Go2Tex

Weaver Leather gets most of my money for everything except veg tan, which I get from distributors who sell no. 1 grade Hermann Oak by the side or from the tannery, like Wickett and Craig. But, depending what kind of work you do, there is no such animal as a one stop supplier unless you aren't too picky. Nobody has it all wrapped up.

I kid you not, we actually had meetings to think of reasons to have weekly staff meetings, which were mandated by some upper level madcow sufferer. Aahh, the good ol' days. Damn, I don't miss 'em!

Thanks for the detailed process. One of the best I've seen to date on the subject. I do have one question though. Why do you oil before you mold? Oiling seems to set the leather and makes it difficult to obsorb water for rubbing out marks, etc. I'd think it would do the same for molding.

Yeah, hopefully they'll nab 'em trying to get back across the border. And I don't mean the border with Canada.... although, times are tough up there too, these days, so who knows. Book'em, eh?

Just a pet peeve type comment here. Saddle Thieves Should Be "Hanged"...... not "Hung". Yeah, I know some English grammar teacher is having a conniption fit right now, muttering stuff about past tense and all, but ol' Webster lists it as an either or usage. So, we're both right according to him. Frankly, I think he's dead wrong on that. When referring to excution by hanging, it's hanged, not hung if you want to be historical about it.

"We" ?? Speak for yourself. I didn't re-elect any of them. As for assigning blame for the economic problems, it's just too complex to figure it out. One thing is certain, however. If it turns out to be largely the fault of the Liberal policies of the last 40 years that the mainstream media has been enfluencing our electoral process and controlling and manipulating public opinion, we'll never be told. And the problems will just continue to get worse.

Oh, that is too funny! LMAO! And all so true in so many cases. It's the way people rise to the top in a large organization that is the root of the problem. You don't get promoted by making waves and telling people what they need to hear. No, you rise to the top of the dung heap by being able and willing to tell people whatever it is they "want" to hear. You must be a cheerleader for whatever ridiculous scheme-of-the-week comes along. A "team player" is code for "go along to get along". The amount of productivity that is lost in every company and government agency in the country every day because people are doing senseless things mandated by "mad cow" upper management would be staggering if anyone knew how much it really is. Nobody knows just exactly how much time is wasted because they don't keep track of it. There are no metrics on that stuff. Oh no. Keeping metrics on things like ethics training for adults that should know better would be, eh, ...politically incorrect. Well, I could rant all day about this and probably pi**off a lot of folks, but it has nothing to do with leather and it sure ain't getting any leather work done or sold, so............. I'll just leave ya'll with this final thought for the day. If by chance you should wander upon Ebay during the day while at your place of employment on company time using company resources, all of which are strictly forbidden by company policy, remember that Big Brother is watching............ bwahahahahaha

OK, I confess. It's me. .... But from now on, I'm gonna start charging for it! Hey, if Ebay can jack up their fees, why not a magic dust fairy, eh?

First off, I have to say after reading some of the replies, there are some real funny guys out there. I'm still laughing at a couple of 'em. A real perverse, eh... diverse group. OK, enough about ya'll..... I'm retired from Boeing. But before I left, about 10 before, I started planning my early departure. I sort of fell into the leather thang, rekindled my interest in horses and developed a real interest in saddles. Started messing with building them and realized it could be my ticket to an early retirement from the 9-5 job. Long story short. Everything fell into place........and here I is. Livin' the dream.

Sorry but I can't even see the problems you're talking about. Maybe my eyes are gone. Looks just like my experiments with vinegaroon so far. I made some up, oh gosh, months ago. Back when this topic first reared it's ugly head. I was playing around with some ideas for coloring stuff the other day and pulled out that old batch. It was reeeeally dark and turned everything I stuck into it a nice, flat gray. Looked like hell until I added some oil. I use neatsfoot, by the way. It looked better, but then, I'm not a black leather fan, so...... It sure beats the heck out of black dye, though. Almost no rubbing off. And, I suppose an added benefit is that it doesn't dye your thread, or shouldn't. I'll say one thing about it. It doesn't work worth a (bleep) as an edge dye. Don't even bother. It won't slick for nothing. I tried slicking the edge first and it didn't seem to take. Real spotty. So forget that. It makes an interesting ink for writing on leather. I took a small artist paint brush, dipped it in the vinegaroon and wrote my name on some leather scrap. OK, it looked like (bleep) too, but the idea has merit. Oh yeah, and the best thing I discovered about it is, if you make a mistake, oxalic acid removes it! Disappearing ink!

No, not really. It was just tongue in cheek. Venting my frustration at a situation that is causing me pain and I have no control over it. Forget the Ma Bell reference. Obviously they are different. One is, or was, a utility and the other is just an anomoly, a dot com that hit the jack pot, made a few guys very wealthy and is now just another haven for marketing jerks sitting around trying to dream up better ways to rip people off to improve the "bottom line". Well, it was good while it lasted. And it still has its uses. I think it can still be a way to advertise, if not sell your products. It's just going to cost a heck of a lot more now to do it. If nothing else, this little Ebay awakening has gotten me thinking about alternative ways of getting some exposure and at least thinking about some other avenues for my little business.

hmmm..... and available just about anywhere. That's a plus.

Deglazer is sold by Tandy and Weaver for the purpose of stripping any finish from the leather before dying. Not sure what all is in it, but I'm sure it's toxic as heck 'cause it has warnings all over it and it's flamable, etc. Of course, that's why it works on most finishes. You never know what the tanneries have put on the leather to conceal blemishes and whatever from the unsuspecting buyer. But, I think a lot of what causes the uneveness of dye penetration is just the nature of the beast. Some tannages dye more evenly than others and there's just no getting around it. If you've ever cut into a rawhide spot on a side of veg tan, it becomes clear why some leather dyes more evenly than others. That hard spot is obviously going to have different qualities than the rest of the leather as to it's ability to absorb water, oil and dye. Now that's the extreme example but it illustrates the point of how tanning can produce different results even on one piece of leather. We all know that the back is firmer than the belly and different in the way it absorbs dye, oil, etc. One side will vary from the next, even from the same tannery. Anyhow, that's my observation on the subject.

Can't argue with that logic. Not one bit.

Yeah, tell the corporate lawyers that. They tell you how to run your company, who to hire and fire, what products to sell or not, what you can say to your employees and it's all backed up by federal legislation and lots of government agencies with lots of regulations enforced by political appointees through their millions of bureaucrat minions. So, no, we don't live in a free market anything, my friend. We live, believe it or not, in a socialist republic. But, inspite of that little minor misunderstanding, you are correct. Ebay can treat it's members any way it wants to. They can jack up the fees at will, cram the high priced Paypal down their throats and all the members can do is just walk away. And, I suspect many have. Ebay is free to be replaced by something else. Where are all the anti-trust lawyers when you need them? I think Ebay has an unfair monopoly on the internet auction racket and needs to be brought down to size by the anti big business crowd. Split them up like Uncle Samski did to Ma Bell.

Thanks for the suggestions, Ben. I use Ebay, or did, mostly for driving business to my website. I'm sure they'll close that loophole as well. The thing that really gripes me about Ebay is that dealing with them is like dealing with the government. They are just so full of B.S, (bovine scat), about resolving problems, etc, but when you email their customer support with a genuine issue, they reply with a form answer that just repeats their policy! It's a slap in the face with a wet towel. They don't even read the email you send to them. They obviously look at the subject line and send you back a form standard kiss-off answer. Anyway, all I can do at this point is just rant rant rant on every venue I can find to warn folks off Ebay. I hope I get some flames on here about it too from the loyal few who still think Ebay is worth it. Come on, gimme your best shot. Explain to me why it's OK for Paypal to be crammed down my throat and for them to put a hold on my funds because I'm not a high volume seller! Yeah, defend that one, loyal Ebayers! Are there any left?

In light of my recent and shocking experience with listing a saddle on Ebay, I thought I'd use this thread to do a little ranting, since it's all about marketing. Ebay has changed over the years and has gotten rather greedy of late and might I say, draconian. Maybe they just woke up and realized they were selling themselves short, not charging enough in fees. Then they must have had a corporate meeting and came up with the brilliant strategy of making Paypal mandatory and all but exclusively the only method of payment allowed. I'm sure that idea got somebody a very nice bonus down there at Ebay World. May the fleas of a thousand camels infest his, or her BVDs. That's right folks. For those of you who haven't sold anything on Ebay recently, it will come as quite a shock when you try to list your item and discover that you MUST accept Paypal as a payment method and ONLY Paypal, unless you happen to have some other type of Internet merchant account they approve of, all of which I suspect charge rather high fees like Paypal. To make matters worse, now it takes much longer to get something listed because they have to send it through some kind of program that sniffs out any mention of anything they don't like, like the mention of checks or money orders, or "just call me and we'll work it out", kinda stuff. Really threatening too. If you try to get around their "policies" your butt will be banned for life. Can you imagine? Banned from Ebay..... for mentioning that you might be willing to accept a form of payment as "risky" as a friggin MONEY ORDER! Now, the fees charged by Paypal maybe don't sound like much at first blush, a mere 1 or 2 or 4 percent of the value of the item sold and if you are selling small, inexpensive items, it's more a nuisance than a problem. But when you start adding it all up, the listing fee, the final value fee and then add on the Paypal fee, it begins to look more like what it is, a big price to pay to sell your stuff, especially if you sell high value items like, eh... custom saddles. I checked out the alternative to Ebay, that Etsy.com and maybe it wouldn't hurt to open up an account there but I doubt it get's much attention yet. Nothing like Ebay. Surely there must be other auctions out there. That's what Ebay needs to get their minds right again.... a little old fashioned competition, the American way. How about it, computer geeks?

CATIA eh? V4 or V5? I was a CATIA guy for many years. I thought V4 was bad when we first got it and then finally got used to it. Then V5 came along and I just threw up my hands and said, no way. I'm retiring! Got one question, though. All that nice design work and wood work on the jaws.....and then ya went and stuck that old used hinge on there. tisk tisk.... looks like something I'd do.

Yeah, great pics! Always enjoy seeing how other makers do things. Can't wait for the next installment....

No, no.... the real measure is, can she CLEAN fish? and furthermore, WILL she?

May I also chime in and say thanks. I really enjoy this forum. Don't know what I'd do without it now. Such a fantastic resource and knowledge base. Thanks for keeping it running.

I don't know why she would want to store a gun in a holster of any type in her purse, unless it was attached to the purse. Otherwise, she'll play hell trying to get it out in a hurry,.... take 2 hands and too much time. You don't carry a gun in your purse unless you really feel like you might need it. Think about it. And just get the blue gun. You'll pay for it with this order and then have it for the next one after all her friends see what a fine job you did on it.

If the flesh side is too rough, then you probably used fleshy leather. If you start out with good, firm leather, the flesh side will be about as smooth as it gets. Then, for appearance sake, after molding and before stitching, apply your finish to the inside. You can also temper the leather with a slicker tool to firm up that flesh side. It will help with fibers and will make the leather harder. Problem is, it will also tend to crack easier on the grain side,..... not so much a problem with holsters as such but something to be aware of on buckle folds.

Well Troy, if I ever get one of "those" clients, I know who to call for advice on the silver work! Thanks for sharing.

Nice! I love the flooring. Lots of space, very well arranged. Lots of wall space. Good lighting. Did you build your own benches? What did you use for the tops? They look very sturdy. I can see why you'd spend a lot of time there. Wow. Brooklyn! You must really pay a lot for the rent there. Location with a view! Can't beat that. I bet that was not easy to find at any price. I work out of my home and I know what you mean. I'm always out there in the shop and the phone can ring at any time of day or night. But, it has it's benefits too. I have a short walk to the frig and the bar.... anytime I feel like it. heheh Thanks for sharing.