Lorrso

Hello to all, a friend of mine just bought a pair of black leather gloves that leave stains on her hands after use (horse riding gloves). She asked me a way to fix the dye to leather and then avoid stained hands. Do you have any suggestion for her? Thanks a lot in advance, Lorenzo

Sure it helped! I will go for alcohol-based Leather Dye then. Again, Thanks a lot! Lorenzo

Bob, I mostly do dogs stuff and horse tack and your tutorial definitely changed my edges: I want to thank you for sharing the "secret" with us! I have a question about edge dye product: my usual provider doesn't sell anymore Fiebing's Edge Dye. Can I use other spirit-based, Fiebing's Leather Dye, for edges too? Is there any substantial differences between the two products? Thank you very much, Lorenzo

A customer requested a pair of western reins with silver tips. Not really being into western bridlery, I'm asking if you could help me in finding those silvers. European suppliers would be appreciated, but US ones will work too! Thank you very much in advance! L.

Thank you for your appreciation! Well, these are showjumping and dressage horses: the first one is a german horse, the second a belgian breed and third one is a polish throughbreed. QH and appaloosa are not rare here, but italian and european breeds are of course more common.

Thank you Ken, exactly what I was looking for! I'm not into western riding gear, I lack correct terms even for searching through the web.

Hello to all! I'm into leatherworks since 2007, here are some of my works. This is the first bridle I've made... flash raised noseband and browband, black leather, size full: Here's an high ring grackle one with padded and raised browband, australian nut leather, size full: This is a padded stable halter, made with dark havana leather lined with black: And this is one of my latest works, a black bitless bridle: Other side: Comments and critiques are more than welcome! Thanks! L.

Hello to all, recently a customer requested a copy of the bridle below, but the hardest part seems to be finding those short silver tubes! Any suggestion? Thank you very much in advance! Lorenzo

Thank you for your replies! I think I will try with an acrylic paint then sealed with Resolene. L.

Hello to all, a customer asked for a red and a white leather bridles, english style. My fave products for coloring edges are the ones from Fiebings, but they don't produce nor a red or a white dye specific for edges. Do you have any suggestion? Thank you very much in advance! L.

Just my 2 euro cents: Usually I draw the curve/profile I need on cardboard then cut it out with scissors then mark on leather with a scratch awl then cut out with a round knife. L.

MADMAX22, Spence, thanks a lot for your appreciations. I will deliver the harness tomorrow and I really hope the customer will be satisfied as I am.

Hello to all, this is a custom dog harness made for a dobermann. Sedgwick bridle leather for collar and "reins" (how do you will call those?), 3mm neoprene and italian calf for collar's lining. The 2 reins are reinforced with a 2mm strong polypropilene rope core. Nickel plated brass and stainless steel hardware. Completely handstitched (2 needles saddle stitch). The collar seats between neck and shoulders and reins run under armpits, reconnecting to the ring used for attaching a leash. I choosed round "reins" instead of strap ones as this dobie has sensitive skin. Suggestions/critiques are more than welcome! Thank you, L.

Thank you very much for your suggestions and appreciations! I've noticed that on 95% of bridles the creasing is made that way but... it's tricky! now it is time to try. This bridle has 1/2", 5/8" and a 3/4" (the noseband) parts... used a round punch for all the holes in order to keep the project more uniform and because I have only one, rather large, oval punch. I use oval holes for strappings over 3/4" (i. e., the crownpiece of the headcollar I've posted here has 1" strapping and oval holes). In september I'll do a new bridle for a friend (this time, grackle noseband) and I'll follow your recommendations. Again, a big thank you! L.

Kevin is right: I kept the flat surface of the hook facing the horse in order to avoid chafing or worst. L.

Thank you very much for all your comments! More or less the same problem here: I must move 200km to reach a proper saddler, so I prefer to order online what I need. But in Italy it seems nobody want to sell small quantities to hobbyists like me, so I must order abroad or overseas. For saddlery leather and hardware, the up-mentioned Abbey is an invaluable source. I use to order also from an US store called Ryans Products LLC (http://www.ryansproducts.com/). Have a nice day, L.

Thank you for all your kind comments! I do truly love to do these items, at home, while listening to my fav radio. It relaxes me soo much And when the customer likes the result, satisfaction doubles. I wish that someday it might become my first occupation. Hope to be back soon with new project pictures. L.

Thank you Dan. It's called flash noseband and it's used for holding the bit piece into the horse's mouth. It's quite diffused among showjumping horses, at least here in Italy. Personally, I don't use it when I ride. L.

And my 2nd post here too, lol Sedgwick leather, stainless steel hardware, fully adjustable and with matching reins. Completely handstitched (as I don't still have a stitching machine). Critiques are welcome! Many thanks L.

And also the first item I post here! Sedgwick leather, completely handstitched. Please tell me what do u think (feel free to critique, I'm here to learn). Thank you L.

Hahahaha, I got your point, thank you very much! Lorenzo

Kevin (hey, you have an italian family name!), David, thank you very much for your kind answers. Fortunately, you confirm my opinion. My teacher (with 30+ years of experience as saddler, probably one of the best leather artisans in Italy) always told me that nothing's better than saddle/2 needles stitch and I'll surely continue along that way. Anyway, I hope that further anwers will come. Have a great day, Lorenzo

Hello to all, I always thought that the most secure way of stitching horse tack was two needle stitching... but today an italian friend told me that sewing with the sewing awl (like the one below) is far more secure and durable than two needle, as the thread "locks" at each stitch. Is he right? Can you tell me which is the best (under the security aspect) method when hand sewing? Thanks a lot in advance! Lorenzo

I followed your recommendations (putting the roller slightly back of the dead top center and keeping a thumb on the strip near the blade) and the result improved radically... but I still wasn't happy, as the cut wasn't straight as I desired: as $$hobby said, I think there's something wrong in the roller. So... I decided to buy a new splitting machine: found this one on eBay... http://cgi.ebay.it/LEATHER-SPLITTER-SPLITT...p3286.m63.l1177 ...that was relatively cheap and the seller had a good reputation. I got my new splitter yesterday and, WOW, it works much better! Solid cast frame, nice 6" blade and a machine-turned heavy rolled. Just wanted to let you know. Thanks a lot for your suggestions! L.

Many thanks for your answers! I don't think it's a leather quality problem (I use Sedgwick bridle butts), but only my lack of skill. I'll try again and let you know. L.