Russ

That's fair enough Ruark. Perhaps I was too quick and too harsh in my response. I know that I have a full 70 hours (7 ten hour days) on my saddles where I was being instructed. And that includes some doubling up, where my instructor would work some to show me a technique and then I would follow his example. Since I wanted to learn the ins and outs of building saddles, I skipped any tooling and extravagant lacing. Now that I live next door, literally, to my teacher, I'm spending more time on "pretty" and it does take longer...but 4-6 weeks on a saddle would pretty much put us out of business. Maybe we should actually be talking about hours put into a saddle rather than time from squaring the tree to sending it out the door. Again, my apologies, Ruark, I hope no hard feelings. Russ

With all due respect Ruark, I still ride in my first saddle that I made in a week. I shoot in it, rope in it, trail ride in it. I suggest you be careful with your first posts.

Kevin; Those are very nice, especially for your first go at it. Congrats!

I skive the edges down and fold the backing piece over the interior on the sides and bottom. At the top, I've never successfully folded over the edge and into the bill slot and had the top corners look good. Therefore, I just fold the backing piece upon itself, between the interior and the veg tanned backing. That makes two layers of leather folded against each other at the top of the wallet, but the rest is folded over and looks nice. I then sew the edges. Watch this video by Ian Atkinson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mHnZE-8d9o&feature=c4-overview&list=UULkCG-505-1t0rYlgBTSnpQ Much of it is a demo of his interiors, but at about 6 minutes or so you'll see how he folds over the edges. Good stuff.

Building a saddle with no leather working experience will be quite a challenge. You are in grad school territory and haven't made it into grade school yet. I think you are gonna need a live teacher. Might as well go somewhere that you go home with a saddle afterwards.

Dunno what you are paying for your audit of the saddle making class, but I'm sure it will be very beneficial. I went to http://www.jssaddlery.net/ and took his saddle making class several years ago. For the price, which was reasonable, I built my own saddle with his assistance. It took me 7 working days. I learned enough to make my own saddles of the same type on my own. I have since returned several times and build different types of saddles and expanded my knowledge. I've never spent time actually just watching a saddle maker build a saddle, so I can't help you with question 1. As for question 2, I also had many books and the Stohlman set of books on saddle making, but the time I spent at the shop was so much more valuable I can't put a price tag on it. To see it in person, ask questions, etc.....priceless. If, of course, you want to build more saddles. I got a lot especially out of the proper building of the ground seat, angle, dish, etc. I also got a lot out of various ways to cover the fork, and how to sew the cantle binding on. I can assure you, I would not have been successful with just looking at a book or DVD. Of course, everyone learns differently! Good luck! Russ

You usually don't wear it directly on the spine, rather between the hip and the spine. It can be comfortable, or it can be very uncomfortable, depending on what you are sitting on (or in). In my pickup truck with a bench seat, mine is pretty comfortable. In my jeep, with bucket seats, it's horribly uncomfortable.

I know this thread is several months old, but.....how many linear inches would a 20 ton press like this click out? How big of dies could this handle for say, 8-9 oz leather?

KK uses a Juki 1541. I have the same machine and can assure you....Kevin has mad skilz :oD

Pretty harsh.

I just put mine on the rack. It's been my experience that if the leather gets a mark on it, the oven temperature is too high.

Good luck with that! For CCW holsters like yours, I take the cost of the leather used and double it. I then try to make a certain hourly wage on my labor. You can pick your own wage. Once I did that, I looked on the internet and found my prices were pretty comparable.

You're welcome, but actually, it's mine that I'm selling

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230954445795

The tooling is done before the holsters are molded, and before the lining is put in. If you are staining the holsters, I usually do it before the holsters are lined and sewn closed, to get a more even staining across the holsters. However, in a pinch I have stained after they were closed up. You just have to be more careful in the staining. That said, 95% of my holsters are just oiled and suntanned, with white thread to show off the stitching. I tan the leather before sewing the holster together, and then tan it some more once it's put together as some touch up. Obviously, if you are staining and using white (or a different color thread than the stain) then you must stain then sew...no choice. I don't like to stain and do a lot of colors in my gun rigs, so most of my work is oil tanned. And yes, you install the lining with glue and stitch the edges, no matter if it's thin lining for mounted shooting or thick(er) veg tanned lining for other holsters. If you don't stitch, the edges will peel back with use. If you don't glue, the lining will wrinkle or bind in the middle of the piece. I would suggest seeking out a holster maker in one of your local clubs and getting face to face tips. If you ask around your club who made their holsters, you will no doubt find someone close to help you out. There's some art to it, and of course experience helps. You don't need problems with your holsters when you are getting started mounted shooting. Good luck! Russ

Hi all, I'm combining my leather shop with another shop, and will be putting various items on eBay that we don't need. The first things I have up on auction are the Tandy Craftool Hand Press, along with almost every die. The press includes the adjustable setting guide. I have almost every die, all of them come in the original box, and many of them have never been used. All of the items are in excellent condition. If you are interested, check them out at the link below, or you can search for my auctions under the eBay account M2Saddlery. Thanks! Russ http://www.ebay.com/...&_dmd=1&_ipg=50

Myself, I'd never heard of stretching the stirrup leathers before that particular post. I've never done it and don't know anyone that does it. You need to stamp the swell cover once it's on, since it will be really stretched. I fit the seat, let it dry, then stamp it, so it's "roughly fit" before it's stamped...plus the seat is thick leather and won't stretch much. Rest of the saddle can be stamped before it's installed for the final time.

Like all things leather, there's a million different ways to do it, and almost as many opinions. Some CCW belts have "features" such as webbing or stiffeners in their belts. Some have a curve, some are straight. You can find many different opinions about the thickness of the belts. I've never used "webbing" but I do use a stiffener for small (in width) dress belts. In this case I'm talking about 1" belts. But, IMO, these belts are not appropriate for constant carry. I only make them to order and with a big disclaimer to the buyer. For me, I've found that 1.25" belts and up don't need stiffeners or any other help, as long as you use the proper leather (using the shoulders, etc.) and you use the proper thickness of the leather(s). There is an art to getting the proper thickness while still maintain comfort for the wearer. Some of it depends on the weapon carried, and some of it depends on the type of holster. Personally, I think two pieces of 4/5oz leather is plenty. I've made belts up to a 1/4" thick for people, and worn them myself, and find them very uncomfortable. I've carried full sized .45 cal Glocks, Sigs, and Colts with 8oz total belts with my Avenger, Pancake, and Tactical holsters for 25 years with no problem. I don't see how webbing will stop stretch. Good leather will minimize the stretching.

Kevin; Thanks for the vid. It's really nice of you to show us how you do your wallets. Russ

So is the raised portion of the leather the black or the white in a printed stamp?

Wow. I've been beating my head against the wall trying to transfer patterns to dark chrome tanned leather. I'm sprinting to my nearest art store, hope they have it.

My guess would be they only run the leather down just past the slot in front of it, and then use some polyester or similar material to continue the pocket. Something like this stuff http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/9132-01.aspx Russ

That's a nice start. When you stretch Country's patterns, make sure you pay attention to the front panel, where it is 2.5" tall. You'll need more length than you think, depending on how Buster makes his holsters. My holsters are about 4" wide, plus with an inch or so in between them, I need about 9" of equal width to hold the holsters. So, your solution is to either find a way to narrow the holsters more (which is tough for two .45 cal guns), OR lengthen the wide area of the billet (which will work for......"not skinny'......shooters but reduces the amount of adjustment, OR use a single width billet all the way across. I use the single width and make the flap pocket of the holsters smaller. The trade off there is that you have 1.5" holding the holsters rather than the standard 2.5". This can cause some problems holstering and drawing on the run. A way to counteract this is a second, small belt that goes around the body and the bottom of the holster, keeps them from "flapping." A second trade off is the holsters tend to slide since there's only 1.5" of belt there, and the billet is thinner (in Oz's) than what you would make a regular belt.. Make sure your holsters are as tight as possible on the belt. I don't have a pattern to send, since I don't use patterns for this particular belt. But the pattern above is an excellent start. EDIT: Of course, the billet can be made wider by using wider buckles than 1.5" such as 2" or more roller buckles. Forgot to mention that. Talk to your client and see if she is ok with that idea. Russ

Buster; You will want to adjust the rear belt so your buckles are on the sides of the shooter. The front double sided billet is then made to size for the shooter. The trick is to make sure the buckles are on the sides of the shooter so there's plenty of room for the two holsters. This is sometimes a problem for a young or very thin shooter. These ladies rigs used to be pretty popular because they could be adjusted a lot for whatever clothes the lady was wearing. They are still seen in CMSA, but not as much.

Indeed this is true. It is much better to simply filter these messages to your spam folder or trash folder.