bruce johnson

My best luck for getting that old petrified stuff out is Dawn, warm water (plenty of it), and a natural sponge. That will get the majority of the stuff off for me, and the detail work with the toothbrush and picks is a lot less.

Most of the time I sew two lines on new saddles - one to hold the plugs and another for the woolskin. Some repair places cut the stitches on the backside of the wool and don't pick the old stitches. They sew the new woolskin with a new line of stitching and end up with two that way.

Kate and Johanna did my site. It is on Concrete5, and I find it pretty easy to change out and update.

I have had a few optical mice, and they do alright on leather. Mine read on a varnished wood desktop too. The only place I have had problems are some of the motel room desks with a glass top.

Donnie, What Tandy sold several years ago was just an ordinary Boss at that time, the original cast iron model. They had them pretty early on as far as Tippmanns even selling the Boss. There was nothing that was special for Tandy and they were not relabeled. This was before the Tandy store closures. At one time Tippmanns had several dealers. HideCrafters sold them too. They had all kinds of independent sellers as well, but they were the same machine and had the Tippmann label. After LF took over Tandy, they still sold the Tippmann aluminum models for a while. What Art is referring to is a few years ago, Tandy had an ad campaign for the StitchMaster which looked all in the world from the pictures like a Boss and maybe was only slightly different (longer throat depth?). It might have made an annual catalog, but some print ads and flyers for sure. It was kind of a unique turquoise looking color. Weavers were touting a new machine they were developing that looked like a 440 top and Adler cyclinder arm or vice versa that was the same color. Someone might remember closer, but I think the reference was Weaver was having both machines developed. Tippmann was definitely not part of the deal on the StitchMaster.

It is a secret, and you have to tell the story of how the blood got there in the first place. If it was your own blood, welcome to the club. Hyrogen peroxide has helped some, as has washing with diluted oxalic acid. I haven't ever got one to totally clear. I usually dyed a rust color and the blood never showed up. On my worst draw gauge injury, I told the customer I had a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in his strap. I wasn't kidding.

The only place I use tacks are on horn cap fillers where they will clinch. Otherwise if the wood shrinks ever so slightly or they back out the least bit, thee is no grip left in them. I don't use many ring shanks, but I do use them in the same place as JW. I mostly use twist shank where I want them to stay like on strainer plates. I use smooth nails for tacking or places that will be opened up like through leather conchos. I use SS nails.

Steve, Another great looking rig with that really lines up. Two questions - Is the rope strap throught the swell cover or just under that leather concho and screwed down? How wide are your strings? Hard to tell from a pic, but they look maybe a bit under 1/2"? I had a guy call yesterday looking for off the rack silver slotted for 3/8 strings.

Harvey, Johanna, Bobby, Steve, et al, A fine spouse said that four nights in Las Vegas is about right and I agree. We are going to go to Wickenburg after all. What was that old Geritol deal - "My wife, I think I'll keep 'er"? Yeah... Called tonight and got into the Best Western downtown there. They still have some rooms, but are getting close. We will get there sometime Weds afternoon, partake of a T-bone at the Bar 7, and move it on over to the Circle K later on I imagine. Show Thursday and the soiree that night. We'll start towards home sometime Friday I imagine.

Charlene, I just cover the tops. Leather bottoms would get pretty torn up from getting thrown down into the dirt. I have done a couple of them with the sides covered, but haven't had anyone ask for several years and that is just as well. I got started doing leather kind of casually one winter after I broke my pelvis. I was making up belts and headstalls. I have had experience doing several different things with horses, so that varied background has helped with relating to how something is used, and some of my personal preferences come through. Once I healed and got to going again, I'd sell headstalls off my saddlehorn and pay fees. I got a business license then. It just kind of built from there, but on a local kind of level. I got asked to do little awards, then more and more stuff. I did wholesale work for a few different sellers as word spread. That got me to doing a lot of different things. Last year we started up the website, and that has really expanded things. I don't do trade shows, but have had people resell or sell some stuff on consignment at bigger shows like the NFR in the past. Good luck with the working cow horse, it is a ton of fun. We did that for a while, and my sister-in-law is into the reined cowhorse on a big scale. She has shown snaffle bitters, hackamore, and bridle horses for a long time. She also sshows versatility and qualified two horses for the AQHA Ranch Horse Versatility Finals this year. I made her the rope can with a spade bit cheek tooled into it for Christmas. The finals finished up last night, and she ended up 5th and 6th overall in the open. She had a great run on one in the Working Ranch Horse and won that last night. It was pretty cool.

Charlene, Thanks. These are porbably my favorite orders. The font came off my computer. The flowers are tapoffs. The overall pattern took about 3 hours to draw the first time. I have modified it a little for each one I do, and that took about an hour maybe. I was thinking of fillling in the center with floral, doing a plank wood background, or basket stamping it. My wife said to stop right there where I did and leave the center open. My other advisor said the same thing without prompting so I believed them. Total time on the ropecan and strap - about 9-10 hours maybe. I don't have a picture from the side, he already has it. However here is a link that shows some I am kind of proud of - rope cans . At least two of the rope cans in there I did, and maybe a third. Some photographer thought they were photogenic.

JW, Thanks. I never did either. Firs time I tied below 11, a 9.7 won it. When we were this kid's age, rope cans were made out of tin with a star pressed into the top and we wrote our name on them with a magic marker. They had a sack of dessicant in the well you'd throw in the warm oven every so often in humid places. In the dry we'd stick a pilfered wet Holiday Inn washcloth to raise the humidity. Remember those days? I got one of the early Sierra cans from Smith Bros in about 81 or so. They only came in tan then. Now we have a choice of 6 colors and tan isn't one of them. I'd like to find one of those old tin cans and a tan Smith Bros just to have again.

I just finished this rope can up for a young calf roper in Alabama. He had contacted me a month ago about a can and maybe helping out a little with sponsoring it. I usually don't sponsor directly, and mostly donate to fundraisers. I was really impressed with how polite he was. A little Google work showed he could rope about as much too. He has been a three time NHSFR qualifier, three time USCRA World Finalist and Showdown Finalist, and Wrangler All Star. He competes in some of the association rodeos back there too. I am attaching pics of the can and strap.

Troy and Bob, I used the setup from Ron's too. It is just a relabeled RediFlow pen deal and all plastic. You can buy them from Beilers and a few other places too. After I used up the last of Ron's I went to using some diluted LCI stuff that Greg uses. I like it better than Ron's. I usually go with that first let it dry, and then dye. I use Pilot refillable carton markers for black, and felt in a clothes pin for brown. I recently tried some Minwax pens that Kate Dubiel uses. Basically wood stain in a marker. Some nice shades of brown, and good for small pieces. The tips are a little small for big projects. I follow up with a home mix of beeswax and paraffin and run that over the wheel again to really put a final shine on.

Andy, Great stemwork, and the bubbles break up the border and add interest too. Thanks for posting.

Andy, Yep, what they all said before me. Great work.

Andy, Doesn't look like the picture attached. Looking forward to seeing it.

Over time that oil will disperse through the leather and even out more. Tooled areas always tend to darken up quick with oil, but then lighten over time. The biggest mistake most people make is to add more oil to the light areas right away to even things up, and end up with the whole thing over oiled. Hard to tell for sure from a picture, but doesn't appear like that from here. Set it in a normal temperature room and don't look at it for a week, and I suspect it will look better. I would not use acetone or any other solvent to remove the oil. You will not be happy. Edit - After I posted this, I saw Timbo's post. We must be on the same frequency of brain waves.

Jim, I skive back the edge about half thickness so the folded edge will be the same thickness as the rest of the piece. I usually do run a groove down the fold to help that lay a little flatter too. With chrometan leathers they fold pretty easily. With anything veg tan it depends where on the hide they come as far as how easily they will fold. Usually I put my glue on and let it dry, then wet the piece with warm water and let it penetrate a little. Hit the glue with some heat to tack it up again and make the fold. I hammer to set the fold.

I like the end grain on the bench too. I cut wafers about 1" thick off the ends of a 4" post. Most of my holes I drill with a maxi or minipunch chucked into a drill press and turned on. I use a scrap of LDPE for that. It works really slick and no drag or egging out the holes trying to crank a punch back out. I use poundo on my anvils when I punching inside a pocket.

I use press blankets that are a cost-off from printing shops. They are a cloth backed rubberized material. You can cut them with knives or scissors. The printers clean them up with solvent before I get them, and have never had any ruboff problem. I use them rubber side down to help keep from slipping. On the back I write info like zipper length, gusset length, and in the case of custom fit things - who they are for. They will also sew on a machine for test fitting things where the tolerances need to be pretty close. I used to store them in boxes until I visited Ken Nelson. He had some blueprint drawers. I picked up a couple scratch-n-dents at a used office furniture place pretty cheap.

For stamping, look for a piece at a counter top place, headstone shop, Habitat for Humanity store, etc. These places usually have something that will work. Some of the counter places have sink cutouts or a corner cut for free. Some of the headstone places have a broken slab pile. It will be way more satifactory than trying to balance on a 2# anvil. You still need an anvil, but not for this.

First thing - go down to the river and drink some Hassayampa River water - local legend. 1)We stayed at the Las Viejaros or something like that. It was alright for us. 2)Best T-bones I ever ate were at Circle 7 or something like that. I had to eat there twice in a row to prove it to myself. Yep, the second one was as good. Mine were medium rare. For entertainment, watch Barry King eat one nearly raw. 3) The museum in Wickenburg is great. well worth a visit. 4) Visit the jail, I think Bob Park told me he was born there. Maybe they have a sign? 5) Be on the lookout for anyone named Harvey.

Mine is a part-time business that I take seriously. The biggest challenges I see is being one guy doing it all. The time it takes to order supplies, keep the books current, handle the updates on my site and blog, and keeping that end going. The actual leatherwork is easy compared to that sometimes. Some I can do on breaks at my day job. Other things I just have to take time out of my productive shop time to get done. As far as expectations for this coming year, I am still seeing inquiries and orders. I don't have a lot of excess inventory of madeup products. Most everything is made to order, and sometimes I will make up another alongside it for economy of time and to have a little on hand stock. That way I have a few things on hand that are good movers - reins, a few personal goods, a few pairs of spur straps. These are kind of "want it now things" and also make a handy deal for the fundraisers and benefits I choose to donate to. I am comfortable I have pretty much all the tools and equipment I need. I have a little set aside for an unexpected bargain if it comes up. I am seeing a dip in prices for equipment and this may be good timing for some tools and equipment. Some guys are selling excess to streamline and help with cash flow. Others are playing things close to the vest and it is more a buyer's market right now.

The metal in the anvil will react with damp leather and cause black spots. I do use anvils a lot though. I use a 5# for setting small rivets and snaps, or set it on a cutting pattern to keep it from shifting. I usea shoeing anvil to set copper rivets on or to slip the heel into a pocket with a piece of poundo over it to punch a slot inside a pocket. They are pretty handy, but won't replace a rock.