker dumped a lot of benzene in Love and it caused a lot of cancer and birth defects (if you take into account the small size of the community). Toluene is methylbenzene and every bit as dangerous. Please take what I say with a little salt, incedental exposure will not turn your kids into frogs, but we have to realize that there is a line somewhere that we just don't want to cross. Take it outside, turn on the fan, put on your respirator and gloves, and for heavens sakes dispose of the waste properly. Art P.S. I'll go through my leather chemicals and see what else is in there that we might want to know about.

Hi Alex, Ethyl Acetate is the solvent used in deglazer among others. The normalized breakthrough time (NBT) for nitrile (exam type gloves, 4mil) is one minute. Also nitrile which is a cyano group product can break down to a cyanide ion so this could have been the tingling. For longer contact butyl rubber gloves would be the best bet (still a short time period As always you have to do your homework here as it's your body at risk. Art

Hi Alex, Here you might have to go the deglazer route, ethyl acetate and a little acetone. Weaver sells it and Tandy handles Fiebing's, get it locally as there is a Hazmat upcharge for shipping it. Art

Hi Ed, Yes I use Fiebing's Tanners Bond on most stuff, it does not bond instantly and the two pieces can be shifted a little if need be. I do use Barge general purpose for things that might take a while in assembly as I can reactivate it with a heat gun if it dries or if I need the instant bond of a contact cement. If you use Barge, buy a can of thinner too, you will invariably need it. The Tanners bond kind of grows on you, but I suspect most white glues (aliphatic resin) work about the same. I sure don't miss the fumes from the Barge. Art

Hi Johanna, I think it is perfectly allright to "deglaze" before dyeing. It does remove some of the inconsistancies that occur from working or tooling. However, it is not necessary to use that industrial stuff that Fiebing makes. That stuff is mostly Ethyl Acetate and maybe a little Acetone. Instead I use Isopropyl Alcohol (hydrous), you could use Denatured Ethyl Alcohol also but the Isopropyl carries about 25% water which opens the pours of the leather to accept the dye. If going for a distressed or used look, I omit the deglazing step as any blochiness is in character. If you screw-up with the acrylic edge paints the Fiebing's Deglazer works well if you get it while it is wet. I don't deglaze if just doing an oil finish but you could, just let it dry for a couple of hours. Just remember, deglazer of any type is just that, it removes surface finish and oils from the manufacturing process, not dye and it might push the antiqueing around and make a mess. It's best use is as a prep for dye. Art

Hi Steve, You really need to get ahold of Frank Zigon. He makes bottles and would know what you want to know. I believe he also publishes and index if leather articles going way back (50's). He also wrote and published a monograph "Making Medieval & Colonial American Leather Bottles" which might be of some help to you. Nice Guy. Frank.Zigon@verizon.net (412) 833-5411 Art

The original feels a little like the original "jelly gel" although not as thick and it comes back really well. I would be interested in how the new stuff rides. Art

Hi David, I wasn't tickled by that seat when I first saw it, but after seeing the paint on the bike, it is perfect. You make the bottom look as good as the top you old pro. Art

Hi Beeza, Not yet, only the original stuff which works great. The original is more expensive, I have no idea why, probably less "air". Art

Hi Beeza and Clay, Brooklyn Butt Buffer is a licensee of the Butt Buffer Company who make Seat Pads. Try ButtBuffer.com for their info. The actual viscoelastic dry polymer and a newer air-frothed continuous-pour viscoelastic dry polymer product which is lighter and seems to be comparable in comfort is made in North Carolina by Kemmler. I believe Butt Buffer may be getting materials from them. They make it in sheets of 1/4 and 3/8 inch thick and the air frothed stuff comes as thin as 1/16 inch. Of course like anything that works, it ain't cheap. The Gel stuff works too, but is squishy (only way to describe it) and doesn't hold shape but conforms to whatever butt got there first and doesn't reconform very well to a newer butt. It still works good to soak-up some of the vibration. I have used the Gel in shooting vests and it works very well to supress recoil and was the only thing we had for about 15 or 20 years, but the polymer foam does the same job and is easier to work with and is way easier to construct, and a smaller thickness of the polymer works as well as a larger thickness of gel. 3M 90 works well with the foam to attach it to seat pans or to exsisting foam. A 1/4 inch thickness added to an existing seat really makes a difference. Figure it adds $50 to $75 to the list price of a single seat and you should make money, you could get more. For saddle seats, you might try the thinner air frothed products, but someone has to be brave and see how it works. Art

Hi Pete, I just dampen the edge, wipe off the excess water and burnish with a piece of denim, and it doesn't take long at all, usually finishing-up with a piece of antler; way less than 5 minutes for a holster main seam. On gunbelts, I use the Binford 9000 (Baldor Buffer) with a felt wheel. I generally do the edgework before I finish. Art

Pretty sure bobbin spins clockwise when paying out thread, it should NOT make a 180 degree turn into the bobbin thread tension spring but should feed straight in smoothly. Art

Hi Ed, The top tension pulls the "lock" up into the leather and correspondingly the bobbin tension pulls the lock down. There is of course a balance between the two and the strength and stretch of the thread. Now most of the time the factory settings will cover a wide range, but not always, thread and needle sizes add to or detract from the friction (and hence tension) on the whole system. When making bobbin tension adjustments, a quarter or half turn is all that should be required so go lightly here. Also check the way you have your bobbin threaded, I have seen totally backwards upside down bobbins run with heavy top tension on thick leather fairly well, but with light thread and low tension this could be a problem, however it doesn't sound like you have too much bobbin tension. Just check everything. Once you get the tension right for the thinner leather, you may be able to go back to thick leather with just a top tension adjustment to pull the lock up a bit. This would be your new "factory" setting. Art

Ed, They all darken somewhat, but I don't know if any of them darken as much as you want. If you warm the pure NF it applies much easier, when it gets down to 70-80 degrees it is pretty thick. I use an electric roaster (don't know if they make them anymore) to get the NF up to about 115-120 for application. If you spray, you have to spray hot, there are other finishes I would rather spray than NF. Oiling seems to give a "more natural" color to the leather as opposed to the "naked" white or off white (beige), now oiling and then setting in the sun will darken it up considerably, maybe that is what you want. Art

Hi Ed, Thread is too big, needle is too big. If you want to stick with 207, you should lay down a stitch crease and then stitch in that. Also, please post a picture of any problem you have. Does "doesn't lay down smoothly" mean it lays on top of the leather, or something else, is it not tight enough? Sometimes you will have to up the bobbin tension on thin leather to pull the lock down further or really back off the top tension which can give you a loose stitch. They will tell you it will sew a dollar bill to doubled saddle skirting without adjustment and most times it is true, however the stitch will not pass my quality criteria, just marketing. The more out of the design range of a machine you get, the more adjustment you will have to make, then you have to back that out when you go back to your "normal" work. Hence, a lot of us have more than one machine. Art

Heat it to just warm not hot. The darkness will be about the same. You really have to try these things as it is different for everyone. Art

heat it and if you need to add a little mineral oil to the pure NF Art

The only reason I switched from Rice Nylon to Coats poly is because supply on the Rice thread was getting unreliable. If the rice was still available, I would not be using Coats poly, but then again if I started using Coats poly, I'd still be using it. I can see no difference between the two really. Both great threads. The only time I use different thread is when I want a look that thread provides (less twist like Eddington). I run 346/277 and have run 277/277 in the Artisan 4000P, 138/138 and 138/92 in the Artisan 618, and 277/277 or 207/207 in the #9. Doesn't seem to make a lot of difference in the stitch which thread is which in top and bobbin, you might have to adjust the tension a bit, but that is it. Bobbins do last longer with smaller thread. Art