bruce johnson

Ed, I may be really off-base here, but I thought they were designed so they could bent. At least among saddlemakers there are two fraternities. There are those who use heel shaves with resharpenable blades in the different number designations (shape of the curve) for shaping ground seats. Across the street are those of us who were taught to use the black skivers ("potato peelers") with replaceable razor blades and have a few - each bent to different curves to do the shape needed at hand. I just bent mine with a pair of pliers or shaped over the horn of my anvil. The only issue I have had with the potato peelers was one. I saw a Bruce Cheaney video, and he just knocked the skiver against the edge of the bench to pop out the old blade for replacement. It looked cool, and I did it for a couple years. Last year I did it, and the perfect set of circumstances came out. I popped it out, it ricocheted off the edge of a bench stamping stone, the underside of the bill of my cap, and ended up inside my glasses, right up next to my right eyeball. I have gone back to just pushing the blade out with a screwdriver again.

Elton, Carson Thomas in Wickenburg AZ does some pretty nice miniature saddles. Not sure on the tree source, but worth tracking him down to find out. We saw one of his mini Wades in a gallery in Jackson WY a few years ago. The basket stamps, monels, everything was scaled down really close. It looked like Wilbur's monkey could just climb on and ride it. Had a 20 some thousand price tag and sold a month or two later by the time I told someone else they needed to see it. Happy Canada Day, by the way!

Pella, I am attaching pics of an Association bronc tree I have sitting right now. If you set this saddle or the other bronc saddles I have worked on in the position they are mostly cinched, they will bridge a fair amount. The bars are generally a bit thicker and clubbier on the edges than normal bars. These guys usually want the front end to sit up pretty high. That is why the gullets are higher.

Pella, The original "Association" tree came about for the reasons Troy said. In the early 1900s there was no regulations on saddles in the bronc riding contests. Hamley's came out with the Form-Fitter swells in about 1914. Combine a high cantle and wide swells with a short seat and rider could more or less lock his legs and ride till he bled out his ears. Several rodeo committees got together in 1918-1919 and decided on a saddle tree with set specifications. Hamleys made the first ones, and most referred to them as "Committee" or "Association" trees. They basically were a beefed up version of the "Ellensburg" tree pattern. Early on the rodeos provided the saddles, and a guy had to ride their saddles. These saddles went from one rodeo to another. Eventually guys started ordering them, and using their own. They all came with horns. Most guys left the horns early on, they might have cowboyed in them all week. Eventually some bent them forward to be out of the way, and some sawed them off. Still, there is nothing in the rule book that bronc saddles can't have a horn. Early on pretty much Hamleys and Denver Dry Goods made about all of them. Everybody packs their own saddle now. There are probably 7 or 8 bronc saddle makers that acount for 95% of the business. It is a specialty. I kind of hope Robin Severe chimes in, they've made more than a few. The current specs are a 14" swell width, 1" of undercut like Troy said. The gullet width is 5-3/4 wide, and the cantles no more than 5" high and 14" wide. They give a 1/2" allowance for leather covering when measuring. They say the rigging is supposed to be 3/4, and the front edge of the ring below the center of the swells. The bars on the bronc trees are not the same as any regular bars.

Yes, I did some tripper style breast collars like this a few years ago. Once you get the one direction curve figured out, it is not that hard to do the transition from one curve to the other. Keep the spacing in the center the same and compress and expand above and below that. They look a little funky though. I don't like the look. I usually either do a regular pattern on them. On the regular roping BCs the curves look pretty OK, but they are only curving in one direction with my patterns.

Oh Yeah, that's cool. I am seeing a market for those, Uhuh!!

OK, I have never done any Celtic before. Stepping out of the box here and showing my version of cowboy Celtic. I kind of free handed the pattern in, and there are a couple rough spots. I thought about backgrounding with a tiny basket, but on a scrap that looked too busy to me and took away from the design. I can see this as the center on a rope can, hide inlay, and a Celtic design outer ring. This is a lot fun, I am already thinking of some design changes. Thanks Clay for coming up with the design and idea.

Elton, "Swamp Donkey"??? Ya mean like this one? The embarassing thing is that he does kind of look the part, doesn't he?

Elton, I'll kick on Weavers too for a 1-3/4" WL 999. My standard is 1-3/4", which is I guess why I bought a pile of the 3620 dee and rings. Under the chin 1-1/2" ought to work. They are made from pretty heavy duty stock too. Agreed on the bolt and ring undet the chin too. They work OK, but just look they were an afterthought. Do you ever get any requests to reverse the halter, put the buckle on the off side?

Elton, Good looking headgear. Thanks for the look at the hardware too. I have been using the SS #999, but looks like the WL 999 might be a little handier to buckle with the loop for the strap holding it on. I have been using the #3620 dee and ring. The Weaver catalog lists the 1-1/2" in #3610 as a new size, so they might not have been around when I placed my "enough for a lifetime" order. It's getting less though, I think I have 6 of them left. On another note, I got an email last night from a guy. Any sources of latch buckles for flanks?

Joshua, I am biased here, but I think it looks great. The brown sets off the "frame", the black figure is silhouetted, and the moon is just right with the highlighted edge. I would not dye the moon black. It looks just right to my eye like this, and a black moon would overdo it. Got a maker's stamp too huh? Cool.

Joshua, Here are the pics of one I just finished up earlier. I fully line them all. The lining is "lining pigskin" from TLF in the biscuit/straw/golden color. I like it. It is thin and a bit of stretch to it. It doesn't wrinkle too much if glued down well. You can see where a little glue solvent has soaked through at the spine area. That will be gone tomorrow. The pockets are 3/4 oz commercial oak from Siegels. It is a little stiffer vegtan leather. It is lightly oiled and allowed to even out. I seal it with LeatherSheen. I apply the sheen front and back with a sponge. While still wet I go over it hard with my slicker on both sides. It compresses and glazes the flesh side and slicks up the grain side well too. I apply another coat and let it dry. The sheen keeps the oil from bleeding off on paper. I do this for all my pockets - checkbooks, planners, portfolios, etc. I have one out 15 years with no bleeding. I have a little teeny edger I use on the open edge inside that isn't sewn. Makes a nicer feel than the square edge. Glue them, sew them, and then trim the excess and edge all around. Some Bible covers are a little sticky in the slip covers at first. I shake a little baby powder in the pockets, do the Hokey-Pokey, and dump it out. They'll slide then.

Joshua, Thanks for the pattern, I'll be using it. Thinking about this a little more. I like simple. There are some people here that use a lot of color that could really set this piece off. I like the silhouette effect. I would dye the frame brown. I would do the bushes, man, and horse black. I would do a brown border around the moon. Then I would oil the whole piece, lightly. You can always add more oil if you want later. If I thought the moon looked funny, I would then dye it black. You could probably add these colors to the patterns you have on the computer and see how they look.

Joshua, Looks like you got that undercut beveler. It gives a nice effect for these and you used it well. Makes the figures stand out from the background. Your beveling is getting smoother every piece. Still a chop mark here and there, but improvement on each thing you have done. Next tool probably to get is a matting tool to fade or bridge the beveling into the background smoother. I would also use a modeling spoon to round over that ridge on the edge of the moon. In fact, if I was doing this piece, I might not undercut the moon. Undercut the figure in the front, and then a routine bevel or even soft matting around the moon. That will give the look of dimension maybe a little more. I normally use the tip of modeling tool to make the woodgrain look rather than a blade. It makes them rounded and look a little softer. Also I wouldn't make the woodgrain quite so "wavy". How to finish it? Good question. Size tells me how I might consider it. Normally I dye the figures for silhouettes black. On a big pattern, this is a lot of black. Might be overpowering?? On a smaller size version on a Bible cover, I'd blacken it. On a bigger size, maybe fade some brown dye in the beveling borders around the figures to kind of shadow it and make it stand out some. Now the big question for me. I think you did a great job. As I recall this is the first silhouette piece you have posted. I really like this pattern and I can see a few different applications for it - Bible covers, checkbook, photoalbum, and wall clock. Where'd you get the pattern and would you share it?

You might try Tim O'Hara at Timco. I don't have his contact info with me right now, but if he doesn't have them, he might steer you to them. I have seen them on dog collars too, so somebody is making them. I would bet that they set easier with a post rather than the prongs for their small size.

It kind of depends on what look you are wanting. Hansens have some patterns up to 3". They have them in overlay, plated (good plating and base metal -don't confuse all plating with Montana), and antique iron/silver. Their website is www.hansensilver.com. They are wholesale only. Another source might be Tim O'Hara at Timco. His phone number is (866) 821-1041. Not sure if he has his site up yet or not.

To stay at HideCrafters, I have some of the Pro stamps. I have had good luck with the SS ones. I also have some of the tools on the comparable price to Craftools from HideCrafters. They are marked "Craft Japan" and the ones I have are pretty darn good. I wouldn't overlook those, and then if you find one you like to use, don't trade up until you find a tool that makes a better impression. I swapped off a Hamley swirl a few years ago that cost about 15 times more than the Craft Japan that makes a better impression.

Randy, Here is the way I finish most all of the personal goods. After I am done stamping, I dye whatever needs it like the cross, figures or lettering (black Sharpie markers). After it has dried for a few hours, I oil. I use NF oil with med brn ProDye added for now. I give it a day or so for the oil to even. Then I do a coat of LeatherSheen, and when almost dry, I do another. This is the resist for the HiLiter. I have used quite a bit of SuperSheen too and truth be known, it may all be the same. When the second coat is dry, I apply the diluted HiLiter. I found that Briar Brown about 1:3 to water gives me what I am looking for. I apply it with a sponge, and let it sit and settle into the low areas. A firm sponge will remove excess from the high spots before it dries. When it is dry, usually a few hours or overnight, I wipe over everything with one more coat of LeatherSheen to seal it. For those who liked Drake's, this is a pretty similar look, just more steps. A few things I am learning as I go with this. I need to be a bit more sparing around the letters for stuff I am photographing. The dye job was pretty good on the lettering, but the HiLiter makes it look rough around the edges in the pics. In real life, the black dye contrasts with the HiLiter and looks a lot cleaner. In the pictures it all runs together. However in most cases, I can see more stuff wrong in a picture of my stuff than I do in real life. Anybody else notice this? Maybe we are so close to the action we aren't stepping back often enough to take it all in. These new HiLiter colors are pretty handy. The old HiLiter was too black, and the Leatherglow was too light. I find the diluted Briar Brown gives me a nice medium brown highlighting effect in the cuts and deeper impressions. They are sure enough easy to use.

Ray, I would expect that you could get the Boss shipped to England less expensively than a motorized machine, and that may be a factor. I had one of the cast iron Boss machines and liked it. For the weight leather you are talking, should do the job. Mine sewed a nice stitch, and could sew leather corners onto 1" felt pads all day without skipping Pluses - somewhat portable, can't be knocked out of time, control for every stitch, can't go too fast and run off the end, they will rebuild them for a song, easy to work on, you can train your kid to run it in about 3 minutes, good resale value. Minuses - you power it with one hand and only have one hand to hold and guide the piece, throat depth is small, tiring and boring for long runs, good for 138 and up thread

Yep, they are appropriate, and very nice. I like the patterns a lot. Ever done a horsehair one?

Ed, I like the halogens that Artisan sell. I have them on both my machines. I got a couple of the new magnetic mounts from Artisan at the show. They mount right around the needle shaft, and shine straight down. I think they have 7 cells and really light up the area. The combination of the two lights make my dark corner machine look like noontime. You might want to check them out.

Must be the time for Bible covers. I just finished up this one. In the last few weeks I have had some requests that were a bit out of the norm for me. I did some coonhound silhouette stuff, and got this request for a Bible cover from these folks that raise show lambs. We took the logo off their trailer and I added the cross in behind it. I am quite happy the way the logo came out. I really like the new TLF Hiliters. The finish on this one came out very well. I oiled it and let it for a day. I did two coats of Leathersheen. I then 'washed it with Briar brown HiLiter about 1:3 with water. After it dried, I did a light coat of Leathersheen again. I have done this one the last several things, and am liking it a lot. I like the stitching, nice tight smaller stitches. Seeing everyone else's "fine" work has me shortening the length and using smaller thread. Now the ol' three things I see wrong with it. The letter spacing on the last name could be better. The basket stamping below the last name has a "hump". A border stamp inside the bead line might have helped it some (or busied things up, I am still not sure on that in my mind).

I have one of the swivel tip cutters on the way. I'll see how it works. When I visited Russ in South Dakota last month, his dad said he has been using one for quite a while. I can do bigger curves with the brace alright with the big barrel knives. Apparently these swivel tip cutters are designed and still sold as deburring tools.

3arrows, I'll agree with Brew that better rawhide will last longer. We live in pretty similar climates out here and probably see some of the same problems. It also shows my thoughts on how rawhide has a reputation for durability that may not be deserved for this application. Rawhide edge bindings and braided horns are supposed to protect what is underneath (the leather). They are the first thing to go, and then the leather lasts much longer than the covering that was protecting it. These barrel racing saddles have had nothing more than woman's hand wear them out. As soon as the varnish wears, that thin rawhide will start degrading. In the time it takes to temper the rawhide, cut it, braid it, fuss with it as it dries, and tack the ends down, I have two leather covers done. I price the rawhide recovers twice as much as the leather replacements. Most of these have aluminum horns and no filler layer, so the horncover can loosen and twist. I drill 3 holes in the horn cap, tap it and run three countersunk head machine screws through the filler layer and cap, then cut the bottoms of the screws off flush. I go back and put on my bottom and top pieces and sew through all 3 layers to cinch them down.

D Bar, Great job on the logo, and you are right. FCC is a good group. I hope these covers don't last them a lifetime. I hope they wear them out.