bruce johnson

Kevin, Yep, I think about them constantly, as in, will it ever rain here so we don't have to feed? Why did my son decide to buy a few bred cows to trade? Well, we did have some feed then and they were cheap. There are a couple of allied threads considering our bovine hide donors in the "Off Topic" section. One has to do with the best steaks, another is suggested bumpersticker slogans for meat producer groups to consider. I drive a card-carrying "Beef - It's What's For Dinner" stickered pickup. I come from a cattlefeedin', packer buyer, upper midwest family, and my son is an auctioneer/cattle buyer.

As some of you know, I am the board president of out local cowboy museum. We were recently contacted by an older maker who wanted to donate some of his work. We get these requests from time to time, but this one is different. This guy is from North Dakota, and his shop is 6x10 with bars. He is 76 years old, and he won't be changing shops. He is limited on tools obviously. This first saddle he sent us has a 2-3/4" seat and a 7/8" gullet. He based it on the California equitation seat western saddle. Obviously his tooling is a bit large, but he is working with what he has, and I am sure age is a factor too. He made everything but the hardware. He wove the cinch and made the stand. Everything pretty well lines up the way it should, and is to scale. We have quite a few saddles from different makers, and are glad to have work from this maker too. I attached some pictures.

Mike, As Wolvenstein pointed out, each state is different. I think the biggest reason to get a business name, license, the resale certificate is to be legitimate. Before I go any further, being legitimate has nothing to do with the quality of work produced. The business name and license shows customers that you are serious. It costs a nominal amount of money here, something like $50 for 2 years. Even for home businesses it is a plus. I also have a resale certificate. What an advantage. I can order from suppliers who deal with wholesale accounts only. I get preferred wholesale rates from suppliers that also sell retail, but would charge to join their club to get the same rates. Sometimes business rates that are lower than wholesale. The resale certificates are no cost here. Many craft and trade shows around here want a copy of the certificates to exhibit. I do have a separate bank account. It is a low activity business account. Lets me write about 15 checks a month and unlimited debit transactions for $5 a month. The separate account and bookkeeping are one of the factors the IRS looks at to establish hobby vs. "real business". Here at least you don't need to have a separate phone number. The down sides. I have to keep records of my business. I am anyway. I collect sales tax on retail sales, I don't charge it. Collecting sales tax in itself I have found adds legitimacy to your business. I get it every place I buy something for personal use. Makes you look a little more "real". It is also really nice to have these things in place when you get a big order away from someone else. This happened, and I had my ducks in the puddle, a week before he turned me in. My sales tax is due once a year. MY chance to live on the government's money for a change. You have to keep income tax records and in my case, file a Schedule C with my income taxes. The records needed for this I keep anyway. TurboTax does it in a flash. Income tax? Yep, I also look at business deductions. I can write off mileage to get supplies, even though I am going to Walmart next door anyway. I can write off travel to things I am going to anyway, they have a tradeshow and I am meeting a customer there when I was doing wholesale - market research at the very least. Trips to leather shows like Sheridan or Wickenburg - the whole expense comes off. Dues, magazines, books, DVDs, tools all are deductible. Some equipment purchases can be depreciated, others you can take a 179 directly against income. Lets me build up equipment and skills at a time when the other income helps support it. When the leather income becomes THE factor, I am not reducing what I eat to get something.

Ed, A poorman's thread wiper suggestion. I had one of the lube pots like yours. What I did was to cut a 1" cube of dry cellulose sponge, then cut a diagonal slit part way in. Lay it under the thread between the hole in the lid (where the thread exits the pot) and the loopy thread guide to aim it to the primary tensioner. lay the thread in the slit, and its tension with the thread in it, and up against that guide will hold it in place. That 1" cube will strip alot of lube before it gets saturated. Then squeeze it out back into the pot, and cut another cube. You can also wash the sponge cubes in soapy water and let them dry to recycle them. My new lube pot has the wipers, but I still use the sponge. Easier to change thread without tying on and pulling the new thread through.

Chris, I think Kate has a picture somewhere, but I sure can't find it. The photobooth thing is a box framework of pvc pipe and connectors. I glued some joints, and left others loose, so It is not a total pain to put together, but will store flat. I cover it with a clearish white shower curtain. My light sources are some clip on floodlights that I clamp onto the frame and use directly or diffused through the shower curtain (read - fire danger if left on and forgotten). With this light I don't need flash. For the prop, i take a box and toss a bath towel over it. I lean whatever project I have against that. I also either really stabilize my elbows on the table, or use a small tripod. Art used to make fun of my techniques and background choices on another list, so I am movin' on up. Besides a sewing machine guy, Art is pretty sharp on this camera stuff too. I am attaching a couple pics of two using the booth, and one of the "old way". I am now playing with different background colors, and light angles.

Chris, I had one of the smaller boxy digitals, 3 mb or close to that, and small lens with 3X zoom and the optical zoom on top of that. Pretty mediocre leather pics, but OK for general use. A couple years ago my wife got a Canon Powershot S2. Nice camera, has the macro, better optical zoom, and something like 5 mb (?). It is much handier that the small one, better lens, much better pics, especially closeups. They say you don't need all those mb for web-sized pics. I say that you do, because the smaller mb cameras also have crappier lenses and less features. You can always downsize the picture later for web posting. Last week my wife (the photo person of the family) hit some hot deal on a Canon 40D digital SLR, so I have now officially inherited the S2. I also made up the PVC frame/shower curtain photo booth that I think Kate showed. Worth the $21.47 I have in it.

Mike, I oil the goat and commercial oak with my ProDye/NF oil mix. A light coat (goat is pretty thin) rolled on with the paint roller. After the oil has settled in, I seal with LeatherSheen. I do the same on all my veg tan linings and pockets. It seals the oil in and prevents it from bleeding.

Mike, The veg tan split for the vests doesn't have the grain, at least it didn't use to. It is what is split off from making the thinner leathers. View it as a big skiving. Vegtan splits are not very durable, chrometan splits more so. I haven't used much of the mission grain for quite a while. I have used quite a lot of TLF glazed pig linings. They variably stock them in a copper color or lately a really nice golden color. Maybe we are talking about different things, but mine are about 1 to 1-1/2 oz and very flexible. They are in fact too flexible for some of the chap leather items I make that need some body. I also use the boot lining pig. For items that I need some medium body, I go to goat. I get vegtan goat from Siegel and oil it to color. They have some colors too. For stiffer linings on belts, albums, and portfolios, I go to Siegel's commercial oak. It is a stiffer vegtan, and oils up to color well too. Makes good checkbook pockets too. It is comparable to the lower grade leather that others sell but normally, other than a brand, pretty clean. Not a very good tooling leather, but priced right for a good looking liner.

Daniel, I had a Boss. I bought one of the early ones (cast iron) and have no regrets about that machine. In the same situation I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was also my first machine. I was doing a lot of what you are anticipating running under it, and found no downfalls with the machine other than you power it. At the time I bought it, the Boss was $1600 with no accessories. The equivalent in a powered machine was $5000. Mine would sew anything I could cram under the foot, and feed it. I sewed 10 oz tooled wear leathers on 1" felt saddle pads. I sewed wallet interiors. A ton of belts, checkbooks, and planners went through it. A bunch of saddle skirts (two layers of skirting plus the woolskin). I did some pad things for a guy's carriage out of 3 layers of heavy harness. You can sew holsters. I just mounted mine on a little benchtop tool stand from Harbor Freight, like you mount a little table saw or belt sander on. I wouldn't butcher a Ken Allen stitching horse to mount a Boss. You will still find use for the horse. I have three machines and still use my stitching horse. As far as accessories, they didn't make the center presser foot then that I knew of. I had a regular foot, right and left toe foot for sewing around spots and inlays, and a stirrup plate. The stirrup plate raises the work and shortens the turn radius of the cylinder arm. For sewing 90 degree corners like bags and shaving kits - very handy. I didn't have the edge guide, but that would have been nice for the unpaid help. My Boss required little attention other than oiling. Once I got the bottom tension where I liked it (first day), I really didn't have to mess with anything other than stitch length, and a tweak or two on the top tensions depending on thread size and material. I ran a little tighter tensions than some people do, but it worked well. I run a little tighter tensions on my powered machines too. I taught two wives and my son how to sew on it. Learning curve of about 5 minutes. I was doing a lot of wholesale work and award orders then. I could sit them down with a stack of belts or whatever, and not have to worry about them running off an edge while I was doing something else. Skip asked about the resale value. Looks like on ebay the ones from private sellers bring a fair to pretty good return. Some bring more than some of the sale prices the sellers probably paid for them. I don't know how many of the dealer machines sell. I sold mine outright on another list for about half what I paid for it, probably for less than I could have got on ebay. It had already paid for itself in about the first few months, so the rest was gravy. Tippmann seems to stand behind them. On the few parts that I broke, they were happy to overnight them on their nickle. They were parts that were beefed up as time went on, an arm lifter, and the block that the handle attaches to. The original capscrew size was too small and the handle could fatigue it and shear it off. They were rebuilding anybody's Boss (not just the original owner) for something like $100, and warranteeing them like new. If you are buying used, check with Tippmanns about that. I was going to send mine for rebuild, and then have them ship it on to whoever bought it. Jim at Tippmann figured everyone was further ahead to ask $100 less, let the new buyer use it. If it ever needed work, then they would get even more time out of it. One thing nice too. It is a heck of a lot easier to ship a Boss than any other stitcher. There are very few guys who have the luxury of a local mechanic qualified to work on any stitcher.

Kevin, I just sew it with my normal setup on my machines and sews like about anything else. I was warned that the beads will deflect the needles, but haven't had that happen. I am not sewing across the areas with the big beads or the white spots though. I have not had the need to hand sew it yet.

Wolvie, I am running IE. I am not sure if it was something that got changed during one of the updates to Windows, a Norton update or what. Where do I look for the cookie settings? Be easy, I am not a computer guy.

Seems like something has cropped up in the last month or so. I am not sure if it is my computer setting, or something with the board. In the good old days, I would log in, and be logged in forever. I could come back in an hour or a couple days, and still be logged in. Now, if I leave the site, I may be logged in or maybe not. Sometimes a couple hours later I am still in. Other times I leave for 5 minutes, or the connection is interrupted momentarily, and I have to log back in. There doesn't seem to be a pattern. The frustrating thing is that while typing a post, sometimes my connection is interrupted. When I go to post it, it tells me I am not authorized, takes me to the log-in page, and eats my homework.

Timbo, The first thing you need is the book Sheridan Style Carving by Bob Likewise, Clint Fay, and Billy Gardner. It describes the tools you need and why they differ from other stamping tools. It also describes how to lay out patterns, simple and more complex. It also has examples of work by the masters to shoot for. Most all of the leathercraft sellers have it. Realistically 10-15 tools can do a single Sheridan pattern. You need different sizes then for different size patterns. Most all of my tools are from Barry King. His are designed for the style and priced affordably. He usually has them in stock, and ready to ship. Later on you will find different flower centers, and such to mix it up. I have some other tools by Ellis Barnes, Wayne Jueschke, Jeremiah Watt, and some Hidecrafters and TLF stamps that fit.

Brent, A belated welcome. You perked my ears up when you mentioned Logansport. I lived there from 1968 through 1984. I am a fine graduate of Logansport HS (Yes folks we were the "Logan Berries" - no joke), worked in the slaughterhouse, and went to college at Purdue. I ended up in California, but my folks still live there. I was back once in 2003 for the HS reunion. When I was growing up there, Harold Streu had the Bar S Saddle shop. I spent a bit of time there. They auctioned off his estate a while back, and I sent my dad to buy me a "nostalgia" tool. I am kind of curious who is doing leatherwork in Logansport now, get them to join us here. Best of luck to the reformed guild.

I was just looking at the website for Frank Hansen, and saw that they have a a rein rounder they sell, in addition to the string cutter/beveler. Has anybody used or seen one? The picture looks Ok, the step-downs are 1/32" (good) and looks smooth. The website is www.hansenstringcutter.com , go to the order tab, and it is listed at the bottom under the string cutter. Click the rein rounder underline and it comes up. Looks like a good piece, and might be the source to refer to if it works better than the guys back east sell.

Pete, I use the Pro-Dye/oil combo. I have not had the pigment sludging you describe. I am still using the spirit dyes. One thing I have had people tell me with spirit dyes is that they are a saturated solution. If the lid is left off very long, solvent will evaporate, and excess pigment will settle to the bottom. If you shake them they will suspend, but not go back into solution and settle, be darker, or be blotchy. I use dye in quarts, and they are only opened a few times to dump 6-8 oz out. Evaporation probably is not a concern with mine. Even so, once you mix it with the oil the solvent probably evaporates off, and all you have is pigment. It seems to stay mixed pretty well. I give the jug a shake or two and pour it into the paint roller tray. The new dye formulas are different. They are mostly water based, and so probably won't mix. I'll find the substitute when I start running low.

Steve, They are not the same. For a better discussion on splitters we have a couple threads going. Check out the thread in Leather Tools > wanted - splitter - do they even make this?. A good discussion of splitters in genreal, and mention of the comparison between the TLF and Osborne models.

Marcel, The easiest way to get round edges is to use round bottom edgers. They cut in a round profile to start with. The readily available ones cut a flat profile, like the TLF and common edgers from CS Osborne. They cut a flat cut much like mini french edgers. The old time makers made round bottom edgers - Gomph and others. Today there are a few tool makers making them. Most all of the Bisonette pattern edgers will cut in a round profile. Three makers that make round bottom edgers are Ron from Ron's Tools (www.ronstools.com) and Jeremiah Watt (www.ranch2arena.com) has two styles - the Vizzard edgers and round edgers. Bob Douglas makes round bottom edgers too. All are good tools in my hands.

Randy, In a nutshell, I wouldn't. I don't think it would hold up to use and abrasion very well. You have to have some bevel around to hold up I think. One thing I have considered is lasering in a pattern or logo, and then using that as a base for beveling and dyeing, much more accurate than a tracing and stylus. You could even just laser in the tooling pattern outline, and use that as a guide for swivel knifing. For several items the same, It would save stylus and tracing time for sure. I sure see some possibilities with lasers.

Randy, I have done exactly one, so am no expert. I talked with a guy who has a family-run store beforehand. They were sourcing out the the glass engraving and leather lasering. He just got one, but knew the nuts and bolts of it. Basically laser on unoiled leather, the oil will bring out the darkening even more. I have attached a planner I did. It was a bit scarey, because I did the tooling first, and then took it over to her. I was dang sure hoping she had it set up so the engraving would come out centered, it did. I wasn't relishing the idea of doing it over. It turned out pretty well.

Randy, I am 47, I just sound crotchety some times. Steve, I am pretty sure you are not going to see any selection of machines near you. As Art has posted, there are some places who will sell a beefed home machine that can do thin soft leather, and call it a leather machine. They list them like that on ebay all the time. For the caliber of machine to do leather right, the new machine sellers are in Ohio, Montana, Idaho, and California. Most of these companies ship and deal direct on the dedicated leather machines. Most of the sewing machine shops, even the industrial shops in bigger cities, only deal with the occasional heavier stitcher. If they don't have a tech who has experience with them, you are better off to wing it with a manual and telephone. Leather machines and timing are an area of their own. If you want to go the used route, there are some sellers in about all parts of the country.

Steve, I am envious of all you "young guys". In the good old days of my leather youth, I went got tendonitis in both elbows from handsewing. The day I couldn't brush my teeth the choices were $1600 for a relatively new stitcher called a Boss - no attachments, 10 needles, and a skinny spool of thread or the next step up that was equivalent cost $5000. Nothing in between. Today there are the line of Artisan 3000 ands 4000s, Ferdco 1010, 2020, and Pro 2000 for cylinder arms. Flatbeds have always been around, but there are more and better ones. Motors are a big step forward from a few years ago. Don't I sound like a crotchety old man? Seriously, there are a ton of choices out there now, and it is daunting to look at the ads and advice given here and other places and figure it out. First thing I would say is you need to define what you will be sewing - flat goods can go on either a cylinder arm or flatbed machine. The thickness will determine how much capacity you need, add more capacity than you think you need. Case goods almost have to be done on a cylinder arm. There are some great used machines out there, if you know what you are looking at. If you have never sewn, I would recommend new. You will get support from the seller that way, they want you happy. Some of us have had good dealings with one company or another. A picture of my shop shows whose I like. Others have machines from several sellers. I would highly recommend that if you are serious about a machine, have little experience with even a home fabric machine, no expereince with a leather machine, and want to make the most informed decision - go to Sheridan in May. Everybody is there - Luberto, Artisan, Ferdco, Weaver. There are other guys not there who sell machines - Cowboy, Neel, Sewmo, some new ones in the magazines and on ebay, but Artisan, Weaver, and Ferdco have been in it for the long haul, and Luberto's machine is a bit different but works for some guys. Compare the different machines, sew on them, talk to them, and learn their names. Kick someone out of the stool if they are just resting and step on the gas. Drive them and get a feel. You don't have to buy one there, but you will see more in one place than anyplace else. Plus it is a cool town and great time.

Tony, It is some variation of a Chase pattern splitter. I like them - easy to adjust, very even skives, no chopping, blade is protected and so are your fingers, and they just look cool on the bench. They are so much fun to use, I have about given up turning the crank on my American splitter. I have not seen one quite like that though. I have two Osbornes, an 8" and 10". Horn also made them, HF Osborne I think, CS Osborne for sure, and no doubt others. Is there any name on the blade or under the frame somewhere? I have heard they haven't made the Osbornes in that pattern for at least 50 years, and I would bet longer. I sent the picture on to a few guys are pretty sharp on these relics and will see what they say. If I don't find out there, I will show it to my old buddy, who is a relic.

I see a "tissue moment" in the making here. My wife will need one when I just show her the picture and the story. That is a great idea, a great job on it, and I am sure your friend will cherish it for a long time.

Johanna, I am thinking it was you who mentioned Powertoy Image Resizer somewhere. If it was, I owe you one. If not, I still owe you one, just not over this. It is the simplest one I have found to resize pictures. Right click on the picture. A drop menu shows up, click resize. It gives me a choice of small, medium, or large. Choose and thats it. It puts the resized pic in the same folder with the reduced size designation. It was a free download, and worth every penny.