bruce johnson

Suze, I am using IE and not havng any problems, other than sometimes instant load and sometimes a lag time. I am catching emails from a couple of members who are unable to get on at all or freeze up when they can. I think more doughnuts are in order for the staff working on this.

HDPE. A few things I found was that once I really got a sharp knife, I don't need to push "down" as much as forward, and it really made a difference about leaving tracks in the cutting board surface. On tight turns that I don't punch, I cut those on glass. I have twisted a few corner points off round knives having the imbedded to some degree in the board and than making a tight turn.

Some random thoughts on sewing machines. There are a lot of really lucky people right now. I am going to try to not sound like some cranky old guy, but you "kids" don't know how good you got it. I was merrily sewing along by hand, and started expanding. One Sunday I sewed up several trucker wallets - zippers, pockets, edges. Monday morning I knew I had to do something. I lifted my tendonitic elbows and dialed Tippmanns. They had recently introduced the Boss for $1600 with NO attachments. The next option for anything comparable in a powered machine was about $4500, and with medical biils out the wazoo, that wasn't in the cards for our deal. There were a few ASNs, Champions, and other big machines on the used market. They all came with a spare machine "for parts", and a box of greasy or rusty spare parts for the spare parts machine. Anybody local who could work on them was generally too old to. The single needle machines were not being traded on the market to any extent. There was no leather forum to discuss these machines or get advice. LCSJ wouldn't allow articles by any machine guys explaining even what to look for in a machine, feed mechanisms, anything for fear of offending another advertiser. ShopTalk had a smattering here and there, but no real meat and potaotes for an newbie. A guy looking to trade up had to wing it, or call everyone who had an ad. The guys really buying machines had knowledge of what they needed, were in "the business" in some fashion, and mostly knew who they wanted to deal with. I got my medical knowledge from Reader's Digest and my sewing machine knowledge from the back of Western Horseman. I ordered a machine out of there, those who read it know who and what machine. I just called them up, and within about 5 minutes, the deal was done. I didn't know enough to ask the right questions, ended up with a machine that by nature was not what I needed. Enter customer service - they traded me a different machine head and made the deal work for both of us. Service and parts on that machine post-sale were handled well, but no forums to sing their praises and the Yahoo lists frowned on it. I have since bought two more machines from them. The "price wars" still hadn't started and I paid for one about what you folks can buy 2 similar machine for now. I have no regrets, I sold the original for more than I had in it. The other two have paid for themselves already, and have had no downtime. When the 3000 came out, it set a new pricemark that filled that niche between the Boss and the Adler/Juki/Classic machines. It allowed a lot of people that were in between handsewing and $5000 to get a machine. We all know what has happened since. There are more companies, the prices have been pretty stable and even dropped in some cases. You can get biased and unbiased information on machine capabilities, price, service, attachments, and the sellers. There are some new handcranks, new clones, machines out a few years with a track record, and good solid info on setting up and running the old machines. Not all of the sellers are represented on this forum, but there are others. Nobody is going to agree on any one. Heck I have a Ford, Chevy, and Dodge pickup in the driveway. But the fact is the stuff is out there and more available to make an informed buying decision. At the same time, there are some good prices on machines right now. That combination was not around even as short as maybe 3-1/2 years ago (I am thinking the 300 came out 3 years ago about Sheridan time). I can't think these prices will last forever, now looks to be a pretty good time to buy. The long time users, sellers, and recent buyers all sharing their experiences here is a plus. We won't all drive Fords, Chevy's or Dodges, agree that Canadians make better whiskey than Kentucky, or Coors beats Bud, but we all know a heck of a lot more about sewing machines than we used to. Thanks to all.

Ian, I got some a year ago for $20/ft. A recent price was $30/ft. A few things I have been told about elephant, and anyone can chime in if it is not quite right. Some guys prefer the ears because they have more texture. When they are split though you can have some pinholes or thin spots with some. You can buy "panels" which are parts of a side. Some panels are full grain. Other panels are splits that come off the top grain. They can then emboss the splits with an "elephant pattern" and still call it genuine elephant. It would be different if they embossed the same pattern on cowhide and then tried to call it elephant. I had a guy show me the embossed elephant split vs. the real top gain, and it sure was a stretch to try to tell the difference. That is where a reputable supplier relationship is probably a bonus, not just the price.

One of my friends was at John Fong's in San Francisco a couple weeks ago and he had several ears. You might also contact Jerry VanAmburg, I have bought some from him. I got some nice elephant a couple years ago from GH in Houston too.

Pete, I use the parafin/beeswax mix for edges that aren't dyed after I have them pretty slicked. Beeswax by itself tends to be stickier for me, but colors up well. Maybe an effect from the friction heat of the stickier wax. Parafin makes a really slick non-sticky edge, but doesn't color as much. The mix gives me the best of both. If I am going over a dyed edge, I use straight parafin. An old guy told me he mixes in neatsfoot oil in his to make a mushy paste and uses it as water-resisting dressing on leather workboots exposed to brine.

Dixie, I missed it on the first look. What is the horn like? or has it been broken off?

Dixie, For what it is worth, my thoughts. That saddle looks pretty restorable from the pictures. The big things look pretty decent - swells, seat, cantle. That cantle pocket is way cool. Fenders and skirts can be made to match easier than any of the other parts. This would not be the one I'd pick to take apart to see how a saddle is made. I would restore it as a looker. With a history like that, I'd find another one for a project saddle.

I like the Craft Japan tools I have also. The ones I have are chrome plated, and do make a nice impression. They are way different than the HideCrafter protools I have/used to have. The SS Pro tools I have are fine. I had poor luck with the dark finish HideCrafter stamps. I got a free one from LCSJ, then bought several more based on impressions. When I went to use them, I did have some bend. A buddy gave me some because he had the same experience and was not going to chance it. I had more bend and a couple totally break, one ended up cutting a finger when it let go. I wasn't whacking on them with anything but a 16 oz maul. They ended up and made it sort of right with me after a few phone calls.

Andrew, Pretty hard to go wrong with a call to Bob Douglas too - (307) 737-2222. He usually has several different kinds. Depending on what you need to do with one, he can kind of tell a guy what style is better for that application.

Tim, I melt beeswax and parafin together. I put them into a pyrex measuring cup, set them on a burner, and heat them slowly on the stove. Go slow and swirl as they start to melt. Then I pour them off into cupcake papers to cool and harden.

My background - raised horses, showed, rodeoed, veterinarian and treated them, traded horses, started quite few, still have horses and probably always will. Worked in a slaughter plant as well. Emotions aside, my issue is the bigger picture. This is one of the first major pieces of legislation that has to do with eliminating a food product. Call it however you see it, but this legislation has a lot to do with cutting out the slaughter of horses, not improving the welfare of them. It has effectively shut down one of the major outlets for unwanted or unusable horses in the United States, and offered NO reasonable alternative in its place. Without starting a whole bash-California thread, this first started as state initiative in California. The backers knew that once they had that, national enactment was easier. I had people living in San Francisco, east Los Angeles, and other urban areas voting to tell me what I can and can't do with my livestock. These people will never own a horse, and would not be impacted in the least. Legislaters also are not for the most part directly involved in the horse business. Why should I have them enacting laws with no alternatives to solve the backlash of their legislation? The abandonments and problems with neglect have increased exponentially since the legislation passed. I am not condoning that. This has been going on in the small animal side of things for years - drop them off, leave them in the backyard of the foreclosed house, "that farmer will take care of them", etc. There are mighty few horse rescue groups, and ask most any of them. They are over-run. Many animal shelters are funded by some government. The horse rescue groups aren't. Not every horse is a good one. Some are just plain not safe. Not safe enough to ride, and not consistant enough to make a bucker. Not every dog is good either, and some of them are dropped off at shelters for behavioral issues or things just went south in the household and nobody can afford to take the dog with them or pay for its upkeep. These groups just aren't as common for horses. Slaughter within the United States was maybe not always pretty, but it was there as an outlet. Now the options are limited - horses are generally viewed as a luxury item, and expensive to maintain. At one time the slaughter prices set the bottom price for the horse market. If they were worth $600 there, then a horse you could do something with was worth twice that or more. With that support gone, the price has dropped for the entry level horse, the unstarted colt, and the old reliable kid's horse. Add in the economy and people not having spare money to buy one. Many of the breeders have slowed done the production, but the fact is everybody has some they can't find buyers for. It is expensive to maintain one, and with people losing jobs or strugging to make a payment on a mortgage, hoofcare and feed costs are a problem. They had the resources 7 years ago, now they don't. No outlet, so backyard neglect is increasing along with abandonments. Just like a dog kicked out in the country won't survive like a coyote, neither will a horse kicked on the desert east of Dayton. I wish I had a solution, but there isn't one right now. With everything else in the toilet here, horses aren't going to get the attention of GM or the banking industry. Pretty hard to undo legislation, about the last time that worked was the repeal of prohibiton.

I sure agree with that, Julia. Kind of like a lot of things (skirt riggings come to mind), the strainers get a bad reputation because they have been poorly installed on production saddles. The fiberglass seat strainers are a really poor piece in a lot of them. Either type of strainer allows for clicker cutting and pattern skiving buld ups for consistant shaped seats. Whether they are consistantly good or consistantly bad I'll leave alone. I have sat in good strainers and all leathers, bad strainers and bad all leathers. The strainer will allow you to get closer to the wood. On a tree like a roper wide through the waist, that will be as comfortable as straddling a flat 2x12. Not as much of an issue in a narrow and thinner Tidwell bar in a cutter or barrel racer. A strainer and one build up piece can make those sit pretty decent. The important thing is the shape of the seat. On the wider bars you can make a narrower seat by building up layers and shaping to pinch the peak. Even though you are further off the wood, you are not split. You have more contact all the way up your leg - more secure seat and you probably feel closer to the horse unless built up to an extreme. That type seat can be built on a strainer or an all leather - the maker's skill and experience has more to do with it at that point than strainer or not. Most of the time I use a strainer. I use Bill Bean's. I feel like I can use at least one less piece of build up, and being a heavier gauge they are strong. There is some lore on building and shaping ground seats. I usually do mine in one sitting. I skive around the three sides with the crank skiver to get the rough skiving done. Rough up the grain side, apply cement and let it dry. Apply another coat and let it dry. Then I dunk the first piece until wet, dry the glue side, hit it with some heat, and stick it down. Do the shaping while the next piece is soaking. Rough up the exposed flesh side of the glued down piece and dry/heat/stick/shape the second. I was taught to do it that way in one sitting for leather or strainer seats so the leather would all shrink at about the same rate and stay as a unit. The theory was letting a piece dry and shrink, then adding the second piece over that to shrink at its rate would make them more prone to delaminate. Thoughts or experiences anyone?

Looks to me like everything lines up pretty well. The centers look good, and the weave is parallel to the to and bottom margins. I'd say the stamping is fine. As far as using 8 oz. I do it. I gouge a channel in the middle for the fold. Then if you skive the edges down, they look neater and thinner. I line with pig or goat and then my pockets are 3/4 oz.

Frontpost, It is at the Clarion Hotel off 136, just west of 465.

We'll be there probably Thurs night/maybe Fri morning. Leaving Sunday morning. Coffee and doughnuts huh? I'm good with that.

Will, I can't make the minimums and meet the new criteria for wholesale at Smith Brothers anymore. They are the ones who get that style made, and they wholesale to places like NRS, Willards, etc. If Smith Brothers is backordered then the others might be low or out too. The phone operators can only tell you what they have been told about expected dates. When they do come in, the big accounts get them and rightfully so. The whole shipment might be gone because you are too low on the list. Last year preChristmas I got some late orders mid Nov and figured I could do them. Called and Smith Bros and NRS were out. Anticipated dates would have worked but I knew better than to count on it. Kings sent me a couple they had sitting to insure that some of the shipped out cans were going to be here. I called Jeanie at Willards and she had a lot of them. Sounded like a family run outfit and I can appreciate that. She was very easy to deal with, and cost and shipping were more than reasonable. It sounds like she likes to keep a pretty good inventory. I ordered extra to have more on hand than usual too. Nothing against Smith Brothers (I have dealt with them almost from their start) and NRS has been good too, but you are talking to phone operaters. I have been a guest at Kings party in Sheridan, and Willards were friendly on the phone and went out of their way to get them to me.

I used to get mine from Smith Brothers directly. Smith Brothers changed their wholesale deal around a little and made it harder for a guy like me to deal with them. It is not uncommon for them to be backordered, and then National Ropers Supply was the next choice. Previous experience taught me to not rely on either one for their estimated date to have them in stock. Before Christmas they were both out. I ordered what I could from Kings in Sheridan, WY. I ordered the rest from Willards (http://www.willardropes.freeyellow.com/bags.htm) and Jeanie was absolutely great to deal with too. I hit a deal on a shop going out of business right after that and got a good stockpile. When they are gone, Willards and Kings will be first call. If I gotta pay retail, it might as well be with folks I like.

Maybe your area is different, but the sharpening shops around here don't do the job I can on any leather tool. For one they don't get anything quite as sharp as they need to be. They are good on butcher knives and stuff like that, but like you said, you'd rather have someone who knows what leather tools are for. If the guy can park his ego and you take the splitter in to show him how they work and what to do, then you might be alright. I had a guy email me about buying his Osborne Chase pattern because it wouldn't split anymore. Ends up the sharpening shop put a 1/8" bevel on the top side of the blade. My thoughts would be to send it to Herb French in Sheridan, WY if you are going anywhere. He resharpens and makes leather tools. He knows how one is supposed to be. Herb also wrote a little book on sharpening leather tools. Vandy at Sheridan Leather sells it. Costs about 10 bucks and I think worth it easily. I have had some stuff that Herb probably did the blades on, and ready to go. Herb's book, diamond stones, green rouge, and a big lens have probably advanced me more than anything.

David, There are a few who will get each point to come out exactly. Almost everyone will have some points that don't quite meet. A trick for fixing that - Get a flat bladed screwdriver the thickness of the stamp leg. Use it like a stamp to extend the line of the legs and make them meet at an exact point on the line. For a first time you made the centers line up very well in a hard basket pattern to do that on. Good job.

DJ, I make mine from doubled 7/9 oz latigo , and sew in a popper at the bottom. The popper extends about 4" past the doubled latigo. The popper also adds a little weight to the end to hang good and be able to slide one when you need to. I skive the top end and sandwich it between the two main body pieces. I sew them up and use water loops for the bit end. After they are made up, I 10 second dip them in olive oil and let them drip. It gives them a body, weight, and feel I like. I used to make 5/8 and 3/4 widths. Never failed, if all I had left was 5/8, they wanted 3/4, if all I was 3/4, they wanted 5/8. Now I make them 11/16". I can sell them either way - full 5/8 or scant 3/4. I cut them the length of the side, tail end to the head of the hide. I keep them paired, and sell them by length. Some people like a 7 footer for babies, and others like 8 footers for big horses or showing a cutter. I just mark them for length and hang them up. Here's a testimonial a customer left on my blog - "You make the most awesome reins. I’ve won quite a bit of money NRCHA with them." She is understating things a bit on her end, she's a campaigner and as a non-pro she has trained I think 4 Supreme Reined Cowhorses in the NRCHA.

Are the ProCrafters the dark colored ones that Hidecrafters sells/sold?

I am with Chris on this. Bob Brenner's book "How to Establish Prices for the Saddle Maker or Leather Worker" is the absolute best $40 I ever spent. Don't get hung up on his prices in the examples, use the principles and make up some worksheets to figure your own.

Richard, I had someone ask me a few months ago about contacting him too. The spelling is Clay Hamil. The only info I could find for contact was that he was in Montalba Tx and phone number - (903) 549-2384.

Bob, Tying always looked kind of cool, and I'll bet it is a rush to be in the middle of it. Glad to get a second on the strap. I figured that was it, but then my buddy has a picture from a warmup pen where the guy had splint boots hanging on it. I am claiming victory now, even though it may be a dual purpose strap.