3arrows

Thanks for the ideas, guys... appreciate the response back. I'll call Steve first and if I cant get one, Ill buy a regular foot off of ebay and make me one...great idea...thanks ron

Hi, everyone, hope yall are doing ok. We are about to mildew down here in Georgia if it rains anymore. Though, I guess this is better than snow and ice. Anyway, Im trying to see if anyone has a used and not too abused Center Groover Leather Presser Foot that would fit my Artisan Toro 4000 sewing machine. Let me know if anyone has one for sale...thanks ron.

Hello, Im in need of some help. I want to make a pair of taps for my trail saddle and know I've seen a link on this forum to a set up patterns before, but cant seem to find it in the search. Can someone point me to a pattern for the eagle beak or bulldog style tap pattern??? thanks Ron...

Lindsay, dont know if you saw the other slog blog going on about stitching machines,, but I just got my Toro 4000 last week and I love it. I had a little extra money and opted for the longer arm on the 4000, cause my wife makes custom saddle bags. I also do a lot of saddle repair, and am running a special sale on refurbishing western saddles, so the deep arm is great for stitching new sheepskins onto saddle skirts. I also got great service from Dave at Artisan, they are great guys to do business with. thanks ron

Holly, I do a lot of repairs on saddles, 90% of my work is repairs and about 10% new items. I can tell you that the Simpco's are ok saddles, but Im not a fan of ralide tree's. They stretch and distort over a period of time and the more you use them the worse they get. The good news is that your mom is light (in weight) and that will make the ralide tree last longer. Make sure that the saddle tree fits your mom's horse before she uses it. Arabs can sometimes be hard to fit. Typically the Simpcos are better than most of the Internet (Ebay) junk sold right now, some of the saddles you can buy on the internet litterally fall apart while the owner is using them. I refuse to repair most of these, since no amount of repairs can help a piece of junk poorly made with imported cardboard leather. Id rather rebuild an old Billy Cook, Longhorn, Simpco, or Circly Y than repair a new imported saddle. PS: BTW your work is awesome, love it. My wife does custome saddle bags, take a look at our WEB page when you get a chance..thanks ron www.3arrowstack.com

I also did about 4 or 5 hours of straight stitching on some scraps, but it doesnt take that much time to figure out a really good machine, especially if you have done a lot of stitching on a hand crank machine as well as other lighter weight machines. My Pfaff will outstitch any other machine around on lighter leather, but wont do 12-14oz skirting without knoching it out of timing occassionally. This blog is starting to look like a ford vs chevy discussion or a dunk em vs sprinkle discussion. LOL Im sure everybody's machine is a good one, I like mine and thats the only thing I really care about, I have nothing bad to say about it yet and dont think I will in the future. Opinions are like air, there's plenty of it, some good - some bad. What you buy and can live with is strictly your choice. Good sewing to everybody.

Tom, I just purchased a Toro 4000 and it is an awesome machine. It took about an hour to set it up and I never had to touch anything on it or adjust anything, I just started using it and have been doing so for 5 days non-stop. I use it to repair and build saddles and harnesses and it is great. It has the slow stitch-by-stitch speed that I like and the punch capability of going through 3/4" of leather and then down to 1/4" and still not missing a stitch is unbelievable. I was using a hand stitching machine before and the comparison between the two is a joke. This Artisan is a great machine. I also got exceptional service from the group of people at Artisan, especially Dave who helped me with my decision of which machine to buy.. Thanks ron

Thanks, I found exactly what I need at his site. Price is good, only $7 per pattern. thanks ron

Hello, and Merry Christmas to everyone. I would like to make a set of tapaderos for my trail saddle. Does anyone know where I can get a set of patterns? Probably an Eagle Beak style or one similar to the pic I attached, Ill consider others if appropriate..thanks for any help you might be able to offer... Ron

I just purchased an old army saddle. The leather is very dry but still seems to be strong and plyable. I stopped using neatsfoot oil and occassionally use mink oil for really dry leather, but don t like the smell of it. What do you guys use to restore old hard dry leather?????? i have already cleaned it with Murphy's Oil soap and got it really clean. Now it needs some conditioner. What are your suggestions??? thanks ron.

Thanks I searched the archives and found what I needed. Im going to buy a speed reducer. I want the torque that the clutch motor provides. thanks ron

Im using a Pfaff 545 to do my sewing now, just got from a friend of mine. Great machine, plenty of power and will sew anything you can get under the foot (almost an 1" of lift). It has the compound walking foot and is in great shape. My problem is when the clutch engages, the machine takes off like a scalded dog and Im having trouble slowing it down. Any suggestions as to how to slow this beast down? Would a variable speed control like the one I use on my wood router work?? Thanks for any advice you can give me.. ron

I was wondering if anyone knew where the name "night latch" came from? I have installed several on different customer's trail saddles (evidently several have been used with great success). Why not just call it the "Oh s?$t here we go again hand hold". I even use mine to get my big 245# frame up in the saddle sometimes. I make mine out of 10-12oz chrome tanned leather, doubled and stiched about 1-1 1/2" wide. Do any other saddle makers do the same thing??

Wow, Shelly,thats really great information. Ill keep all of that info for future use. BTW the boxes that ULINE sell, particularily the ones I listed Stock # S-4000 are 275#, and fold over past the middle are very secure and are $3.70 each, a little better than $13. .....thanks for the great info... ron.

Ok, have tried the suggestions that you made and still is breaking the thread. It has got to be a timing issue, since it just started last week. Was fine up till then. Any idea of how to retime one of these beasts?? Im giving both guys a call, the one that Bob recommended and the one that you listed,,thanks ron.