Mike Craw

Hey David! As usual, simply beautiful work. When you re-case the leather, do you wet the whole thing, stamping and all, or only the area that's left to be stamped? Thanks, Mike

Hey Bronson! The short answer is "C" All of the above... I've had decent luck both ways. A lot depends on the size of the firearm you're building the holster for, the thickness and temper of the leather you're using, all kinds of variables. If you decide to bend or fold first, I'd suggest you take some off-cuts of the leather you're using, dampen two strips, bend the first around your gun/form and then bend the second around and on top of that one. Make marks across the edges of both strips on either side of the gun/form and then, when you straighten them both out, the additional length of the one on top will give you a pretty accurate sense of the additional lenght of the reinforcing strip you will need. Now, did THAT make any sense??? I hope it helps. Mike

Hey KC, The seat jockeys sure do look like SD Myers to me too. If you do restore it and take it down, Myers often had a paper lable on the bars with the particulars on the saddle. Carlos and I restored one and wrote to Dick Sherer for help with the ID. He's the one who suggested we look for a lable, and sure enough, there it was. Take lots of photos every step of the way, not just for us to see, but to document what you do and help put it back together. Good luck, and keep us posted! Mike

Hey teamroperdad! At the risk of sounding like a former President, it really depends on what you mean by "an arm and a leg." Carlos and I have all the VHS and DVD's from Dusty Johnson and Bill Gomer through Dale Harwood's in the shop and we will throw one into the player to watch while we're doing a restoration on a saddle, or hand sewing a skirt. For my money, the best DVD's on saddle making for the beginner are the Jeremiah Watt set from ranch2arena. They are not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but they are the most detailed explanation of all the steps required that I've seen. Dale Harwood's are excellent, but some of the steps are not mentioned. I'd guess he is assuming some experience on the part of the viewer. If you've built a couple of saddles, you recognize the technique that he has performed, but you also know that you wouldn't have understood it without explanation if you were completely inexperienced. Watt not only discusses, but takes great pains to show on camera, all of the steps regardless of how basic. As for cost, when you take into account the money you will (should) spend on high quality materials and parts, I see no reason to try to go cheap on your instruction. Those DVS's are a fraction of what you'd spend going to a live-in school for 3 - 5 weeks. As my Daddy used to say, "If it was easy, anybody could do it!" Hope this helps. Mike

Hey Andy! I wondered where you have been, and now I know...in the shop! That's a beautiful job! Mike

OK, now that's funny, I don't care who you are... Mike

Hey PJ243! I agree with everybody who has responded to date, but I didn't see anybody respond to one question you asked. Yes, you certainly could assemble the project and take it to a saddle shop or shoe repair place and pay them to do it. Most shops are used to requests from folks to sew projects that are partially completed, although I'd guess it's somewhat more rare now than years ago. Yes, you can just forget the whole thing and buy something from a big-name manufacturer, but you'll miss out on what may be the single greatest reason any of us is in the position we now find ourselves - Makers! We can honestly say, "Thanks, I'm glad you like it, I MADE it myself!" Caution: Once you make it yourself, you'll never look at a factory made leather item the same way again. Your wife will get sick of hearing, "Geez, they didn't skive the edges before they sewed it! I could make a better (fill in the blank) than that in my sleep and I damn sure wouldn't have put my name on that!" If you are in no rush, take the time to sew it yourself. I second the recommendation to get Al Stohlman;s book on hand sewing. Pay particular attention to the description of keeping the awl in your hand while you saddle stitch. It feels uncomfortable at first, but if you wind up hand making a saddle or similar project, it will save you incredible amounts of time over pick up the awl, stab the hole, put down the awl, sew the stitch, pick up the awl... OK, I'm done preaching. Thanks for letting me vent. Mike

Hey 41hammer! I'm not a bootmaker, but I have seen posts on this and other forums about folk's good experiences at Carl Chappell's school. I wanted to make sure he was still offering classes, so I ran him on the net. Carl offers a two week class, but there were also quite a few more bootmaking schools than I realized. Green County Tech offers a major in boot and saddle making, but that might take a little longer than you had planned to spend at a course. I'm sure you'll hear from some bootmakers who can give you some personal insight. Good luck. I wish I had started a little earlier in my life, because I have always thought bootmaking was fascinating. I guess we never live long enough to satisfy our curiosity about things. Mike

Hey Max! Yes, I would make a keeper to go with the belt. I usually make the belt with two small snaps or two Chicago screws and put the keeper between the fasteners to keep it from sliding around. Mike

Johanna, Thanks for the photos from the Competition Room. Really outstanding stuff! I just wish whoever hands out those little ID cards would make the print BIGGER!! I'd love to be able to read who made some of that stuff. Mike

How about cats and leatherwork? Carlos has a barn out back with six horses, his own four and two boarders. There are also a (large) number of feral cats. His wife Tonya found this little guy in the hay room last winter and managed to get him into one of their dog cages and brought him into the shop where he wouldn't freeze. Carlos and I started calling him Tigger, not only because he had orange stripes, but because he pinged around like the character in Winnie the Pooh. Every morning I'd reach in there and hold him for a minute or two...until he calmed down...a little. Now he thinks he's supposed to be sitting in the crook of my left arm...no matter what I'm trying to do. I told him the Feral Cat Socitey is going to make him turn in his membership card for conduct unbecoming! This is last spring when he was still a kitten, helping Carlos draw out saddle parts. When I'm working with the round knife I have to listen for him running through the shop. He'll launch full tilt onto the work table, and I have about half a second to turn that blade down flat to the table before he arrives! If I'm too slow one day, I'll be advertising spare cat parts!

Oh, so I'm not the only one who's mind works like that? Mike

First of all, thanks for the help Crystal and Luke! Second, Admin, I don't think I'd be too upset about what she wanted to do once she came in, as long as she kept coming in!!! Mike

OK, now that's funny , I don't care who you are! Mike

I can't find "My Assistant." The "Help" section says to click on it in the "board header" but I sure don't see it. Any help would be appreciated. Mike

I knew him by name and reputation only. I'm sorry to hear of his passing, and more sorry to hear that it happened before his important work of compiling the history was finished. Does anyone have any photographic examples of his work that they could post? Thanks, Mike

Guys, Think of the marketing tie-ins... Sponsered by KFC?

My thanks to all three of you! I have a friend who wants a holster and belt out of hourshide, and I had no idea where to look for a supply. Mike

Tom and Noah, I just got done searching this topic and I'd like to know where you get you horsehide? Thanks! Mike

Hey Ray! I'm glad to hear that your carver is also a member. I just wanted to make sure that his talent was available if he wants to jump in to some of the tooling discussions. Have a good weekend. Mike

Hey Lobo! That's a sweet looking original carved holster. I've always liked the Threepersons style, especially in the "oldtime" carving pattern. Is the person who does your carving a member of LW.net? If not, maybe you could suggest that he join. He really does good work. Nine grandchildren? Congratulations!! We can't get "Thelma" or "Louise" interested in coming up with a first one!! Waiting for careers, houses, etc. We told them if we had waited until we could "afford" them...they wouldn't be here!! Anyway, keep posting the holsters. I really like the job you're doing. Mike

Thanks Tashabear! Woohoo, $30 minimum? Carlos and I will probably be ordering a lot more often from OTB now! The problem has been that their prices on stuff like clasps and hardware are so low that we had to order far more than we needed to make $100. $30 is a lot easier to get to. Maybe the down economy has brought their minimum down. Mike

Hey Micah! I can't answer your question, but I can suggest that you look up Ohio Travel Bag on the net and go through their online catalog. If that buckle is currently available, I'd bet they have it. The only problem is that yoiu must have a tax number and a $100 minimum order. There are several folks on this site that order regularly from OTB, and may be willing to include your buckle in their order. Hope this helps. Mike

Thanks Marlon! I've never used a backer before. When I started back in 1980, you just wet down a piece of leather and started pounding. In the saddle shop, the leather we use is heavy enough that stretch is not an issue. I'm currently trying to design and build a purse for my sister-in-law in the form of a saddle bag. I got a side of 8-9 oz. Herman Oak from Springfield leather, and I'm thinking that a slight distortion might be an issue as heavily as I'm planning to tool it, so I'll give the illustration board a try. Thanks to you (and to Peter) for the information. Mike

Thanks Russ! Is the illustration board good for anything after that, or is this a "one-shot" deal? Mike