gringobill

Hey there, you may have your problem straightened out by now......? Dyeing something solid black is a challenge to begin with, I have seen a lot of discussion about it. It seems like some people may put on a base coat of a different color first before applying the black. I believe I have read that some of the holster manufacturers like Bianchi and Galco my dip their holsters rather than applying the dye by hand. That's a big commitment and expense if you are not a manufacturere! I think cleaning with oxalic acid first is a good idea, also using a little oil to replace the oils in the leather removed by all the handling, water, and the bleaching. Good luck! Bill

Ross, thanks for the input. I guess I will just experiment and see what happens. You've got some good lookin' tack on yer website!!!! Bill

I've been working on several belts. Had one all tooled and ready to finish. Did the usual drill: a little clean up with oxalic acid, let it dry, a light coat of olive oil and let that dry, then a light coat of Neat Lac as a resist. Then here's were things got off track. I normally use Sheridan Brown or mahogany antique and after wiping off and buffing let it sit 24 hrs, then a coat of Tan Kote. Normally with those colors the Tan Kote takes off quite a bit of the antique, in fact if I'm not careful it will take most of it off This time to try something different I used Dark Brown antique. Turns out that was a bad idea. After doing the normal steps, wiping off excess with a paper towel then with woolskin scraps and buffing it sure did look dark. Pretty extreme. But I decided all was not lost, I figured I could take a lot more off with the Tan Kote. So 24 hrs later I apply the Tan Kote and it sure didn't seem to remove near as much of the dark brown as I'd hoped it would. So my question here is how long are you folks who use this same finishing process, (Hidepounder, Leather 1214, others....) letting the antique dry before you apply your final finish coat, Tan Kote or Neat Lac. Maybe the dark brown is just too harsh for this process? I may try to post a pic of the belt. It doesn't look bad, it's just that the guy who ordered it didn't want a lot of color on his belt. I may have to make him another belt and try to sell this one to somebody else? Thanks, Bill

Thanks< I'll given 'em a try. Big Bend used to carry it but no longer does.

Does anyone have a source for Williams Saddle Dressing other than ordering it from Australia? Seems like all the places I knew of who carried it quit because it was so expensive and there was no mark up in it. Champion in Ca. was/is the U. S. distributor but I can't find any retail suppliers? Thanks

Thanks Andy, I am going to try to reuse the original cantle back. it is basket stamped and has Oliver's cartouche on it. It is not in too bad shape. It is pretty supple and I pressed it flat by saddle soaping it and clamping it between some boards. It looks pretty good this morning. I have got the filler cut out and roughed up and one coat of Barge's on the inside. I think I will apply one more coat of cement before I soak and shape it. I feel pretty sure that once I get the filler attached well to the cantle that the cantle back will go back on good and will stay put. I'll keep you posted. Bill

The saga continues. I took the cantle binding and cantle back off and there is no filler piece on the cantle back. The previous repairman had attempted to glue the cantle back directly to the rawhide but it didn't take. There was a lot of cement, probably Barge, on both the cantle and the cantle back but it didn't stick and over time the cantle back worked up, toward the top edge of the cantle which lead to the cantle roll rolling forward into the top edge of the seat. I'm thinking I need to put a filler piece on the back of the cantle, glue AND tack it into place then glue the cantle back to that and tack it down in the cantle gullet and in a couple of places on the top of the bars. The cantle back with stick to the filler piece way better than it did to the bare rawhide covering the back of the cantle. Any thoughts? Thanks, Bill

Thanks JW. I think you are spot on on everything you said. I had pretty much decided to do what you described. The cantle back IS tacked down in the cantle gullet and then on each end of the cantle binding. I think what I am seeing where the seat is worn thru at the top edge of the cantle is the filler in the seat rather than what I thought was a patch that the other guy put in. There were no tack thru the bottom edge of the cantle back and the bars, which I thought there should have been. So I will take the cantle binding off and glue and tack the cantle back in place like it should be and then put a new cantle binding on and it should be good to go. Thanks a lot for your reply, it was just what I needed! I will take some pix, then see if I can figure out how to post them on here. (one more challenge!) An amigo of mine just got back from a trip thru the Flint Hills yesterday and said it was sure wet up there. That's a good thing! Take care, Bill

I need help with the cantle back on a saddle I'm refurbishing. It is a Bill Oliver saddle with a modified association tree. The original tree broke and the whole tree was replaced by another repairman. This saddle is not that old but has had a mighty hard life. I think when the other fella replaced the tree he didn't glue the cantle back to the cantle board so it is loose and sloppy and the cantle roll (it's the traditional roll not a Cheyenne roll) had slack in it and actually rolls toward the front or seat, it's ugly and uncomfortable. I want to straighten it out and get it back where it belongs, right over the top edge of the cantle board. The cantle back is only attached to the bottom of the cantle board between the bars. I think it needs to be fastened to the bars in a couple of places also to hold it down? So in looking at it and trying to figure out my options I have come up with these ideas: 1. remove the roll, glue the cantle back onto the cantle board where it's supposed to be and sew on either the original roll or a new one. 2. take the seat, roll and cantle back off in one piece and try to glue the whole thing back on. The problem I see with that is that the top of the seat, right at the top edge of the cantle board is worn through and I think the other guy put a patch under the hole and glued all of that together. Also I am thinking if I was to try that I would need to use hide glue or something other than Barge because it is going to take some fiddling around to the cantle back positioned properly and it will need to slide around some. 3. Some of you may know of a way to glue or reposition and fasten the cantle back on with taking the whole thing apart? The cantle back needs to be pulled down onto the bars and attached in some way. Thanks in advance for any tips I can get. Bill

I have a Cowboy splitter and it has a hold down bar in front of the blade, the leather goes under it. There is no adjustment of the roller. There is a screw with a locknut to adjust the thickness of the strap you want. There is also and handle that you have to push forward to bring the leather incontact with the blade. When you release the handle the roller drops down allowing space to feed the strap to be split through. On mine you have to keep holding the handle forward while you are splitting a strap. With some practice it is not hard to do that. The blade on mine was crazy sharp when I got it. I strop it occasionally to keep it very sharp. If I have the thickness set properly, it would be difficult to cut a strap in two. I have split everything from heavy latigo and skirting to really thin rawhide strings and it does a heck of a job on all of them. I use a scrap of something to get mine set up for thickness before I commit to the real thing. Don't know if that helps or not? Gringo

Short answer is "yes," but it will only get you part way there. To get a high quality string you're still going to need to scrape the strings. There is a short video on the western folklore website that shows a buckaroo making a twisted riata and he clips the hair off the hide before he cuts his wide strings. Gringo

Can someone tell me the trick to replacing the copper anvil in an Osborne spring punch? Namely is there some trick to removing the old one? I tried to knock the old one out with a pin punch with no luck. I hammered on it pretty hard and it did not budge. I also tried heating up that end of the punch some thinking it might break loose, again no luck. I was nervous about getting the steel too hot so I backed off that idea. I guess my next try, unless someone knows some trick, is to carefully drill the old one out. Thanks