Kevin

How can I answer this? My CDs start at Albion Band and end with ZZ Top. In between are Martin Carthy, Amy Winehouse,Ian Tyson, I haven't heard the new one yet, I thought Gravel Road was as sad as he might get with old age and heartbreak. If people think rap is bad, they should listen to some nice old English ballads, there's nothing like some good pregnifyin' your sister and cutting her head off and throwing her in the river or walking by the river that flows so wide and free, pulling a stick all out of the 'edge and knock that pretty maid down or mamma killin' her sweet babes with a PENKNIFE down by the green wood sidie oh. Or being transported to old Virginie to plow the salt earth like an ox. I just saw an ad with Hoyt Axton in it, Arlo, Ry Cooder, Leadbelly,Howlin' Wolf,Muddy Waters (The little girl she jumpin' up and down clappin' her hands, daddy there's another mule kickin' in your stall), Hoagy Carmichael, Richard Thompson, The Mothers, The Grandmothers, Django Reinhardt, Stephan Grappelli, Riders in the Sky, Eminem, Taj Mahal,Ian and Sylvia, I wish I could find some Don and Dewey, I've never heard them, but I love Don "Sugar Cane" Harris, Steeleye Span, F.Z., The GTO's, Richard Berry, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Shelby Lynne, I guess I listen to and like anything that isn't too slick or over produced, except one thing, hammer dulcimer music, whenever I hear it my eyes start watering and my nose runs from the potpourri and cinnamon. LOL Kevin

Here's the number I used last to call Cutters 615-895-8070. Even on my 1988 catalog it says subsidiary of SSMC INC, I take that to be Singer Sewing Machine Co, they may have totally absorbed Cutters. You might look into Southstar Supply Co 800-288-6739 www.southstarsupply.com Another catalog I have is from Sunbrand, which is a division of Willcox and Gibbs 800-241-6800 I don't recall if I've ever ordered from them or not. Hope that helps or at least helps clarify, Kevin

I'm no braider, but I have read that an old barren cow makes the best rawhide because there's little to no stretch in it. Kevin I'msorry,I forgot to mention that it needs to have just about starved to death, too. I may have read that in Luis Garcia's book(I hope I got that right)

Warning, this may be a bit of a rant; I am looking for Veg tanned English stirrup butts, preferably Sedgewick's. I have been waiting since October for some I ordered from my good friends at Siegle. I called to check on the order last week and was told, oh we aren't stocking that any more you have to order it and pay in advance. I already waited 4 Months!! I can't wait until they need to order another container of leather. And then wait God knows how long for that to get here. Oh no, this is a rant, I'm getting up and walking around the room. My customers LIVES, no not livelihoods, depend on the safety of their equipment. Most of the girls I know make bull riders look like sissies. Did you ever see the Toyota comercial where the rider jumps the truck? That was Abigail Lufkin, it's just another day for an event rider. I couldn't even say how many of my customers have died doing what they love in the twenty eight years I've been doing English work. And it's not ignorance or inexperience, they go balls to the wall and if you stay at it long enough, you will get hurt. Oh yeah, so I'm looking for stirrup butts, Veg tanned panel hide and I can't seem to find any decent girth buckles anymore. Weaver's are huge ugly monsters and the last ones I got from Windmill, were roller buckles without the roller, they are nasty. The last time I got something from Abbey, I ordered red webbing with a blue stripe and I got blue webbing with a red stripe, them Anglish speak a different language. Please no offense, I love the English, two great nations separated by a common language. Thank you for your indulgence, I will now take a powder and retire, Kevin

I'm with Suze on this one, if it already needs to be let out, there will be stress, oh yeah. If the leather is thin enough, just setting the grommets might cut it. At first I was thinking like leather washers on the inside, but I don't think that would do anything. I would say you have to stitch in a lining piece where the grommets will go to spread the stress over a larger area. Kevin

I'm looking at the Hermann Oak ad and it lists; Bowden Leather 915-877-1557 Goliger Leather 800-423-2329 Montana Leather 406-245-1660 Oregon Leather 503-228-4105 Panhandle Leather 806-373-0535 Sheridan Leather Outfitters 888-803-3030 Southern Leather 800-844-6767 Stevenson-Paxton Sales 800-648-1622 Goliger's is the only one I've dealt with other than Weaver and they don't require anything. I've been to Sheridan Leather Outfitters and they have a retail store so I doubt if they require anything either. Good luck Kevin

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but on hand made shoes, those holes are punched one at a time. You probably already have the punches you need. Kevin

Heck with the bench, look at those boots, they are beautiful. I have some old timey dressing fox hunters that would kill for those. A couple of my three day girls wear them and polo players like them, but they're too cheap to pay for a decent pair. They have them made in Argentina or Brazil and then come to me because their $200 custom boots don't fit. "I can't send them back", they need some crackers to go with their whiiine. I think I need to get my meds refilled, Kevin

I can't tell you about the mauls but I have both Osborne and Weaver edgers and I much prefer the Weaver, Osborne had a monopoly for too long and most of their modern tools aren't worth spit. That being said though, I probably have about 10 round or head knives and my favorite is a modern Osborne (to use everyday). I have one from the seventies and one that had a rubberoid coating on the handle I assume from the sixties and niether of them will take or keep an edge. Kevin

I don't think cutters exchange is the name anymore, I can't recall the name and I am at home so nothing to look at and jog my memory. It does still exist in some form or another, I'll try to remember to check it out tomorrow and post if someone else hasn't already. I think they were in Memphis and maybe shortened the name to Cutters. Kevin

Since that only took an hour or so, I'm gonna give 'er another go. This is another beaut I learned to drive that summer. Some of you may recognize it as a haystacking outfit. It has a Cadillac engine, two transmisions, drive wheels in front, steering in back. It has two different heads, one for loose hay and one for 16 bales at a time. I was a 16 y.o. suburban kid and had never worked a day in my life. After stacking my uncle's loose hay for 2 weeks and getting used to that, we went to the neighbors and stacked baled hay, generally 1,000 bales a day, my scrawny 125 lb ass on the stack and my uncle running the machine. Every once in a while he would give me a break and let me run the machine. Oh, did I say the brakes were activated by cable? Which esentially means NO brakes. "Just put it in reverse and slip the clutch when you come up to the stack." Did I say I hadn't driven at all before that summer? No problem, slip the clutch, work the hydraulics, don't mess your Levis cause you got 16 bales of hay swaying back and forth 20 feet up in the air. I got yelled at a lot that summer, but I made the princely sum of $150.00 dollars for six weeks work. I promptly blew that on a reel to reel tape recorder that was a floor demo. That son of a b never did work right even after taking it back to be worked on twice. I guess I learned something that summer. Sorry, I have to talk to customers all week and on weekends I sometimes don't speak to a soul, so I do ramble. Kevin

This is not my truck, but the truck I learned to drive in, notice the equine containment system, optional bright equipment and PTO powered winch. The wheels are 16" split rims; tires, retreads. This is only a half ton truck, but since it has 4wd it came with a 3/4ton suspension and of course has added helper leaves for when you have a real load. Three shift levers, two of which have nice red bicycle hand grips (they really were original equip.) and it has so many universal joints the dealer wouldn't believe they were stock when some needed to be replaced. This is my first pic post, I hope it works. Kevin

It might not be the only way, but there are stains that you add to oil. Kevin

I have 2 stitching horses that I use. The one at work looks to be the same as the Farm woodwork pattern. I think I paid 75.00 for it back about '81. Some of the hardware looked like it was made from stolen aluminum road signs, so I've redone the hardware. The legs all fell apart, so I reglued them when it was new, I think after 12 years I ended up using epoxy paste on them. They're holding up well now. The jaws on mine are oak, the seat is pine and the legs are oak. Oak is too brittle for the jaws, the horse has fallen over a few times and little chunks break off the corners. I put brass strips inside the jaws so I can just lay the flat of the awl on the brass and get a good angle everytime. Oh, and the rear legs aren't placed back quite far enough, so if you get back too far she'll buck you off everytime. But we've come to work together ok over the years. At home I have a Randall that looks like somebody left out in the weather for a while, but its all there and good enough for what I do here. A friend of mine is a master saddler from Hungary and her horse is a totally different breed. The seat is kind of low so your thighs are horizontal. The jaws are at the same height as your elbow. I guess this is all ergonomicaly (Iknow tht's wrong) correct, but I can't see what I'm doing when my work is that far away. The final difference is that it has a wooden screw and S shaped wooden nut that you tighten the jaws with. I find it tedious and clumsy, but she is fast and thinks our stitching horses with foot controlled jaws are tedious and clumsy. Kevin

I've never tried it, but some guys use a small nail instead of a drill bit when stitching cantles. Personally, I've got to have that twist in my stitch that I think you can only get with an awl. Kevin

I feel your pain. At one time Weaver had pretty nice dees for dog collars, but that didn't last long. For a while it seemed like everytime I ordered dees they were different. I have at least 3 different styles in my 1" drawer and if I need more than one for a project, I have to hunt and make sure they all match. If you do find a good source, please let us in on it. Thanks, Kevin

It just depends on how particular you are. Sounds to me like you've already decided what you need to do. Sorry, Kevin

That looks great. That was a lot to stitch through. Kevin

You're very welcome, That doesn't look bad at all, might even be better than what could be done with a patching machine, because the fleece would make it very hard to get an even stitch. I know that felt good when you finished, sometimes I think repairs are more rewarding than making new stuff, cause you sure have to scratch your head to fix somebody else's mess. Kevin

Been there, but not sewing around a whole skirt. I just used a little screwdriver and manually looped the thread around the hook, but that was only for five or six stitches. Do you have enough pressure on the foot to compress the wool? I think it should handle that pretty easily. But its been about 15 years since I did any serious stitching on one and I may just be having fond memories. Kevin

The Shady Maple is not too far from Smucker's Harness Shop (thread not hijacked). Food so good your tongue will knock your brains out. I don't know the name of the location, but its close to Blue Ball, Honey Brooke, East Earl, New Holland, Lancaster etc.. It is in the middle of Amish country, next door is a grocery store with hitching rails for horses and buggies. On weekdays, you will likely see farmers working with teams and horse drawn equipment. I recently found a Saurbier head knife in an antiques mall nearby. I believe he was a sword maker during the Wah of Nothun Agression. Oh Linda and another lady who's name I can't recall at the moment at Windmill Saddlery are always pleasant and helpful. Kevin

Use your sewing machine to perforate your pattern, lay it on top of your leather, and sprinkle with powder and there's your pattern. Kevin

When you have something that thick, check to see if you have any tension on top. If the leather is too thick, it raises the tension disc just like the foot lift. Kevin

Tandy has Tannit solution. Catalog says it does 20lbs., hair on only. Or, you could make them into rawhide, cut into lace and make some really cool lanyards. Kevin

I have done this. The first attempt, I machine stitched a strip on the bottom of the seat, thinking that would fit in the groove and the pressure from the arms would hold it in place. Nice theory, but it didn't work for long. The leather on the back stretches and there is no pressure from the arms. Then I took the stitching out and added a wider piece to the bottom of the first strip so it was sort of like an I beam and had to slide into the groove. This I had to handstitch, which I was trying to avoid to keep the cost down. Another guy I did it for said his fulltime job is switching the seat back to front and front to back to make sure it stretches evenly. Oh, by the way, I'm talking about bridle leather, not covering the canvas with a lighter weight leather. Kevin