rickybobby

Kustom, The leather show is like a kid being dropped in a candy store!! You will see so much cool stuff you wish you had money for!! It takes about 4 times around the show before you start to remember where things are you want after taking in so much info. Also take a class two, the instructors are really good at their specialty. Wickenburg is a very cool little town, the city has just put in "street art" statues of founders and characters that made some history of the town (they are full size) there are also some roadrunners, rattle snakes, gila monsters and tarantulas mounted to the sidewalks. A must see for anyone interested in western gear and art is the westernmuseum.org There is a entire room with saddles, spurs, holsters, chaps, all leather goods from early years. Entrance fee is $7.50 I think and is worth it!! I work a Ben's Saddlery two blocks west of the civic center where the show is held. The shop has been there for 60 years and has a lot of history in the town. It is a cool stop for tourists to see a working saddle shop. I will be going to the show and would be glad to meet up with you and anyone else that would like to. It would be fun to meet some of the leatherworker.net friends!!! See you in Wickenburg!! Rick Jorgenson

Bob, I am going to throw all of my tools in a shreader!!! Your work is beautiful!! Nice job, the customer will really like it. Rick J.

Good start and welcome to the forum! You will find a ton of information and lots of inspiration to get you to the next project. Glad you posted pic's , I wish my first holsters looked that good!!

JRB, Use a small wood dowel taped on top of the sight. It only needs to be about 3 inches long from the sight, sand the bottom flat to rest on the bbl. and taper it. When the gun is pulled from the holster there will be enough room that the sight will not drag. Wood dowel, about 5/16th.s

Bruce, Nice job on this one! I carry one of these daily and it is heavy but very compact for a .45 I have not done a new holster for my own yet but I need to get on it, yours is really good. One problem with this model is the trigger guard is so far down and is very wide, laying out the stitch line and trying to get a "flow" to the holster lines does make this one a challenge. Yours is one of the best I have seen. The detail work you have done is top notch! I vote for leaving the color as is! (no more black holsters ) Take care, Rick Jorgenson

That is how you do it. 2 pieces glued at stitching lines, sew it up, wet holster and start pushing the gun in and mold it to fit. This is how it went for me the first few times..... 2 pieces glued at stitching lines, sew it up, wet holster and start pushing the gun in and mold it to fit. When trying to get the gun pushed into the opening I realized I had the stitch lines to narrow. Put that one in a bag under the bench and started on another. 2 pieces glued at stitching lines, sew it up, wet holster and start pushing the gun in and mold it to fit. When trying to push the gun into the opening I realized I had the stitches to wide. In the bag it went! Started another. 2 pieces glued at stitching lines, sew it up, wet holster and start pushing the gun in and mold it to fit. To wide opening 2 pieces glued at stitching lines, sew it up, wet holster and start pushing the gun in and mold it to fit. To low cut on opening 2 pieces glued at stitching lines, sew it up, wet holster and start pushing the gun in and mold it to fit. To close, cuts for belt 2 pieces glued at stitching lines, sew it up, wet holster and start pushing the gun in and mold it to fit. To ugly but the gun fit!!I now have a "good size" box with my rejects in it but I keep them because they were my learning curve. Most of what I make now is workable and I have learned to avoid the mistakes I made in the past!! Be sure and check for the tutorials by a couple of people "pinned" here on the forum. Search for "holster tutorial" and you will find them. Good luck and post your results!!!

Welcome, Lots of information here!! Get your projects done and post some pic's!!! Glad you found us!

You nailed it!! Nice job, she picked the right guy for the task!!

Nice work Bev!! Everything is really nice!!

Ray, Great information!! This is a very good tutorial for those of us starting a business. Thanks for posting. I have never heard of google knol I will investigate more!! Rick Jorgenson

Tina, That is some amazing work!! Incrediable skulls with facial expressions!! Well done, Love all the colors!! Rick Jorgenson

Dave, The seat looks great!! Your seats always look like perfection! Your tooling is so good and the skulls are well proportioned and have the "evil" look that jumps out at you! PERFECT!!! Nice job, as always!! Rick Jorgenson P.S. I swear I am going to do a "skull" saddle !!! Yours are a inspiration!!!

John, I read about this in one of Al Stohlmans books. I just got some old window pane glass (about 1/8 thick) and wrapped masking tape around an end for a handle and started working the edge of the leather down, no special prep to the glass. It works great but I have a ocilating power drum sander from Harbor Freight (on sale $99.00) that is faster and safer!!Rick Jorgenson John, I read about this in one of Al Stohlmans books. I just got some old window pane glass (about 1/8 thick) and wrapped masking tape around an end for a handle and started working the edge of the leather down, no special prep to the glass. It works great but I have a ocilating power drum sander from Harbor Freight (on sale $99.00) that is faster and safer!!Rick Jorgenson

Mort, I believe the first tree they ran over was a Ortho-flex tree, the metal studs on the frt. bars are for the flex panels. That Co. was never the oldest saddle tree co. in the U.S. The website you posted for American-flex is all the same "sales" pitch that Ortho-flex gave people 10 years ago. It appears they are now in Europe. As a saddlemaker it is my interest to make sure the customer and their horses are comfortable and to turn out the best product I have learned to produce. I by no means know everything, I am only scratching the surface, learning from people here on this site that willingly give their advice and that are earning a living building saddles and perfecting their craft. I wanted to make this my second profession so I went to work in a saddleshop earning about 1/3 of what I made in my original profession, but this is what I choose to do to perfect this craft. The questions you bring up are a concern for all of us (happy horse, happy rider) but by building some saddles and getting them on some horses you learn a lot. By building for yourself you can ride in it and take it home and make new skirts or change the rigging, this is how you learn to improve the things that make a big difference to the horse and rider. I built a saddle on a Ortho-flex tree and no I have not had trouble with it, it is used for pleasure riding. These saddles put the rider about 3 to 3 1/2 inches higher over the horses back than a "regular" saddle tree. I think this is a huge issue because the horse has to compensate for the weight being that far over their back and as far as close contact, forget it, it is not there. Bottom line I think, is build on the best you can in what is offered, build it the best you can, then the ideas will be there for you to improve because you will have mastered the art of saddle making. You have to build a few before you can build the "State of the Art" newest design. These are just my observations I am always trying to learn from someone who knows more than I do about this profession but beware of somone that has a idea that is to good to be true without having mastered the basics (American-Flex). Rick Jorgenson

Bob, A beautiful job on the belts. You are a inspiration to learn and practice !! Thanks for posting those !! Rick Jorgenson

Scott, Log onto Siegels leather in Santa Yanez Ca. You can use a search engine to find it. They carry all kinds of colors and have specials on them as well. Rick Jorgenson

Tom, The holster looks great! Nice, clean lines and looks nice (not black!!) Where did you get the replica? I have looked into "blue guns" they are about $35.00 each. I just wondered if yours was easier to get of less expensive? Rick Jorgenson

Mort, Along with the Stohlman books I recommend Bill Gomers Video. It is a little faster paced than Stohlmans and it shows you how to make patterns on the spot. It is a good combonation that worked for me when I started. Rick Jorgenson

Novice, Look at Tandys or on eBay for Al Stohlmans 3 books on saddle making. They are a good resource to start. Also I recommend Bill Gomers Video of "Making a Saddle" it is about $75.00 and at least with those books and video you can find out what tools to start buying and how they are used. Get a old saddle and tear it apart, by a couple of hides and rebuild it. Saves some money and will get your feet "wet" for minimal cost. Rick Jorgenson

Bob, I think with some practice you could turn out something worth keeping. A cow had to die for that? Come on, show us something good!! Really Bob, Your work is some of the best I have seen!! I would love to get some pointers someday!! The kind of work you do is what so many of us here can only hope to ever get close to. Thanks for sharing that piece. Rick Jorgenson

Lobo, This is a leather workers dream! Not to have to worry about the damn black getting on someones clothes!! I also prefer this for my own rig and like it when I can do it for a customer. I also use a light coat of Bag Kote at the end to seal it. It is a classic look for a gun belt and holster!! Rick Jorgenson

Butch, Nice job!! Art has started a landslide of chap purses!! I suspect when the "little women" see's this I will have another project to start!! Thanks for posting, Great job! Rick Jorgenson

I would be interested. I have one of Ivans felt burnishers and it works great! I would like to try the wood one too. Rick Jorgenson

If I got an order for a TAN breast collar I would make it TAN in color. I am going with that thought. Your breast collar should be tooling leather exterior and then line it with latigo inside. Reason for that is, The latigo is more sweat resistent then tooling leather. Leave the olive oil in your kitchen and oil it with neatsfoot oil or compound then apply something like bagkote for a finish. Be sure to skive all inside edges to keep down bulk and smooth the edges as not to rub on the horse. Rick Jorgenson