TroyWest

Thanks for the tip Bob. Do you carry these feet, and what size needle would you recommend to sew with 138 thread? Troy

Congratulations and happy sewing.

Grampa Joel and Bruce, You were both right. I was wrong. Steve Siegel called me today and I asked him if there was such a thing as dye struck leather. He said of course. Basically what Bruce said was accurate. Steve said, Most all leathers dyed at a tannery are drum dyed. The dye is put into the drum to dye the leather. However if they are trying to save money or need to use the drum for something else, they may remove the leather before the dye has time to penetrate through the middle. This is drum dyed leather. Dye struck leather means the dye is given the time to soak all the way through the center of the leather. Both leathers are drum dyed, but dye struck will mean all the way through. I guess I was wrong all the way. Please forgive my ignorance, Troy

Grampa Joel, Drum Dyed leather is leather dyed in the large drums at the tanneries. Done so that the leather is dyed all the way through, and not just on the surface. The term dye struck I have not heard of when referring to leather, but die struck is a term used in metals. A lot of conchos are die struck, as are coins. A die is made of harder metal than the concho or coin and under great pressure tranfers the image to the softer metal. There are leathers dyed only on the surface. I have been to a tannery where they had veg tan skirting hanging on hooks while they were spraying the leather brown to make harness leather. The disadvantage to a surface dye is if it is scratched the leather underneath is a different color. Hope that helps, Troy

Another term for slick fork is an A-fork. When looking at it from the front or rear it is shaped like the letter "A". An A-fork is a slick fork. A swell fork "swells" wider than an "A".

I use white poly thread size 92 with a 21 needle. I get it from Campbell.

I've been sewing belts on mine for years. Don King recommended it to me. I used to comment to Barry King what a nice stitch he had on so many projects. He always said he sewed it on a 31-15. For $50.00 you can't lose. Around here they bring $200.00 and up. A lot of guys used to sew boot tops on them. There are newer and better machines but it will do what you want.

This is an interesting topic. I'm another fan of 16oz. BK maul. That is what I use the most for general tooling.It has a straight head on it. I have a heavier Gore maul I use for Basket stamping. I have a Beard 32oz.. I love the material but its much too head heavy for me. I only use it for drive punches. When I used to use the big poly maul for tooling I would occasionally shoot a tool off to one side. Using the little BK I never do. It is also very well balanced. I bought a tapered head BK maul last year but when I got home the handle on it was turned down a little thinner than the others and I found I actually had to squeeze a little to hold it and it was a little more tiring to tool with it. It still looks brand new. I think I'm going to trade it back in for one with a little fatter handle. At our other shop we had a 56 oz. Beard maul that was great for large drive punches and firm stamps. Bob, I think your double headed stick idea sounds good.

Again these are only opinions as I saw a saddle today of a well known maker with a roll like yours, a bit squared off, so opinions are like noses. Everybody has one and there are usually a couple of holes in them. While I also like the shape of the skirts and the housing being parallel, when you get to where the housing goes under the seat jockey it flares a bit upward. It is only slight but with the skirt sloping downward there it takes away a bit from the loveliness of the lines. I am being nit-picky here, but you want people to look at your saddle and say, man those are nice lines. You really want the front jockey and rear jockey to have lines that either go straight across in perfect line as on a semi square rig or a gentle downward curve that would perfectly intersect. When you fit those jockeys, get back off 10 ft. and look at it. You can see those discrepancies from a distance easier than when right on top of them. I think you should sew your binder a bit further down rather than stopping 3/4" from the bottom. You are doing a lot of things well Ross. Your housings look like they are down nice and tight. Your tooling is looking good, and you have a great attitude for learning. Troy

Hello Ross, I think we all agree the tree looks great. Really punchy. I think the critiques have been good. Everything Keith said was certainly good. The roundness of that front jockey is much improved over the other saddle. As Keith noted the overall appearrance and shape of the saddle is attractive. I say this a lot, but you could hang a set of rigs on a saddle with stirrup leathers and ride it. Everything else is for comfort or cosmetics. These are a very big deal which can make you or break you so it is an important study and a fun one to us saddle junkies. The glaring thing to me is the welt. You centered it on the swell but not in the middle of the widest point of the swell, again as Keith noted it should go right down to the screw. It could be further forward like a bronc saddle but it would need to be much further. Another thing that I would do is make the edge of the cantle more rounded. It is flat on top, then a corner, flat back, then a corner. I prefer that whole back edge to be a nice round like the barrel of a shotgun, if that makes sense. I have to end this as my wife needs her laptop so I'll go upstairs on the other computer and finish this critique. Troy

Hey Ryan, must of missed your post when I couldn't get on LW for a few days. Thank you so much. Hey Dave Beagle. Haven't heard from you in a while. Thank you for the kind word also. Troy

Hey Billy, Thank you. I don't know what to say. There is no end to what we can all learn. I say never give up, never give in. Keep striving for excellence. It might surprise you what you really are capable of. Sometimes it is just a matter of a little instruction or adjustment in technique. Sometimes more. If you live to be 100 you still have 50 yrs to work on it. Don King was doing stuff in his eighties that I had never even thought of. Tiny, tiny flowers. A belt with maybe 50 or more flowers done and done well. Any way, thanks again for sharing your thoughts. Such kind words are an encouragement to me. Troy

Hey Andy, Thanks for looking. Really appreciate your thoughts. Troy

Hey Bob, Thanks. Really appreciate it. Troy

Ben, I'm shallow enough that I haven't grown weary of hearing those accolades so thank you very much. It may surprise you but this is only the 2nd saddle that I tooled an open diamond pattern on. The other was a wade. JW Thanks Aermotor Thank you, always wondered how you got that handle. Bobby You see great tooling every day when you look at your own stuff !! LOL. I appreciate it very much. I think there are a few more flat plates in the arena than there used to be but the double D is still very strong in the roping world. Thanks again.

Keith, I read your post to my wife and we both got a kick out of it. Wish you would do a little more shameless self promotion on here. We love to see your work. Thanks for the kind word. GrandpaJoel and Bob, Thank you both very much. Darcy, I do like my cantles turned down and my binders close to the edge. It is only 6 stitches per inch though. Thank you for the kind words also. Hey Steve, Thank you too.

These pictures have been in my camera for months. Just put them on the computer. It's an O.Y. roper with a flat plate. I made the tree and the conchos too. Tree is made of poplar and covered with rawhide. Conchos are solid sterling. Thanks for looking.

Most presses can push a die way past the breaking point. Just use common sense and pay attention, which you should anyway while using such equipment and you will learn when to stop. Looks like a great alternative to a clicker. The advantage to a clicker is that it can be set to push the die to the exact same depth every time.

Sheridan Leather carries Pappy's Dubbin. (307) 674-6679

That is simply called waxed nylon thread. Most every supplier carries it. Extremely strong but will not hold a knot well unless you melt it.

Very nice saddle Andy

I like ring rigged saddles also. They look good and work well. I build a lot more flat plates but occasionally get an order for a ring rig. Troy

That is a set of pins and holding devises that go in the holes on top of an engraving ball like silver engravers use. So many different shapes of things that are engraved require different pins and knobs to hold them. Those sets are sold by silver suppliers like Indian Jewelers and Rio Grande Engraving supplies.

I have a couple I use all the time especially for holding down things to tool. I made them a number of years ago out of some top grain chap leather. They are about 8" long and aprox. 3" across. I filled them with brass BB's. They weigh about 4 1/2 lbs. each. Very convenient and useful.

My friend Dale Fredericks called and told me he wanted to sell these 2 items. I told him I would post it for him Landis 3 Stitcher in excellent condition. $4000.00 12" USMC Band Knife 3000.00 Both items are in Laredo, Tx. Dales # ( 956) 286-6905