St8LineGunsmith

Dusty Johnson has paterns that will work for pretty much any style saddle you want to make here are some saddle patterns you will find useful and they are free. are you going to make the tree? making the tree is the hardest part to make. since this will be your first saddle I would suggest buying a saddle tree that way you can get the right fit and see how the saddle tree is constructed. you can get saddlery and tack hardware from tractor supply that is very reasonably priced if you will do a google search "Western saddle patterns and "how to build a western saddle tree" you will get a lot of good research information that will get you started in the right direction If you dont mind spending the money get all three volumes of the Stholman encyclopedia of saddle making a little pricey but well worth every penny if you want to learn how to do it right. you can save some money by getting a digital download from Leathercraftlibrary.com however I would recommend getting the hard copy's for quick reference that you can keep handy by your work bench. Here is another PDF link you may find useful http://umaine.edu/4h...saddleology.pdf

I like it a lot! I want to make one wth a back strap for carrying my double barrel coach gun.

Yep they make them http://www.berettausa.com/products/beretta-92a1-blue-gun-inert-training-tool-2-magazines/

I know this is an old thread but I have to say that is one of the most beautiful knife sheathes I have seen Very Nice Work!

I use a bamboo chop stick that I sharpen with a pencil sharpener then sand the point round to transfer patterns to the leatheri the bamboo is strong but is softer than a metal stylus so it is a little forgiving on the transfer sheet as far as tools it pays to shop around. you can find tools at a discount on E-Bay and Amazon. you can also browse the for sale section here in the forum things like cutting boards measuring tools,and cutting tools can be found at harbor freight toolsfor a frction that you would pay at the leather store. springfield leather has new tools reasonably priced Check out the ergo swivel knife and get a 1/4" angled blade it really feels good in the hand or if you can swing the cash check out the new pro swivel knife tandy just put on the market it is really nice but it is a bit pricey.

wOw! I like that, you did a fantastic job on it.

This is a cool little setup.I might have to find me a nice log . The video tutorials are top notch too.

Good work there!

you can also use a bone creaser or a stylus to make a groove but a groover is going to do the best job. as someone else mentioned a v gouge works good on the rough side i wouldn't recommend a gouge for the smooth side

Hey guys I did not see anything about this classin the forum so I thought I would post about it here. Not sure who is conducting the class but this Saturday January 12 at Tandy Leather they are having a holster and knife sheathe making class just thought I would give a heads up for anyone in the area who would like to go.I think there are 26 signed up already you may want to call the store for all the details.if you are interested.

I have noticed here lately I am unable to log on to the site.

shoot I cant even afford a maul let alone 900 bucks for the likes of that , sure looks cool tho maybe if I ever hit the lottlery for a few million

I think it has a lot to do with the way the blade is shaped and I believe the older blades were solgen steel (Could Be wrong) anyway the old swivel knife blades seemed to hold a better edge longer than these new blades. could just be that I have a cheapo chinese knife and blade and Chinese steel sucks for trying to keep an edge For the life of me I cannot get any kind of control making sharp radius cuts with a straight blade but with an angled blade my cuts are a lot more accurate and I can make tighter radius cuts and just al round better looking cuts than with a straight blade. anyway I have been looking around for some of the older leather working tools especially a swivel knife.

Hey guys I recently purchased one of these for a very good price so I am not going to complain because it is a usable tool however if you are thinking about buying one new from Tandy Dont! The haft is pretty much garbage very cheaply made and will not tighten down on the blade tight enough without having to use a pair of pliers and even then the blade can be pulled out of the haft definitely not worth the 40 dollars tandy has them priced at and not even worth springfields price I am really astonished of the price they are trying to gouge people out of for this sub par tool. I only paid 12 dollars for the one I got which would be a fair price considering there are four blades and a haft but 40 dollars is highway robbery. I did find a on line vendor who sells osborne hafts for a very good price and the shipping is a good price also so I thought I would share that link. http://www.mainethre...Awls_Hafts.html they also have thread and might have other tools for sale but not sure I am not trying to badmouth crafttool it is just that if they are going to charge a premium for the tools they make they need to make a tool that is worth what they expect consumers to pay for it look around and you can find better tools for less or at least a compedetive price

maybe something like this for tools http://www.harborfreight.com/toolbox-organizer-with-4-drawers-68238.html And something like this for hardware and fittings http://www.harborfreight.com/multi-compartment-utility-box-40528.html

Someone should put up a sticky of which tools to get for the beginner.

ya it looks to be pretty simple design the point of attachment of the strap on the bottom side of the holster is really the only thing I question everything else is pretty much right in your face I think I would angle the holster for a cross draw position.

Nice!

some tools require a little moister leather than others you might try to spray some water on the leather where you are stamping then wipe off any standing water with a dry sponge this will make the leather easier to bruise when it is a little damper and may also require a harder hammer blow to get the desired texture. could also be the waves/ ripples in the cloth are cut with a fine blade then given a bit more definition with the tool are you using a piece of granite or marble work surface... Right? you might want to try a modeling tool like a spoon or stylus to get the texture you are looking for. could even use a small pear shader, just depends. I am not sure what you are trying to do so It is hard to say what will work. if you can take a pic of the area you are working on you will probably get a better answer of what may work.

if you have a photobucket account you can upload the picture to your photobucket account then copy and paste the URL to the thread or if you prefer you can PM me and I will give you my e mail address and you can send me the pics and I will upload the pics here for you. I am sure there is someone here who can tell you more about the saddle than I can however what I do know Herman H Heiser saddlery company of Denver Colorado was a very sought after saddle because of the high quality and craftsmanship. If I am not mistaken the HHH saddlery company made saddles, Tack ,Gun belts holsters and other leather goods for the army divisions in the surrounding territories so it could possibly be you have a US Calvary saddle or at least some Calvary saddle bags. It would be hard to tell what its history is other than it was made during the period between the black hills war and the wounded knee massacre so it could have been issued to a US soldier of that time period can't really know these kind of details unless you know someone who knew a little bit about the original owner of the saddle.you might want to go back where you bought the saddle and ask if they know anything about its former owner or if they knew their name then you might be able to research that person to find out what their background was. here is an attached pic of the HHH logo from 1878 to 1900

you have to look at as a hobby that has the potental to make at least enough money to get your inital investment back with but like others have said if you are making a profit it is no longer a hobby it is a job. it is a talent within its self to be able to make a profit from items you market I used to know a group of guys who would work 8 hours making saddles then go to a home work shop and make belts bill folds, guitar straps, holsters Bike leather along with other leather goods and and set up booths at flea markets, craft shows and swap meets etc. and make pretty good money on the weekends at least enough to reinvest in their little enterprize to keep it going and to make enough to buy new and better equipment. they would spend the cold months making leather goods so they would have stock for sale during the summer. but none of those guys considered what they were doing a hobby. I would love to just make random things and package what I make then set up a booth when I got enough goods to fill up a couple of tables and see if anything sells maybe put some stuff up for sale on ETSY or some other on line store.

actually you would probably get a deeper impression with the chrome plating off you just need to take extra care to keep them from rusting by using a light coat of oil or bees wax on the heads of the stamps that have the chrome plating worn off. I have noticed that with the crafttool brand stamps from tady the chrome plating is not that good and comes off easily any way. but ya it will be perfectly fineto stamp away with the tools with the chrome worn off.

I got a seeder, pear shader, beveler, veiner,Camo and a backgrounder. the brand name is US Stamps I got them off Ebay here a few weeks ago which i really liked but doing a google search returned no results for us stamps except for postage stamps. I would love to find more of these brand stamps because they are very well madethe impressions are good and defined with nice beefy stems has any one else ran across these stamps with the brand name US Stamps?

other types of material that is good for stropping is dry wall gypsum board i also use a flat piece of MDF and use a piece of 1200 grit wet sanding paper and use 3M 77 spray adhesive to bond the sand paper to the MDF board i use a regular piece of card stock on the other side of the MDF and use the spray adhesive to bond the card stock to the mdf board then I just rub jewelers rouge on to the card stock. you don't have to prep the dry wall board just rub on some jewelers rouge as others have already mentioned a piece of cerial box with jewelers rouge rubbed on it on top of your stamping stone will polish up any edge very nicely.

one other thing i can think of is if you have a pro groover you can make a guide bar as long as you need.