wyoming

I know the knife you mean, use mine constantly. Try Montana Leather, they should have it. John

Always put shims around my welts. Learned that thirty years ago reairing a Connolly Bros. saddle.

that is a Landis no. 1, that was my first stitcher nearly thirty years ago. I never used the treadle to run it as it was really bad about skipping stitches so just used the hand crank. It is interesting that I gave $1000.00 for my machine that long ago, the value hasn't changed much. My opinion, you would be much better off saving a little more and buying one of the 441 clones. They will be much more versatile and you will get a lot more done and end up with much better quality work. John

Alcohol and water equal boot stretch, can be used to stretch tight spots. Never use neatsfoot oil on chrome tan leather. I personally like skidmores or any good conditioner with bees wax. Black rock is good on some boot leathers too, works especially good on shark, almost makes it like a pull up or oil tan leather.John

Nice looking rub stick. What kind of wood makes the best bouncers, and where do you find a piece large enough to have turned into a bouncer? Also how much for the rub sticks? thanks,

I have to agree that rawhide doesn't belong on a cantle. I tell customers that you never see an old saddle with a rawhide binding, they don't last. I am replacing one right now that someone insisted on, that is probably only about fifteen years old. The rawhide had shrunk and all the stitches were ripped out. John

Just thought I would give another idea for workbenches. When we remodeled our kitchen, I used two base cabinets and made a top to bridge them. The top is made of two by fours, ran through a table saw to leave a square edge. I used them on edge so my top is about three and one quarter inch thick. If you use readi bolt {threaded rod} you can bolt them together tightly. Glue between each layer and make sure you drill a slightly oversize hole so you can keep your top flat. Contersink the two by fours on the front and back with a large drill bit and use heavy washers when you tighten them up. You can screw the last board on the front to cover the washers and nuts. Use a belt sander to level and smooth the top. This really makes a solid bench, no support needed if you set it on the cabinets and fasten it just like the original counter top. I also used the old wall cabinets above for storage. This works great for me. You can use a router to inlay your stone or just frame it with something like quarter round to keep it from moving. John

I'm new to the forum, looked for something like this for a long time and stumbled onto it just surfing leather sites. Appreciate everyone's input. I would like to know what some of you are using for nails and screws in your saddles. I was taught to use # 10 oval head screws, but have seen some makers using a square drive screw similar to a sheetrock screw. I like the idea of a square drive. Does anyone know if these screws are available in stainless steel? How about stainless steel ringshank nails? Where can they be purchased? I was taught to use galvanized nails. They hold pretty well and won't rust, but have found that in some of the saddles I have repaired they don't hold up really well. Thanks, John