Frank

Someone posted this a while back and it is a good reference if you need photos instead of words. Saddle Making Hopefully it gets you off to a good start. There are several relatively inexpensive books out there that will help you out as well. Dusty Johnson's book is $20 I believe and has a lot of good handy tips in it.

You should be able to get the rawhide heads from Tandy at a discount. They were getting rid of them for $4 a piece the last time I saw them there. I believe they were discontinuing them.

I went to order the 6" splitter from Neel's but he was out at the time so I did purchase the same one from Weaver. Weaver and Neel's splitter blades are interchangeable which makes it very nice since Neel's blades are $40 cheaper per blade than Weaver's

I used the half-round punches when scalloping the edges of a cantle binding. They work fairly well. Unless they started making them again, I do not think Tandy is selling the Al Stohlman Half-round punches anymore. I asked about them and the store owner here said they were discontinued and he couldn't find any. Check with Weaver.

Thanks for giving me some insight. I made a knife sheath not long ago for my knife and was looking a various ways to incorporate a dee ring, and there you go. I like the fact that you give two different options as to hanging it on a belt. Some people like it high and some lower. I do have one question though...what are the side loops for?

Hello all, I figured this was a long shot but you never know who might be interested. Long story short a saddle maker in Summit, South Dakota is getting set to retire. I spoke with him for well over an hour today. He is more or less looking for a partner to eventually take over his saddle shop, so for me it would not have worked since I would have to move. I'm hoping that someone out in the Minnesota/South Dakota area might be interested. It could be a great opportunity but you'd have to decide for yourself. Times being hard and tools being expensive it might be worth a guy or gal to check on this and see what you think. If you PM me I will give you the individuals name and phone number. Frank

Here's a breast collar that I finished last week for a guy in California. He said he was very happy with it, which made me feel pretty good. I made it to match a saddle he purchased from me earlier. He wanted it a bit more contoured so it fits over the horse's shoulders better.

Tiffany, Maybe I wasn't as clear as I should have been. You can use the Fiebings leather balm with atom wax over the top of most dyes. I just prefer to use oil dye.

I was given the option of picking my own Christmas present last year. I chose a head knife from Jeff Cook at J Cook Blades . I love the knife and they are extremely sharp. I believe the price was $250.00. I was torn as to order a Dozier knife or J Cook.

Tiffany, When it comes to dyeing items, I do use Fiebings oil dyes. I know a great many people do not like to use these on everyday items because they can rub off on clothing. I use Fiebings leather balm with atom wax after I dye the back side of belts. First dye the belt and let it dry thoroughly. Then apply a coat of the Fiebings leather balm with a foam brush. Let it dry for about 15-20 minutes. It dries very quickly. Apply a second coat on top of the first. Let it dry thoroughly and then buff with a piece of denim. That should keep any dye from rubbing off. So far I have not had a problem when I use this method. It's fairly easy and quick. I hope this helps out a bit. Frank

Anything that I make that might have some type of flaw, I put them away and take them to shows as a demo of my custom made gear. That way people can handle them without the worry of them getting marks or scratches on them. Otherwise a flea market sounds like a great idea. We have one not too far from me which is open every weekend, year-round. I doubt that I'd be attempting to sell much at the flea market in February here in Wisconsin though...lol

Josh, I feel your pain on this subject. I barely make it month to month with bills but for some reason it always comes through...usually at the last minute. I have a website as well and to begin with I had quite a few hits on it but a great many people are all talk and no show when it comes to ordering items. I have sold a few items on eBay as well but nothing to really speak of. I did luck out with a guy in Texas. He inquired about one of my eBay auctions when it came to a holster. He went through my website after he learned of the seller fees. He bought a matched set of holsters and liked them enough to order a matching belt and a knife sheath too. It's people like that, that keep you going. My suggestion would be to do a little traveling if any type of shows arise, such as bike shows, gun shows, horse shows, craft shows, etc. My Uncle is a biker and is having a large Birthday party to which he invited 10 different clubs from around the state. So we are looking at 200-300 guys and gals at this weekend long party. He invited me up there as the only leather vendor...thank God for him. Instead of making saddles like I intended, I made up prototypes of biker style belts, cuffs, watchbands, holsters, knife sheaths, and key holders. I will show them what they will get when they order from me and let them add their custom detail on paper for me and I will go home, make the items and send the custom orders out to the individuals a few weeks later. It's all about catching breaks and you have to look for them as well. As my saddle making instructor said; "In the leather business sometimes you eat chicken and sometimes you eat feathers, but when you eat chicken, eat it for as long as you can." Keep up the good work and when you have a chance, go through the papers for local and sometimes non-local shows where you can display your items for custom orders. It pays to look for work instead of hoping someone is looking for your work. Take care Bud. Frank

Here's the link, I did find it. I hope it helps: http://picasaweb.google.com/rdbowes/BeltMaking#

I believe someone here did a photo tutorial on that particular subject. If I can find it, I'll post it for you, but otherwise keep searching.

Hey all, I have been going through some of my stuff in the shop and I have 10 or more 4 oz cakes of beeswax. Some people use it on their edges and melt it in with Neatsfoot oil. I generally do not use much of it but if anyone is interested does $3.00 a cake sound good? I'd like to get rid of it all in one shot if possible so it's not lying around. Thanks for your interest. FOR SOME REASON I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED IN THE WRONG SECTION AND I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO CHANGE IT. I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE.

I very rarely need to dye lace but if it comes up, I add the dye to a container with a snap-on lid and then put the lace in. I swish the dye around the lace and then pull it out to let it dry. It makes things a lot neater and easier. I hope this helps you out a bit.

David, This is the old civil war type Marine Corps blank buckle that I am referring to, not the modern ones. The old ones are supposed to be solid brass with a totally different fastening system

You might want to try this link. If you scroll down you will see a repro of a Marine Corps blank buckle. It looks fairly similar. Buckles

Bowden Brand saddle trees and Timberline are what I would suggest although there are tree makers here on the forum. You might want to give them a shout.

I had a recent run-in with eBay as well. I finally had enough and contacted my Congressperson, my State Attorney's Office, Anti-Trust Division and also the Federal Trade Commission. I wrote and called each one of them when eBay made it mandatory to use PayPal or another form of electronic payment. They are TYING 2 different services when you only want to use one, which is eBay. These actions are indeed illegal. They violate Anti-Trust Laws. Also since eBay purchased PayPal in 2002 it made them a complete monopoly because no other online auction site could compete with eBay. I did some digging and found that eBay owns A LOT of stock in every major online auction site. What a shocker! The State's Attorney's Office was very interested in the information and had several complaints regarding these matters. They were getting in touch with other states to try and start a lawsuit against eBay, depending on how many people complained in each state. I ended up writing a 10 page research paper on this. If you have the time, I urge anyone who uses eBay to contact the in individuals noted above in your respective state. Now eBay is charging sellers 12% plus insertion fees along with 3.9% in PayPal fees. Something definitely needs to be done. This paves the way for crooked buyers to take advantage of the sellers because there is no recourse to protect the sellers, only the buyers. I sell once in a while and now I have stopped doing that. I just can't afford to lose that much money on some of my items.

We have relatively high humidity here in Wisconsin during the spring and summer...I can't wait to move to the southwest! Maybe then the shrinking problem will occur more frequently. The glassing that I am referring to China is stretching of the leather when it is cased with a smooth piece of glass or wood. The better you glass the leather, the less shrinkage that I have found anyways. It also tightens up the leather fibers. You can tell a big difference by trying to cut a piece of leather that has been cased and glassed compared to a piece of leather that has just been cased. You can find the glassers through Barry King tools and also Douglas tools.

Shrinking shouldn't be too much of a problem if you glass the leather really well after it is cased the first time.

If you look up Beiler's Manufacturing and Supply in Ronks, PA. they carry felt pens and dye jars that work great for dying edges. A couple words of advice if you order from them...they only accept checks as a form of payment. If you order the dye jars and felt pens, DO NOT order them as a complete set. Order the jars, jar lids, and pens seperately and put them together yourself. I think it comes out to $3.00-$4.00 less per set if you do it yourself. I hope this helped you out a bit.

I did get one taken. Here it is.

Not a problem at all. I think one problem that might come of the concealed SA holster is that they should be made strictly right, left, left x-draw, or right x-draw. Because they have stricter limitations as far as position they are carried in, I don't think they fare well being made as a right hand draw that can also be used as a cross draw. That's just my opinion as far as how I feel carrying mine. Do you want me to post it on here of it might be easier if you PM me your email address and I can get a photo set since I have a bunch more to take today anyways. Let me know.