Johanna

Hivemind- I know you meant no harm, but this kind of thing has come up before and TLF has made their position pretty clear. I know they have insisted employees take web materials down- I have not heard of a customer being prosecuted, but nothing would surprise me these days. ~J

Tandy's official line was "Leather is a natural product, and range markings and other slight imperfections in the leather add character to your piece." I don't think they ever tried to squiggle pattern pieces for usable leather on the floor. Unless your holsters must be black for an LEO or Military, those marks might dye with "character" and look "natural", which is appealing to some. If the leather is thick enough, those fat marks won't affect the strength of the leather unless the leather feels mushy or stretchy as someone pointed out. Some people swear by shoulders, some by backs...really it depends on the style of holster you are making. We always bought sides because in a working shop, a couple of straps off the back will pay for the hide and the rest is gravy. Sides are economical- think of it this way, the more they cut, the higher the price, just like the butcher shop someone said. Bellies can be useful for lots of things, especially if it's a good hide to begin with. If someone were not very experienced, I'd tell them to buy a side and make knife sheathes and odds and ends from the belly for practice before they cut into the good leather towards the top for their first holster or other intermediate project. If you don't like the leather and don't want to use it, send it back with an explanation and get a different one. When you order over the Internet or phone you have to be very clear what you are looking for and making, and since the seller wants you satisfied, they'll look for a piece to meet your needs. You can often call for swatches if you're not sure what to order. If that piece doesn't suit you, send it back. They'll make things right with you. Johanna

YES! and use the add/remove programs functionin the Control Panel to uninstall the Kodak software. Think of your camera as a flash drive. You can just hook up the USB cord and copy pics off of it, delete pics etc. No special software is required for that. HP is famous for printer software that takes over your entire pictures folders. Irfanview is easy, free and does everything you need. Holler if you want help, Bill. Johanna

I've had enough of Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells, all the songs that are "politically correct" and don't mention God or Jesus. O Holy Night, Away in the Manger and Silent Night are my favorites for singing Christmas carols door-to-door. I used to sing Handel's Messiah every year with a choir, and I think I want to start doing that again.

Welcome to LW, Brad! It's about time you made it here! ~J

If you click the envelope icon below a member's name, you can send them a private message, or you can respond here. I do not know who this author is. I know that Sharon Myers from the Old West Museum is working on a book of saddle maker stamps, past and present, and Alain Eon has just released a book detailing the restoration of older saddles. Collecting all the saddlers' names and addresses, past and present, is a formidible task, so please help Sharon if you can. Check out the leatherworker directory for names and contact info of current saddlemakers. Hope this helps. Johanna

I think I'm caught up adding in adult members. If I missed you, holler! FYI, there are now 520 members in the adult area. Johanna

I deleted your wish list because it violates Tandy's copyright on those patterns. I understand that you have the leather, and just need the patterns, but for someone to copy and give them to you would be against the law and our terms of service. Buy the kits for the patterns and use the leather in them for other projects? Johanna

We all would do well to clean up our spelling and grammar because many of our visitors do not speak American English as a first language. If they put the not-so-carefully done posts in their translators, they can't make sense of it. Also, when a person is searching, the board isn't smart like Google to suggest alternative spellings. Closing the store with no notice to the regulars was probably because it seems they fired the manager just as unexpectedly. Customers shouldn't have to call ahead to see if the store is open. I realize Tandy employees have families, but there ought to be store hours for Sunday. Sometimes that is the only afternoon I have free to go 90 miles to Ft. Wayne or Cincinnati. Johanna

I would get in touch with theJournal directly. They sell back issues. If someone scans what you want and posts it here, I'll have to delete it because it is material owned by them, until/if I have their permission. Johanna