Lymestone Canyon Hoods

I have been using a smaller industrial singer for stitching but I struggles with anything over about 1/8"thickness. It will do it but it doesn't like it. Got some inside information recently about a local saddle maker that had retired and wanted to part with his machines. I went over and spoke with him for a good while about what he had and what he wanted. Ended up buying his Tippmann Aerostitch on the spot. Made arrangements to come back in a couple days to pick it up. He demonstrated it for me and I played with it on some scrap leather before buying. Holy hell this thing will sew the grand canyon back together. He was running a 250 needle with 4-something thread and I went through 3/4" of saddle leather without missing a beat. It is air operated and very simple in construction. I love it. Best part of the deal, I went back a couple days later to pick the machine up and he had assembled about five boxes full of "other stuff" including a bucket full of stamps and other tools, sides of leather, dyes, balms and some things that I don't even know what they are for. All freebies as long as I'd use them. Moral of the story, get out and look and you just might find some local makers that have retired and want to part with good stuff. I got a good deal on the machine and the rest made my investment seem small. Since picking it up I have played with it a bit and really don't know how anyone has made it without one. I had been hand stitching all the heavy leather that I do that the smaller singer won't handle. Now what took two hours to hand stitch takes two minutes. Man alive.

Here is a Dover saddler picture of what I am thinking of. http://www.doversaddlery.com/hdr-5-point-brestplate/p/X1-09177/

No one? Has anyone made one that could give me some dimensions or tips at least?

Anyone know where I can find patterns for a five point breastplate for jumpers and eventers? I will gladly pay for a good set of patterns to start from. Thanks in advance if you can help. Brian

What is your preferred payment method? I like the larger tool holder.

I have made hoods for a few of the Arkansas Falconers already. Have a few friends there.

I plan to compare the measurements on it to some other more conventional saddle trees before trying to use it. If it's in good shape why would it not be usable as is? I have not taken it apart yet so it may be rotten somewhere but it seems solid from what I can tell.

This is some of the new gun leather I will be offering in addition to the other things on our website. This is a deep carry holster design that I have been working on for some time. It offers the best of all of the holsters that I have tried. Having carried concealed for well over half of my life, I have always wanted to design something that was comfortable, had a deep carry design and would hold up to daily use. A good, sharp look is always a plus. This is for a 3" 1911. 8oz premium tooling leather hand sewn. It features elk rawhide stiffeners in the right places to that the holster does not begin to sag over time. The belt loops are adjustable for different size belts up to 2". This design carries the holster just 3/4" above the belt line. This one is in dark cordovan with elephant hide accents. Of course it can be matched with other custom accessories belt, mag carriers, knife sheaths or pretty much anything you would need. Enjoy the pics. Thanks

Ok guys before we get to the question let me make a few statements. I'm a professional leather worker but not a saddle maker. I have only made one saddle in the past and while it was fun, it took a long time for a then novice to accomplish. Ok so let's get to the point. I was out and about in town the other day and found really nice old saddle that was being used for decoration in one of the antique stores here in Montana. Owner stated it was at least 100 years old, leather was deteriorated, fittings appeared to be iron. It has a really unique style. High steel or iron horn (rawhide wrapped), high cantle. Upon closer inspection I was able to peel back leather to look at the tree and it appears to be in good shape, especially for the age. No rot or deterioration that I could see. Lady priced it as a decorative item and I bought it for 50.00 What if any is the problem of using this tree? I could certainly restore it if needed but I have not had time to take it all apart yet as I intend to disassemble it and use the pieces as patterns to rebuild it. Would it make sense to possible soak it in resin or fiberglass to stiffen it? In looking through the portions I was able to see it does not appear to be rawhide sheeted. Would that be a better option? Sheet it with rawhide? I am taking this on as a back burner project for myself. To have something worthwhile to kill time on. Plus have been feeling the urge to make another saddle. Opinions and observations are appreciated. I am more interested to know if I should do anything to it, if it is usable as is or do I need to strengthen anything with it that might not have been done in years past. additionally, I think I can save most of the fittings. They will need to be cleaned and restored but should be nice once done. I removed some of the wrapping from the horn and there appears to be a coin of some kind under there. be interested to find out what that is.

The case was wet molded to a form, yes. I let it sit a while after forming, maybe 6-7 hours near our wood stove.. By that time the leather was dry enough to tool (about where you would consider it cased). I tooled it on the form and let it finish drying. Then cut it out, dyed and sewed. I had one little wrinkle on the bottom that is barely noticeable but I am ocd so I will most likely build up the form a little bit taller so that I have more room to work. That case is really deep for the size. Regarding the glove question. Falconry gloves aren't padded. What we do is add another thickness of leather sewn to the top of the glove in the wrist and forearm area. Most times this is just for birds with stronger foot strength. Larger redtail hawks, various eagle and whatnot. For most birds a single thickness of elk, bison or thicker goat is enough.

Guys I make falconry hoods and other accessories for falconry. We make our living with it. I am looking to add hand made falconry gloves and gauntlets to our list of products and I have only ever made one glove. It was years ago and while the design is "OK", it needs refinement. I have a small leather sewing machine but much prefer to hand sew them as that is more in line with our values here. Hand made quality. I am looking for patterns or possibly help from anyone currently making gloves or having made them in the past. I am looking to make them from elk, American bison, goat skin and possibly other pliable leathers. Thanks in advance.

I have been a falconer for over twenty years. Falconry hoods are a very small but dedicated market. Problem is that it takes years to learn, get a customer base built up. There are very few good hood makers in the country. It is a perpetual learning cycle and the fit of the hood on the bird is everything. Style and beauty are secondary but certainly don't hurt anything. You have to have exposure to lots and lots of birds and continually work on the design. We have had the luck of help from some of the best hood makers in the country. They helped us get through the initial hurdles. Without that I dare say it would be an unlearnable thing. It is our love for what we do that motivates us to make hoods and now other things related to falconry and our hoods. At some point I really want to learn to sew gloves and gauntlets. The hood protectors took a good bit of R&D, especially to get a different design that what is currently on the market. We have successfully molded it into a small living doing what we love. We live off grid in the mountains of Montana and this is all that we do. We are lucky in that we are debt free and live small, that makes a world of difference. No one is going to get rich in the leather business but honestly, we never wanted that. we wanted some small niche that would let us live the way we wanted to live. This does that. So if any of you guys have patterns or ideas on glove making, I would love to hear them. Thanks for the kind words. Brian

My profile picture is my Peregrine with one of my hoods on her.

We are professional hood makers for falconry birds. The hoods are hand sewn and molded to fit the shape of the birds head that we are making the hood for. I just recently stared to develop a molded leather case for the hoods that we make. This is the result. Thanks....

Fifty percent of the things that I make are bonded with reptile or snake skin. Contact cement is the only way to go with this. Here's some tricks for you. Scratch the leather surface if you are bonding to the smooth side. Coat evenly on both pieces and pound them with a roller or hammer after bonding them. The Chemical smell will be gone completely in a couple hours from either Barge or Masters. I have always used barge and just recently started to use Masters. Both seem to be relatively the same to me.