Mike Craw

The most recent issue of Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal has an article by Gene Weishuhn on making a "B" Western holster. The pull-out section of the magizine has a pattern for both the belt and holster. Hope this helps. Mike

Hey Scott! I cast my vote with Greg. I don't see how you could do any better than Jeremiah Watt's video. I'ts not the least expensive out there, but it covers all the basic and advanced techniques for the beginning saddle maker better than any I've seen. Good luck with your saddle. Mike

Thank you, Johanna! I thought I was the only one... Mike

David, That's a sweet looking job, and you're right - much better than the black. Did you make the custom saddle bag(s) too? Mike

Hey Jessica! First, welcome to Leatherworker.net. I haven't seen a question asked yet that somebody on here can't answer. The only problem you may have is getting multiple (different) answers, since some of us are a little set in our ways... If you can find a Tandy near you, or can shop online, any book by Al Stohlman will have line drawings and "photo-carve" pictures of how things should look. I'd venture a guess that if anybody took a poll, over 90% of us on this site started with, or at some time referrred to, Stolhman's books. If you stamp for a while and decide this is for you, you might want to go on a site called ranch2arena and check out a carving video by Jeremiah Watt. He's a fantastic saddle maker and has put out as good, complete, and understandable a teaching video on leather carving, layout and design as I have ever seen. It ain't cheap, but it's worth the money in my opinion. Have fun, and don't be hesitant to ask questions. Mike

Hey Art! Carlos and I both signed up for Pete's class and had planned to take our wives, but Carlos just found out that Tonya is being sent on a trip for work that week and won't be back in time. My wife is still fired up to go help out the economy of Asheville! How many others of you are going? Mike

Nahh, if I wanted to be ignored, I would just give my daughters some advice... Mike

I looks that way to me too, Dan. I think, judging by the photo, that twofour878 could take a round hunk of saddle leather, cut and skive a tounge to fit into the wrap under the horn, and Barge it onto the bottom of the horn. The stitch holes in the top piece look like they might be OK, so once the old thread is cleaned out, you can just sew through those holes again. Oh, and a jerk needle is one the has a notch ground in down by the tip. It kind of looks like a hook. You plunge it down through the leather, hook the bottom thread through the notch and "jerk" the thread up through the hole. Thread the top thread through the loop you have jerked up through the hole and pull both threads so that the loops are down inside thehole in the leather, forming a stitch. Hope that helps. Mike

Maybe the yaks read them first?? Mike

Geez! It's an adventure in Wonderland for me to sign-on and try just to READ my email!! I can't imagine finding all the ones that AREN'T THERE!!! Thakn you all! Mike

Le'ssee, first thing first. Yes, they both moved out on their own, without threats. All we had to do was buy each of them a wedding and reception and then they come back and eat once a month rather than every night! Johanna, just make sure you don't make things too good for them to leave As to what kind of browser...look who you're asking! I've got that "E" with a circle around it like a halo internet explorer. Is that what you mean? Mike

OK, I don't know a server from a cashe from a rock. Unfortunately, my kids have gotten married and moved out (OK, maybe there's an up-side) but there's nobody here to explain it to me. I just deleted LW.net from my favorites, Googled it, got on the Forum, and then re-loaded it in my Favorites. When I logged back in, the Forbidden didn't come up, so I guess the problem's fixed. Thanks for your patience in trying to explain it to me!! Mike

Good Morning, For the past several weeks, whenever I sign in, I get a big headding "Forbidden" followed with some stuff about a "404Error". I have this page on my "Favorites" list, so that when I click on it, the Forum page comes up rather than the Main Page. The page comes up fine, and I click on Log-In and that comes up fine. When I log-in, I sometimes get a real quick "You are Logged In" and then the "Forbidden" or sometimes it just goes to the "Forbidden." When I go back over to favorites and click on my LW.net, this forum comes up with me signed in. That's OK when I'm signing in on my own computer, but I can't sign in anywhere else... Does anyone else have this problem? Mike

Hey Blake! Thanks so much for the reply, and for the information. I was fairly sure I had seen the "A" mark before, but I didn't know what company used it. I appreciate knowing about it, and I'm sure our customer will too. Thanks again. Mike

Hey Guys! A gentleman brought in an inskirt rigged saddle today for rigging repair, new wool, and general restoration. He had told Carlos over the phone that it was a "Hamley" saddle, so we were both really looking forward to seeing it. When it arrived, it had this maker's mark on the latigo carrier. Is anyone familliar with this maker? If so, could you share some information about this company we could tell the owner about? Thanks! Mike P.S. This photo looked a hell of a lot better in the viewfinder of my camera in a dimly lit shop than it does on my (and probably your) computer!! Sorry...

Hey davnasca! In my opinion, Jeremiah Watt makes tools that are as good as or better than most on the market. He started making tools because he was dissatisfied with what he could find commercially so he got some of the old-time stuff and studied what made it great. I'd say that if you're sure this is something you are going to do for however many years you have left, his tools will probably last at least that long. They are on par with King, Hackbarth, and beard. That said, they're not priced for hobby stampers. Mike

I figured I'd better jump in and wish everybody a Merry Christmas, before this thread got pinned in the "Adult" section... Mike

Dually, You keep that up, and you'll be in the knife business! Mike

Hey Ed, I agree with Jordan. I think 90 is excellent! Mike

Ed, Allowing for distortion on the computer screen, yours looks pretty close to the original. I'm sorry I'm not more computer literate, or I'd have drawn something in one of those sexy design programs...except I don't have any of those programs. Mike

OK, I'm going to try to explain what I mean one more time. I re-read my last two, and it's no wonder it's not working...I didn't even understand it. I looks to me that the corner was made by drawing the arc with a radius slightly larger than the center point is from the edges. In other words, lets just say they chose a 4" radius, but the center point was an equal 3 1/2" from each edge. The arc would shoot by the straight edges rather than blend in with the straight edges as it would if the center point was 4" from each edge. So far? Now those two non-blending intersections were blended with an arc from a 2" circle, or something like that. Well, that's my guess. Mike

No, I just mean that the curve of the arc gets tighter as it approaches the straight side, not that different radii were drawn from the same point. It's like they drew that curve the way Carlos and I would have in the shop, by tracing the bottom of a large can in the corner and then a smaller can near the intersection with the straight edge, and filling in between them with a French Curve template. Does that make any more sense? Mike

Hey Ed! It may just be an optical illusion on my screen, but it appears that there is a changing radius from the center of the arc getting tighter as it reaches the edge. By that I mean, if you started in the center of the arc and went either to the side edge or the bottom edge, it starts out at about a 4" radius and tightens to about a 2" radius. Does that make any sense? Mike

Hilly, That's why some of us are in to leatherwork so strong... Mike

I got tired of playing "Mother-May-I" with this fine computer of mine and called David at Artisan. He's sending me a copy of the video at the end of the week. Mike