gmace99

@JD62 Thanks for subscribing to his youtube. This is a big thing for him. He phones me when he gets subscribers.

This is the link to my nephews videos... He does not have a lot of strength in his hands due to his size and disabilities . He is normally in a wheel chair but walks for his videos. and his leather work.

How did I manage 56. I did not think I knew 56 things. I have not done one in awhile. Been busy teaching. If I can think of something to do in another video I will get one done. My nephew has a couple of leather videos also. One is making a bag the other is a couple of neat bracelets. He was asking if he could do another video. I told him he can in 3 weeks.

Yes @Stetson912 I think I have 53 videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRSI4IrhtSvYDKuDX6fYgiQ

I'm not as old as you max. You will know the answer to that. The mitre in this topic is never used on a saddle

I do saddle repair courses. However I would recommend making a saddle. From there you may go into saddle making or repairs. If you do a repair course you will do a few repairs on the course. If you make a saddle you will understand hw to do a lot more types of repairs. I have taught lots of people over the years some go on doing repairs some go into saddle making and some turn into large businesses. One of the people I started in America is Custom Saddlery. Cary who owns the company is now a very good friend of mine. He started on my flocking course then did a saddle making course. Since then I have trained his staff in America Holland and the UK.

I never got any info from book binding. this is a simple thing that is done when working with leather. I am a professional saddle maker who has also worked in factories making wallets jewellery boxes and bags.

You only have to mitre the corner . I think it shows you how about 5. 45 minutes into my video above this

The buff stick is leather on one side and on the other it is leather with tallow fat then carborundum powder

I teach people in my school that the edge strip will do the job for you if you hold it right and it is sharp. I hold the edge strip as between my fore finger and thumb as loose as I can. This is to show when it is held at the right angle it will go forward on its own. (Erm another idea for a video I think) This is a link to my video showing how I sharpen my Edge strip

I use my round knife to give the leather its straight edge. Then I use a plough gauge. In this video you see me using my plough at the beginning.

I use veg tan on both sides of my strop. On one side I put veg tan on it then ruff it up a bit. On the other side I put veg tan then spread tallow fat all over the leather then put carborundum powder on it I think I have had this strop for 30 years and changed the leather 3 or 4 times . I add more tallow and powder every few years. I was a professional English style saddle maker making 5 0r 6 saddles a week. My strop was well used in these years. In my video you can see my strop.

@Skipndance Yes I do my one to one between courses or after my last course in July. I have a couple of one to one courses booked for later in the year. Let me know what is good for you. I would not do 5 or 6 weeks all at once. It is good for me. However I think it is better for you if you do them over time. This will give you a chance to practice on your own then come back for a tidy up. My website is www.uksaddlery.com and my email is sales@uksaddlery.com

@retiredranger I have tried Jameson/Bushmills/Daniels and Glenfiddich. I am from Glasgow I really can't see me drinking something called Knobs Creek. I can just imagine the stick my friends would give me. Even if you never do a saddle making course you should visit Scotland. It has great history and scenery. Just be careful of the wild haggis

@Diyer A saddle maker does not have to be a saddle fitter. Most saddle makers have never been near a horse. I am a Master saddler and a qualified saddle fitter. Most saddle makers are on the board making 5 or 6 saddles a week, They can not do both jobs. You said if someone makes a saddle it would only be useful for exhibition. This is not true. The saddle makers on the board make saddles to a pattern . Over the years there have been millions of saddles made this way and have fitted horses. In saddle making there are many styles of trees and panels used. This gives us many opportunities as a saddle fitter to find a saddle that fits. There is not one saddle that fits every horse. If you are planning to make saddles and fit them I agree you have to train to be a saddle fitter. It will be the bad saddle fitter that will hurt the horse not the saddle maker. You quoted Andy Foster as saying tree makers Could not put fittings on square. Andy went bankrupt years ago. Since this time he went out of business there have been many changes to tree making. They now have standards that have to be met. When I started making saddles the saddle maker had to dress the tree. This is making it level by rasping the wood slightly to get it level. These days I rarely have to dress a tree. I still look to make sure there are no problems I do this with my other materials like leather etc just in case. Andy was a very good saddle maker and like all saddles they fitted some horses. Yes they where wide trees this meant that they could only fit some horses. A lot of bigger companies make wider saddles and use the same tree that Andy used. They also used other shapes of trees to create there different models. They use different shape trees and panels to help the fitter find a saddle to fit. Lumpy flocking. It is recommended that the flocking is completely renewed every year to two years. because it can become hard or lumpy. Rubber panels are very limited in how they can be adjusted . Horses change shape and you can do that very easy with flocking. You would never regulated flocking in a leather panel This is a old term used for serge panels or if you have been making saddles for as long as I have we used to regulate seats. A leather panel can easily have the flock adjusted or topped up. This is not far of the term regulated. And when you learn to hold the saddle and use the tools it is not a hard job to do. Serge panels are still used today by some companies.

Solar It is cheaper to buy the water of life by the bottle. ....Billybopp. There is no bad whisky's they just made some better than others. I am not sure how much you can bring back duty free.. I would have drank it before I got back.. Lourdes water ...Yuk who drinks water?

Hey fiveways and Thor thanks for the kind words.... @retiredranger My course in July is full. I have another person asking for another date if you message me we can set something up.. It is cheaper for you to fly to Scotland than do a course in the USA. I charge £1200 for 12 days We cover a lot in that time Hotels here are about 500 / 600 for 12 days I'm sure they can be got cheaper and dearer. The exchange rate really helps you at the moment. Email me at Sales@uksaddlery.com or message me on facebook Geo Dunoon if you want more info.

Use a edge sealer this keeps it good

I'm glad it helped

It's a great all round knife @Thor

The way I edge dye is ...Stain with a water based stain. Give it a light rub up....don't spend ages on it you don't need to......next rub tallow fat on it to smooth the hairy edges. again light rub up ......Apply glue water leave to almost dry then gentle rub up to shine. The whole process should take less time to do than the time it took to type this. I have a video showing the glue water in it you can see the tallow fat etc. I hope it helps

The English leather company do sell quantities of less than 300 sq ft . This is a link to their site. http://www.theenglishleather.com/english-bridle-butts AW Midgley are a great company and very helpful http://www.awmidgley.co.uk/ I don't buy of either of them However I have sent students to them and have heard nice things. Midgley I dealt with years ago when I could only buy small quantities and they where great. The reason I don't buy from them is because I am able to buy direct from company's because I can order 5 or more pairs of butt at a time.