HarryB

Hey! Crack dealers are my job security!

I've done a couple; one out of veg tan and one out of elk. My suggestion is to back the leather with a good quality canvas. I've used my elk chair for years and it has virtually no sag. Just about any leather sat in very much will soon stretch out of shape badly. Good luck.

Well, here's my 2 cents worth. I was a design engineer draftsman for a few years and then went into law enforcement. With my sheriff's office for 17 years and both my wife and I got a wild bug up our rear ends and moved to the beautiful Colorado Rockies for 12 years where I had a leather shop, restaurant for three years and built custom cabinets and counter tops. Moved back "home" and went back to work for the sheriff's office. 4 more years and I'm back to full-time leather work! Great to see everyone's diverse experiences.

I assume you are dying veg tanned leather. If so, try Fiebing's red. It is a deep red, not a fire engine red.

Can't remember the man's name but had a demo from the original maker of the triweave stamp at a CSMA meeting years ago. His suggestion is to lightly tilt the tool toward each point and strike. This requires three strikes for each impression but you get into a rythum and it goes pretty smooth. Naturally: the better the quality of the stamp, the better the results.

Great link. Thanks.

Had big problem out of Scovill (Dot snap Mfg.) on my last order so I ordered from Fasnap. Both companies have very good products: it took me three days to get my order from Fasnap and six weeks from Scovill, even after I canceled the order! Ohio Travel bag has both parts of the line 20 and 2r setters for the lever press setters. They also used to carry a solid steel handle about 1" diameter that the setters would fit in (hopefully they still do). This gives you lots of good weight and control when setting and no limitations on how far from the edge you can set a snap. Be sure to check your cup anvil for the caps. Any deformations on the anvil will transfer to the snap cap when you set it. If you have a rough anvil stick a business card between it and the cap when you set the cap.

Very interesting question. A long time ago, all the old pros back then were adament about cutting parts with or against the grain. If belts should be cut with the grain (from head to tail) why do tanneries sell double shoulders specifically for belts?! Kind of a quandry, isn't it. About the only thing I am adament about cutting with the grain are stirrup leathers, and I am sure to always put the strongest, firmest one on the left side. Besides that, I have run into very few problems cutting other parts for the best economy of your materials.

Hey. I buy mine from Fasnap Corp. (on the www) Have to buy 100 of each piece but not that expensive. One secret is to use a good setter. Mine's from Ohio Travel Bag Co. Cheap setters = amateur looking work. Get a good setter and it makes all the difference in the world.

I'll have to look at my jugs when I get to the shop, but it looks a lot like the flesh side is finished with Holster Kote. A rep from the company told me years ago that they market the same product several different ways; if they are selling to holster makers, they call it Hoslter Kote, if they are selling it to belt makers, they call it Belt Kote, etc. Its water based, dries clear and glossy and looks very good. I'll post the company name as soon as I can.

Thanks for the help, folks. So far, no luck. I did find that the name is Grip-Rite but the only Grip-Rite I can find deals with construction tools (compressors and air guns). No luck there! I'll keep lookin' though.

I am looking for some 3/4" strapping for reins and dog leads. I found one company that said they would sell me some but backed out and I never heard back from them (chickens!) This strapping is a rough synthetic and looks like it has two rows of rubber woven down the length for grip. I have seen it used for dog leads but I'm sure that particular company wouldn't tell me who their supplier is (competition, you know). I've looked about everywhere I know of. Thanks.

Kathy, just saw this posting. Try VanDyke's Restorers. They have an online catalog and a very extensive selection of upholstry tacks.

Allen, just a word of caution when switching from a mallet to a maul; I had to take the time to put a good square shoulder on ALL my stamping tools when I switched. I found that the factory rounded top will allow the maul to slip off. I thought I was losing my hand/eye coordination when I started! I had more scraped knuckles than I have fingers!

Biggest problem is you notice the difference when you pay for it! Have tried the oil dyes and can't tell the difference in the oil dyes and Fiebing's spirit dyes that I add neatsfoot oil to.

Rumor debunked!!! I spoke with a rep from Fiebing's today and was told that it is safe to airbrush Fiebing's solvent dyes as long as we use sufficient ventilation. Good to know; now I will start doing it again. Always best to be on the safe side when we're talking about our health.

When would a clam need a saddle and who are the harness makers that make them?!!!

One more thing to try: make sure your needle is big enough for your thread size. Both of those problems come from the thread too big for the needle eye.

One very similar to this is used down south here and is called a plantation saddle. Used a lot in bird dog trials. Also heard it refered to as a Canadian Mountie's saddle.

My source is a retired geologist/current full-time saddlemaker in Colorado. I haven't taken the time to follow up on his info but haven't airbrushed any more solvent dyes, either! We need to find out. If I remember (I suffer from bouts of CRS and if you don't know what CRS is I'll e-mail you with the answer) I'll call Fiebing's Wednesday and ask the source. Then we'll know.

Glassing your leather makes all the difference in the world. Be sure to get 3/8" glass or 1/4" plexiglass and get a good radius from one side to the other. Both work well but must be perfectly smooth or it will transfer any defects to the surface of the leather. Don't use too much pressure or you will slip the grain (separate the grain from the flesh layer). Be aware, if you are using a less expensive leather, you will possibly slip some or all of the grain even with lighter pressure. Try it. You will never not glass your leather afterwards.

I use Wickett & Craig's vegetable tanned just because it stretched less, it is dry and I use it a lot for linings and I prefer to saddle soap it when used for strings.

Just a little history; Tandy's used to buy their tools from Craftool Company, their dyes from Omega Chemical, their lace from a small company and their leather from Bona Allen Tannery. Then they gradually bought all of them. It was great for a while and then Tandy started selling off its assets. Craftools used to all have the designs ground in by hand, well chrome plated and finished. Then came "new" technology and there went the quality. I bought a few tools from Hidecrafters a few years back that were TERRIBLE. The tool shaft bent like rubber after a few strokes! When I complained, the then owner George Hurst gladly replaced them with more defective tools and explained that they were made somewhere overseas and the problem had been addressed. The problem was that George had to order in lots of 1000s to get his pricing down. How long does it take to sell 1 or 2000 of one particular stamp?! I wish we could find a company that made decent tools in the $15-$20 range. It just ain't out there. Problem is, where I used to pay $4 or $5 for some decent tools, I now spend $40 -$50 for decent tools. Big difference.

Just a word of caution: I was once told that air brushing Fiebing's solvent based dyes (or anyone else's, I guess) give off benzine, a highly hazerdous substance to be breathing! I have not air brushed since then and have not checked with Fiebing's to verify this. I guess we need to check this out, huh?

I think this goes back to the other posting about the quality of tools. Surely, an unskilled person can not make A1 projects with the absolute best tools or materials BUT as my old pappy always used to say: you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Not saying you used "cheap" leather for the strap but I have found that almost any tannery's "craftsman or artisan" veg tan strap leather will be a dryer tannage than saddle skirting. I have gone to using Wickett & Craig skirting for almost everything I do. I have it split to whatever thickness I need and it works wonderfully. Skirting is tanned differently than strap leather and it shows the most when you start bending and folding the surface (grain side) of the leather.