bruce johnson

Good looking stuff. You can add bigger sized pics too. 100-400 kb show up well. Show us this kind of work anytime.

Jamie, If this guy is having to go check stuff you ask about, I am thinking he was not the user. I may be off base on this next part, but then again..... If there is one speed and it is slow no matter how far you press the pedal, it may have a servo motor. The first servo motor I got didn't have a speed adjustment knob. I was merrily sewing along at a very comfortable pace, enjoying the control (one speed - slow). When I wanted to ramp up the speed for some straight projects, I called my supplier about a different speed reducer with the 3 pulleys. Didn't need it. The speed adjustment on that particular motor was done by turning a screw inside a small hole. The hole just appeared to be a ventilation hole or something - not particulary well marked. That opened up a whole new world of speed control. My later servos have a knob and dial. If this one goes one speed and slow, might be a servo with that early control. As far as whether the deal is worth it, you just have to add up the machine and shipping and see where it falls. The price seems pretty good if everything works. One thing nobody else has mentioned, and it may not be a factor if you are just doing one thing is attachments. They are not inexpensive. As you use it you may find the need for other throat plate and presser feet combinations. I have about all of them for mine, and can say I have used them all.

Eric, I have one that is similar. It is a rotary shaft tool with an oscillating handpiece. You chuck a stamp into it. The one I have was sold by company called SpeedStamper. The chuck is large enough that most all my stamps fit it. I haven't seen their ads for a while so they may not be in business anymore. Silver engravers can use one of the engraving systems, Barry King was making stamps with the shanks turned down to fit those. These work pretty well with the walking tools - bevelers, some pear shaders, and matting tools. They oscillate fast enough that the checkering effect is lost, but the tool burnish is more than using the same equivalent in smooth stamps. I sure don't use mine for everything, but when I have a large order with several beadlines to bevel it really speeds things along and is less fatiguing. When I was dealing with the rotator cuff problems it was a real plus.

Ken, I lived around that area for a while. Loon Creek Leather in Huntington IN (260 356-0726) bought what I think were all the dies and patterns from the family. They are supposed to be making them on some level again, and I'd give them a call. I would not trust that these conchos are silver like Bohlins. Many of them were not. The green is probably verdigis from copper in the JB alloy. Not much of a trick to removing the swell cover other than to be careful you don't lift the head off the nail. Most of the time you can chase out those dents from the back unless it is really cheesy plating and flakes off. As an aside, what is the tooling like? Some was pretty decent and some was fairly mediocre on the Flowers.

Tim, I haven't made the rope handles, but have cut down some ropes and put on hondas. I am the worst at describing a braid or knot. I can't read and make much out of that either, but a lot of people can. I just needed to have someone show me. I would probably go with a knot that the ends are all pulled together out the center. The guy who showed me called it a "crown knot". Some variation of a turk's head. Make a simple three bight turk and then go around again and pull the tags out the center. It works for ends and can be used for tying on swivel hondas and breakaways. The other knot is like used on the tail of a rope. Less bulk, but still might hold that ring alright. Kind of a series of halfhitches with each strand going around the other strands and coming out the middle. The wrapping strands all come out parallel to each other as they wrap around. To prevent those tighter lay ropes from unraveling I tape to hold it where I want the knot to start, then tie over that tape. There has got to be somebody here who can show us a little tutorial how to really tie these things. I am sure one of the Grant books could be a help too.

Andy, I had one and suspect it was an earlier model than Randy's. Mine cost more and didn't break, other than the pusher for the take-up they had upgraded. They sent me the part with no issues. I never really had problems with inconsistant stitching, or having things just change for no reason. Others have had that besides Randy. I sheared off a few screws where the handle screws into the block, just a metal fatigue deal. Easy enough to fish out and replace. I ran a ton through it, and you have hit on the big ones - Tiring to use and for bulky work you need three hands or a holder you can get a little testy with. On the upside, short learning curve. I taught two wives and a 14 year old to sew on it in about 5 minutes each. When I got mine the next choice for a machine with that capacity was about $4500 for the Adlers. The short arm motor machines have kind of set the new market now. It depends on how much you are going to use it. If you can get a Boss cheap, my experience was good. They will rebuild them and warrant them like new for not a lot of money. Seems like the ones selling on Ebay go a little high relative to their purchase price. Then again, the good used motor stitchers hold their value too.

Randy, Nice open design. Looks like some extra floor space for another machine or two. For sure there is plenty of room on that bench for another splitter. I like the tooling bench, and that is the short suit in my shop. I see the 12 or whatever it is makes a nice saddle tree rack. I've seen guys use them to hang reins and latigos off too. I like your shop, sure looks easy to work in.

Thanks all. It was a fine day. Harvey, I have raised the font setting for my emails now, did it yesterday. AARP jumped the gun last year and sent me the offer, but then refused me when I tried to join because I was too young. Another year of sitting at the kid's table.

Milli, Always good to hear from you. Welcome to yet another group. There is ton to see around here, and ask away.

I'd step back. If it has been sitting around and has surface cracks, they won't heal. It is just as dry on the inside as it is where you can see it. I my experience those are the ones to seriously watch. The woolskin is taggy, leathers just rip without stretching thin first, a rivet just pops through, or something else and the wreck is on. Take a good hard look at the fenders/stirrup leathers (especially up over the bars) and riggings at the least. If you are looking at used saddles and have to go replacing leather, factor that in.

What I do now. I have my piece of softer leather cut to my oversized pattern. I skive the front to a feather or really thin edge. Hold it up so the front of the fork on top will be covered all the way from bar joint to bar joint, and then strike a line with my thumbnail. at the bar joints. I cut those lines back almost to the front gullet. I apply glue to the flesh side and let it dry. I can't get glue to stick to leather very well once it is already wet. Glue first and then wet it. Once dry I toss it in a tub of waater to soak maybe a minute depending on the leather. I dry off the glue side patting with a blue paper towel from the gas station. Once it has tempered, I'll add some more glue, and then a swipe of glue in the gullet (not on the bar pad) and over the front lip of the gullet. Once that is dry I'll add a smidgen more to dampen that glue up and to the glue side of the gullet cover. Wet glue will help things to slide into place and still dry and bond under that leather within a day or two pretty solid. I start in the middle and stick it down on top of the swells sticking out forward. I nail the middle, the corners, and then space out nails in between. I use 3/4 in SS nails now, not many places I use tacks anymore, but tacks are OK here. Then I slowly roll the excess up under the gullet. I don't start at the middle like some guys. I start at about the 10 o'clock/2 o'clock positions and make sure I have a little excess bubble in the middle there. How much depends on how that leather feels to me. I stick those 2 and 10 places down and then work down to the bar pads. Then I go back and compress that bubble into place. I use thumbs or a bouncer to press it in. The reason for that bubble being compressed is this. As some leather dries it shrinks. Because this is a concave curve side to side, it could pull away and tent up. With the bubble it stays put easier. Leather compresses easier into concave areas than laying it in there and pounding it to stretch and stay. I might rub it now with a glass slicker to remove any ridges. Next I go the the excess hanging out the back. I feel for where the back edge of the fork is and start trying to pull my leather up over the back of the swells. Some guys will cut darts and actually ull it up and tack it to the back of the swells. I just want it tight to the bottom. I will beat that area from the bottom with a ball peen to pull it up tight back there much like blocking skirts. Then I will place about 5 small nails from the bottom up into the back edge of the gullet to keep it in place. The swell cover is going to wrap around and cover that area eventually. I trim the excess off the back flush with a point knife, angling in just a little to not have a sharp edge. You could hit this with a beveler too if you have a big one that will make the curve and stay in contact. I still have exess leather hanging down over my bar pads. Some guys will have already skived this and leave it blended over the pad. I don't. I feel for the top edge of the bar pad, and mark it with a line. I will skive it off with a wide French edger entirely off the bar pad, and slightly up into the gullet to make a smooth transition. That's how I do it. Takes about 15 minutes to do it, and 30 minutes to type how to do it. LOL.

NBY, I am not trying to come off as a smart ---, but a few more questions here. What kind of tree is it? What are your plans for it? Are you comfortable with the tools? Is there any maker locally who you can go to for help? Not having a camera is going to be a bit of a hindrance to many being able to "see" what you have done and maybe what you are talking about as you progress. That said, there are a couple of middle of the road tutorials I think you ought to have a look at. One is Harry Adams' book The Saddle Maker's Shop Manual. Helps with making up your own patterns and good pictures about what is going on. I don't do everything like he does. I don't use screws for my strainers, and there are probably others who do things the same or different. Like Bob and Chris have mentioned, no two guys probably do things alike anyway. The other source that will get you some help is Bill Gomer's Saddlemaking video set. Good basic video that will show you in motion what to do. You could probably have both of these for under $200. It will be worth it in leather saved. Bottom line is that still would be way better to have someone looking over your shoulder.

Tae, I got that big compass/divider at an antique store - $6. We collect a few things that are "Johnson" - Johnson fishing reels, old Johnson wax containers, Johnson soda bottles, Johnson and Johnson, etc. The lady who runs this shop found this for me - a William Johnson Newark, NJ compass. It has US Navy etched on the back. Probably a surplus deal from one of the naval depots in the area. Close guess on the size - it it 24". It is just a peach for scribing out big circles for rope cans and rope bags.

Brent, Not a plough gauge that they are using. Cool looking tool though. Scary when he runs that round knife there towards the left hand right after that, huh. Bob, I let a couple newer Dixon plough gauges get by me on Ebay that went past my maximum bid. My Ebay theory is to not pay more than half of new retail on anything currently made. This Barnsley came up in early April and I got it bought for $96.55. Sometimes you do eat the bear. When I got it the blade was at the back of the stops and still appeared to have a factory grind with a flat edge on the front to have the final sharpening done by the user. I am guessing the blade was unused. It has its whole life ahead of it. The blade is a Dixon but fits perfectly. There are mating numbers on the frame and slide like the old draw gauges made here, so it might be pretty old. The 2/3 and 3/4 cuts alright with the plough gauge. I think the longer fence and length of the blade on the plough gauge help to keep leather tracking more true than the draw gauge with an inch of blade at best. I think the plough gauge might have the same issues as the draw gauge on flexible leather. It can wad up between the blade and guide and wander. For the soft leather this is one place I think the wooden strap cutters shine. I put a brand new stropped razor blade in mine, and then make a starting cut with a knife. I set the bars so they are just kissing the leather no gaps to wad up and pull away on the tail. I have one of those third hand bench clamps with the fence wire stretcher cam action. I can clamp the end in there and just back away and watch the tension. When my first wife was doing some beading I could make some pretty even strips of deerhide or piglining that way.

Brent, I started off with the original wooden strap cutters and liked them. There are some knockoffs that are not as precise. I got a draw gauge and liked that alright once I learned a few important safety lessons, one the hard way. I ended up and scored on an old guy selling out his collection of draw gauges last fall and picked up some great oldies. I set one for each common width and thought I was in fat city. A few months ago, I visited a friend's shop and he was taught by an English worker. He used a plough gauge, which I think is what you are describing. I ran a strip with it, seemed simple enough. My local Aussie buddy has his dad's old Dixon and while he will loan me a collection of old stamps to kill for, the plough gauge stays with him. He says if you ever get one, you won't cut with anything else. I got a nice old Barnsley a couple months ago off ebay. Sharpened it up and holy crap, haven't picked up a draw gauge since. Brownie's words ring true - "Toldja, mate!!". They show up from time to time on ebay. Bob Douglas has them sometimes too. Otherwise you can buy a Dixon from Siegels here in the US, or from Abbeys in England. I don't know if anyone else carries them here in the US.

Rusty, I like your tagline there. I'd have some problems with following it though. I'd over and under my wife and be sleeping with the horse. Things'd go better vice versa. CS, Are you just taking it apart to see how it is put together or to fix and restore it? Planning to use it afterwards or cosmetic restore? What kind of saddle and who made it? Got any pictures of it as is now? Take pictures as you go. Go slow and easy. If something pulls too hard, there is usually a reason. I pull the fenders first to get them out of the way. Pull the latigos off and the back billets too. Then I remove the conchos or cut the bleed off the strings (unless they are primo) and remove them, the latigo carriers, and start looking out. There will be staples, tacks, finishing nails, nail heads, other things hidden in the dust, hair, and grunge waiting to rip you open. One of the worst infections I ever got (worse than a cat bite, Denise) was from a broken staple leg under a latigo carrier. I use a little tack claw, vice grips, and a small claw hammer to pull things. You can't ever predict who uses what and where. Once you get the front jockeys loose, carefully lift the front end. I usually tie back through a hole to keep one side out of the way. Skirts are usually fastened with lug straps or bar pockets. Unscrew the pockets or carefully cut the stitching. The lugs can usually be pulled off the tree by pulling tacks or undscrewing them if they have screws. Remove the screws that are buried in the skirt at the points up in the handhole area. Proabalby a couple ringshank nails in the gullet holding the top of the skirts up in there, and a screw at the gullet front. Drop the front jockeys and carefully remove the fasteners at and under the seat jockey ear. Then I loosen the rear jockey concohs and assorted fasteners by them and the cantle arch. The rear jockeys should just slide off then. Remove whatever method is used to hold up the back skirts and drop them. If you really want to get down to the tree, now is as good a time as any to cut the cantle binding stitches and remove it. Then you can pull the seat and ghet it out of the way. Most are glued down to some degree, and you'll say bad words if yopu just pull and tear the seat in half. Work easy and slow, and be careful. The second worse infection I ever got was from a loose tree nail in the dish of a cantle. Seat is off - pull the cantle back and filler. Move back to the front and turn it over. Remove any fasteners up under the gullet holding the swell cover on. Then go around the top of the bars and remove the fasteners that held the swell cover down. Some are easy and some aren't. Some swell covers have worn thin and want to tear easily. Some are glued well, some are pasted, and some have nothing. Once the swell cover is loose, I leave it alone. I flip the back up enough to remove whatever is holding down the horn cover wings. I pull them up through the horn hole and then remove them. The other alternaive is to cut the horncover off from the top, pretty hard piece ot salvage usally for me. Then pull the swell cover off once the horn is bare, trhat horn hole can tear pretty easily if I try to pull some over a covered horn. If the horn is staying, I dampen the horn hole area and let it sit a while, then saddle soap the horn neck, horn gullet, and edges of the cap to help things move and slide. Then you can unscrew the riggings and pull them. About all that is left is the ground seat and work slow and easily to pull that. That should be about it.

Kelly, Cute little horse, and he looks like he could drag a dead steer out of a well. It sounds like if you got a saddle to fit this horse, there are more like him around so the deaal about not being able to find another to fit might not be much of an issue. If you got one, it fits and whatever happens on down the road, those people might like that saddle. They'd probably be dealing with the same issues of finding something to work on their bulldoggy horses. As far as the past issues with saddle fit, it does sound frustrating. I would be suspicious of a few things Denise has already touched on. One is the profile of the bottom of the bars. He looks fairly full in the pictures. Some treemakers put a more crown in their bars than others. If you are familiar with Dennis Lane's card system - they are making "S" bars. If you have a horse with a flatter back the center of that crown is putting more pressure on. A flatter bar ("D" profile) will spread it out more. If all the saddles you try are crowned bars, the angles and spreads might be within tolerances, pretty much ride alright and stay put, but the saddle still will have a ridge of pressure down the center of the bar. I am going to step out and suggest something here. You are going to probably have issues trying to find a saddle without squeezing a lot of lemons trying to find one to make lemonade. You can try several brands of saddles and still might be trying all the same or very similar trees in every one of them. You might need some spread, rock and bar length stuff that just isn't out there very commonly. You are in SW Iowa. I would load up Halfie and take him on a bus ride to see Jon Watsabaugh if he is willing. Pretty sure he lives near Des Moines. Jon is a member here and makes saddle trees. He could probably set a few bar patterns on him see what is going to work and what isn't. Even if a custom saddle is not in the cards, at least you'd have an idea of what might work, and eliminate a boatload of what won't.

Bryan, We are going over to it. No past track record on this show as is. This is the first year for it at this time of the year. For a few years the show was sponsored by Ferdco and was in April. It ws a month after the Wickenburg AZ show and a month before the Sheridan WY show. That hurt it a little bit for attendees and vendors. The people there were serious. Having this show in July has got some vendors pretty enthused. Barry King and Wayne Jueschke will be there for tools for sure. Barry sells swivel knives, and I am not sure if Chuck Smith is going. Bob Douglas will be there, as well as Vandy from Sheridan Leather Outfitters. I suspect Ron Edmonds will be there. Wayne also told me that he was talking to one or two guys who refurbish and deal in old leather machinery. That hasn't happened at any of the LCSJ shows to much extent. I haven't talked to Wayne for a month or so to see who all else is planning to be there.

Kustom, I don't know, but a call to Paula should answer those questions. If she doens't know exactly on the class, you can call Al Gould. He lives in Clovis, CA and should be listed in the directory. I don't have his number handy with me this morning.

Kate, Some people have better luck maintaining a bevel angle by holding the blade and having whatever you sharpen against fixed on the bench. I don't. I leave my blade flat on the bench right at or just overlapping the edge. Then I use something long to sharpen with and work from the back edge of the blade. I prefer the DMT diamond stones with the plastic folding handles. One of my friends (we'll call him "Stub") was working a stone from the front and one of his former finger tips was gripping the side of the stone. On an push stroke the newly sharpened blade skived it off to about the first knuckle. You can also wrap and tape or staple fine sandpaper to a hardwood stick and work that from the back too. I strop and polish on the wheel. Kind of my rule of thumb is to strop my splitter blades in use about once a week for sure. More often if I am using them heavy, and definitely right after if I have run some mulehide through one. Mulehide and a little moisture seem to cause insta-rust. For oil I use a mix of hydraulic jack oil and a little Prolong oil additive that was recommended for my sewing machines.

Ricky, If it is the same Dixon, it has been on ebay at least twice before and never hit the minimum bid. I think the last time was something like $450. The Dixon looks kind of like the Osborne 86. Somebody must like them, because Osborne stopped making the ones I like and still make the 86. Ryan has better feedback on his than the Tandy professional model that costs about 3 times as much. If I wanted one right now, and didn't want to dink around waiting for a deal, Ryan has the deal right now. If you are looking for the sleeper on Ebay right now, bid on the Krebs. My wife says I can't.

Yep, you are looking at it on ebay and it is slightly misrepresented as a splitter, although I guess a crown splitter fits the same deal. It is a sole cutter. The only splitting it does is to cut things, not thin them down. What you are looking at only cuts leather with the cutting wheel on the end. Kind of handy to cut hard sole leather and horseshoers use them to trim pads. That is about the extent of it. They kind of trade for around $100, but that one looks to be in better than average condition. Just depends on whether you think you'd use it. If you are leaning that way, I'd hunt a good 3in1 instead and have the crank skiver. I used that more on the 3in1s I had.

I have seen them too. The topcoat on some of the production saddles is a pigmented finish, almost like a light tan spray paint. It makes it easier for them to get consistant coloring. I talked to one guy at a shop who thought it was maybe an LCI product he was using. (He knew exactly what it was, but wasn't going to tell me I'm sure). The problem is when this stuff flakes or wears off and the customer adds a conditioner, the bare areas take it up and the saddle is pretty mealy looking. Short of stripping it off and oiling to whatever works, the customer is stuck with what they have.

Maybe it is just me, but that is how I do them for thinner leather and if I want the top to fit tight to the pocket. I sew right in that line and the second line about where your other groove line is. Then I put a rivet in each end of the flap between the two parallel stitch lines to help prevent tear out. I use either small copper rivets or quick rivets depending on the look I want.

It seems like every January there are about 5 new barrel saddle models on the market. I figure they've got them ready to roll out, and the top five finishers at the NFR in December get an endorsement contract and the saddles have a name by the time of the Denver Market. If you are looking for used, a lot of my barrel racing customers like the old Connie Combs from Circle Y. I've rebuilt several and retreed a few. Hadlock and Fox made the trees for them, and while they were still in New Braunfels made me the duplicates. Of course after a long wait and duplicate pricing they told me they are a production stock tree for them still, just not cataloged. Off the top of my head I think they are their #870 model. Edit - got home and double checked. The Connie Combs tree is H&F's #890.