bruce johnson

Probably way too stretchy for shoes, but deer makes a nice lining for some things. I made some gloves based on the patterns from TLF several years ago. I made the Buffalo Bill type gauntlet gloves with 6" fringe for myself from deer and elk. I sewed them by hand. They came out well, fit good, and were kind of fun to wear. I was kind of limited where I could wear them. Apparently some people (both wives) thought they were not as fashionably appropriate as I did.

Clay Miller makes one

PrettyPrettyPretty

To just address the wooden handled tools, those tools have been available. McMillen made nice handled tools with pretty good steel and plain sort of handles. They had a pretty good finish to the steel and most were and still are pretty good workhorses. The original McMillen was in Kansas City and then was bought and moved into Missouri. It has been a family run busines. They sold through a few distributers, but never have the upfront marketing of other makers that are now somewhat riding a reputation. The guys making the higher end tools today have a lot invested in equipment and more importantly - experience. The machinery to make them isn't cheap, they don't have a shop full of employees cranking them out, and to compete they have to put out a better product and make it look nicer than the off-the-rack tools. Good steel properly shaped does that on the working end and a pretty handle does it at the other end. The older tools from most makers generally had rosewood handles, brass ferrules, and were pretty. There was competition and pride between the makers. The harness and saddlery trade was big and these tools were made for professionals. They had to work and pretty was just a plus. Pretty much by WW1 most of these makers were out of business - 3 generations of wealth rule and lesser demand. One company carried through and still made working tools until the craft business came on. After that, tools tended more towards a price point and plain handles with dipped finishes and nickle ferrules got more common. Eventually some of the old designs got dropped or changed in favor of less hand work and finish that still will sell. Some of the end users took a lot of pride in their tools too. I am attaching a picture of an old Dixon round knife I just got. Here's some pride! My wife claimed it right off and it is in the glass display case for now.

Are you using a rivet setter to set spots? They aren't domed up as much as spot setters and will deform them. I start my spots with a hand setter, then finish them off in a press to set the prongs and clinch them. Yes, there are Chicago screw backed conchos as small as 3/8". I use a lot of them. They are 3/8 Hi-Dome conchos from Hansens - www.hansensilver.com

If you are looking for smaller than 3/4", you might try Hansen Silver - www.hansensilver.com

The marks you see are mostly burnishing marks from friction. That is just a fact of using a saddle and it shows a little more on smooth leather. If the saddle is a user and the fender cuts allow a great range of motion, to some guys the cosmetics of the cuts wouldn't bother them at all. If you want them replaced the costs kind of depend on where you are and who does it. The beadline isn't hard to duplicate. Replacement fenders start from $150 up to $350 depending on the shop.

I have a pair of Bret's reins that are that color and they get a lot of comments. The color has stayed good on them. Looking forward to a two rein hackamore to complement them.

Best Investments I. A range of maul sizes - makes the maul do the work. I am not muffling one too heavy or whacking away with one too light. 2. SOLID stamping surface. - I only thought I had this before. I looked at a lot of stamping benches and talked to a lot of people about likes and dislikes. I like the one Wayne Jueschke takes to shows and Ken Tipton has a nice one too. I based mine on theirs along with size and height advice from Ben Cox. 3. Best quality tools I can find with cutting edges - edge bevelers, knives, swivel knives, plough gauges, etc, . You can get anything sharp, something that stays sharp or maintains easily is a pleasure. 4. A good organization system for tools and supplies. Stamp storage is always evolving and I am sure happy with what I have now. My thanks to everyone who has invited me into their shop. Ken Nelson had one of the real jewels - blueprint/map drawers for storing patterns. I found a couple scratch and dents at the office furniture outlet warehouse. I think it was Greg Gomersall who told me about the concrete form tubes for storing leather. The fact that they exactly fit a 24x48x72 Gorilla rack was just my dumb luck. 5. Rubber stall mats on the floor all the way around. Easy on the feet, warmer than concrete, and I can't remember the last time I dropped a knife and said bad words about having to resharpen one. Murphy's Law says a dropped round knife lands edge first on a concrete flor and then bounces three more times in different places on the edge before it falls over.

Everybody has different needs and preferences for leather. Some need price first, others need smaller pieces, and then there is preference for tannage. As is evident from this and other posts, some tanneries have issues with consistancy. Some sellers seem to get the better leather than others too, or at least sort it and represent it better. If the policies and shipping costs work for you, my thoughts are to stick with who works for you the best. They will know your preferences and that is a big plus. Personally I like Thoroughbred in weights, Horween or TB latigo, and Sadesa for skirting. I am using a lot more leather in weights and latigo now, just the way orders have trended and my business plan has evolved. I can order from Maverick Leather and have it next day. Matt knows what I want in weights, will call if there are any blemishes and make sure they'll work. I need my latigo long and he'll go stick a tape on the choices while I am on the phone or call back. Nothing against other suppliers, Maverick just works right for me. Close for shipping, less inventorying cost for me, and leather I like.

I transfer patterns with a stylus for the most part. I don't like the bent tip ones. Barry's are more like a pen and pretty comfortable. I also have one a buddy made from some hex rod that's a dandy. For really detailed or tight work I use a mechanical pencil without the lead.

I read the same thing for Stamps.com. It didn't look worth it to me after reading reviews either. I ship quite a bit and do the "Click and Ship" from the www.usps.com website. The site loads a little slow but is improved on features from a few years ago. There is a discount vs. window rates on smaller packages. Get into International Express and it gets to be bigger discounts doing it at home and you can print out customs forms too. I print out on plain paper and tape the label half on the package and file the receipt half. They give me a handful of the customs pouches for the international mail when I run low. I normally drop the packages off at whatever post office is handy. We use a PO box and my wife is at that post office everyday. Most of them either have a drop box or the counter people take them or have a spot for them. Your mail carrier will pick them up also. The only ones I wait in line for are Express Mail and International Priorities and get them scanned and a receipt. Some counter people recognize me at one post office I go to mostly. They call me up as a "non-money, ready to ship" drop-off to bypass the wait if I flash the label at them.

I always stitch in a groove on top with any vegtan and most chap leather I scratch a line too as a guide. My tacks go in that groove line. I lay my belt inlays out so the lay of the hair is across the belt (pointing down). With the short haired Brazilian hides I only have hair sticking out the bottom. When I trim my linings and hide after sewing I use a rotary cutter. This cuts most of the hairs off flush. When I rub the edge up and then singe, the rest are pretty much gone. I dampen with my casing mix, slick lightly, dye, slick again a little more vigorously, add my sealant coat, slick when about dry, then paraffin and go to the burnishing wheel, sticks, or bones. This makes a pretty durable edge for me and lays down the chrome tan sandwich and blends it all well.

I used to make a bunch of these. My lining was 3/4, the top side was split to 7 oz. I cut the hide with a rotary cutter from the flesh side. I glue about 6 in wide strips of hide to the same width lining with contact cement flesh to flesh. I skive the ends of the inlaying hide some to make a smoother transition at the ends of the inlay. You need to glue it in the middle of the lining and allow for the billet and buckle ends. For the topside prepare it however you normally do - stamp, oil, skive the buckle end, etc. I use a round end punch to cut the ends of the inlay. I use a border tool on a swivel knife to score the length of the inlay cut and finish with a round knife. Save the cutout. Slick out the inside of the cutout. I apply contact cement to the billet and buckle ends of the top piece and stick it down to the lining. I allow the lining to be oversized while I stitch and trim later. I put the inlay cutout back in and clamp in a few places with a binder clips. I sew with the binder clips in place. That cutout being back in there will help keep the top straight on the underneath piece. You can use tacks some on the top piece too. Once they are sewn I smooth the edges on a bench top belt sander. I run the edge down a flame to scorch off stray hairs sticking out from the inlay and then finish the edges. The chrome tan from the hide is sandwiched but still can take some prep. I dye and then finish.I like acrylic finishes like Leathersheen to give it some sizing and the texture lays down and blends in pretty well. A few variations. I made them mostly with 1/4" spots. When I do those I lay my top piece over the hide without a lining. I have the cutout in place and set my spots. Once they clinch through the hide, that helps keep everything in place some. Then I glue to the lining and sew. I still had my Boss stitcher then. It could sew up really close to the spots with a right toe foot. Neither of my current machines could do that with modifying the center presser foot. The two line ones without spots will sew with a left toe foot for both lines as long as the cutout is in there. Tack the edges to hold them and pull tacks as you get to them. I buy really slick short hair hides. They inlay better and look cleaner. I started out with some pretty wooly hides and they moved around more and were bulkier.

Here's my thoughts. You could sure start with the basic sets and see if it all works out for you. Realize that most all of the good,better, and best swivel knife makers sell swivel knife blades too! That is something a lot of new people don't know. I think most all of them make a blade that will fit a Tandy knife. You can upgrade a cheaper knife and and get a handle on what a good blade feels like. As far as stamps, Yes there is a difference. To learn on? Probably not really necessary. If you are going to do passable Sheridan work, you will need some of the specialized Sheridan style tools to do it right, especially the tighter patterns and most stems. Regular bevelers just don't do it. You will also find when trading up to better stamps that in many cases they might run smoother (like bevelers) than the entry level stamps. If it all doesn't work out and you do have some good stamps to sell, they tend to hold their value relative to lower end stamps. Ebay seems to have no shortage of folks willing to pay more for recent tools than you can buy them for from the maker.

Yes, that is the type crank skiver but I have an American model B with a little wider blade. It is about 2-3/4" which works on most of the strapwork I do. I have tried the jigs for the pull splitters and they work OK. I am just a little handier doing the the push the handle/pull the strap on a handled splitter. The only problem I had was they are a little awkward and I would occasionally have the jig or strap slip on each other. I am not sure how they would do through a crank splitter.

Billy, Advantages of pull splitter vs. a crank splitter. You can pull through some softer leathers than a crank spliiters can sometimes split. Like I use one of my Chases for, you can start anywhere on a strap and level split all the way out. With a handled splitter like a Keystone or #84 you can also do lap skives. It can also be faster than a crank. I can pull something through faster than I can crank most of the time. In fact my first crank splitter was an American. The Americans and Champions both feed from the back instead of the landis system of feeding from the front. I'd start a strap on the American and when I could get a good hold on it, I'd pull it the rest of the way through and let the handle free wheel. I especially did that with latigo becuase it can sometimes wad up against the blade and split unevenly in a crank splitter. These are the biggest differences in use off the top of my head.

Here's my take on this. Realize I am a splitteraholic. I buy my leather in a couple weights for the big flat projects. For the most part I buy 7/8 or so, 10/11, and skirting. I buy cheaper vegtan for lining big pieces, and use either that or split down heavier leather or latigo for lining straps. Currently I have four splitters on the benches. Landis 30 - I use this for splitting down odd shaped pieces, small scrap, and level splitting straps. My wife can easily crank out hand size pieces from the scrap bin and then click out coasters of the same thickness. I can split a wallet back pretty easy from scrap and so that is one weight of leather I don't buy. 8" Chase - I leave this pretty much set at 8 oz. I use this setting for the skiving the ends of straps and belts where they are going to fold over a buckle. Stick the strap in to catch the fold area, pull back and it is level 8 oz out to the end. I do the same for spur straps and dial it down to about 4 oz to allow for lining since I fold them bottom to top over buckles. 12" Chase - The width here is handy for two reasons. I can do a lot of splitting across the width before I need to strop or resharpen. I have also leveled some skirting pieces up to almost the width on cased leather. I don't do that a lot anymore, but I can. Randall Krebs pattern - This is what I use for repeatable level splitting. I can dial it right back to where I was a week ago. I can also do some "spot" skiving. I can have it dialed in to the desired depth. I gradually let the roller fall back as I pull and then taper it back out as I get to the end of where I want to end the skive. This works pretty well for folding over a buckle or dee on the end of a doubled strap. For my shorter lapskives I have a crank skiver. For long laps it varies depending on what other splitters I have on hand. I have used Spitler pattern splitters, #84s and #84 knockoffs, and really like the little Heritage brand for laps. I could sure get by without a splitter or even with any one of these splitters and do some of these things by hand. That said, having the versatility of these makes it easier, more repeatable, and faster work than handwork and lets me use my heavier scrap up better.

I used to use the wooden blocks for everything. My biggest problem was when I got a new stamp was having to do the left shift/right shift to make room. Then there was the problem putting one back wrong and having to rerack everything to make room. I went to using cups on a pegboard at the back of my stamping bench and that worked pretty well. I sort them by type of stamp and size. My mauls and knives are all right there too. I recently added the stamp rolls under them to sort off the really good stuff. They are sorted by makers and pocketed by type of stamp. An old test tube rack works well to hold the handled tools like beaders and ticklers. I have a small wooden rack to hold the stamps in use for a particular piece. I have a few weight bags there too. I use a scrap of woolskin on the right to lay my swivel knife down on. That saves the tips from hitting the stamp rock and is a subconcious reach. This system has been my handiest so far.

I am running into this problem lately and wondering if anybody else does. I am sewing on a Ferdco 2000. On some spools as I get down to 1/4 spool or less I start to get twisting as the thread comes off the spool (between the spool rack and the machine). It is like the coil memory of fishing line. It eventually builds to the point I get twisting and kinking all the way down, loops don't form, skip stitches, say bad words, cat decides the shop isn't that fun after all. I have tried laying the spool sideways so it unrolls off sideways rather than pulls up, There still is some of that memory coil there, although maybe a little less. Today I cut off a good sized length from an offending spool and ran it between my fingers out to the end and untwisted the coils. It sewed about 20 feet just fine so the problem sure seems to be the coiling. I have had to change thread suppliers and have tried a couple. I used to use Dabond (peasant color mostly) and had the problem rarely, maybe two spools out of a bunch off the top of my head. I have now tried bonded poly in different color (no manufacturer name on the thread) from another supplier and bonded nylon also. I am running 2 for 4 on these as I get low on the spool. They started off alright but both are now doing it. Bad luck?

Same book and worth the bucks. It goes into some of the background and history, the tools and why and how they are individually used, and pattern layout and execution. The examples at the back are a study. Bob Park's book is another must-have too.

Looks really nice Lucas. I like the beadline with the breaks on the skirt.

I was taught to do it on heavy leather and just do it out of habit for the little I hand sew anymore. It will really lock down a stitch. On thinner leather sometimes the overhand knot can show to one side or the other and I don't do it then.

Looks really good and hope you have a great show there. My wife has a scarf slide and two pendant necklaces from Shawn and I have the reins from you. She might need to have a collaboration deal between you two to tie it all together once we get past the hackamore.

One of the showring pleasure saddle companies tried a foam padding under the bars and then a layer of leather over that. I rode a few colts for a guy in college and he had one. It slid around a lot.