hidepounder

I'm with TT and Luke....I think you need more thickness for a good stamping block. Bobby

You may be able to darken the headstall to get it closer to the color of the saddle by applying a light coat of Neatsfoot oil and then putting it out in the sun. You might try it in the sun without adding more NF oil first....it looks like the headstall has been well oiled. I don't think there is any way to preserve the white color of the thead while dying the headstall. I could be wrong, however, and will be watching the responses to see what others might know, LOL. Bobby

I own and use Beards, Henleys, Smiths, Hide Crafters and Leather Wranglers. I probably use Beards blades the most...they are made of tool steel and are very nicely milled, but in all fairness I probably use his because I had him make just what I wanted. I have a variety of styles shapes and sizes and use each for a specific purpose. I do most of my decorative cuts with the LW knife...it is all aluminum with a very high tech steel blade. I have several Henley blades and they are excellent. I probably use Henley barrels more than any other because I like the way they feel. Smith's and Beard's probably have the best yoke and bearing system. With that said the quality of many of these knives have far exceeded the practical needs of the tool. I also use some Henley knock-offs that came from Hide Crafters and with the exception that the yokes will only spin for 20 or 30 seconds instead of 90....I can't see or feel the difference between the two. Those knives have Henley and Beard blades in them. Henley offers a couple of different knurling and yoke styles and a variety of blades designs. Smith and LW both offer a large variety also. I have not used Barry's blades or knives because he makes brass knives and am not a fan of brass, however, eveyone that I know who has a King likes their knife very much. I think that as long as you buy a quality knife and blade from any of the custom makers you will probably be satisfied, but because a swivel knife is such a personal tool I highly recommend attending one of the shows to try them all out. And remember....no matter whose blade you decide on, they all require proper sharpening and polishing to maintain they're ability to cut. Hope this helps.... Bobby

Jon, I am really impressed with your workmanship! The lines are very nice and it lays together beautifully. I'm extra prejudiced because of the in-skirt rigging....my favorite! I think that your tooling theme is a perfect example of how "less is more"! I agree with Ben, the finish is absolutley beautiful! I would love to get a chance to pick your brain about finishing one day. One of the other things that really stands out to me is how clean everything is. There are no little marks or blemishes anywhere. My hat is off to you! Beautiful saddle! Bobby

I think you did a nice job on the seat. Did you use an airbrush to shade the areas in the banner? Looks really good! Bobby

I hear you Shorts! I think that is a battle that we all will always lose. I've often wondered why we try so hard to give our customers that little extra effort when they probably can't tell the difference anyway, LOL! Oh well Bobby

Clay is correct, there is huge spectrum of posiblities for leather enthusiasts. If you are interested in tooling the first book on the list in my opinion is "Sheridan Style Carving" by Bob Likewise. I consider it the bible for toolers. For information on how to build projects I recommend "Making Leather Cases vols I, II & III" by Al Stohlman. These volumes cover everything from wallets to rifle scabbards to shave kits and the techniques taught apply to almost everything made out of leather. There are also some good books by Al Stohlman and Peter Main regarding coloring and finishing leather. All of these books are available through Tandy. Like Clay said if you can tell us what your interested in we can steer you in the right direction. Hope this helps.... Bobby

There are several shows every year. If you watch the calendar here on LW they will be listed as soon as they are announced. Wickenburg, AZ., Sheridan, WY., and Elko, NV are all in the spring and early summer. The IFoLG show and Wichita Falls, TX., were both last month. Those are just the shows I'm aware of....I'm sure there are several more. Hope this helps... Bobby

Corvus, One of the benefits of slicking your leather before and after you case it is that it removes marks like this. I prefer a glass slicker but a good hardwood or plastic slicker will work fine. Hope this helps.... Bobby

Sal, I cut almost all of my borders freehand. I NEVER use a guide to cut with. I learned a long timne ago that my making a deep mark witha pair of dividers and then using a very wide blade (5/8" or 3/4") I could lay the blade pretty flat as I cut and I got a very straight line. When I get to a sharp curve I switch to a 1/4" angled blade until I camre to a straight stretch again. I have not used beader blades much....mostly I use hand beaders...and they are very difficult to use when sharp curves are involved. So much so that I probably would elect not to us eone at all in those circumstances. What Ben was describing about letting a finger or two hang off the edge of teh leather and using them as a guide is a very good tip and a good habit to get into. I do that a lot. Hope this helps.... Bobby

You're experiencing a problem that we all have. I agree with everything Marlon and Ben said. Sometimes I think we rely too hard on utilizing a mechnical means of keeping things staight and even in tight areas. Having been through what you are describing I want to offer one last idea to contemplate. Because it is so difficult to cut around a corner utilizing a guide, you might want to give it a shot freehand. Try practicing a few times on scrap leather and when you start to feel comfortable then give it a try on your next project. Cut lightly on your first pass if that's more comfotable. Hope this helps.... Bobby

Kevin, Just to expand a little bit....the products I bought were all organizer interiors which I will post a photo of in a finished piece. I made a broad generalization and feel I should clarify my experiences with the product in light of Bruces experiences with the wallet and purse liners. I was a little surprised when Bruce said he didn't have good luck with his intereiors. I have never used the wallet liners because I almost never get requests for wallets and I have never used one of his purse liners. I did buy some business card interiors and haven't had any come back yet, but I'm sure they do not see the daily wear that a wallet liner would. If I used more of the organizer interiors I might consider a little different layout which Kieth offered to produce for me, but I just don't sell enough quantity to justify the expense. I am very happy with the organizer interiors I have used so far with the exception of the zipper color which I mentioned in my earlier post. Here is a photo of a CF organizer interior and you can see the color issue I have with the zipper... Hope this helps.... Bobby

Steve, I enjoyed visiting with you yesterday. I commented on your photo tutorial and I'm not sure what happened but I apparently didn't get it posted correctly. I just wanted to tell you that the photos you posted are terrific and make installing an all leather ground seat easy for a non-saddlemaker like me to understand. I hope you took photos of the process as you progressed showing cutting the hand hole and stirrup leather slots. This is very informative and I want to thank you for making the effort and for sharing! Bobby

Chris, Shading is probably the next most difficult task to master next to beveling and bar grounding. Probably the most important tip that I ever learned from a master tooler (Ray Pojha) was to fit the tool to the pattern...or...fit the pattern to the tool! In the interim, you can do as Clay described but eventually you'll want to accumulate enough shaders to fit what you're patterns. Hope this helps... Bobby

Kitty, I just don't see a way to give you a definitie answer to your question. Only you know what sizes will best suit what you do. The only advice I could give would be to select two sizes which you think would be most suited and then select what pattern you prefer (if any). When considering western floral tooling, a checkered pattern at 75 lines per inch is very popular. If you were stamping saddles I would recomend larger bevelers checkered at 50 lines per inch. On the other hand smooth bevelers are suitable for all kinds styles of tooling, including figure carving, however they are harder to run and do not burnish as well as checkered bevelers. Based on your comments I would select a size that will become your most useful size...it's the beveler you will use the most. Then decide if you need a smaller beveler for the really tight areas or a large beveler for long straight lines as your next most useful beveler. If you are not doing specialty tooling I would steer away from the steep Sheridan style bevelers....stick with the normal standard angles. I personally use Beard bevelers almost exclusively. This is because we agree on the philosophy of how a beveler should be made. They are constructed of tool steel and will last several lifetimes. However Beard tools are extremely expensive and you will probably have to wait a year to get them. I also have Barry Kings bevelers and consider them to be a very high quality proffessonal grade tool. Barry's tools are more affordable and are readily available. The same goes with Hackbarth. The width I use most often is just under 3/16 of an inch. It is my "go to" size regardless of the pattern on the face. I have them in checkered patterns at 50 lpi, 60 lpi, 75 lpi and smooth....Sheridan and standard. My smallest is less than 1/16" wide and my largest is probably close to a 1/2" wide. I probably have more bevelers than any other type tool. This is because of necessity to use the right tool for the job. You may need something a little wider, say 1/4" wide as your main beveler, I don't know. There is no such thing as the one size that's best for everything. I know I didn't answer your question but I hope this helps you to select something that will benefit you. Bobby

I have to agree about using Douglas tools. Everything I've ever had from Bob has been the absolute top of the line! Don't overlook the old tools however....at Bob Douglas' recomendation I began acquiring old Gomphs and I have never looked back. My Ron's and Watt's which are both excellent, all sit on the second string bench now and all I use are Gomph's or old Osbornes. I will say however there is a learning curve to aquiring these old tools and the good ones come at a very high price! I have never used Barry's edgers or Bob Beards either but would imagine both are excellent! If I know Bob (and I do) his are probably made from tool steel as oppossed to stainless which I think is an advantage. It's important to weigh the cost differences however....it may be more practical to replace a stainless tool once or twice in a lifetime as oppossed to spending the money up front for those made of tool steel. (which applies to the old Gomphs and Osbornes). Bobby

Kevin, I don't use a lot of them but feel they are the best alternative to those I make myself. I offer them to my customers as an alternative in order to reduce price. I purchased a bunch of interiors a couple of years ago and am about out of them. I think they are a very quality product. My one and only criticism is that the zippers Kieth uses have a very distinct pink color to them which does not look good when installed. I've had to remove and install my own zippers on occassion because the pink color was just not acceptable. Overall I'm a big fan! Bobby

The NeatLac spray cans are real handy however I recommend utilizing the wool skin. It doesn't matter whether you spray directly to your leather, in the cap and dip it or directly onto the wool skin. The important thing is to get good, even and complete coverage before it dries. Work in steps if you need to. Bobby

What he said!!!!!

This has become an interesting thread....it's fun to hear how theories and approaches differ. I have never heard of Troy's method for determining when the leather was ready to bevel, before, but I agree with it! I don't find myself beveling twice...at least not with the same tool. Sure, I get sloppy sometimes or in too much of a hurry and have to go back and clean up a spot ot two, but for the most part I think as you progress you can expect to accomplish what you need to in a single pass. Tool selection has a lot to do with that. I mentioned not using the same tool....I mostly use steep bevelers, but there are times when I want the beveling to be flatter. At that point I will make a second pass with a matting tool. On some patterns with lots of crossovers I will bevel the crossover points with a smooth matter before I begin beveling. When I get to the matted area I just follow thru with my beveler which is usually checkered. If a matter is not available a larger figure carving beveler will produce similar results. It is a way accentuate the illusion of depth. In my opinion, if you are getting heel marks from your beveler while holding it verticle, then the beveler is too small for the job and needs to be leaned forward into the cut to prevent the heel from getting to the leather. I have a bad habit of leaning all my bevelers forward and have to make an effort to keep them more verticle. I constantly switch out beveler sizes and generally keep 1 or 2 bevelers in the fingers of my right hand while holding my maul. It allows me to qucikly switch back and forth as oppossed to laying one tool down and picking up another. It is common for me to have three to four bevelers in use when beveling. I agree with Kate, the very first tools I upgraded were bevelers. I think this is because I was never satisfied with my Tandy bevelers and was constantly modifying them to try to achieve what I thought they should look like. Bevelers are tools which are used for long periods of time and having good ones are a pleasure to use. I'm being a bucket mouth again, LOL..... Bobby

Hi Lisa, Creasers or Beaders can frequently be found on ebay in Leather Tools. There are often old Osbornes anf Gomphs available. I would recommend calling Bob Douglas....he deals in the old good tools and will have some nice ones on hand. They are also available from Jeremiah Watt who manufactures his own. Osborne probably still makes them but the old tools are better. Hope this helps.... Bobby Douglas Tools 307-737-2222 Sheridan, WY Jeremiah Watt Vandyke Ranch HC1, Box 34 Coalinga, CA 93210 559-935-2172 (EMAIL: email) http://www.ranch2arena.com C. S. Osborne 125 Jersey St. Harrison, NJ 07029 Tel 973-483-3232

Brent, I think you did a beautiful job on this saddle. Very handsome! Bobby

Beveling is probably the most difficult tool to master after the swivel knife. Richard hit on the most important points which are leather moisture, overlap and beveler size. When I'm beveling I am constantly switching bevelers in order to use the largest practical size. I keep my beveler IN the cut....I don't hold it above the leather, but I don't think there is anything wrong with doing that if it works for you. Experiment with tipping the tool to help eliminate tracks. Eventually beveling will become second nature, however, until it does concentrate on learning to walk it. Walking the beveler aids in striking with consistant force which is very hard to do when placing the beveler and stiking it in separate motions. If you can only advance the beveler a small amount at first that's okay. Like Kate and Kathy said....you can always go over it again. Perfect practice makes perfect!

I think this must be a regional thing. The old Barge is still available here (at least it was the last time I went to Tandy). Masters cement which is also available here at Tandy is as good or better than the old Barge. I have been told that Weld Wood which is available at Home Depot and Lowes is even better, but I haven't tried it yet. Hope this helps.... Bobby