BigSiouxSaddlery

Have you talked to Tim at SX? He worked for standard for years before he started Timco, and is a pretty knowledgeable guy. The #2 foot presses aren't that hard to find. The box loop staple part is a little less common. Fwiw, the #2 setup works only marginally well. On heavier stuff, you will end up frustrated. Part of it is the staples were forced to buy. I have a little better luck with the stapler that Beilers sells. You do know that the OP is referring to harness bridle cheeks that can be.up to 8 inches long? That is a job to hand sew those things in, and there are only a select few people in the country. . .too few. . .willing to pay for the time it takes to hand stitch all the box loops on a harness. The very top end harnesses have all hand stitched box loops but on even mid level harness, you can't get your time back of the product.

How much for the black latigo? Are you wanting to sell all of the leather in one lot, or will you sell a few sides at a time? Thank you

Interested in seeing the embossing dies. Will pm you my phone number to text the pictures.

I probably have more splitters than just about anyone else reading this, and for the weight of leather you are asking about, I STILL buy that weight. To split 4" width down to wallet weight, consistently, you are going to need a band knife splitter. I don't even have one, because good ones are hellish expensive, take a lot of room, and like JLS said, I can buy a LOT of leather for the $10k or so that one of those is going to cost me. Do I dream of having one? Well hell yeah!!

Same!! Which is why my webpage looks like a dinosaur and hasn't been updated since like 2006. The lady that originally set it up doesn't do it anymore, and I've thought about scrapping it entirely, but I DO get business through it still, and I don't want to give up my domain name. But if I could find someone to do a professional job, and put together something that doesn't look like a teenager did it, and not charge five times what I charge to do something that has taken me my entire life to learn how to do, well, I might think about it.

This^^^ And this^^^ . . .In ALL things, and even more so the older I get!!

Harness leather is easily available in 9/11oz weights from Wickett, and I've gotten 8/10oz harness hides from HO. As JLS stated above, Wickett will split, and I might add that they do a very nice job of it. To the OP, if you do decide to try using the Wickett russet for a holster, make sure to let us see the end product. I would love to see it. I keep wishing I would need their Buck Brown for something. The sample looks gorgeous.

I need to clarify my answer before this all goes wrong. First of all, I DO NOT build holsters. JLS is the guy for that and I defer to any and all advice he has regarding that subject. However I do a lot of wet molding in the saddle construction and other work that I do. Now, let me say that a straight veg tan would always be my first choice for wet molding. Wickett's traditional harness leather is very dry by industry standards and accepts water better then any other harness leather I've used. If you try wet molding with Hermann oaks harness leather, for example, you ARE going to have trouble. In other words, harness leather is not harness leather is not harness leather. Wickett's show harness selection is a more oily and dense leather with a hard finish, and it would not wet mold well. So, what I meant is that my experience with Wickett's black Traditional Harness leads me to believe that it could be wet molded without much trouble. That does not apply to any other selecetion or brand of HL. And no guarantees.

Wickett's traditional line of harness leather is very dry when compared to other companies HL. I will add the disclaimer that I've only used Wickett's BLACK traditional HL in recent years. It's probably been 25 years since I ordered russet, but I do believe you could wet mold the black without too much trouble.

That sounds remarkably similar to the battle a custom saddle shop faces daily.

Nice job on a style of bag that I had a lot of trouble with. Would you mind sharing how you went about making the bottom of the bag?

Glad you are pleased with them. I have come to the conclusion that the employees who are picking hides to ship: 1) have no idea what defines a "clean" hide, and: 2) are clueless as to the prerequisites for a hide from which one wishes to cut long straps. And yes, I DID clearly state my needs at the time of order, and also stated if it wasn't as I described they'd be getting it back. Given that it took 2-3 days longer to get here than it normally does (more my fault than theirs since it was my oversight that necessitated ordering just one side, from them, the week before Christmas) I was behind the 8 ball and needed to make do with what I got, so they won't be getting it back, because I cut it at 11 PM last night. It was that or cancel on 2 Christmas orders I already taken. Given the amount of product they sell and ship, they probably do ok. I've ordered on a Monday and gotten it on Wednesday. That's pretty darn fast considering how far I am from them. But I've not been "tickled pink" with the leather I've gotten from them in quite some time.

I've never made one and don't have measurements, but they're going to be a lot heavier, wider, and larger than a standard horse halter. Bucking stock usually have much larger heads, due to some draft influence in their breeding. I think the crown often has a double tongue buckle with no keeper, and the crown strap is extra long to allow for a wide variety of head sizes, as well as having a good "tail" to get ahold of when putting the halter on and taking it off the horses. I'll look around and see if I can find measurements anywhere. I'm wondering if John Hopper's old book might have specs, now that I think about it.

I've got a hint when dealing with that supplier (I THINK I know who it is). Nowadays I always ask "how many sides of such and such do you have on hand?" If they say "Three", ask when their next order is coming in and if at all possible, wait to order until after it arrives. Most people are.going to ask them to send their best. This company buys tannery run. When they get down to the bottom of the pile, the "bests" are gone. You are getting C grade or worse. I'd rather pay the same price and get an A grade! I probably shouldn't have given up my little secret.. I have gotten some really nice leather from that company, at times better than I've gotten directly from Hermann.

I've bought a fair amount of leather from the tanneries, as well as through distributors. Make no mistake, Tandy doesn't have the patent to THAT issue. I normally find Wickett's skirting runs toward the light side. It will measure under what the stated thickness is more often than over, although I got 4 sides of English Bridle from them last month, and they were all pretty true. Hermann Oak, no different. . . I've had MANY sides of 9/11 russet harness leather that was heavier than the stated weight, and I just got some black harness that was lighter than what it was supposed to be. Eventually, it almost all gets used because I do enough of a variety of work, but when in a time bind and I order a side or two for a specific project, yeah it's extremely frustrating.

It depends on the embossing plates and the leather. I use a 20T press all the time to emboss box loops for harness, using brass embossing dies. I have cut right through the leather before, although it was more of a crushing than cutting action. Typically, if you use good solid leather, this won't happen. But a deep embossing die with thin leather, watch the pressure.

Bruce Johnson leather tools. He restores and sells vintage tools, and they are way better than anything you can buy new. It depends a little on what you're going to be cutting. That wooden strap cutter thing is okay for light stuff, but if you are going to be cutting saddle skirting, heavy veg tan or harness leather, you're going to need a real draw gauge.

The pattern shrinks as you tool it, and the negative space gets bigger. You just have to keep it in mind when drawing your pattern. I struggle with it myself.

I do not recommend anything but the highest grade hides for reins. While the tannage is no different, lower grades will have blemishes that make it very difficult to get a straight cut the length needed for reins. If you were cutting up only small pieces, you could very well utilize lower grades. I normally buy my russet Harness leather through Weaver. However, you have to specify that you will be cutting reins, because they buy tannery run and they very well may send you a side that is not clean enough for.long straight cuts if you don't specify. They're wholesale price is very competitive, and they are fast to ship. I have ordered from Hermann Oak directly, and I just tell them I want the same russet Harness that they send Weaver. I never can remember if it's the English top coat or not. I use the 12,+ weight for reins. I feel it's too heavy for tack cuts. If you like bulk through your bridle buckles, and breastcollars that are ungodly heavy, then it might work for you. I buy 9/11 for tack cuts. The heavy end of the 9/11 is nearly always heavier than 11 oz. Yes you could buy one side and split it down for projects where you don't need that much weight, but that stuff sells by the pound, and I'd rather use what I'm paying for instead of it ending up in a pile under my splitter. . . That happens enough without doing it on purpose. If you don't have a wholesale account with Weaver, or can't qualify, there are other places that distribute for HO: Panhandle Leather, Montana Leather, Springfield, and probably others. Or, give me a few extra bucks and I'll order one for you. If I heat my oil, I use a Crock-Pot on low setting. I sacrificed one from the house to keep oil in out in the shop. I brush it on with a paint brush, or use a scrap of woolskin clipped short. Sometimes, if I have a lot of them to do, i just dip them in my harness dip tank, strip them off, and let them drain in the basket. For stuff that I know is going to hang in a barn or outbuilding, I'll use Shep's Harness Oil (that is what's in my dip tank). It has an additive that is supposed to repel rodents. I do use NF oil on higher end stuff.

Hermann Oak russet harness, in the heaviest weight available, and don't double and stitch them if they're just everyday usin' reins. . .it is not possible to get a better feeling set of reins, and they only get better with use. Most of the single ply reins that are advertised to be "weighted" have simply been cut from a side with an exceptionally heavy neck. Nothing additional is done to achieve the "weighted" status. I don't heat oil hotter than I can stand to put my finger in. Honestly, I oil way more stuff cold than I do heated, and I don't see a difference in the end product. Eventually the oil migrates all the way through, regardless if it's heated or not when applied.

Mario, I had this happen to me one time. I even put a pry bar in the wheel and tried to get it to turn and still didn't have any luck. I was afraid I was going to break the wheel, because it is cast. I never did figure out what I did to get it to turn again. I cycled the machine a few times, and eventually it moved. I'm afraid that's not much help, and I've always worried that it might happen again. Mine wasn't even turned all the way up or all the way down. I think I stopped it in between detents when I was turning it, and then used it. In any event, the wheel jammed and no matter what I did I could get that thing to turn. I guess I'd cycle it a couple times, empty, and then try turning the wheel. Good luck, I panic when my clicker does anything out of the ordinary.