Hennessy

g'day bruce,i bought a barnsley in sydney aust in 1966 i think,still have it and rarely need to strop or stone it.i've never used a draw guage got spoilt early,enjoy pete

yer i knew him a veritable knowledgeable tree n saddlemaker,i've known of him from th 60's.i was in new zealand in 67,but didn't get to his town.he shipped saddles n trees all over aust n usa.moved to us in 70's sold saddles [ol timers]held schools on trees n saddles n stayed till the late 90's then moved to brisbane aust and helped an aussie saddle makin school.very talented i got one of his bronc saddles from gallup nm.it had a#on back i called fred and he checked his records and it was made in '67 for a ariz cowboy,he even sent me a pix of it brand new!a couple years later i traded fred the saddle for a tree,12 years later all i got was a picture of a 1967 fred harsant bronc saddle that i once owned.god bless him,he had a gift. pete

nice work clay, i'm gonna have a go at some woolies soon,hope mine turn out as good pete

i used daubers for years,then went to felt and now a clothes pin and a v cut piece of foam,upholstery type,not very big it holds some dye n spreads nice.sometimes i use it twice. pete

i had a large finish machine out of a shoe repair shop,several size sanding wheels and a vacumn dust remover and ground all types of edges for 30 years.i couldn't get anywhere near th edge without.now i have a drum attached to a drill,tied down to table and continue to finish with good edges anything that i care to make. pete

i was gonna jump him out of picture but he block'd the stands

over my years in leather i've found a piece of shoe top lift material[some form of nylon]20 x 30 a sheet from a shoe find store works good.soft for your sharp edges firm enough to cut on skirt chap wotever.plus it can be moved out of way when not needed or to some other spot you may want to work at,worked good, you have 2 sides also mine have lasted years pete

who got herself all in a flutter,but a snip of a knife made everthin orright,n overnight n now she answers to jim pete

if my domer wasn't getting my dome goin i'd tap it a li'l with the hammer just enough to hold washer on,then go back to dome tool.the hole th rvt sits in helps if tight,also if you start with hard hits you'll bend rvt even tho it looks good finished.i rvtd for 31 years almost daily and have deliver'd some wicked thumps to me poor left thumb,had a free standing boot jack,a free standing bench anvil n a big thick block of graniten not enough hands at times eh pete

i've put in thousands of #9'z,n bent tons,when you are ready to [dome]over the washer after cuttin off excessi always set on anvil,softly patting rivet tool untill a nice dome was forming over washer i always strove for a nice large dome then one thump with th ball pein hammer to set th memory.also i chose to hit steel on steel and wore down many setters. one i had new handles weld'd on at least thrice pete

i sat on a tack once ,quick reverseal too!nice work eh kiwi pete

i wonder what dusty 'd do pete

lol pete vary funnee,kit use the nose band on halter for length figure how wide n with with a taper down to squares,i overlap front and back with a piece lat and silver concho on top to hold everything together eh pete

i thought that method wuz one of my trade secrets pete

heres one i've had fun with over th years.every time i cut a copper rivet or pull an old one i pitch it in a coffee can eventually it'll fill up,i fill'd at least 3 large cans or more[not too sure]we'd get some money back for scrap copper i got proficent at pitching at th can pete

thank you all for yer kind words,it took awhile,didn't pre plan it's construction[dont look deeply]but it turn'd out ok wouldn't mind making another, i'd pre plan n draught th next one tho. i had some scrap cowhide left over from some chapsn run out so did th ends different n used the very last pieces for th handles n side longhorns.james its ok ol chap u bein an okie n all okidokey adios pete

in the english n aussie saddle trade they have a tool they call an edging iron.you heat th point and when it gets fairly hot you push it into a block of bees wax and run it down a dyed edge whilst wax is runny.kinda antiquated these days i think,could be so for thin leather eh pete

rd,i got a cylinder sander 4x6 that fits a drill i tie the drill down on bench set the trigger n sand all kinds of stuff from skirts to belts or wotever edge i wanna even out.i got it from a mail order co van dykes from th dakotas i think they do furniture restoring[where sander is]and taxidermy[go figger]try van dykes . com look for restorers,if no luck mail me i have a recent catalog in my shop pete

really a neat way to make a box rd lookout scrap bin eh pete.

oops sorry