bruce johnson

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.

Welcome Paul, I figured you were already here. Good looking work, as usual.

I see different impressions and checkering patterns on the bevelers. It wouldn't matter to me whose they are. I would probably use a few different ones to get different effects, just like I do out of my own rack. I don't use an 809 on an interior stem, and I don't use a Woodruff on a border. I'd agree that the detail needed on a small seeder isn't much. They are each a little different, and I'd go with whatever caught my eye. I like the center 3 a little better over the two end ones. On bargrounders I kind of figure small dots are small dots. Some bargrounders are better than others about not sticking. I've got a couple that are alright, but I don't barground much. I think the bigger differences show up in the single impression stamps like baskets and blocks. To carry this "pick whose stamp is whose" I am attaching one of mine that compares a couple off the rack tools to some that cost me a little more. In all fairness to this off the rack waffle, I tried one a few weeks ago, that wasn't nearly this good. Another interesting little deal here. I looked up some old Tandy catalogs today. I have an old Hinckley-Tandy from the late 40s probably. Stamps ranged from 50 cents to $1.50, prices on request for the bigger ones. In 1954-55, one to two dollars bought most of them. They aren't much more than that now relative to everything else.

That might be a bit of a problem. My 1-3/4 cutter is an Osborne. It sort of cuts in a cone shape and so I usually cut heavy leather from the back to front so the edges flare down. I can cut them from the front, but they won't look nearly as good.

Kings X, FWIW, Would it work for you to have me cut you 20 conchos and send them? That would be cheaper to ship than a cutter and no return shipping. I could cut you 20 in about 5 minutes and my scrap bin wouldn't even notice.

Doug, The closest to the craftools in price and a better quality impressions for the ones I have are CraftJapan. The Craft Japans I have are pretty good. Once you get past that, then for price, quality, availability - Barry King. I like some of Chuck Smith's stamps, and they are about like Barry's pricewise. Up from that price-wise, Wayne Jueschke and Bob Beard.

Slick, Yes and yes.

There is another theory about the development of the Cheyenne Roll by Meanea. These guys roped tied on. If the cow got behind you and started up the other side, that lip helped keep the rope from riding up the back of the cantle and jerking into the small of your back.

The stamps usually referred to were mostly one line of stamps, and not craftools. I bought them because they had good impressions, some designs that were different, and seemed like a good value for the price. I bent and broke my fair share of them with cased leather and a 16 oz maul. Not everybody had problems with these stamps, but plenty of us did.

A friend of ours died a few days ago. Yesterday I was honored to be asked to make the funeral guest book which can then be used for a photoalbum afterwards. I realized when I set the first stamp it was eight years to the day I did the same thing for my first wife. In an inner sort of way, this was one of the best projects I could have done. This guy was a cowman, and those who understand can maybe appreciate the design a little more. We live in an area where branding cattle is still done, and there are guys branding this time of the year. The center is a plugged hair-on hide inlay that I ran his brand on. I use a spoon tip on a woodburning pen to scorch the hair off and then dye the underlying leather. (well alright, I use a Sharpie). I seal the dye with LeatherSheen. I have done that on a lot of hair-on items with brands or initials and it really makes the dye last. He was a real salt of the earth understated sort of guy so I kept the overall look pretty simple. The border stamp I chose is kind of a personal favorite. It is a copy of an old McMillen pattern I had Barry King make me up in three sizes. The old waffle stamp patterns were pretty popular, and the rope center design really "cowboys" it up I think.

Elton, Good looking bag. That apron split really looks good, and I like the carving work too. Good job no matter how cold the shop was.