BondoBobCustomSaddles

Hey Bob, glad to see some more of your work. I was wondering what you were working on lately. As always, the only comments are superlatives! I just really love to see you work. I pick up on something every time I look at you stuff. Bob

That will work. Be sure to mount the mandrel out away from your bench about 10" or so, that will give you good access to the burnisher or sander with what ever you are working on. Probably don't need that much clearance for holsters, but; you never know, a saddle may be on your horizon, and it is nice to have room to manuver. As for mine, I bought it quite a while ago. Can't remember when, but; I think I paid about $250 for it, something like 05 or 04. Bob

Well now you have it in writing! LOL A tip, on the left side of mine, I have the drum that has some type of material attached to it. I think it is like woven nylon fabric, you can get it from Weaver. I apply some bees wax to it and use it in the burnishing process. I also have a wood drum that accepts the sanding sleeve and I switch them out back and forth to either sand or polish/wax fill the edges as needed. The LH side of the arbor is LH thread. The RH side is RH. That way you don't have to crank it too tight to keep it from coming unscrewed while running. Bob

Billy, the roller works just fine. I eliminates the dragging feeling when you push down on the lift pedal. Now I went down and checked out the motor/pulley arrangement and here is what I found: the motor is 1725 rpm, and the pulley on the motor is 1 7/8". The pulley on the arbor shaft is also 1 7/8" for a 1:1 or 1725 rpm final rotation on the arbor. The hard wood arbor is I think, cocabolo wood and is also 1 7/8" dia. What I can tell you for sure is that you don't want to spin it too fast or you will find yourself burning the edge of the leather rather than slicking it. Hope that helps? Bob

Billy, when I get back from the dentist tomorrow afternoon, I will go down and check it out and let you know about the RPM. Also, as for the fish tape, while I have used that one a lot over the years, like me it is now retired and it's purpose in life is to serve as an antena for my radio in the basement.!!! LOL Bob

most of my hand tools have a hole in them and I hang them on a finishing nail on the board. For those that don't have a hole, I built a little "tool caddy". I use it to move a lot of the tools to where I am working on a saddle stand, it makes it handy to reach for "stuff".

OK, so I can say that my shop is not the most organized or clean, mostly because I am always working on a project and there seems to never be enough time to stop and "git-er cleaned". These are a few pics of it as clean as it ever gets. My work space is really comprised of two rooms. 1)the main work room which is 12' X 20' and 2) the cutting room which is 12' X 24'. The pics are of the main work room, since the cutting room is just a plain room with a 10' X 5' cutting table in it, and the storage of my wife's Christmas decorations. I have never posted pics of it before, because it just isn't a big fancy shop like most of you guys have. One of these days, the goal is to have a log cabin built out back to house my shop. Bob

I can't speak for the actual patterns and thickness, however; like you I have made a lot of chaps and chinks for various uses. Naturally when I see someone wearing a pair, I look closely, and it has been my observation that pickup men wear what looks like a regular pair of batwing chaps with the exception that they are made out of what looks to be anywhere from 10 to 12 oz leather. That's simply what it appears to be from a distance. I am sure that you will get some good answers from some of the guys on here that actually rodeo. Bob

You can always split the back down to the thickness you want. If you don't do a lot of tack, it is certainly less expensive than buying a side of latigo just to line a breast collar. Just a thought. I usually get mostly 13-14 oz vegtan skirting leather and split it down to meet my needs. Bob

Well, when lining tack, it depends on what it is that you're making. For Breast Collars, I usually shoot for 13 to 15 oz total thickness. I line with either latigo or veg tan. Most generally if it is tooled, I will use 8-10 oz for the outside and 4-5 oz latigo for the inside. I like the latigo since it is highly stuffed with oils and waxes and tends to be more durable in areas where it gets exposed to moisture a lot, like horse sweat. Bob

Hey U, really nice! Glad you took some good pics before they get used. It doesn't take long for all that work to look, well , like it's been stomped by a bull!! Bob

Dennis, I have to LOL. I was looking at the pics, and then went to the next post and there it is my exact thoughts!!! Bob

I also think that Ken's prices are fair. I recently bought a Champion on ebay for $365+shipping. Once home, I spent 3 days cleaning, and generally going through it. As it turned out, the blade was in bad shape and it took a long time to get it back to razor sharpness, and the adjuster rods that put the pressure/and height adjustment on the lower roller, were missing so I had to make them. The top leather thickness adjuster handle was broken off and I had to make a new one of those. All in all, 3 days (24hrs X $35/hr, or $840) later and a couple of friendly notes from Bruce Johnson about how it works and what to look for and so on, I have a crank splitter that works like a new one. Mind you , I like to tinker with stuff, so this was an enjoyable experience for me, however; if I were going to sell it now, it would not be for less than $1,200. Bottom line, you get what you pay for, newby or old timer, if you are buying from the likes of Ken, or Bruce, you can expect to get your money's worth. They are fair and simply trying to make a few bucks like the rest of us. Bob

I recently treated myself to one from Terry Knipschield and I can tell you , From the first try with it, up to now, the exclamation is always the same, "holy kazoo!!!!". It is like a hot knife going through butter. I haven't even had to sharpen it yet! I agree with Bruce, the one I got was the French model. It is a pleasure to work with quality tools. Bob

I pretty much am in line with tnawrot2 except in the following areas. 1) I charge $225 for a re-fleece, but; since I don't mess with old strings, I just cut them off when I take the saddle apart ,and use new ones anyway when I fleece and reassemble, there is no extra for that, also, 2) if I am going to take it apart for any reason, I charge $50 to clean and oil, it makes no sense to have it that far down and not clean and oil. 3) A new rear chinch something like yours would be at least $100. I usually make them a little different with longer roper sleeves and most generally they are 6" with a curve so they fit the belly better, and those are $150 and up. Whatever you do, don't sell yourself short, make sure you are being adequately compensated, on the other hand, since this is a friend, well that's a horse of a different color. I have friends that I would so stuff for, well just because. Hope that helps. Bob

For the best finish on a piece, there is a tutorial by Bob Park here on the web sight. You can't so any better than that. Bob

Very Interesting! I was just thinking that I didn't care for the drag on the lift pedal myself, and vwa-la, there is the answer!! Gues I know what I am doing this afternoon. Thanks Billy! Bob

I looked like you for some time, and ended up with a Cowboy 4500. I am not sorry. For me the difference between the Cobra and the Cowboy was that Toledo Machine is in my back yard, so to speak. Bob

Hey Josh, looks like you and I had the same mentors. Looks very much like it may have been sitting on my bench not yours!! I am sure you wife will be happy. Keep up the good work. Bob

Ok, for someone out there this is a simple question. I know that the american, landis, and champion hand crank leather splitters are very similar, however; I believe that the knives for each are sharpened at different angles. Anybody out there know what the angles are for these? Thanks in advance! Bob

My table is 5'X10', the top is a composite material so when I cut out pieces, I have a piece of leather that didn't get fully cured and is not good for anything else, that I slide under the hide I am cutting to keep the blade from cutting up the top too much. I have a cutting mad from Jo Anns on my regular work bench that really works well. Actually I get those from from my wife when she gets a new one. They are also really godd. Bob

I do. Up till now I've usually only been lining rear cinchas, rear billets, breast collars, and basically all parts that touch the horse, and sometmes fenders. I have decided to upgrade to also doing fenders as part of my basic saddle. I line mostly with latigo, because I like the added durability and I believe you get that with those parts that get a lot of sweat on them from the horse. I also like the feel of the component with latigo on the back. I like my fenders to be around 12 oz total when done, so I use 8 oz for the main fender and 4 oz for the liner. Hope that helps. Bob

Welcome Scott. This is a good place to get a lot of good information, and make friends. Once again Welcome!! Bob

He'll be pleased. Next he'll be looking for some chaps!! Bob

Looks like we think alike Bruce! I was wondering about that deer also. Ryan, you did a nice job on those chaps. As for around here most guys/gals that wear chinks just like the shorter ones cause they can walk around in them easier. Personally I like the old batwing style myself. Bob