ChuckBurrows

For more info on how they were made and how to make them contact: Ken Weidner 2288 70th road Copeland Kansas 67837 316-668-5249 Email: whirlwind@ucom.net Ken has made several of these saddles over the years along with much other NDN tack.......

Yes it's a Plains/Transmontane woman's saddle at times referred to as a prairie chicken saddle. The bars were usually made of cottownwood or other local wood, while the forks and cantle were made of either natural tree forks or elk antler. Go to the following link and put saddle in the Search box, choose Plains for the region, then click on the Search button - you'll get several images that can be zoomed up to see the details and several include the rigging. Hint: you can use your browser zoom control to get even a closer look. http://anthro.amnh.org/anthropology/databases/north_public/north_public.htm Several are listed on the AMNH site as pack saddles and at least one is listed as a man's, but they are mostly women's riding saddles. Change your region search parameter to Plateau and then again Southwest for a few more images.

You're welcome - I'm an eyeballer, but it's about one degreased hunk of 4/0 steel wool (or equivalent iron scrap) to about a quart of vinegar. I prefer cider vinegar myself, but any will do. Also heating it will speed the process. Once it's completely dissolved I let air for a couple days to help release any residual gases. Test the mix and if it "needs" to be stronger add a bit more steel wool at a time until it quits dissolving it. When it quits dissolving the iron strain off the clear liquid and save the leftovers for the next batch.

1) Old documents were done on some form of parchment, a type of rawhide i.e. untanned leather that has been lime. Vinegar black on the other hand is used on leather, a tanned product, two quite different materials thus they cannot be directly compared. Much of the deterioration in old documents and leather is in fact due to the high sulphur content in smog in is a major culprit especially with iron/gall ink that uses iron sulphate as the source of iron - the sulphur mix/content turns to sulphuric acid and causes the problems. Vinegar black is ferric acetate a different source for the chemical reaction with the tannins in the leather. 2) I have been using vinegar black - - for over 40 years and on my own gear I have seen no deterioration when done as I have noted elsewhere. I have also examined and repaired old leather from as early as the 1820's that was "dyed" with vinegar black and the stuff that was properly taken care of over it's life has shown no more deterioration than is normal for old leather. 3) The quote shown is about using iron as a mordant with logwood - a process that is not the same as using straight vinegar black, which is nothing more than a small amount of iron dissolved in vinegar - there is not need to infuse a large amount of iron to get a good vinegar black. Another thing that can cause brittleness is the over use of an alkali - IMO ammonia or sodium carbonate are much too alkaline and will cause draying/cracking otherwise known as alkali burn. Sodium bicarbonate aka baking soda which I recommend is milder and when used sparingly has never caused a problem but does help set the black. Vinegar black (aka ferric acetate) when done right is not the same as using iron as a mordant with logwood - I have used both and prefer the simplicity of the vinegar black. As I have noted before, for the deepest black apply a good coat of STRONG black tea (brew it one to one water tea, and steep for at least 15 minutes sealed well) to increase the tannins. This should also obviate any of the problems noted in your quote. Other sources of tannins are most tree barks, leaves, nuts, seeds, etc. see this link - http://www.braintan.com/barktan/2tannins.htm - Most any bark sold as garden mulch is excellent for bark tanning (assuming it hasn't been left out in the rain a bunch). FWIW - tannins are a source for tannic acid ......so I'm not sure how then the acid in oak gall is the problem since adding tannins also increases the acid level. Veg tanned leather itself should be somewhat acidic - about 4.5 on the PH scale is about right. Neither do tannins make the leather soft - leather straight out of the vats and dried is hard and can be brittle - it is the currying i.e. re-application of fats and oil that gives leather it's "soft" and or other malleable qualities. See the above link for sources of tannins. Try oiling immediately after "dying" Do not let dry first........ I've never had the grain layer peel off or crack (except when using too strong of a neutralizing alkali wash which caused the surface to "burn") so I can't offer any other advice than: use as weak a ferric acetate mix as possible, "neutralize" with a mild baking soda and water mix (distilled water IMO is best), rinse well with water, and apply your choice of oil on both sides while wet. Hope this helps........... Here's a good article on ink corrosion on both paper and parchment -

Despite the "attitude" there are others who may want to know so here goes - one should have no problems using buckskin as an inlay - where your idea that the veg tan would shrink and the buckskin wouldn't I have no idea????? As an example....buckskin inlays, veg tan surround over a veg tan core........ FWIW - I've been at this for 50 years and am a full-time maker - as to being a master - most of those I know care less about such labels, in the main we are all students..with more or less experience.......and BTW most of us have a life other than the forums and cannot always be Johnny on the spot to answer -

If you want the nickle over brass in 1 1/2' Weaver Leather has them if you can handle their wholesale requirement. Otherwise try Hanson's Leather, River Junction Trade Co, or Montana Leather for retail.....

1) get a copy of Packing Iron and others 2) Get some tracing paper 3) Scan patterns that you like - you will need to adjust for size of course 4) Draw the outline of your holster pattern onto a piece of tracing paper 5) Using the scans trace them into the outline - it takes some moving and adjusting and usually re-scanning, but it will get you there - it's how I make copies of original patterns For one period pattern being offered see here: http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,31235.0.html As Frank noted most gunleather from the 1840's on was usually decorated, often highly decorated, whether stamped or carved. Again take a look at books such as Packing Iron or Cowboys and Trappings of the Old West - decoration, although of a different style than tody, was generally far from rudimentary, much being of very good quality. As to Indian work - yep many went all out, but a lot of the highly deorated stuff is late rez period and was often worn by Wild West Show entertainers

No....

Moscow Hide & Fur Eidnes Furs Colorado Leathergoods all have websites and are excellent to deal with......

Well I have to respectfully disagree - I've been using collected natural pinyon pine pitch (aka resin) now for about eight or nine years and it works fine. I collect the raw pitch from where it's oozed out and semi-solidifeied on damaged sections of the tree (or tap a couple od trees just enough to get some ooze and let it air dry), then I heat the collected pitch until melted and spoon off as much dross as possible - the heat cooks off most of the turpenes leaving behind the solids aka rosin - do this in a well ventilated area and don;t over cook it that will make it too brittle. While collecting you may also find balls of solidified pitch (natural rosin)- this works good as well as the softer stuff - I heat it just enough to clean it. I collect enough once a year or so to last a couple of years. I tried filtering through cheesecloth and for me that didn't work so well. What I do instead is use the small yogurt containers or similar tallish, narrow containers. Pour the melted pitch into the containers (hold them down in a pan of cold water) and let the pitch harden. Once hardened cut away the plastic and you'll find that the remaining dross will have collected at one end - cut that section off leaving you with a nice clean glob of pitch. I like mine hard enough that I can dent it with my fingernail but no harder. If it's too soft cook it some more but keep an eye on it. If too hard mix with some that's too soft. After you work with it a while you'll learn the right consistency. I generally mix it 60/40 pitch to beeswax and a teaspoon or two of EVOO or castor oil per pint of pitch/wax - that's not as sticky as most of the shoemaker's like, but for me it works great. On the other hand you can buy a pound of Brewer's Pitch from James Townsend and Sons for about $15.00 and it will last a long time - but I like doing things myself. As to getting raw pitch on your hands it's easy to clean off - alcohol, acetone, or gum turpentine takes it off - Use Everclear and you can also mix some in with your Sangria - shades of Jerry Jeff BTW - resin is the proper term for the raw pitch, rosin is the finished product although the terms are often used somewhat interchangeably.

Dave - Ask Sandy - I know he's made swivel holsters. He sent me a couple of the swivels and I've never used them - if he doesn't have any more let me know and I'll see if I can find them. They are basically an over size rivet type deal with a large head, a thick shank, and then a thinner shank that gets riveted over a large washer.

I've been asked many times about doing private tutoring via the web or by mail and would like to ask if anyone else here has experience with doing such? Main questions are on the business end such as how much to charge? By the hour or? etc.

FWIW - Like Ed I've been using Isopropyl aka rubbing alcohol for 40+ years as dyw thinner/suface cleaner and have had no ill effects. According to the Fiebing MSDS the dye contains ethanol (from which denatured alcohol is made), isopropyl, and methanol.....

Maybe not conducive but it CAN be aged with the right methods and the use of oil or Tan-Kote won't hurt chap the leather at all, have used both on chaps for better than 40 years - can't comment on neat-lac or "antiquing" since I use neither...... Some examples and these are made for wearing and not just for show...

Indian Jewelry Supply - www.ijsinc.com has what you're looking for both in Sterling silver and in the less expensive nickel. They come in several sizes/styles and both slotted and un-slotted. The un-slotted you'll have to add your own backs to, but it's easy with low heat silver solder which they also sell. Good quality and good people to deal with......

I use regular leather dye to color it - cut off what ever you need, soak it in the dye for a few minutes, as you pull it out use a cloth to pull it through to get rid of the excess. Let dry and wax,,,,,,,,,

All I can say is that's strange - I've been using it a very long time and never had that happen......not to say one shouldn't wear gloves but my assumption is apparently it reacted with something else either on the skin or ? and that's what caused the coloring.... Despite your problem it's still technically not a stain but a chemical reagent meaning that it must react with something else to generate the color - in the case of wood or leather it's the tannins......

Standard Rivet has solid nickel, nickel over brass, or chrome over brass in 1/8" size.....

A couple of more sheath tutorials that ya'll may find helpful....... http://www.wrtcleather.com/1-ckd/mexloop/_mexloop.html http://www.knivesby.com/dan-sheath-tutor-1.html

Hola TJ - give me a call sometime and I'll be glad to esplain (Tex/Mex for explain) what you done "wrong" and how to fix it - BTW I heard from our mutual amigo Major JT a while back....phone number is 970-259-8396 would be good to talk at you.......

I take all of the photos for the items I sell on my website www.wrtcleather.com (the yearly galleries are my newer /better work) and here a few tips: 1) Get a decent tripod - even with the new cameras and their image stabilization this can help 2) With the tripod I like to use the built in timer - it helps prevent any user induced shake 3) Since you are "painting with light" get some good decent lights - for not a lot of money you can get the 5000K Daylight CFL bulbs in 100-150W. I use those cheap clmpa on aluminum reflector work lamps that will take up to a 150W bulb. 3 or 4 is good to start - more is better, but not absolutely necessary. You can also take photos out doors under the right conditions, but have a light set up negates the problems of weather. 4) I prefer reflectors rather than a light box, but both can be put to good use and are relatively cheap. For instructions on a light box see here http://knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26222 For reflectors I use large white poster board and jerry rigged holders - old music stands can work good to hold the boards and have the added bonus of being adjustable. 5) Use the correct white balance setting on your camera - indoors, outdoors, etc. 6) Get a decent photo editing program and learn how to use it to crop and tweak your images: Photoshop Elements (the "baby" to the full blown Adobe Photoshop) is great and can be found at a decent price. Irfan View is a freebie and is quite good overall. 7) Use the largest image size setting possible on your camera (i.e. 1600x 1200, 2048x1536, etc) - if you've got a TIF setting even better since it is better to work with for editing (RAW is even better but I leave that to the pros). This allows you to have the best raw material to work with. ALWAYS save the original image and begin your editing with a copy (i.e File Save As). If working with JPG remember it's a lossy format - every time you edit a JPG file, save it and then reopen it to edit it again, you loose quality - another reason to use TIF when possible for editing purposes since it is not lossy. Once you're satisfied with the edited image save it for the Web as a JPG at no less than 60% quality when possible - this will prevent any quality loss and yet will keep it at a file size that is speedy enough to not slow your site down - a file size of no larger than 150K is good whenever possible. Image size wise - I generally save at a 600px as the largest dimension, but up to 800px largest dimesnion is usually not too slow with todays faster internet connections as long as the file size is 150K or smaller. Still a larger image size = a larger file size so be aware. Also save at 72dpi for the web (Adobe standard) or at most 96dpi (Windows standard), any higher resolution is wasted until HD monitors become more widely used. 8 ) Learn your camera - learn how to use the various settings i.e aperture mode, exposure, sharpness, etc. If need be get a decent learner's book on general digital photography and read it. Once you understand the basics of your camera take photos at each of the settings of the same image with the same lighting so you can see how they change the image. 9) Although I like using artistic backgrounds the simplest background to use is a plain medium battleship gray background - the gray back of a poster board is about right - gray is the most neutral of colors to the cameras eye. Once you learn how that works for you spread your wings if you so choose - "telling a story" with props while at the same time hi-liting your wares is a good selling aid. Red by the way is one of the hardest colors to use well as a background since it tends to "flare" and add to your problems. 10) Learn how to use the mechanical zoom - turn off the digital one and the macro mode - both are helpful for details shots. 11) For speed on your site link the full size image to thumbnails - there are several easy to use photo album software packages available on line for free - I use JAlbum for my site with a tweaked layout. Well hopefully that helps out. FWIW I make no claim to taking the best images, but I receive compliments on my work frequently even from the pros. Bottomline - GOOD photos are an essential for successful selling on the web - as a full-time maker this is very important to me. It doesn't necessarily take high end pro equipment. Mine is no where near optimum - my camera is an older 3 MEG Sony, but it has a nice big light gathering Zeiss lens and is entirely adequate for the web. My jerry rigged lighting "equipment" has a couple of my friends who are pro photographers shaking their heads in wonder, but they admit I make it work for me.......good luck and any questions ask away....

He's back home Ben - I talked to him last week and he said he's home for a while now.......

With respect but I sew everything I do by hand since most is historical reproductions and I have done so professionally for over 40 years - this includes belts of which I regularly sew 3-6 a month depending on type of orders. My customers have no problem paying my price and our leather business is my full-time job and our only source of income (our = my wife and I). Nope we're not getting rich, but if you make what folks want they will pay for it. And yes stitchers were used to make old west gear, but they were not widely used until the 1870's and later - much of my work predates that era. As others have said use shorter lengths and just do it. Due to health reasons I pre-punch all my holes and then sew away - for a full lined belt i.e. all 4 sides it takes at most 2 hours to punch and sew. In fact I find hand sewing a good way to relax and as Madmax noted once you get used to it you can do it almost without thinking. The average cartridge belt I sew is 48" long overall length by 3" wide - at 6 SPI that's 612 stitches. Most belts though are old time "money" belts and only one edge and both ends are sewn - that average's 324 stitches per belt. As an example - this entire rig, which includes a full lined belt and holster as well as the two mag pouches, belt pouch, and knife sheath were all hand sewn - and the customer was very happy to get it: When it comes to the business of selling - there are those that drive a Yugo and there are those that drive a Mercedes - and those that buy the Mercedes have no qualms at paying the price. Both will get you where you want to go, but....... Then there's beadwork.......

Some thoughts and methods on the subject of aging... http://www.wrtcleather.com/1-ckd/tutorials/aging-leather-zurl.jpg Another method seldom discussed is burnishing the face of the leather the same way one does the edges.....