Johanna

:soapbox: Many of use plain old Microsoft Outlook Express, and it usually does what it's supposed to. However, OE is not a storage device. OE will unpredictably crash, now and then, and you will lose your some or all of your mail. Period. It seems to have something to do with getting too full, and the "compact messages" prompt every 100 times you close the program. I'm not saying "do not compact messages" when prompted, but I seem to go along just fine for months and months..and I get careless and complacent, then WHAM! :fire: The inevitable OE overload crash. Some folders are just empty. My rules for sorting mail don't work. My saved mail is gone, including the most important folder of all...but I didn't cry or anything. I think I did say a bad word or two at first, but it was at the thought of the nuisance. See, I do regular backups, so I have the .dbx files (OE messages) handy. I also have some software that will display them other than OE. How many people who use OE regularly can say that they wouldn't mind if their inbox and some random folders disappeared? I don't see too many hands... It's a PITA, that's why. You know the pics your sister sent are gone. You can't find the directions to the event you are going to. You will forget Aunt Helen's birthday and the telephone number you were supposed to have in case of emergency. Another inconvenience is the suddenly missing address book. (Save a copy of your WAB "Windows Address Book" today, before you forget.) Instead of getting a headache over any recovery, this is what I did- I deleted everything that OE had left, and then let it download the mail from the server. Yes, in OE, under Tools> account> properties> advanced you can tick "leave copy of message on server". (very handy if you have a laptop, too) Some ISPs will only retain so much mail, but then, if that mail was important to you, you did "save" it out of OE, didn't you? Did you click "save" and navigate to a folder in "my documents"? If you didn'tuse the "save", then the message only exists in OE. And that is not good. I have had OE just gasp and choke, and half my mail will be gone *poof* several times. It's a big mistake to keep anything important in OE. I learned to save things the hard way. When my Inbox disappeared, I knew that all that unread mail was likely to stay unread. I would have to be sick or bored to ever catch up on all those interesting online newsletters that accumulate in my mail! All the mail that meant anything was saved elsewhere, and recent mail was downloaded again. I fixed the broken rules, and I recovered what I wanted to, I think. But who knows? I don't remember what all I lost. So, if I was supposed to do something for you, and I didn't, bear with me and remind me, because my inbox is weird (empty) at the moment, and I'm blaming it on a computer crash. I'm also reminding everyone who uses OE of the fragility of their mail. It could be gone the next time you close OE, you never know! So if there is something truly important to you, save it, or, better yet, gmail it to yourself. Then, not only will you be able to keep it forever, you will be able to find it in a second, an ability OE has never mastered, ever. OE is undependable, clumsy and frustrating, and there isn't a good reason to use it, nor should a person ever get too comfortable with keeping anything in there safely. If you want to keep it, save it OUT of OE. Johanna

I've had to salvage leather from chalky black dye with Leather Balm with Atom Wax by Fiebings. It comes in several different colors, including black. Good rescue idea using the neatsfoot oil, too. Caution to new folks- too much oil will weaken the leather, same as too little in it in the first place. Dry leather tears. Oiled leather stretches...only so far, and snap! Johanna

Yep, Clay, same as I thought. If you don't like the look of it from the back, you line it. Good job, Freak, whichever one of you made that belt! Johanna

I was planning to go, too, but I just accepted a new job, and now I'm not sure if I'll be able to get the time off either. I thought I'd make "business cards" that people can print off and pass out, if they want to. I'll see what I can come up with, and post it to this thread. Johanna

Welcome to leatherworker.net. Hi, Dunc! Are we already acquainted? (J?) Sweet bike! Holler if you have any good ideas or problems. Johanna

That is very nice work, Luke. Want me to make you an avatar with that picture? (the little picture people have next to their names) Let me know, and I'll email it to you. Thanks for sharing! Johanna

That's interesting. With today's digital cameras, pictures are often taken in much larger sizes than necessary. I find I reduce more than I enlarge. (Hands up everybody that ever got a staggering 2 or 3 Mb pic from a well-meaning friend in an email?) I use Irfanview (which is free) more often than Photoshop. The monkey is a Photoshop whiz, and modest. (He did our banner.) Johanna

If you click the "add reply" button, you can use the email feature to "hide" an email address. Highlight the word(s) you want, click the envelope, paste or type the address. Johanna

Please keep showing us your pictures. We really enjoy seeing your work! Your belts for women are terrific. Removing the background is "filigree" to us. Very few leatherworkers do this kind of work because of the potential for error. Some will only do shapes they have dies for. Do you use a sharp knife or another technique to cut out what you aren't keeping? Thanks for sharing! Keep them coming! Johanna

Well, it's about time you got here! I am possibly the crankiest lady in Ohio, so I'm sure we'll get along well. Help yourself to the coffee, but watch out for the doughnuts ClayB brings- he lets the dog lick them first! Johanna

Teasers and other stuff on http://leatherworker.net Glad to have you here! Johanna

We don't see much filigree in the US. I am so glad you found leatherworker.net, and look forward to seeing more of your artistry. You describe your work as "engraving", does that mean you use other types of tools? Thank you for sharing with us! Johanna

Here is an everyday room. It has a sewing machine in it, and a hand braided rug. See the nickel? Suze offered me a drink. This is the night before Christmas: Suze built a lair for the dragon and the wizard. These are full size tablecloth patterns done with thread. Note the coin. Her mom did these. Some other things: Thank you for letting me barge in with my camera today! :flowers: Johanna

This is the 8 strand braid. Suze says it's about 15 feet long so far. I'm going to post pics of her miniatures in off topic. I did get over there today, with my camera. Now she needs to get the rest of the stuff out on display so I can take more pics! Johanna

The dvd can be available for download w/Billy's permission. The galleries can go here on leatherworker.net w/ Billy's permission. The technique pdf explains the embossing steps needed to use the transfer technique. For those of you who don't know the story, Billy was in the US for an IFoLG show in 1995 and wandered into a Hobby Lobby or Michaels, found a plastic bottle of Plaid fabric tranfer medium, and history was born. As soon as I get an answer, I will get his work back up for all to see. Johanna

http://leatherworker.net/technique.pdf I'm going to try to get Billy's galleries moved over to here now that his website os offline. Johanna

I like the convenience of packing my laptop and being able to go online at my convenience, no logging into insecure or public connections, no pigg-backing on someone's unsecured network, and a different IP addy every time I log in. (Dave and Kate are the only ones that get that!) My Verizon aircard is faster than my at home cable connection, when I'm not at home. (It's rural here, too!) But it smokes in cities like Chicago & Pittsburgh, and the service has seldom been unavailabe. Some speed tests and other diagnostics, if you're curious: http://www.dslreports.com/stest http://www.speedtest.net/ http://www.pcpitstop.com/ Bet Dave knows some more...He's got a T-1 Johanna

Snakehorse Saddler started a good thread about basic shop tools in the saddle section. http://www.leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=1637 I'm guessing you already have a basic leather tool assortment since you've been doing leatherwork for awhile? Lots of folks have commented that they started with the Tandy type tools and upgraded as they could over the years. For example, they started with Craftool stamping tools ($3-$7) each, and progressed to Bob Beard, Ellis Barnes etc tools at $30-$90 each. Same with knives. Osbourne makes a high quality assortment of blades, but they cost more than Tandy ones. Buying leather is a whole different subject. I agree with the advice about buying better quality will give you more yield. The saddlers all have their favorites, and they would be better prepared to discuss pros and cons of the specific brands with you. Johanna

Sometime between 2 am and 6 am the server (webhost) that this forum is hosted on had a hiccup, resulting in us going offline until someone slammed the server on the back, or scared the bejesus out of him. Everything seems to be working now, so let me know if you encounter any problems I don't know about. Thanks, Johanna

I'm not a saddler, but most of the leather shops I've been in have music, coffee and a big dog or two, taking up most of the room on the floor, never flinching when he's stepped over or something falls. Warning, I had a dog that mistook a 9 oz rawhide mallet for a doggie lollipop. In a leather shop, often overlooked is the business aspect of things, too. A list of accounts. Make a card for each of your customers and consult it every time they call. Write down things you need to know on the card so you don't have to ask the same questions again. Log your invoice numbers and you'll know what you did for them the last time they called. (Thank you Judy Cobb!) Invoices/reciept book A ledger or business software A dedicated checking account A big sign out front A tax number from the state w/ any licenses you need, and forms filed telephone/email/website/fax A marketing plan An pen that writes and tablet by the phone to take notes An attorney, accountant & insurance agent you trust And a water bowl for the dogs who are always in the way, and wouldn't have it any other way. Johanna

Due to a technical difficulty, Greg's post got glitched: Alan if I am analyzing this correctly standing flat a cutter should bridge ever so slightly(from the back of the stirrup slot approx. 3 "). When the horse drops his hips this bridge fills as the contact lifts from the rear of the bar pad. At any given time you would be looking at approx. 70% bar contact on a cutter, not an ideal situation but if you were to increase the rock to fill this slight amount of bridge your contact would probably be 50% or so on a cutter at work because as he rounds from the rear forward this will push the back even higher would it not.. The big question is what works best when attaching a semi-rigid form to a flexable form? Greg, if you post to this thread, I can merge your words into your next post. Sorry it got messed up during the move. Johanna

I have always tied off the parts every so far with sewing thread or bread twist ties. I just remove and discard as I'm sewing. Johanna

This is a great place to post pics your latest work. Please understand that as the threads get older, we're going to move the topics to the area they "fit", for example, bikes or holsters, just to keep this section manageable, and help the newer folks find lots of pics of the subjects they are interested in. If I have moved your post to the wrong area, please TELL me so I can fix it. Please don't be upset when I move an older post- it actually helps more people to find it. It also helps when we use descriptive titles. "Recent Projects" isn't as likely to get clicks as "Harley Saddlebags and Seat" or "Civil War Holster and Belt". To post your pics, use the "browse" for the attachment under the area you type your message after you click "add reply" or "new post". Locate the picture on your computer, and click "upload". If you want the picture to appear in a specific place, put your cursor where you want the pic and click "add into post" after you upload the picture. The forum software will accept huge pictures and scale them down for you, and display a thumbnail image. Please be responsible, though. Pics under 500K are best for most visitors. We have some folks here paying for Internet by time, and others who have very slow connections. They want to see your work, too. The forum will also support third party images (like Photobucket, etc) if you use the button that looks like a tree and says "images". These images hosted off-site will take a few extra seconds to load even on a fast connection, so please be patient. If anyone has questions or problems, please let me know so I can help. Yes, and please please keep posting to this show-off section! No need to post directly to the area your post may go eventually...the point of this section is for SHOWING OFF! and you all are great, Johanna

Hi, Tim! I wonder if we ever ran into each other when I lived in Ga. 7 years ago? I was in Macon, quite a bit south of Jasper, but I went to a lot of biker events and Pow Wows up your way. Nah, I would have remembered the leather on the bikes. I live in Ohio now, where you get 6 month insurance- April to October- and all the bikes seem to be chrome and metal. (Metal saddlebags even. sigh.) I look at all bikes (old habit) and very few catch my eye because of their leather. Looks like yours and your wife's bike would! Very nice! Welcome to leatherworker.net! PM me if it's okay to publish your link on the other side of the site, too, please. Johanna (missing Georgia in the middle of summer is crazy, I know, but I do!)

Hey, Beeze- where is your makers mark on the plain seat? (just curious!) Johanna