rktaylor

Looks like you have made some progress. At this stage, I suggest you think about rigging placement. Unless it is used exclusively on a pony, standard rigging placement is tough to make work. Randy

That looks really nice. I like harness leather bridles. Randy

Thanks for the compliments. The young man can play, so I hope the strap can keep up. He's getting really popular thanks to TikTok. I don't understand, but I guess I'm too old. I think the font appearance is an optical illusion since the strap is curved over a post. The letter height is within 1/16" but the width may vary. If they are tapered, it certainly wasn't intended. Randy

Thank you. Thanks. He saw some sample tooling and approved so it won't be a complete surprise. Randy

A friend ordered this guitar strap as a Christmas present for his son. I don't do a lot of floral tooling so it took some time. I vow to practice more in the coming year. A pre-news year's resolution. Randy

I use athletic tape. Maybe that's the white tape Bruce mentioned. I tried band aids, but they weren't very effective. Randy

I finally have some adapters for this press. I decided against modifying the press and chose to modify the attachments. I bought a Little Wonder 104 rivet set and anvils. I had an adapter made for the anvils. I had the rivet set turned down to fit the press. I also had a Tandy mini punch set that I never use. I had the handle modified to the press. Overall it works pretty good, but the stroke seems a little short. Randy

Anybody headed to Wichita Falls for the Boot and Saddle Show? I'm finishing a saddle to take and will post some pictures soon. Randy

Well done. Randy

My recent builds have been with Timberline, Double L, and Swanke. I've been happy with all of them, but there are differences in cost and quality. Depends on what you want. Randy

Nice work. Randy

@bjr, Thanks for the stories. I sold that saddle about a year ago to a guy in Wyoming. I seem to recall that he knew Mr. Steiner, but I can't find any communication to confirm that. He was sure pleased to get it. Randy

The top is 3/8" and the bottom is 13/16" (seems odd but I measured it). Stimpson steered me to another company (I don't recall the name) that made dies for 104 rivets. I'll see if I can find the name. It would be nice if Weaver parts fit it. I haven't tried to find the specs on their dies. I'm just kicking tires now as I don't have a huge need. But, if I wouldn't mind using it without a big investment. Thanks for the tips. Randy

I looked at a lot of options several years ago. Found a few examples searching the web but never got started. I'll be interested to see what you do. Randy

Thanks for the comments. I have a local machinist who works for beer so the adapters should be easy (at least for me). I currently don't have dies, so I was wondering if anyone has made a similar adaptation. The Weaver dies seem affordable, but I haven't priced others. I want to make use of the tool, but I don't know much about it and want to invest wisely. Randy

I recently acquired a Stimpson 405. The driver and anvil are for grommets. Has anyone adapted one of these rivets or snaps? How about converting to another brand like Weaver? Thanks, Randy

Thanks for all the tips. I know 3 stitches are a lot and I don't have this problem all the time. I think some of the issue is thread. I have thread from different suppliers and its certainly different. Regardless, I have started back stitching 2 and then going forward. Randy

Thanks. I've never been able to 'eyeball' the second or third stitch very well. Using a stitch wheel is a great suggestion. Randy

My bottom stitches aren't clean when I start. I make one forward stitch, back stitch, then go forward to finish. I have a Cobra 4. The pictures are of the bottom and top. Any thoughts? Thanks, Randy

I love my Robert Beard pear shaders. Randy

At some point I'm going to start worrying about the bar. Once you drill and patch enough holes, there's not going to be much original wood. You could patch the holes with dowel as suggested, then drill new holes also as suggested. Pictures would help. Randy

Hansen Western Gear has some options. I've been pleased with their buckles and conchos, but haven't bought anything like this from them. https://hansenwesterngear.com/ Randy

I think that is a good starting point. Chuck is right about finding things visually appealing. Some things just look better and some just don't seem right. This is my 'medium' basket weave stamp and my 2 favorite border stamps. Randy

I couldn't find the picture I wanted, but this is from a similar saddle. These stirrup leathers wrap around the bars, but they have the roller buckles I described. You will need to be careful about creating too much bulk under the seat hockey, so think about how the stirrup leathers and fenders are going to fit. Randy