pete

Get ahold of Bee Natural Company. There saddle oil won't darken the leather a bit. Then use natural shoe polish. pete

GREAT STITCHING JOB!!!!!! I've seen many machine jobs by "professionals" that weren't nearly as nice!!! pete

I hope this helps pete leather copy.pdf leather copy.pdf

thanks so much Troy. That's what I love about this place. World class instruction. pete

I am making my first saddle and am thinking that I might want to tool some of it. Question- How do you tool the swells in place- I want to tool it floral or basketweave but have no idea as to how to keep the basketweave straight. Is there a trick to laying out the guide lines? Also- what specific parts do you HAVE to tool in place? pete

Thanks to all for your replies! I can't wait to do it and I'll post pictures when it's done. He never tools so it must be harness leather that he gave me to practice on. thanks again pete

I have made 4 so far for me and 3 folks with Ruger 380's and Kel-Tec's.(It fits the same for both!) I cut the back piece and entirely finish it. Then I cut the front, sew the long side, wet and fold it over the gun while pulling, stretching and bone-ing. I gently remove the gun and let it dry completely so it keeps its shape. Then I re-insert the gun, press the edges against it as I stab my awl marks (vertically) into the cutting board. Remove the gun and stitch. It's how I do it and it works fine. pete

Curious- why did you rivet it as it is already stitched? Was that a TLF kit?

I have a great problem! I met a fellow at church 2 weeks ago. He is only 40 min away from me and is a saddle maker! I didn't think that there were any around here and I've been here 15 years. We hit it off really well and he wants me to make my own saddle. He'll supply the leather and when we sell it I will pay him for materials!!!! He makes saddles but doesn't tool a lick. Doesn't get orders to and has no patience to learn. A client has asked him to tool some fenders and corners so he enlisted me. I can do the job and really want to but here's the deal. He gave me a few scraps of W/C leather that he uses. I took it home and tried tooling it. I can't get the knife in it. It takes on water and burnishes but I have to lay onto the knife to tool it. Is this: 1- typical of w/c skirting 2- so much thicker than I'm used to (4/5-7/8) 3-Should he be using thick TOOLING leather 4-Should I tell him not to order wax/oil impregnated leather (most of it is hot waxed/rolled but this takes on water when I case it!!!) And what am I going to do if he wants the swells done? You DO tool them on the tree afterwards don't you? I don't think that I can get enough "leverage" to tool (cut) them around curves and corners! ANY help would be appreciated. I have never used W/C before, just HO and Tandy. ALSO...... Can I case the just the corner of a skirt/fender to tool it or should I case the whole thing. He MIGHT want it carved after he assembles the saddle. Please advise

If you are not going to do anything with the leather(antique,stain, dye, etc) then you can get by with Lexol. It's really a cleaner/softener,restorer. You need to get the the oil back into the leather that it lost when you wet it. Neats is not really oil and it sure isn't what came out of the hide of an animal but it works. So does olive oil and 10/30 SAE. Get some pure neats NOT COMPOUND . We're always open here so feel free to post and don't forget fotos!!!! glad you're here! pete

I learned from Chan Geer to trace, cut , pear shade and then lift or undercut in that order. I shade the leaf tips so as not to deform them, then I use the lifter. For me it greatly speeds up the beveling process as the "pockets" are already dug in and I can zip around the leaf. Some like to bevel around a piece and then lift, still others like to background before they do it. I have found that I like to do it as above. Tha's me. As to the other question- when I first started I had a heck of a time oiling and finishing and having all that nice lifting go flat on me. Let the leather really dry out before you apply a LIGHT amount of oil. Neats will really soften the leather and if you use too much or press it in to heavily it will smash down the lifted tips as well as the other tooling. All you are trying to do is to replenish the lost oil from wetting. Go easy and lightly-I tip the neats onto the scrap and then scrape it across the top of the jar so as to get a "film" of oil to lightly spread. Let it dry(soak in) and you should be good. If you are doing really deep lifting then you can always fill the holes with cotton to keep them tall- then pull them out when you antique. If you use neatlac or an acrilic to resist- let it dry well. it dries hard and should firm up the lifted tips. Slop on the antique (paste) and get it into the lifted tips! Then take a paper towel and rub off the surface layer really well. Then take a wool scrap and "buff" it. It will pick most all of the antique out of the groves leaving the deepest ones. pete

I think that you will have better results if you tool and then oil. The oil needs to be restored but the dye penetrates better and more evenly if applied after. The pores open up and accept the dye better. pete

as usual- beautiful work Ed! Question... I have made many, many notebooks/albums, but never a 3 piece with a spine. Is the spine the last piece to design(measure), and do you measure it flat laid out onto the 2 side pieces, or do you do the side pieces and "fold" it around to measure before cutting. I'm going to do a 3 ring binder so it will be much thicker than yours. anyone else(BOB!) who wants to chime in would be appreciated. pete

great to have you here! \\post a picture of a project or one in progress- we'd love to see you progress!!! NO questions are stupid!!!!! pete

Hi and welcome! there are a few stamp vendors right here on the forum! Just contact them through this site and they will be able to give you an estimate. Start with Grey Ghost. pete

Please send in some fotos or better explain it. Was it a kit, what oz leather are you using, what was the wallet type/name, etc I know that we can stick the thing together!!!! pete

what the heck is a "droied"??????

Extremely nice!! I'm STILL working on design and haven't done a thing yet that I want to show anyone to critique!!! pete

Did you tool the signature or is that a stamp? I can't tell from the picture. If it is a stamp then it's really neat! pete

After you wet it down with alcohol-stuff them as tightly as you can with newspaper. Just keep stuffing in small wads at a time. I have wooden shoe trees that work great. Leave them a few days to dry out and you're done. pete

VERY nice! I really like the layout and execution. Simple but interesting to look at. Well done!! pete

8-BALL Leatherworks could be a nice and simple stamp It wouldn't turn me off if I wasn't a pool player nor made the connection. Leaves you open to tack

Do you all remember about a year ago, someone on this forum invented a type of closure called a roller snap (I think)? I got 5 of them and haven't had a project where I need them but I never heard of them again. Has anyone here used them? I know that the conversation got pretty busy in the beginning and he went into production, or at least had a web page on the item. pete

OK I'll be honest. I think that it's a bit dated. Kind of a 60's feel to it. The brook that flows there is probably not well known throughout the county let alone the state so it's kind of an inside thing. Give us more information- where do you live, what state, state flower, bird or something. What county do you live in, what's your last name, is there a prominent landmark or historical site/event near there etc there are a lot of really good, professional people here. Some are in advertising, some in artwork, copywriters, etc. Give us something to work with and I I'm sure that we can come up with a really good name that reflects your work and lends itself to a great logo/makers stamp! write on! pete

stunning! pete