hidepounder

I really like the effect! It reminds me of when you get a really good burnish from shading when your leather is cased just right. I've been doing some experimenting with dry brushing in browntones to enhance the depth of the tooling and I thought maybe you did that there. It really came out nice, Kate!!!!! Bob

Yes, Janice, my design.

You're most welcome, Jo, I'm glad you like it! And it's I who thank you for all that you do for all of us! Bob

Tim, That's good looking rope bag! How wide is the gussett and what is it made of? As a rope bag maker, myself, I really enjoy seeing how others build them. Great job and thanks for sharing! Bob

Ponygirl..... Here are some tutorials with pictures by Bruce Johnson: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...mpintg+tutorial http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...mpintg+tutorial http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...mpintg+tutorial ...also, if you type in "Basket stamping" under the search function you will find a lot more. Hope this helps! Bob

Ponygirl, Those are just slots cut in the leather and the ends are woven back and forth thru eacch other via the slots. A bleeder tool is most commonly used to do this, but is in no way required...the slots can just be cut with a knife. Bob

Goliger Leather.

Kate, I really like the one with the grapes and the celtic pattern also. You really got great color on the tooling on the leaf. Is that just antiqued or did you enhance the shading with dye, or maybe both? Really pretty! Bob

Johanna, Great report! You mentioned this was a small show....but there were a lot of entries! More than at Sheridan the last time I was there. I really enjoyed seeing those...Thanks! Bob

We are thinking along the same lines, Ray. You can't see it in my photo....I had made some loops for my my mauls but they were inconvenient and my current set of mauls don't fit. On my new bench, the mauls will sit on th backboard to the right of the tool rack...I would like to have 5-6 slots there...maybe two short rows stacked. They would basically be the same as the stand, only mounted to the back board. The end punches will also go into a block mounted on the backboard. Each in separate holes that will allow them to nest together vertically while facing out toward me at about 45 degress. Nesting them together saves a lot of space. They will go on the left side of the tool rack. One row for round punches, one row for English puches, mounted side by side. The small wood handled tools will be mounted on individual "louver" type shelves, angled out toward me and located directly above the tool rack. This should allow me to add several rows. I originally wanted to mount them in holes bored in the edge of the "louvers", however, I wouldn't be able to see the tools. That might not be too bad...you would eventually remember what was where. The bigger problem is that there is such a variety of handles and tool shapes, that boring holes will probably be too restictive. A leather strap mounted to the under side of the "louver" solves both problems and could be changed when required. The head knives would be mounted in the same manner on their own shelf or "louver". Just thinking out loud, now, end panels could constructed to hold the louvers where they could slide in and out for modifications and re-positioning. By constructing these "louvers", a tremndous number of tools can be mounted, all with the handles angled out toward you. I had the same problem with the snaps/rivets/nails, etc. I mounted a row of tip-out bins and they were real handy, however, I needed way more than I had space for....so, I removed those and went to individual clear plastic organizers which sit on a shelf above all the tools on the backboard. Two for rivets, one for snaps, one for Chicago screws, one for tacks/nails, etc., etc. Now I just bring the appropriate box down as I need it...the rivet box has the setting tools in it. This has worked out very well except that the tray is now down on the bench....the good part is that you can close the lid, preventing spills. Bob

Marie, You do need to wet the leather first. I don't know what the Tandy pattern calls for, I'm not familiar with it, but you need to skive the ends so that the laps have a smooth transition on the back side. They should be glued permanently with Barge, the edges then finiished...then do your sewing. Prior to gluing everything together, however, you need to edge and finish that short area that actually wraps the ring because you won't be able to get to it after it's put together. If it were me I would probably construct the overlap so that the entire noseband is double thickness. Leather is not as strong as nylon, obviously, and it takes a little more thickness for it to be strong. Hope this helps! Bob

Ray, This is the tool rack I'm currently using. I mounted it on the wall of my bench to allow long leather pieces to extend under the rack and off the back of the bench and to prevent knocking tools off when rotating the leather being worked on. I have seriously outgrown this rack and need to build a new one. It will be narrower and taller and will accomodate more tool storage, including my mauls. Bob

That's great, Bruce, I haven't seen one of those in 40 years! I'd completely forgotten about them! They were popular when I was a kid....in the Brylcream Days....."a little dab will do ya!".

Great job, David! Your work is outstanding and a model for us all. Congratulations! Bob

I know I shouldn't feel this way.....but some of the really cool laser work I've seen on leather makes me a little nervous! What's the number for that Silver Engraving School, Bruce,....I might need that!!! Bob

Thanks Tosch, I hadn't seen the thread about rigging. And after reading those posts as well as the comments here I feel good about my in-skirt rigging crusade. I noticed a suggestion to combine an in skirt rigging with a cut away....I'd like to see that! And of course, leather quality is just a given as far as I'm concerned! Bill Porter was not a saddlemaker, but after having run the floor at the old Porters before leaving the family to start his own successful shop, and because I was of an impressionable age, I never questioned the comments he made....I took them as gospel! He made quite a big deal about the strength of in-skirt riggings. I guess that was the beginning of my bias. I also noticed, again, that the variety of opinions have regional commonality...I've always thought that intersesting! You would think cow punching customs and the rigs used would be more similar than they really are. Thanks to all of you for responding....for me, because of my background, I suppose, the mechanics are easier to grasp than the theory. In this case my confidence is restored and my crusade continues! Long Live Cowboys! Bob

For years and years I have advocated the use of in skirt riggings on roping saddles. While tooling at Bill Porters Saddle Shop in the late 60's, 90% of the roping saddles produced in that shop were 7/8, in skirt rigs, and these saddles were being used for Team Tying! We're talking big time abuse here....much worse than Tripping! These setups were strong and during my tenure there, I never saw a roping saddle come back with a failed rigging. Saw a few horns torn out!...but not riggings. In later years, I won a couple of conventionally rigged saddles (admittedly not the same caliber as the Porter's) and I immediately noticed how bulky they were under my legs, pushing me away from my horse. Now days, I am constantly told that in skirt riggings are not as strong as those rigged directly to the tree. My personal experience contradicts that notion and I see a lot skirts cut away under the fenders to allow closer contact to the horse as if this was some great new revelation! I just read a post that Tosch had, where David Genadek stated that saddles should be 5/8 rigged and never in the skirts because this defeats the purpose of the skirts! Would a roping saddle be included in this gereralization? Maybe I am uninformed and my personal experience has led to incorrect conclusions. As I am not a saddlemaker I would like to hear some opinions from some of the Pros on this subject. Thanks, Bob

That's a great idea! You know all those brown spots you see up under the seat jockeys? Those are blood stains from the top of the saddlemakers knuckles, skinned up trying to get those leathers through! The plastic is a good idea! Bob

I'm with Karl on this...there is not going to be any weight pulling on the clip. The rivet is just going to insure that it doesn't slip. I also agree with creating a groove for the clip to lie in...I think this is important. Although I'd prefer not to, I have gotten away with gluing the clip in a groove with Barge and eliminating the rivet all together, as long as the clip penetrated the leather top and bottom. In that instance the clip was sandwiched between two pieces of leather and had nowhere to go. Bob

Bruce, I have seen quite a lot of this, out here. I'm seeing more and more laserwork on trophy saddles where intricate logos were being used on fenders or back housings and where multiple saddles with that logo were being given away. A friend of mine has one of these computerized machines that he uses extensively in his trophy business. It is a $40,000 machine. He is able to scan a protrait or anything else and reproduce it on leather.....it's really amazing! He can even cut leather with the laser, leaving a dark hard edge....makes me wonder if he coud control the depth of the etch being produced so that it wasn't so shallow...I'll have to explore that with him! Definitely some exiciting possiblilities! Bob Just read John's and K-Man's posts...I hadn't gotten that far when I responded to Bruce's comments. There are some great ideas for using the laser on leather projects! What could be more precise than a laser produced template! Wow...good stuff!

I think you did a really nice job on this, eespecially if your new to this! Congrats! Bob

Becuase I am a one man band, this is an easy decision for me. I don't want anyone to even see the products I've made that I don't deem worthy of sale. It would be nice to recoop a portion of the costs to produce them, however it it more important to me that my name not be asssociated with anything I don't approve of. I'm not sure if this attitude has served me well or not...I don't think there is any way to measure. I used to keep "prototypes" or "practice pieces" around to show, until it occured to me that I was apologizing for what I deemed as sub-standard while trying to make a sale! Well "that dog don't hunt", so now if I call it a mistake....it hits the trash can. And that hurts, so I try even harder not to allow that to happen. So far I've been completely unsuccessful...I'm still making tons of mistakes! On the other hand the only folks I know who are not making mistakes are those who aren't doing anything! What is frustrating is that Jill claims there's nothing wrong with them and retrieves these cast-offs like they're jewels or something and is hoarding them somewhere. I keep noticing that pieces I've thrown away in disgust miraculously dissappear from my trash can! I just wonder what she is going to do with them all!?!?!............. Bob

I've been using Goliger for the past couple years and am VERY pleased with them. Bob

I keep hearing about Duall 88, but have never used it. I love Barge and Masters, they each have their special applications for me. Is Duall 88 similar? Is it an entirely different animal? Is it a contact cement? And who makes/distribute it? Bob

Nice job Ed! You added a lot of depth to the pattern by letting it wander outside the borders. I really like that, it's thinking outside the box! Good job on the leaves. I think it would look good antiqued Sheridan Brown, but you might lose a little contrast....so,I don't know...looks pretty good now! I had to edit Ed, because I just noticed the EDGES!!!!!!! (still a good job though!). Bob