Big Sioux Saddlery

I've only ever bought chap leather from them, but it has always been true to color as represented on their swatch cards, and nice clean spready hides.

I think Weaver still carries some. It's commonly used to make draft show halters

FWIW, there DOES seem to be a difference in copper. I've had some that were so hard, I could barely cut them with my end nippers. Others are softer and cut nicely. It seems like the older rivets (on repair work of old items) are the hardest. I don't know if age has hardened them or if the copper was actually harder to start with. Make sure you are using an end nippers, not a side cutter.

How big do you need the scraps to be?

I'm simply speechless!

That looks very nice. Deer hides are a nice size hide to start out with. My first hide over 30 years ago was a deer hide. A whole cow hide is too heavy and big for me to handle alone. I processed a calf hide last spring, but it was really thin. I haven't cut it into strings yet, but it almost looks too light to try to braid with. Almost paper thin. I've never done a LOT of rawhide work; it takes more time than I have to spare at this point, and it's really hard to get paid for the time spent unless you're one of the handful of top artists in the nation. Maybe when I get old and retire!

Josh Ashman I don't do much gunleather but those look awesome!

Uwe nailed it. It's the steep uphill/downhill that is at least in part responsible for the marks. I see it in harness construction such as breeching ends where I go from 2 layers thick to 5 at the very end. Even with careful skiving, there's going to be an increase in thickness. Sewing uphill is worse than downhill for leaving marks. Backing off the downward tension on the presser foot when you come to material as thick as shown in your pics usually results in dropped stitches, at least for me. Going through that much material needs a lot of pressure on the foot. I rub out what I can, and just have to live with what's left. Not to say that some filing on the foot couldn't help.

Ksungjune you probably already had your question answered but I sewed many, MANY carpenter bags on a JukiLU563 (which I think is a Jap copy, or is based on the design of a Singer 111, except the LU563 has reverse. The machine guys will be more knowledgeable on that than I) when I was married to a contractor. The bags were made mostly from firm 5/6 oz chrome tan leather. I could use up to a 207 thread on that machine, which I believe is heavier than it is rated for. I had a machine guy make a modification so I could use the 207. Two layers of the 5/6 it handled very well, but 3 layers was about the max the machine could handle. Retrospectively, a step up in capacity would have been my choice. To start though, the LU563's and 111's can be gotten fairly reasonable and I think would serve your purpose and fit your budget. Best of luck to you!

I'm with Dirtclod. . . she needs to get the measurement with the breastcollar on her horse. I made one 20 years before they became popular (again) to use on drop dee saddles that had no breastcollar dee. The collars would drop down over the point of the shoulder because the point of attachment was too low. It is a fad now to use one whether needed or not, as a place to put "Bling", inlays, quotes, etc on. Just extra junk if you don't need it. A lot of truth to what Thor says. It transfers force to a point right in front of the withers through incorrect fit of the breastcollar and point of attachment. If it doesn't, it means that it isn't needed. Folks tend to follow a fad without thinking about whether it is needed for their situation.

Clicker dies

"Mock-ups can be a cheaper intermediate solution, but with leather goods there won't be much difference between a mock-up, a muck-up, a f--k-up, and a prototype." Thanks Art, you gave me my laugh for the day. And there's a lot of truth to that. Like Electrathon, I usually get it on the second try. If I don't get it by the third, I bag the project, but I realize we may be talking about different types of projects and a custom situation vs manufacturing. With years of experience, I have learned to predict if a project is going to be good right out of the chute or take some experimentation. I tend to take fewer of the second kind unless the client understands they will pay for every minute of experimentation/tweaking/prototyping. With experience, you also get better at initial design work, so there are fewer second and third attempts.

That's always been a characteristic of the W & C as far as I'm concerned. Nice leather but the yield is never as good; you can't cut nearly as far down in the side as HO. Got some dark brown skirting on it's way and waiting on some more that'll be another couple weeks (they said that a month ago too) so I guess I'll find out.

I bought a CB4500 new a couple years ago SPECIFICALLY to sew Biothane. Wretched stuff that Biothane is, it's here to stay and some folks want it, so I had to change with the times:-) Turns out I use the 4500 for nearly all new construction leather and synthetics now except fine harness work. With the Biothane, you'll have to use about two needle sizes larger than you would for leather using the same size thread or you won't get the lock to pull into the material; instead it will just sit on the bottom. Don't be afraid of the CB4500, it's been a good machine for me so far, but I agree with Art. I would never, EVER one off ebay. Buy from a dealer.

I guess I'll find out shortly, I have a batch on the way. What are you seeing?

The higher the buckle, the smaller your range of adjustment. Many western training headstalls have the buckle placed as in your first picture to fit a wide range of horses. Twenty years ago I had my cheek piece die for my work headstalls made open ended so I can make it any length I want using the same die. While that means that I have to make one cut by hand for every piece I cut, I would not change it if I had it made over today. English bridles typically have the buckle set higher as described by gmace99. It depends on your market. If a large percentage of your clients ride colts or a wide range of horses, they will not be happy with the buckle placed high. Believe me. Also, swell the bit ends front and back to make it wider where you run the ties through. And don't use Chicago screws for attachment. Most people don't like them because they tend to work lose and fall out. Bleed ties with a rosette and slotted concho is what most of my clients prefer for working tack.

I order from Weaver a lot and generally am pleased with their service. However, I have gotten bad leather from them, just like I have gotten bad leather from HO, W & C and other places. I even got a side of what was supposed to be HO from Weaver that I know WAS NOT HO. How did I know? Because I have used enough of it that I know if it is or isn't HO. And that is the only way you will know as well. They paid the freight back and sent me what I'd ordered. If it works and tools up better than anything else you've had then it probably is indeed HO, and furthermore, if it's better than anything else you've had, does it matter? The inferior stuff will not hold the tooling and will finish up a poor color. No matter what you do to try to improve it, it just gets worse. Some of the HO I've gotten is stamped with a logo, most has not been. Weaver, in my experience, does try to keep their customers.

Probably a heavier maul and make sure your leather is cased up good, just like for tooling. You want your maul heavy enough that one hit will do the job without putting a whole lot of effort into the blow. I don't know how heavy my heaviest one is, but I don't use it for tooling, just for my makers stamp and drive punches. Weaver's catalog shows their heaviest maul at 4-1/2 lbs.

No problem, since I don't identify my gender in my profile, I'm not offended if people make the assumption that I'm male. Anyway, yes I know Keith well. He only lives about 40 miles from me, and I've gotten some old stock needles from him in smaller sizes, but when they're gone, they're gone. I will try Eli, as I need some needles for my Landis 3 also. Thank you!

Mario, I'm not a "he" but that's okay :-) Wondering where you get the new 160 and 180 needles, as all that's been available for a long time as far as I know is the 200 and up. I like using mine for "raised" work, but a 200 is a bit big for fine work. Thank you!

This is not my machine (see my above post) but I wouldn't give a dollar for a Boss. I'm sure there are folks out there who love them, but I've never seen one that did even a passable job. The Landis 1 is a workhorse though, if you're wanting to sew fine stuff, wallets and similar stuff, it may be a little more machine than you want. It's made to sew harness and saddlery. When they were manufactured new, they were made to sew as fine as 12psi, but needles and guide bushings are not available to sew that fine now. There are some limitations to the machine, as there are with every machine, but this is still one great deal from where I see it.

I agree with most of what was said above. If a person likes leather, they're going to realize and animal has to die in order for them to get it. If they're going to raise a fit, they probably wouldn't buy leather anyway. I get so sick and tired of the "save the horses from slaughter" BS on the FB groups. Good god, they're no different than any other animal if they're raised for meat purposes, AND sorry for the rant, but I think it's perfectly fine if someone wants to raise them for meat. That just means more horsehide for us leather people:-) You can make a pet out of a pig if you want to.

This isn't going to help much, but I had some new old stock squares like you are needing. One guy came and took them all for exactly what you are using them for. I don't know where to get new ones either. It's possible I'll run across a few more in a box or bucket around here. They were steel with a Jap finish.

I make 20 ft driving lines for teams all the time. Three cuts, 2 splices is the only way to do it. That's for the wheelers; like Toot said, more splices if you start stringing them out. Bob, do you use a double bend to get a 36" circle? And what type of leather. Since driving lines are made from heavy harness leather, I imagine it'd be tough to get the curl out of it.

I second what Wiz said. I don't know what your experience level is but they are not an entry-level machine.