bruce johnson

JW, I get my strainers from Bill Bean. He sells them direct or Vandy and Luke have them at Sheridan Leather. I take mine over a wire wheel to kind of clean up the burr on the edges. I have bought my bucking rolls in the past from Tips in Winnemucca. At least around here, they have a decent reputation for holding up, and are stuffed pretty well. They don't give resellers prices, but are good enough I figured I could just buy them and hang them on less expensively than the time it would have taken me to work out patterns and techniques on making them. Some of the reseller bucking rolls are pretty iffy - loose packing, wavy welts, and things like that. After this little rush here, I am going to take a couple weeks and work up some new stamp patterns, some new sewing machine feet, and some new products. Bucking rolls are on that list.

I guess I am missing the point of the whole doughnut thing here. In my mind that filler has to be nailed down (or machine screwed through an aluminum bare horn) to keep everything from twisting too. Most of the leather horn repairs I see are from either not using a filler or thinking glue will hold it. These are on mostly the cutters and barrel racers. On the ropers they will twist even with a filler if you yank one hard enough. For a cleaner look I usually soak my fillers, and then when the moisture is right, use a hand sledge or shaping hammer on my anvil to really compress them. I think the boot guys do this for heels and call it hammerjacking. I started doing this about a year and a half ago or so. It firms and compresses the leather and I don't have such a clunky edge. For the barrel and cutters I will sand those edges even a little thinner to make a nice pretty edge. By sanding the edges or thinning the edges of my fillers, I can help to maintain a slight dome on my caps too.

Bruce, Happy birthday!!!! - the other Bruce

I pretty much do my cans like Richard. I have only used Barges on them - two thin coats on the leather. I weight my covers for 12 hours after I have set them on. I use the Smith Brothers cans. They are a little hard to get right now, but I have scored enough here and there to get me past Christmas orders right now. I have done a few goat string cans and the cosmetic cases with the DallyUp flexible plastic deals. They have held up for at least a couple years so far with nothing but glue. I haven't tried the thinner rope cans yet.

They are better than the last ones you asked about. They are a step up in consistancy from the Bowden and H&Fs I started out on.

Ricky, Post a picture of what you have now. Randy, That is the same kind of bobbin winder I got when I got a Boss back in the day. It went with the Boss when I sold it. After that I took the shaft out of a bobbin winder that rubs up against the belt on a motor machine. I chuck that into the drill and use it like the one that came on the Boss. It goes fast, and I get more even and consistant bobbins than I got with the mounted winders.

Happy Birthday Holly, Hope you get to do all want to today.

There is or used to be a map thread in one of the subforums where we could put our location, picture, and maybe contact info. I am heading out right now, but someone else may find it and point to it before I can.

According to the Rojas books, they didn't stay in place all that well back then either. I would kind of doubt Ernie rides one.

I had one roping tree that was a rocking horse, others that were tolerable. I have also retreed some barrel saddles that the originals had come from them. The duplicates were all pretty decent trees for what they were, and no problems. They wouldn't be my first choice today. With the companies using them wanting to compete on price and needing quantity, they have to. I haven't dealt with them since they moved the outfit to Del Rio.

Thanks Kathy, One of the few sporting events I follow pretty closely. We are not going this year, and can tivo and not worry about catching a cab or the shuttle. However, it also means no dinner at the Prime Rib Loft at the Orleans, steak at Binion's, and Wylie and the Wild West are playing a dance every night this year. With all the talent on the forum here, I am sure some have contestant or another that is packing someone's makings. Let us know who and what. Some pretty cool headstalls on the calf horses.... This is the first year in several I don't have a calf roper in that is packing one of my rope cans. One of the Miss Rodeo America contestants had me make a scrap book cover for her at the last minute, but I see we didn't hit the top four. Good to see Bryce Miller get a big check to start it off. I haven't done anything for him, but he and his traveling partners spent an afternoon shooting hoops a few years ago. I patched up one of their bronc saddles to get them through October and trying to make the finals that year. I think we still have the basketball they all signed for my son. The chaps are really neat, and they had a contest for best queen's chaps. I hope this link works, these are cool! Queen's chaps edit - yep it works, but you need to scroll down, it is worth it to see them. On a down note, Wrangler changed up their ads this year. One of the belts I made for a wholesale deal had been front and center in their TV ads for a few years. I do like the new ads - "long live cowboys"....

I have never done it with lace, but it looks like a backhand stitch. go forward two holes, back one on the back side, go forward 2 holes, back one, .... At least with thread, it is done with one thread and a single needle.

I slick mine too. I really like the feel it gives to the untooled areas. It also gives me a consistant feel in tooling the whole piece. Holly, I find it makes dyeing and oiling more consistant than not slicking. It likewise makes the whole surface act the same. Not having one area more porous than another makes it easier for me. It also makes edging more consistant. I used a slicker I made from a piece of LDPE cutting board for a few years. It still has the punch tube marks all over it. Cut a slab with a jig saw and rounded over the edges with a router. That plastic cuts absolutely smooth with the router in one pass. If I ding it on a nail, like forming a swell cover, a quick pass with the router and I have a fresh edge. Doesn't look the greatest, but works. This fall during an upgrade orders, I got one of Barry's. Looks a lot better and works well. There are some plans for making them, but by the time a guy buys the materials and spends the time working it, usually money ahead to let a tool maker make the tools. Bree, Yes you can drag something and make a mark. Something to just watch for.

Harvey, I mostly get mad when I am bleeding. String bleeder sticking in my foot, draw gauge hanging off my knuckle, or the end of my finger gone from flicking that little skiving scrap that was hung up on the edge of the splitter blade. Otherwise, I enjoy the shop time. Once in a while, I'll leave out a letter or realize that something isn't centered. I just cut the piece up into smithereens in the name of "knife practice". By the time I have shredded to offending piece of leather with probably more force than necessary, stropped my knife again, and get ready to cut the new one, I'm over it. That is the luxury of leatherwork. I am not allowed to shred things in my day job.

Siegels - the greasy waxy stuff.

Bob, You have a very distinct style, but change it up on every new piece you are showing us. I am particularly drawn to the center element and the other florals coming off from it. Add in how these interact with the vine border, the vine interacts with the inner bead line, and it is over the top cool. I will defer on showing this piece to Rundi until after the current order board is minimized. I think a nonpaying order for a new purse is coming on. You guys just keep raising the bar. Thanks, amigo.

Do you make these trees or build on them? I am kind of like some others, confused about what you are asking and whose trees you are showing - and why. The pressure pads are nothing new. The biggest problem with the newer materials is that most of them are molded, and molds need to be made for every shape. Otherwise they would be whittled on and shaped by hand or machine - just like wood is right now. It wouldn't be any faster. The nail and screw holding properties of the synthetics still haven't been worked out. The issue with your statement about getting them to fit your horse brings up questions we have gone into detail on here in other threads. How do you measure, or how do you determine what you consider the proper bar shape? If you are building these trees, please enlighten us on how you shape or rehape them as your horse changes that much? If you are building saddles on them, how are they to build on and who is buying them? Do you build or work on the mountain man saddles? I haven't seen a recent picture of anyone making them. I'd like to see that. Your comment about cost and waiting time must be pointed at custom handmade saddle and tree makers - as of right now they are about the only ones who can give you much choice about what you seem to be talking about. What is the issue with paying for what you want? Or waiting for the probably single man shop to get you on the waiting list, ordering what you want, and building it? If you are looking for fast service and lower prices then economy of scale is what you are asking for - and those companies are working shorter hours and some are closing the doors. Do the math on what the materials costs are on a saddle, then look at the price tag on most factory or all internet sold models. The corners were cut somewhere labor, materials, or both. If you are building or rebuilding saddles you know what I mean. The handmakers charging a fair price are not the problem.

Harvey, I use a combination of tools. I cut the boards to semirandom widths with a swivel knife against a clear ruler first. I then stamp some random knot holes and splits out of the ends and edges with fine backgrounding tools or stops. I run a fine tickler down the seams of the boards pretty hard to deepen that cut line and give the feeling of a seam. When I used the knive to make the grain, it sort of blended into the board seams and was not a real distinct break from one board to the next. The smooth burnish makes that distinction. I make the grain with either a fine tickler or a stylus bent like the TLF ones used to come. Easier for me to do a pull rather than a push with the stylus. I curve the grain around the knot holes and splits. I make some lines long, and others shorter. I just put some long flowing wiggles in the grain lines. I try not to make two adjacent boards have the same flow to the grain. One might run up a little, the next one down or pretty straight. This breaks it up too. I make the nails on the ends with a small seeder or the stylus point.

I would have to agree with every said so far. I have/had stamps from most everyone mentioned already plus a couple. A few things in Tandy's defense, they are selling stamps for $4-6. I can't buy a decent bolt for much less than half that, let alone something with a design. Their stamp prices have not appreciably changed in several years. The quality is not what it used to be, but the price is. Maybe it is time to raise the price and the impression quality at the same time. I have never damaged a Tandy stamp in use, I can't say that for another supplier's line that cost more. That said I buy several Tandy stamps a year. Like more than one guy has told me, they sell a nice making of a stamp. They already have the knurling and the shank. A little metal saw, file, grinder, or Dremel work and I've got some pretty usuable stamps for a purpose not intended. Although I have also done some grinding on a couple of Barry King, Hackbarth, and Jeremiah Watt stamps too, the Tandy ones gave me that confidence. I also will buy a Tandy stamp to see if I can run a pattern decently or even like the pattern once it is on the leather in front of me. It is better to find out with a $5 stamp that you don't like a triweave, basket, or waffle stamp, than with a $50 or $100 one. You can always trade up.

Barry, Good job on the site, and all the tools I have from you.

Thanks for all the compliments and suggestions off and on list. This has been a work in progress, and I have to give credit to about everyone I have had the privelige to visit in their shop. In my old layout the bench with the splitters was more to the center. It kind of divided the room, but allowed me to get to both sides of that bench. The splitters were on both sides, the rein rounder sat diagonally on one corner and the crank skiver on the other. I lost the bench spave it butted up against, and most of the work got done on the tool bench or the table. With the new layout, it really opened the space up, but I lost that other side of the bench to work on. I really like having the two Chase splitters set up. The Krebs style are easily changed and can be reset easier than the Chase patterns. I normally will have the Chases set to a specific depth and not change them much now - one at 11 oz and one at 8 oz. The Krebs does everything else. One of the PM suggestions I got was to mount the bench tools on boards that slide into a slot. They can be stored out of the way, and slid into a slot for use. In my old shop which was smaller I dropped an Osborne 84 and broke it several years ago. I got a little nervous after that. I got used to the layout of not having a long bench space to work, but may move the rein rounder, crown splitter, and crank skiver to boards. I use them a little less. Once the electrical work is finished, I can finish off the ceiling. I am going to put in an overhead shelf along one wall. That will free up some storage space under the bench for the tools go under there. One of the better things I bought was the drafting files. All of my cutting patterns fit into them and lay flat. Makes it easier to find them and put them back right away. I got that idea from visiting Ken Nelson in Rapid City last spring. Mine came from an office furniture supplier. At some point I will have a stamping bench with an inlaid stamprock too. Keith, I have been trading up splitters for several years. I like the Chase patterns and I like the Krebs style. (Information - Keith has a 14" Chase style that is very nice. You don't see a 14" everyday.) On the fall trip I got an HF Osborne Chase style from Keith Pommer. After I got back from my fall trip, I ended up with a Randall Krebs style and a 12" Hanson Chase style too. I sold one of the Chase patterns and the Krebs. I have another Hanson Chase pattern and the HF not pictured. Yeah, I'm a splitter fan. Randy, This is the best hardware storage setup in any of my shops or layouts. The saddle hardware is all on the pegboard. On the racking by the patio door is the rest of it. I have 4 18 drawer parts cabinets that back up to each other, and parts drawer facing out on the end too. There are a couple on the shelf below it also. All of the silver is in two of them - sorted by size and pattern. The buckles, snaps, and rings take up two. The other ones have misc fasteners like rapid rivets, tacks, odd nails, etc. One has the oddball stuff - crystal bling, spots, that kind of stuff. It is a lot handier to have the hardware in drawers than taking up way more space on the wall.

Johanna, The shop is actually an attached garage, and the coffee pot is just inside the door. The boom box is in front of the saddlehardware rack,(currently playing a CD by Kandace Kalona, Elton Joorisity). I had a question about the pegboards. They are 2x4 feet boxes made from old fence boards, and the pegboard is screwed to the back. They just sit there, but can be moved if need be. They look pretty ranchy. Sharing a common wall with the house it stays pretty comfortable, but there is a wall air conditioner and two electric heaters. The shop will still be pretty neat. I have to confess I used to be a little/lot messy. I have improved. I got the walls closed in here (used to be open stud walls with remains of insulation - typical rental until we were able to buy the place) and it looked better, I kept it better. After I visited Keith Seidel's shop in September, I do even better than that. Keith has the cleanest, neatest shop I have ever been in.

It has been a little while since we had a shop tour. I finally got my shop layed out today and have got the bench tools pretty well set for now. I have a 12x26 area to work with. It is a more open floorplan than before, but has worked out well. Starting at the patio door - That bench has the belt sander, drill press set up with Norm Lynd's slicker, and the drill press I use to punch holes with. Underneath are 3 scrap storage tubs, and a shelf for strops and power tools like the jig saw and a handheld vaccum. The rack next to it holds some clicker dies above and sandpaper and stones underneath. Next pic - The small file cabinet next to that has patterns and catalogs. The bench has the granite stamp rock on it, and the pegboard next to that has the stamps, mauls, swivel knives and push beaders/ticklers. The stamps are sorted into in green pill vials hung on the pegboard. I have a small wood block in front of the rock to hold the tools in current use. Next pic - the pegboard backs up to a work bench. On the pegboard on the side the round knives, straight knives, string bleeder and other pointy sharp things all live together. With them all in one place it tends to keep you alert when close. Above that bench is a shelf that hold some of the finishes and edge treatments in use, along with tape and band-aids. On the back wall of the tool bench are the groovers, french edgers, edgers, and awls. The dividers and calipers are there too. Under that bench is the silver safe, shoeing anvil for rivets, and one scrap tub. to the right is a parts cabinet that holds the nails, screws, copper rivets, and Chicago screws. All the fasteners are in one place. The next pic shows the tool racks. The rein rounder is mounted on the bench in front. The first rack has the end punches, draw gauges, chisels, big dividers, scissors, and screw drivers. The rack next to that has the spikes, pliers, choke strap, hammers, and bouncer. There is a fire extinguisher next to that, and a splitter on that end of the bench. Under these two benches are some drafting files that hold cutting patterns. They are large drawers that I can keep everything flat, even skirt and briefcase patterns. The next rack holds the saddle hardware, and the last illustration from Will James' book "Smoky". The bench on the end has the other two splitters, the crank skiver, and the crown splitter. The stirrup stretcher is under there, and out of the way. The drawdown stand sits out in that corner of the benchs. The other corner of that end has the big sewing machine, and the flat bed sits next to it. Next to that is the bell knife skiver. The leather is stored on the racking next to that. Some things like strainers, horn wraps, and cinches hang there. The leather is stored in concrete form tubes, thanks for that idea to Greg Gomersall. The saddle trees sit on top for now, and stirrups are on the pegboard hung from the top. The cutting table is a heavy old metal desk. I put pipe sections over the legs to raise it up to a comfortable height. I cover it with scraps of particle board for protection. I have a 2x4 sheet of HDPE to cut on. I like it in the center where I can get all around it. The knives are withing arm's reach. Power tools and supplies are in the drawers, and a file cabinet sits under the middle for office supplies and pattterns. The rack at the end holds part cabinets with hardware and silver. The woolskins are rolled and kept above that. The sliding door goes out to a covered patio. I have a table out there for oiling and another for glueing. The buffers and grinders are out there too. Separating the metal from the leather has helped a lot. The lighting is overhead switched shop lights that are placed so I don't work in any shadows, I put UV film on the windows to keep it cooler and sunlight limited. The walls are all insulated. One of the nicest things are 4 outlets at each electrical box - no more power strips or extension cords.

Julia, I think it is due to the rigging ring height, not the 7/8 position. How far are these rings below the bottom of the bar edges? I am just not seeing a clean fix other than a do-over on the skirts. You wouldn't be the first to ever have to do that.

Jim, Happy Birthday, and thanks for all you have done.