Johanna

The "ultimate workshop" kit Tandy sells is a good value for someone starting out. Everything but the rotary hole punch is useful. Johanna

I went for the last surgical consultation today, and there isn't going to be any surgery. My choice. The surgery wouldn't restore the range of motion, anyway, and that is one of my top complaints. I have an "ulnar abutment" which means two bones are rubbing on each other, and the area is swollen and irritated. They could shave the lunate bone in my wrist, but the surgeon warned that it would ache for a long time, maybe forever. It does that now, so I don't want it to be worse! There is nerve damage affecting three fingers that cannot be repaired surgically, either. Neither can the "vascular osteo-necrosis", which spells eventual doom for that little lunate bone. The consensus was that I should accept the limitations and learn to manage the disability, except for the bone surgeon who wants to fix that lunate bone. He put up a great defense for his surgery, but it isn't expected to fix enough of the problems to be worth it. They did agree that I need to baby this wrist. No one ever suggested that ever during any of the first year's physical therapy. None of the professionals in the PT office ever cut me any slack or showed any mercy, and four years later I learn that I probably made things worse every time I forced myself to stir cookie dough, start the lawnmower, sweep the walks, whatever with my right hand, trying to toughen it up and work it out. Ugh. Now I'm in the management phase of the injury, which means making a conscious effort to be left handed, and ease up on burden on this hand. I really miss playing guitar, swimming and writing with a pen, but I guess I need to be thankful of all the things I can still do, like bore my friends to tears feeling sorry for myself on my ergonomic split keyboard. I'm just disappointed that there isn't some kind of magical solution, and to "try wearing a splint on bad days" was the extent of useful advice I got for the money. Johanna

Guys, I never used any dummy guns, but it certainly would have been more convenient. What can someone expect to pay for one? How many models does one need to cover regular requests? Are any of them interchangeable? Do people doing production work order a dozen of each at a time? Do you use them for the whole production process, or just to get the basic shape, and finish with the real gun? I'm curious, because it seems like a big investment in inventory, but then I've never been working on too many holsters at one time. We did custom work, and the customer gave us the gun. If we would have wanted to get ahead and make up some generics, dummy guns would have been handy. We could have done them assembly line style in slow times and sold them easily. The holster market was always there. Cheers from a balmy Ohio, Johanna

I used a circle of leather shaped like a Cheerio, punched holes all the way around and lashed it on with kanga lacing. I suppose it would easy enough to add padding underneath. I would probably try the hobby foam you can get in fabric stores because it wouldn't bunch up like batting would. Johanna

Bill- I would be happy to help you get the site like you want it after the holidays. Of course we'd be delighted to cross link with you, too. It's great that so many of our members are willing to share a link with the board. Johanna

Welcome to leatherworker.net, John! Glad to have you here! I'm originally from Washington County Pa. Isn't Blairsville to the east, down the road from Monroeville on the Wm. Penn Hwy.? Hope you enjoy yourself here- there are lots of great people and experienced leatherworkers contributing to the forum, and we're always glad to say "Hi!" to another one! Johanna

Hmmm...if you leave a rawhide mallet laying around, your dog thinks it's a lollipop. Hardware is sold by weight, not count. This explains why you will often be one short to finish the project. Dull knives will lead to stitches in the ER and irregular scars. A cowhide rug makes an excellent bedspread. You can't convince some people that their shoelaces are not made of rawhide. If you hold the stamping tool for someone, they will miss and whack your hand. Most people are better off buying the leather they need and forgetting splitters. If someone gasps and reaches for their wallet, you set the correct price. If the radio is on while you are carving, you will tap the tool in time with the music. People really do believe that commercial that says you can iron on a patch to repair upholstery leather. The first time you assume a gun is unloaded, you will shoot a hole in the floor. Neat Lac will dissolve fingernail polish. If you ask 10 leatherworkers the right way to do something, you'll get twelve reasonable answers. Johanna

from www.cowboyway.com

Yep, what Alex, Mike, Wolvie & Ken said. Do you have a copy of the bible of braiding, Bruce Grant's Encyclopedia of Braiding? It's available at Tandy/TLF and Amazon. Hope you have a nice holiday! Johanna

Oscar- the pics came through. WOW. If we had an award for "most creative entry", I'd be nominating you! Johanna

Not being a horse person, this thread alarmed me. I was picturing Mrs. Rawhider drooling with leather binding her chin- not a pretty mental image...but thank goodness for Google. Slobber straps keep the horse's reins out of the trough. Whew. Very nice, and thank you for sharing. Johanna

To reduce the size of pictures, I like Irfanview. It's a free program that does all sorts of graphics editing, but it has a small footprint and is easy to use. To upload pics, see here. Holler if you have questions or problems. Johanna

A lady has a Civil War era pump organ that needs a new bellows. The old ones could be used as a pattern. They can't be repaired because they leak from dry-rot. The organ is located in Ohio, but I live close enough that I could take the old bellows off and attach a new bellows-if someone can make them. Let me know if you are interested, or need more information. Johanna

Welcome, Rob! The server hiccupped today and ate your other post. Ain't that a great beginning? I'm glad you are here (and that you have a little patience!) There are lots of terrific people here. Johanna

Another example of the myth and mystique of leather. A coat isn't going to dry out from being wrapped in a box for a week or two, if the leather was properly tanned to begin with. There is so much general leather misinformation out there, you can't blame the store for believing that silliness either. Wait until the coat is in the closet being robbed of its moisture by the wife's sweaters! Johanna

That collection of stamping tool images was put together by Bob Stelmack of PSLAC (click the Rawhide Gazette banner at the bottom of the page) a few years ago. PSLAC, Puget Area Leather Artisans Cooperative, is a dynamic leather guild that holds workshops, meetings, classes and also has an archive- a treasure trove- of leatherworking information available to members. And membership is not expensive, either, especially when you figure in the guild discounts many retailers extend to PSLAC members. The images are of Craftools, McMillen, King, Smith, Gemini, Beard, Hackbarth etc tools and taps, and it's available from the members only area of the PSLAC website. http://pslac.org Bob is a member here, and you can PM him with any other questions, too. Johanna

I have been lucky with a mild dish soap bath, rinse clean and let dry. Guess that all depends on the leather and the finish on it, I suppose. Let us know what you decide to do, and what works! Johanna

MikeG- The cd just came in today's mail. I will check it out and see what I can do with it. Thank you so much for the kind words, too. Johanna

A good size for pics on the forum is between 100-500K each. The forum software will create a thumbnail image, and if members don't mind the size, they will click. The absolute easiest way to reduce a picture is with MS Powertoys Image Resizer. You can right click on any picture and automatically resize and rename it. If you want more options for photo editing, use Irfanview, a free graphics editor. You can select one pic or a zillion and resize in proportion or not, plus crop pics, edit out red eye, tint, put text on the pic, make slideshows, convert, optimize, etc. etc. either one at a time or in batches. Welcome to leatherworker.net, oldgringo, and do NOT eat the doughnuts. (There have been rumors that some people let their dogs lick them!) Have some cookies instead. Your saddle is beautiful, thanks for sharing! Johanna

Hello, Eric! I know where Mendon is- I'm in New Knoxville. Welcome to leatherworker.net! Glad to have you here. Johanna

I think this instance means the French and Indian wars. ~J

Okay, I'll bite. What exactly is a "yak snack"? If they eat rotten kids, I will UPS mine tomorrow, since they don't have school tomorrow because of the wind and snow. And does anyone have any pictures of this class or the projects? Does Kathy's buffalo look like a yak? Johanna

Just curious- how many of you saddle makers keep a log with a description of the saddles you make, where it's going and pictures of how it looked when it left the shop? If someone orders and buys a custom saddle, and it is stolen, would the maker be able to provide evidence of what the customer had? If someone bought a saddle twenty years ago, and called you up and asked for one just like it, do you have a record of what you made? Do you keep pics in the shop to discuss possibilities with your clients? I'm just wondering how record keeping is done in the saddle trade. Johanna

Do not wear your "I'm a naughty yak" t-shirt to class. ~J

If the leather is in pretty good shape, try using Fiebings black Leather Balm w/ Atom wax. Buff to a gloss. Johanna