Go2Tex

Bare bones, eh? I get it. It looks padded, though. I can't imagine a bike seat with no padding. There must be something between the metal and the leather.....

Beautiful work, compadre! Thanks for the underside pics, too. I was wondering how ya'll did that part. Very sweet indeed. Did you use a resist on the letters, and if so, what did you use? That is just incredible the way the letters stand out. Excellent job.

I'm right there with you Tex. Unfortunately, they fixed that loophole in the Constitution right after the War Against The South. Elections, like civil wars, have consequences and we just lost another one. Soooo, just put down the remote and pick up a good book. It's gonna be a long 8 years and after that they will have rigged the election system so well with folks like ACORN that they'll probably win the next election too. By the way, did ya'll hear that Bill Ayers was not allowed into Canada? Yeah, apparently a good friend and associate of our new President is not welcome in Canada. They know a terrorist when they see one. As for this being off topic.... I must agree with Bree. It was marked.

Same here, only I went with the smaller sizes and pieced them together because of the price. I only covered the one side of the cutting table because that's the side I did all my cutting on. Now I wish I had both sides covered. It's time to order more so eventually I'll get it right. As for punches, I use that Tandy poundo board. Hard rubber stuff. Works great but it does grab the punch if you go too far into it. Terrible for cutting, though. I do all my cutting on the poly board.

Oh obsolutely! It was amazing how easy it was to do. I followed the link you provided and after reading the info about it, just created the blog from the template. I know a little code, so that helped, but I really didn't need it. Thanks for the help and the push. Just think, when I woke up this morning I didn't even know what a blog was and now I R one! Would you like for me to add your link on it?

OK Tom, you were right. It was easy! Here ya go: http://brents-saddles.blogspot.com/ Let me know what you think so far.........

Veeery interesting.... So, let me ask you a question. What is the difference between a website and a blogspot? What are the advantages, disadvantages, etc. How are they different as far as cost, setup, etc. Do they get some kind of extra exposure or what?

Yeah, he's friend....but not that good a friend, eh? Got a question. When you say skive, do you mean split? And, if you had the leather, why not cut your own? Just curious. As for that roller guide - I tried using it at first, then got frustrated on the curves and took it off. It's been in the drawer ever since. I have no trouble running down the edge as fast as I want to go just by using my fingers and hands as a guide.

Big businesses make money because at some point in their history they were good companies with a good product or service. That's how they got to be big. Now, they have name recognition, and they are established and trusted. They survive on their reputation and their own momentum. They can make disasterous decisions and recover because they have the capital to do it. They can buy out the competition or influence politicians to better their position in the market. A small company can't do that, no matter how good a plan they have. I don't know why Circuit City went out of business, but I believe GM was eaten alive by it's union UAW. Plus, they produced an inferior product compared to the competition. That's a recipe for disaster.

Well, there ya go. Just go out and hire Super Woman as your back office secretary. She could handle everything you mentioned including all the government red tape and headaches that come with having an employee. And have her do all this stuff on a part-time basis and pay her just enough so that you don't have to have a dental medical and retirement benefit package for her.

Putting a nice bead on a curve with any tool is not easy and I've considered investing in the 2 headed monster blade, but I have enough trouble keeping a single blade sharp. How in heck do you sharpen that double blade? It seems to me a good machinist would come up with a 2 blade system that comes apart for sharpening. It could maybe also be adjustable. hmmm.....

Yeah, that's how I got started too. I realized that if someone dropped a dime on me to the government, I'd be in deep doo doo for not collecting sales tax. OK, so how do you do that without getting a tax ID number and business license? Well, I was then in business. Every year at tax time I wish I could go back to the simple days of not being a business, but Uncle Samboski won't let me. My business can never be a hobby again because it makes a profit every year.... Not much profit, but enough that the "Spread the Wealth" socialists want their cut. And these Pollyanna politcians talk about helping out the little guy, the so-called middle class. .... what a crock.

Because I'm a one-man operation, my business plan can be kept in my head. I started to write one a while back but then realized nobody but me was going to even read it and I couldn't really answer many of the questions. I haven't had to apply for financing for my business which is about the only reason for writing one. The plan for now is to find a way to drive more buyers to my website. The way to do it, I figure is to get more pages linked to my page to get my page further up in the search results. Also to work on local networking. Hit the local stock shows, pass out some cards, hang some brochures. Maybe make up some inventory and set up a booth. I don't like cleaning or repairs, but I'll bet when things get tough, the tough start relining their old saddles. I might even have to get listed in the yellow pages. Bree, interesting statistics. Everyone knows small businesses fail. But you left out the part about why they fail. The reason the big companies don't fail as fast as the small ones is that money makes money. They have options that small companies don't. And, as we have seen lately, the bigger they are, the more likely it is the government will bail them out.

I bet your wife stays fairly busy with that embroidery work. That's beautiful. Looks like you got the corner on that market, my friend.

Thanks Ben for a second look at the beautiful tooling cabinet bench. I'm surprised you don't get some bounce off those casters and rubber mat, but apparently not. That cabinet is so pretty I bet Mamma lets you leave it in the living room, eh? Yeah, it's not the particle board itself that's bouncy, I don't think. It's a solid mass. It's the structure under it. The 2x4s are yellow pine and warpy as heck, so it's not a good, flat surface to begin with. I shoulda known better......

My benches are all about 36" high. Width varies. I have one that is 4x8 for layout and cutting with poly cutting board on the working half. Then I have one that is 28" wide and 10 ft long, actually a couple of 5 footers put together against one wall. All 2x4 construction. If you want stronger legs, glue and screw 2 2x4s together to make a 90 degree angle. It looks good and you can really brace them tightly at the top and bottom just like a kitchen table. I'm still looking for a good surface for my benches that is solid as a rock for tooling and punching. I get more bounce that I'd like. I layed 2x4s on the flat, side by side across the top and then put 3/4" particle board on top to make it smooth. Still not solid enough.

Looks nice and firm on the sides. What did you use for stiffener material, if I might ask? Aslo, how did you attach the sides to each other? I don't see stitching or anything.

I thank you, sir. It was a custom order from a really good repeat customer. She sent me the angora, or as has been suggested, Icelandic Sheep plate, and a picture off the Internet of what she had in mind. I took it from there. It matches her saddle that I made. It gives me an idea for a set of bags using black angora.

Bree, don't worry. With your credentials, you won't be living out of a van any time soon. Your story rang true with me, though. I dodged that bullet myself 2 years before I retired. Never so scared in all my life. I was literally 3 days away from walking out the door with the box of personal effects in hand when they changed their minds and decided to let me stay. From that moment on, my theme song was, "I'm a survivor, I'm a survivor...." and nothing much mattered after that.

Just curious, but why pool cues? Is it the type of wood they use? Seems you could just invest in a lathe and turn your own. I don't know, just asking.

Funny you should mention it. I just finished a pair. Check it out.

Bottoms up to you there, Ray! Mine is Gentleman Jack tonight. Can't afford the Glenlivet everynight. There's a recession on, ya know. That's the first time anyone has said that to me. Usually they say, "fortunately, not everyone is like you." Paypal is great, if you want to pay to use it. The issue I have is the MANDATORY part. A lot of folks are just as afraid of Paypal as they are of any Internet transaction. Don't want to sign up for anything, give out bank info, etc. I work on the trust part. People read my feedback and are free to email me and get as many references as they need. I have a web presence, a real USA address and phone number. Last time I checked we did. That could change with the new "administration" and the Democrats being in control. I feel the gun grabbers chomping at the bit to start beating the old drumbeat of gun control. God save the Supreme Court!

Can't argue with any of that either, Bree. But don't you agree that putting a hold on the payment because the seller doesn't sell much, eventhough the seller has a 100% positive feedback for many years is going a bit too far? Now, I can understand the reasoning behind that move, but at the same time they make that the only method of payment that you can accept. So, they put a hold on your funds and charge you $50-$100 for the privilege of using Paypal? It may be free enterprise, and legal but is it ethical and good business practice? Your customers aren't entitled to cheap prices but they expect good service, don't they? And if they pay a fair price they deserve a fair deal. Ebay is taking advantage of their unique situation in the market place and I believe they are abusing it and lying about it too.

OK, I see. Kinda what I figured. Nice edges.

Ray, I can't argue with any of what you just posted. But what got me started on this tirade against Ebay is the underhanded, decptive way that they are trying to grease it to us. They keep saying they made Paypal mandatory to make the transaction more safe for the buyers. Well, that's blatently not true and everyone with a hint of a brain can figure that out pretty darn quick. There are millions of transactions that go on 24 hrs a day and most of them are just fine. So why would they care? Well, maybe their lawyers decided they might be held liable so just to cover their own glutes they come up with this brilliant idea. It just so happens it probably doubled their bottom line. So why not just say so? Plus, their attitude is just so smarmy, bathing themselves in liberal self righteousness, refusing to allow any auctions that show a real or suspected firearm in them even as props in holsters. Who do they think they are, the Internet Morality Police? I doubt anyone ever shot their eye out with a picture of a BB gun. But you know how stupid these gun grabbing fear mongers are. It's like the school officials sending some kid home from school because he brought a toy gun, a G.I. Joe TOY to school. OH MY GOD!!! THE SKY IS FALLING...WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE. JOHNNY BROUGHT A RUBBER GUN TO SCHOOL!!!!!!! OH MY GOD. JOHNNY TRIED TO SELL HIS G.I.JOE TOY GUN ON EBAY. AAAAHHHHHRRRRGGGG!!!!!!!!!!! REPORT THAT BLEEPIN' SOB TO THE EBAY POLICE!!!! And I bet they're the same people that are all for having computers in public libraries with full access to everything that is on the Internet, because wooooooo, that's freedom of expression. OOOHHH, that's like burning books to restrict any information in a sacred library. Yeah, and here's 7 yr old Johnny sitting there gettin' his eyes full of the most vile stuff imaginable but by God he sure isn't out there in the street playing with TOY GUNS!!!! Whew.... I need a drink. Is it 5 oclock anywhere yet?