hidepounder

Dustin, I case a little differently. I emerse my leather in water....I just run it thru a pan of water or fill the sink a couple inches deep and fairly slowly dip the leather.....starting at one and run it thru the water....I want to see bubbles coming out of the leather. I then slick the leather to eliminate some of the stretch and compact the surface fibers. I then set the leather aside until it's natural color begins to return.....I like the color to be about halfway between completely wet and dry. I then seal the leather in a plastic bag and let it set for 24 hours (or at least overnight). When I remove the leather from the plastic bag I expect it to have returned almost to it's natural color. I then slick it again and cement it onto my backer board. You can use just plain old water or one of the many home made casing recipes that are floating around on LW. Your leather is ready to begin tooling when it is almost the same color as it is when dry and it should feel cool and slightly clammy when touched to your cheek. Hope this helps, Bob PaganBear, The problem with re-wetting your leather is that it defeats some of the benefits of casing. Each time you add water, you lose definition, depth, crispness and burnish (color which appears in your beveling and shading). Part of the purpose of casing is to enhance those characteristics.... Bob

Roo, Sounds like a fantastic time! I'm soooooo envious! Thanks for the photos they are great! Congratulations on the bag by the way. Bob

Ian, The site looks really good and so does the gear! Bob

Ian, I have one Jet Grinder and it has been a really good one. Weaver sells the replacement edger for their unit separately. I'm not sure it would fit over the Jet arbor. If not the thing to do would be to have Deuce Trinal here on LW turn one for you. My next buffer set up will be a Jet. I like the 1750 rpms for edging. No problems there as far as I'm concerned. Bob

Charlie, I agree this is a great place to be and we all need to insure it continues to thrive! I appreciate your kind words and am glad you found my method useful. Bob

Hello everybody, I receive quite a few PM's and emails requesting information on edges, finger cutting, tooling patterns and various other topics. Questions regarding some of these topics come up on a fairly regular basis, so I thought I would put something together that members could easily refer to. This article describes the way I finish edges and Johanna has posted it in the "Tips & Tricks" section on the main page. I hope that some of you will find it helpful. Finishing Edges Bob

Beautiful as always Tina! Bob

Casey builds miniatures.....Caseeey!!??......where are you????

Ian, I'm not sure which Weaver set up you're referring to, but take a look at Grizzly, they have a lot of sanding & buffing setups to look at. If nothing else you may ge an idea of what you want to build. Bob

Bruce, I see nothing wrong with hanging your Galimba's from your second loop strap! Enjoy the Crown! Bob

I can completely understand how an individual who spent a lot of money on an item might not want to "advertise" for the maker. I have to tell you though, that a makers mark can often times ADD value to an item. I am frequently asked "Are you going to put your name on it?". I have been asked on many occasions to place my makers mark prominently on the front of the item I was making and have also been asked to provide a silver makers plate on the front of my piece, so go figure. While at the High Noon Auction (One of the most prestigous western memorabilia events in the world) a black tooled and dyed briefcase came up for auction. It had been manufactured by Hollywood Classics and sported a silver makers plate right in the middle of the flap and was the focus of the decorations on the piece. It was twenty some years old and sold for $3,000 or $4,000 dollars BECAUSE of the makers plate. If you think about it, would you want a Bohlin saddle with an obscure makers stamp? So to bring this back to the point of the topic, I think a makers mark must be applied in good taste and should enhance the appearance of the piece. If you are buying, be sure to express your preferences to the maker ahead of time. It is not reasonable to order a custom piece and then reject it because the artist signed it! I know, if I am asked to omit my makes mark (and I never am), I will endeavor to assist the customer in finding another maker. I think there are two points of view to consider here. Just thinking out loud here..... Bob P.S. Rookie, why not put your mark on the back of the straps?

Hi Tony, Do you have a budget in mind? Bob

Bruce, Kevin is right, that is for the second loop. That is the exact same set-up we used Team Tying before Dallying became popular. To this day I'm not sure there is anything so exciting as turning a steer and then hanging out in the left stirrup waiting for the heeler to turn in!!!! What do you think, does that date me a little???!!!! Bob

I think placement of the makers stamp is purely the preference of the maker. My personal opinion is that a place for the makers stamp show be included in the tooling design and not just slapped on someplace that is handy. If the makers stamp detracts from the piece than that is not desireable. On a pair of spur straps you would want to have a pretty small stamp to be able to show it on the front and not detract from the looks of the piece. If you are unable to find an appropriate place on the outside of the piece, then placing it on the back is fine. Having two or three sizes or types of stamps can be handy. Sometimes it's handy to have a Signature stamp. Hope this helps.... Bob

Welcome Tyrel! Really good looking rig! Skirt rigs are my favorite! I'm not aware of a any practical way to remove antique staining. Wish there was. Maybe someone else knows a trick I haven't heard of..... Bob

Bruce, I can relate to your experience. I spent a ton on a beautiful Cocobolo slicker and brought it home to Phoenix, where it immediately cracked in our dry climate! Bob

Hi Kieth, You make some good points that I will have to think about. As I am not a saddlemaker, it is not something I've given a lot of thought to. I was always told the verticle buckles were stronger and I almost never see the horizonatal buckles on the roping saddles (90% of what I'm exposed to is for roping). I don't think I've noticed a horizonatal buckle on a saddle in years. I can confirm from my personal experience that the verticle holes in sturrup leathers will tear out, but everytime I have seen that happen it was on a junk set of leathers which I see all too much of on these production roping saddles or on a saddle where the sturrup leathers were worn thin. I personally have seen the leathers stretch enough that it is difficult to get the verticle Blevins buckled. I wouldn't imagine that would be an issue with horizontal buckles. My reasoning for thinking that the horizontal buckles would be weaker is much like sewing accross a strap weakens it. That is sort of comparing apples to oranges but it is what I had in mind (along with my pre-programming) :0) Bob

Bob, I hope you will let us know how everything comes out. I'm fascinated and can't wait to see the finished product. As far as full tangs go, I'm an advocate, however I recognize that one design will not suit everybody. With regard to handle sizes and shapes, I have a J Cook knife that has the curved "Chan Geer" handle on it and I really like the handle a lot. That is something you might want to consider also. Bob

I just love this place!!! Steve, I didn't even know they were available in brass! Bob

I keep my sides rolled and covered under my cutting table. I'm sure hanging them would be fine, but I'm mostly concerned with keeping the leather covered and out of any light. Bob I keep my sides rolled and covered under my cutting table. I'm sure hanging them would be fine, but I'm mostly concerned with keeping the leather covered and out of any light. Bob

Lee, I'm not a saddlemaker, but I am a user. I like the verticle Blevins. I'm a big guy and I worry about the horizontal buckles eventually weakening the sturrup leathers. Bob

I do the almost same thing Bruce does. I push and pull. I also slick just before I bag my leather and then again, just before tooling. Why? I have no idea...but I like it! Bob

Ceder, I pretty much would echo what Ross said. I too use Gomph and Rose head knives, and I have had to remove shoulder approximately 3/4" from the edge back on all of them. I also like Buchman's knives and have had to dress them the same way. I have always assumed that the old knives were forged as they have a definite taper from the tang all the way out to the cutting edge. Mine are all about 3/32" thick at the tang. Someone once told me what kind of steel was used in them and why todays tool steels don't work as well, but I don't remember the explanation....I'm not really sure I ever understood it. What I have learned by making my own mistakes with these old knives is that once their temper is lost, they're never the same! Bob Douglas was telling me one time that they (I assume he means Herb French and himself) have tried repeatedly to re-temper these old blades that had been ground down and lost their temper, with no success. For that reason alone, I sharpen all of mine by hand also, which makes it difficult to try to maintain the compound angles as Ross mentioned. For me, I want a blade that is as thin and hard as it can possibly be! I don't worry about what it takes to sharpen them....the harder they are the longer the edge lasts....thats what I'm looking for. Hope this helps..... Bob

Mark, This really isn't what you asked for, but it may be some food for thought. Here's a link to a post with some photo's of Porter saddles from some old catalogs I have.....Old Porter Catalog Photos Bob

That's funny! You shouldn't have told me, LOL! I went back and looked again and I could see where it worked out better on one strap than the other. Bob