rawhide1

Kevin You are right this forum was created to help leatherworkers share projects and answer any questions they may have. But this area was put together so folks that needed a leatherworker to make an item for them could find that said person. So Sable you posted this in the right place and hopefully someone can help you out. Mike

I've been thinking about that damn sheath now for a couple of days. LOL Now I've got to try and make one. I'll try and take pictures along the way just in case it works out. With trying to get kids ready for the county fair and other orders it may be a week or two. If anyone else has any other ideas pass them along. Mike

Thanks WinterBear I'll check them out. It would be nice to get it without the hooks. That's what I need. I never thought of shock cord learn something new every day!! Mike

Thanks fellas I'll check them out. Mike

John I was always told if it gets glued it gets sewed. And if it gets sewed it gets glued. While I think contact cement would hold fine for non load bearing or stress free areas I would hate to chance it. Especially on a high end product such as your cases. IMHO it cheapens the overall appearance of the product. Anyway my .02 cents, Mike

I have a idea but I don't know if it's right. If I was to do it I would take a thin piece of leather probably skirting. Maybe a once or two so it's not to bulky. I would basically make a sheath for the knife with the leather. Except I would skive the edges all the way down and glue them together. So it would be seamless. I would then cover it with a long pineapple knot. It looks like one of the sheaths has a gaucho interweave(V's running around) so you could go that route. It's just a different way of braiding the turks head. That is just how I would try it. It may or may not work. Grants encyclopedia of rawhide and leather braiding will have the knots plus many more. He has a smaller book(cheaper) I can't remember the name that may get you through it. While the pineapple knot isn't to hard to learn okay it may be kinda of hard. Learning to expand it can make you pull your hair out. I would also just use one string some folks like to use multistring knots I prefer one string unless it's a real long knot. Enough rambling!! Good luck and feel free to ask more questions if I haven't cornfused you enough!! Mike

I'm trying to find a source for small dia. bungee cord. It needs to be around 1/4" or so. I need it in black or red. Does anyone have a supplier. Thanks for any help, Mike

Dang brother take it easy!! It aint that big a deal. FDLeather welcome to the board and nice looking work. To start a new post just click on the new post button. Once again welcome and looking forward to seeing more of your work. Mike

Moe Just a heads up. Use it lightly at least for the first coat if going over dye or paint. As it will take the dye and anything else you've put put on the leather off! But it is good stuff. Mike

While I love my drawgauge(old wood grip osborne) I will for sure buy a plough gauge when I get the pennies. With my drawgauge I can cut up to 2" pretty easy anything over that I have to let the monkey out of the closet to help. I guess it depends on what your cutting the most of. If your cutting a lot of stuff 2" or better I would for sure get the plough gauge. But if your cutting a lot of stuff up to 1" or 2" I'd go with the drawgauge, Or if ya got money laying around buy both. I don't think you can go wrong buying ether from Bruce and you know they will be sharp and in great shape from him. And I'm not getting paid by him unless he wants to send me some money.LOL anyway that's my 2cents Mike

Frank Thanks but I can't take credit for the design as I copied a old one I have. I didn't think about using latigo as the old one I had had sheepskin on it. That's something to keep in mind if I make another pair. Does anyone else have experience with one or the other. Mike

Thanks fellas I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I would have liked the v's on my knots to be straighter. I cut one off and redone it and my strings could have been a tad narrower for the knots. And on the body there's a couple of places that look like it could of been braided tighter. Most important the customer is happy. Thanks, Mike k-man email sent

There's nothing fancy about these. But it been kinda of slow around here so I figured I'd give y'all something to chew on. It's a 8 foot roping rein 8 strand braided over a leather core. All comments welcome good or bad. Thanks, Mike

Here are some cinch guards I just finished. I had a old one I copied. I had to make these about 1/2" bigger all the way around to fit a bigger buckle. Any comments good or bad welcomed. Thanks, Mike

Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep a eye out for that. Mike

Goerge Thanks for the reply I went ahead and passed on it. Mike

Thanks for the input dirtclod. I think I will pass on this. Mike

Denise Thanks for the reply. I noticed it didn't look square but I wasn't sure if it was just the picture. Thanks for listing all that in detail and telling why it doesn't look square. I'm waiting to hear back from the fella on if the tree is sound. I wonder if a horse went over on this saddle. That's probably why it's going so cheap. I should probably pass on this one. Thanks again, Mike

Hello all I came across this saddle on ebay. I was looking to get it for my daughter. It needs some work as you can see but the main thing I'm concerned with is the warped skirts. Can they be reshaped or do they need replaced. Any input is greatly appreciated.Here's the item #130539143620 http://cgi.ebay.com/...IT#ht_500wt_949 Thanks, MIke

I agree I think I would cut my strands smaller. This is just my personal preference but I like to cut my button strings smaller(narrower) than the strands I use for the body. I usually try to go half as wide. Sometimes their a little bigger and sometimes smaller. What ever works and looks good. Keep after it. Mike

impulse I'm rooting for ya!! It my not work when your done and it my cost you just as much as a used one. But my daddy always said where there's a will there's a way!! If you don't have a CNC machine maybe you can trade something for the work to be done. And there's just something about figuring a problem out and getting it done that makes a fella feel pretty damn good. I know your not in the USA but this country was founded on the can do attitude. So the best of luck! Mike

Howdy I went to this website after seeing it posted elsewhere on this site. I think concerning a splitter. While I found a lot of good info. on sharping I couldn't find anything directly related to the size of the splitter blade. I contacted Brent the owner /author/sharping guy and he was kind enough to put some instruction on his site for the splitter blade. I haven't had the chance to build or use the jigs because I need to get a belt sander so I can put my primary bevel on the blade. While I've been getting my splitter blade fairly sharp by freehand sharping. I hope to take it to the next level by using a jig. If your interested take a look and see what you think maybe it will help someone get a sharper splitter blade. Anyway this is a super nice guy and will answer any questions you have on sharping anything. http://www3.telus.net/BrentBeach/Sharpen/other.html#leather Mike

entiendo Each to their own I reckon. I find if I have to re tighten a knot whether roo or rawhide the strings look kind of beat up. I build the base of my knots pretty snug so I don't have to re tighten them. It saves a tremendous amount of time and produces a better looking knot IMO. I haven't had any problems with my knots being soft ether. Mike

acoxt4t The goal should be not to have to go back and tighten a knot. It takes some practice but you'll get it. Just start building a little tighter from the get go. Once you get it you'll save yourself a ton of time on not having to go back and re-tighten Best of luck, Mike.