howitzergun

Well, I guess, that blade itself wouldnt be the biggest problem, since I know a few guys who`re working with knives and other blades. I guess, if the original blade is crap, I could order similar shaped better quality blade for an reasonable price.

Just checked their site - unfortunately, they have only small handheld tools and instruments, not the machinery. Still, thanks for an advice, browsed their sortiment and found some useful stuff for me.

Hello, gentlemen! I don`t want to make a new topic about my question so i`ll just bump my old one. Everything`s fine, i`ve been working myself up slowly and taking more and more complicated jobs with my simple equipment (bridles, headcollars, wallets, belts, holsters and so on). The time has come for me to look for a manual leather splitting/skiving machine, i`m just pretty tired skiving with knife all the time. Unfortunately, I can`t afford something like this for the moment. http://abbeyengland.com/Store/CategoryID/441/List/0/Level/a/ProductID/75890 I`ve seen plenty of China made copies and alternatives, for some 200 bucks or so on ebay. Are they up to the task or it`s just a simple money waste? Would`nt like just to shoot in the dark and try my luck without any reccomendations about stuff like that. Should I grab it or just keep punishing myself with my skiving knife until i`ve saved enough for an Osborne machine? Thanks in advance!

Thanks, then i`ll try to order something from Osborne!

Hello, Gmace99! 15mins is impressive, truly. By whole job do you mean by complete re-flock, when unstitching the panels, taking everything out and then new wool completely in? I always do a complete reflock, not a part time, because mostly the old flock varies in condition and materials. I`m using only 100% natural sheep wool, that`s been prepped especially for flocking. I`m ordering it from "World Of Wool" in England. I love working with Kieffer, I enjoy those "bolt on" backs, easy and quick to work with, a lot faster re assembly than stitching whole rear again. Most of my customer saddles are Kieffer, Stubben and Passier, they`re very popular here. Do you know anything about the Osborne leather tools? Worth the penny? Hey, if you`re working in UK, maybe you know David May, he`s from Shrewsbury. He was my tutor at the re-flocking course. Wonderful person - lots of expierience and a great sense of humor!

Hello there. I think I should introduce myself a bit before asking something, since I am a new member of this community. I`m from Riga, capital city of Latvia. Located in Baltic States, northern Europe. 1.5 years ago I started to do small tack repairs, since i`ve been with the horses some 10 years or more. Last spring I visited United Kingdom and took part in the saddle re-flocking course, now I started a small workshop at home and mostly i`m doing re-flocking, some saddle and tack repairs (like girth strap and girth strap webbing replacement, torn apart bridles, martingales, etc). Sometimes I make something simple from the scratch, like wallets, phone holsters, and so on. I know that these are only a small steps on this long road, but I hope that with a lot of patience and hard work I could turn this into a small family business and together with photography make some living from it. My equestrian friends and other horse owners are really interested in this, since i`m the only one who could, for example, re-flock a saddle (we had one old dude who was pretty good with tack repairs, but now he`s running a tack shop and is not very interested in repairs - simple math, if it`s broken, come and buy a new one), or do some other repairs. Of course, some stitching and leather jobs still can be done in the shoe repair shops (ah yeah, I worked in a small family company as a shoe repairs guy, just to get some expierence with leather, athesives, sewing, etc) but still people are more interested if other equestrian carries the repairs since it`s much easier for other rider to understand what exactly is necessary. Ah, a little notification - I`m talking about classic, English tack and saddles. Western riding and movement is not popular in our country. So, maybe, let`s try some questioning? At first - guys, now slowly I`m starting to make something, not just repairs. Slowly working on my first classic English bridle (a ridiculous try to replicate something from my own tack). As i`m making something, I need tools. I have knives, hammers, awls, threads, leather, etc, but I`m lacking finishing tools, to make my creation not look like from the Stone age. I would like to know, what are good tool brands (but still at least a bit affordable) and, most important, can you, please, guide me to some on-line shop, that`s shipping worldwide? For example, I bought some edge beveler from ebay for a couple of $, just for a test, but the piece of crap isn`t from steel. Its cast metal and totally unsharp. Threw it in the garbage can. As far as I`ve heard, the "Tandy" tools are crap also. Am I wrong? I`m buying my tack spares from a store in UK that`s called "Abbey England", they ship to my country and they`re offering some tools manufactured by "Osborne Tools". Are they any good? here`s a link: http://www.abbeyengland.com/Store/tabid/77/CategoryID/202/Category2ID/129/Level/2/language/en-GB/List/1/catpagesize/0/Default.aspx Second question from me: I own an very good Kieffer jumping saddle (originally in black), that I restored for myself. Got the saddle in totally abused condition. Flocking was terrible, leather was hard and was never greased or maintained, girth straps gone, etc. Reflocked, feeded dry leather with an tack oil, replaced everything, except the old paint, that is slowly tearing apart from the leather. I would like to know how could I restore the paint on my saddle? I`m doing it for myself and would like to have everything top notch. Of course, a lot of people are also asking about color restoration, painting, etc. What paint should I use, how the leather painting`s done and, most important, is it possible to apply a fresh coat of paint so it does not leave markings on the riding breeches? If some of my customers would get his or her`s white riding breeches black, I think, that would be my last job with that person. I`m very sorry for my extremely long monologue and, please, excuse my english, since it`s not my native language. Have a splendid day, and best wishes - you, guys, have a wonderful website, tons of priceless information!