bruce johnson

Johan, He has sent some to us at the cowboy museum as well. I am sure it is from the same guy. He has been around the country a bit and has done saddles in different regional styles. Some are quite good for what he has to work with. In one of his letters he said he was doing some miniature holsters in historic patterns too. Thanks for posting.

Luke, It sure sounds like a problem with the motor. My servos make no noise when on, and very little if any when sewing. The dial on mine go from almost a stitch every 5 seconds to ripping a strap out of your hand.

Elton, If he doesn't like the colors, she just needs to find another boyfriend who does. They are looking good from here.

Ed, that concho turner is a decent enough tool. It is not for Chicago screws in any great fashion. It is alright to do what it is designed for. It will loosen or tighten screw back conchos on saddles. I can't get it to really get a concho as tight as I like or to budge one that is set. Once you get one loose or are starting one in, it saves a lot of finger twisting. I still have to finish up or start one back out with a padded set of channel lock pliers. I wouldn't jump on it a must-have tool, but it is sort of handy at times.

Wolvenstein, There are really a lot of variations in upholstery leather. It can be full grain, top grain, corrected, or finished. By itself it seems like uphostery leather has no standards. It looks like you have a leather that has had a pigmented finish applied. Heres a couple links that might help explain some of the various definitions and processes - Hewit and Chesterfield. I came onto this when someone sent a few of us a warning about some upholstery hides they got to make chaps out of. They bought three hides and cut into all three of them before they found the finish peeled off. No returns.

Harvey, I guess I didn't know they still made it. I am sure that formulation has been changed somewhat. I liked it alright when it was Drakes. It was a little thicker than water. I used to kind of slather it on with a cellulose sponge, and kind of keep working it around until it looked alright then leave it alone. It would darken up the overall finish a little. Good for coloring and finishing linings that you might not want to oil and have the oil leach into papers.

Chuck, Someone already did it for us, but it is a book. I have it and I use it quite a bit. I am sure there are errors and definitely some omissions, but it is pretty thorough. Here's the link - Old Saddlemakers Book. If you look at the old ones, worth having for sure.

I have just started looking into this deal too. Some of these processing deals are nuts. My local banks has enough fees, charges, and set ups that even with the lower percentage I am about $400-600 behind the 8 ball to start every year. It really looks like the Propay deal from what I can read is a better deal than the virtual terminal from Paypal. A few good testimonials for it here. From the other side of the coin, has anyone had a bad experience??

Currently 50 with off and on rain today. Need the moisture badly. I am glad it is in the liquid form. As far as the cold, been there, done that, live here now. The old joke around here is that we tied a set of Carharts and 5 buckle overshoes to the front of the truck. When we got to someplace where a local asked what they were, we stayed.

Mike, Thanks for posting the pics. It looks good. I like mine in that style. After you get a couple more, you can join our "old splitter junkie" club.

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.