Bob

why wouldn't you go ask Barry King or Bob Douglas??? I have a Barry King awl handle on ebay for sale now... search for Barry King, your sure to find it in leather tools.

These are gone... SOLD

JW, nice saddle. I like to see the work your doing, looks good.

I can totally relate too, they can be quite miserable to set properly. Like Art said, it can be for several reasons. the post is too long for the material, or too short.... they are the most likely reason... but the other over looked is the tool should be held straight, not crooked, sometimes you can get away with a tool long post, if you just hold it straight up. it maybe too the quality of material used in making the snaps... some are better than others, I try to avoid the junk sold from tandy, it mostly made in the orient.

Boy oh boy, it sure didn't take long for this thread to get in the ditch..... Mind you, I did think it quite an idea alright....

Sometimes it's best to be quiet and thought a fool, than to open yer mouth and remove all doubt....

any sign of these string sticks yet Elton?

I have oster sheep clippers, works especially good where you lace the skirts together, trims nice an close. I used scissors for years. the clippers do a much nicer, clean & even trim. They're old, but sharp. toke em on trade for some repairs. works for me.

I like the card system Dennis Lane developed. It's simple to understand, effective and accurate. I've used several times and haven't seen anything better.

I use liquid silcone on zippers to make them slide nicer. they don't hangup anymore.

One simple way to get the color you want with saddle skirting is to purchase the color you want. It comes in several different shades, depending on the tannery. Yes of course when you add pure neats foot oil, the color will darken, what ever you use. like whats already been said, "adding oil dye to neats foot oil is also another way to change shades too.... be carefull with streaks when dyeing leather. Most people use sheepskins patches trimmed short for application purpuses.

Very nice job with that Art... thnks for posting pics.

Thats a nice job, great idea too. THanks for sharing with us.

Randy, you can check out this website and see for yourself. http://www.bcchs.com/festival.html Kamloops is located about 4 hours drive North of Seattle WA. We're located right smack in the center of South Central Beautiful British Columbia, Canada. On the Trans Canada Highway, 7 hours drive west of Calgary AB or 3 hours Northeast of Vancouver BC. I plan on attending to see the show. Here's another link for google maps for locating Kamloops http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=....075195&z=7

Jake, thats real nice work. Do you keep track of time spent on a project like that? My estimate would be about 1 1/2 days work. Very nice work. Thanks for posting the pictures.

Mike Patterson, thats some machine.... it's amazing to see some of the old machines they used years ago. They were well built and quite reliable, even after many years.

A plunger that is spring loaded, it pushes out the newly cut leather concho..... it works good

I'm sorry maybe I didn't make it very clear. It looked clear in my mind.... I'm trying to sell these tools, yes I have others also. All kinds of things for sure. Mostly old hand tools. Thanks for asking.

These are awesome tools hand made by a local tool & Die maker. You can purchase these two fine tools for 70$ each. They're 1 3/8 " & 1 3/4 inch.

I have several stock trees for sale, factory built by Timberline Trees and also some from Superior Saddle tree. 1. Buster Welsh cutter 16 1/2" 1. Weatherly 16" 1. Slickfork 16" 1. Association 16" 1. Plainsman 16" 2. Old Mex both 15 1/2" 1. Wade 16" Interested parties PM a note with email or telephone # and get you a list of inventory with details. Bob

Hello and welcome to the leather worker forum. The best thing would first upload some pictures of your saddle and closeups of the repairs you'd like done. It sounds like the padded seat has a tear in the seat, it can definitely be replaced. Repaired? Well, we'll see what the pictures show. Welcome Bob

Tex, real nice workmanship ... did you buy that saddle from the neighbor? that shop doesn't even look dirty

Lorrso, it would appear that your roller is too far forward, the blade is diving into the work. adjust the roller until the blade edge is dead center, then if there's not a guard to hold the leather down, use your free hand to hold it down. Hope that helps, if not, keep trying it should work if your blade is sharp.

I'd be inclinded to use HOT water first, because you would like to displace the oil with water, then do as suggested above using cat litter or floor dry to absorb the oil and water out, then repeat as many times as required. For all the effort, it might be easier to make a new pair of bags.

I agree, the time and effort to make stirrups is too high to make it profitable to bother with making stirrups. Besides having a saparate shop is another for saws and more equipment is another issue. Especially when they can be purchased so cheap. thats my two bits worth.