TomE

Looks like a winner! Nice fit.

Tandy sells the kit online and the instructions can be downloaded from their website.

Sounds like a great goal. I think there is much to learn from the old books, even in the age of Youtube.

I had a similar problem with a harness making book that was out of print. Searched for a used copy for several years. The new owners of the deceased author's business didn't know if they had rights to the book, didn't seem interested in reprinting it, and inquiries to the family went nowhere. I found the book by interlibrary loan and photographed it (800 pp). A year later, a used copy became available from one of the book sellers I had contacted so I bought it. Might ask Lisa Sorrell https://customboots.net/ if she knows of a copy. Good luck. Update: I see that Lisa Sorrell sells her own book/video course on bootmaking at the website above.

I've bought most of my thread from Leather Machine Co. Runs through machines well, and I do most of my hand sewing with their #207 nylon that I wax.

From the description at Aliexpress I couldn't figure out what this machine is capable of. It costs as much as a Class 14 splitter from Leather Machine Co. The class 14 is a workhorse that is backed by LMC's customer service, and blade sharpening service. This desktop machine doesn't look as sturdy as a Class 14, so I wonder about the thickness and width of leather pieces that it can handle.

These folks make quality name plates and tags. https://www.haltertags.com/

I guess I should give it another try, being more careful in the application. I mostly use bridle leather that has a pretty nice sheen already, so I haven't revisited Resolene. The thread discoloration resulted from straight Resolene acting like a solvent to solubilize the dye pigment, which was deposited on the thread.

@CdK, I can send you more Resolene when you run low. My short experience with it was watching it lift the dye and discolor the thread on a project that I was previously proud of. I swore off acrylic finishes, for better or worse, but still suffer from flashbacks when using light colored thread.

Thank you, Jonas. I learned something about sewing shearling - it takes longer. I offered to make a leather covered foam pad for the surcingle, similar to a padded girth, but the client wanted the original look.

I think the machine stitching reflects the type of needle. See the LR point needle at this site https://www.schmetz.com/en/industrial-needles/needle-compass/cutting-points/. I would sew by hand as @BlackDragon suggested, using a bonded thread as for a machine and waxing the thread. I can do a neater job repairing horse tack by hand than trying to run over the stitches with a machine.

A damp piece of canvas removed the gummy residue from my burnisher.

I use this adhesive sealer on some projects to recreate the moss-back (pasted back) on bridle leather after splitting the thickness. Work it into the leather with a glass slicker to paste the fibers together. Seems to wear fairly well on horse tack. https://campbell-randall.com/product/sup-bt639-g-leather-finish-for-sealing-flesh-side-moss-back-suede-1-gal Since you've already applied burnishing gum maybe a surface finish would be better for correcting this project. Lincoln Stain Wax in neutral (no stain) will provide some shine and might serve as a barrier to contain the black Tokonole. It's a high end shoe polish and it smells nice!

Covering my bench with HDPE was a big help for cutting out projects. Menards has 4x8 x 1/4" sheets in a white color that brightens up my shop. @Northmount taught me that a Google search of this site using the syntax below is more efficient than using the internal search engine. Type in the Google search bar: site leatherworker.net <your search terms here>

McMaster-Carr has sanding drums and sleeves. https://www.mcmaster.com/products/sanding-drums/ One thing I like about the Cobra burnisher is the ability to adjust the speed. Need to control friction-heat to get a good result. The right amount of water and saddle soap on the edge is important, and I run the burnisher at about half speed. I usually finish the edge by hand with canvas and a burnishing gum or solution. Also, the wooden burnisher on the MP has that wide flat section that I use often for multiple layers of leather straps.

I feel your pain. Just finished hand sewing a shearling liner on a surcingle, and didn't figure enough labor for the sewing. I normally just pass the waxed thread through my fingers to burnish the wax, but that was a total fail for shearling. Clumps of wool pulled through the stitch holes. Burnishing with brown paper did the trick, even for cobbler's sticky wax (beeswax + pine resin). After that, I didn't have a problem with the wool getting in the way. I inserted/twisted an awl to enlarge each hole, put a needle through the front side and twirled it a little, and inserted the needle from the backside as I withdrew the needle from the front (feeling my way into the backside), then ran the needle through from the front side and pulled up the stitch. Went pretty smoothly once I got the feel of finding the holes from the backside. I was able to use a stitching horse for my project and that no doubt helps my consistency.

Been doing repairs lately instead of making things. Replaced the fleece, billets, and girth buckle strap on this 30 year old surcingle. Hand sewing the shearling (using the existing holes) probably took longer than it would require to make a new surcingle with a sewing machine, but that wasn't the assignment. Does anyone recognize this maker's mark (acorn)? Made in the mid-1990s, possibly in the Saint Louis area. The HBI stamp is harmony, balance, and impulsion. The client's trainer at the time had these surcingles made for her students.

I also use wet/dry abrasive paper in grits 320-1500. I wrap it around jeweler's files, rods, metal plate, etc to get into tight spaces. A small pointed diamond hone can also be useful, and some Arkansas slips with rounded or beveled edges. Sharpeningsupplies.com has the hones and slips. Card stock and leather edges coated with rouge are also useful for stropping some tools. My go-to strop is a large square of saddle skirting glued to plywood with some non-skid rubber feet.

Learning to sharpen a sewing awl is foundational knowledge as you learn to hand sew. I use inexpensive Osborne awls and hafts. They start out roughly the same width/size and become smaller with repeated sharpening, so I now have several sizes for different thread sizes. The Stohlman book on hand sewing is a good resource, and the Nigel Armitage videos cover similar concepts. You can buy a sharp awl from @bruce johnson to learn what the desired endpoint is.

I have a 60 mm Olfa rotary cutter that had no problems cutting out 7 oz apron split for a farrier's shoeing apron. Today I am using it to trim a veg tanned shearling liner. I mainly use it on 3-5 oz chrome tanned leathers. New blades cost about $6 and the original blade is sharp after about a year of use. I use it on a bench covered with HDPE. Greatly prefer the rotary cutter to a round knife, trim knife etc. for straight cuts and gradual curves on stretchy leathers. My wife tells me that Olfa is the original rotary cutter, which is why I bought it.

I agree with @zuludog. I rarely use a stitch groover and usually mark my stitch lines with dividers or a crease, whether sewing by hand or machine. I don't like the idea of cutting the grain of the leather. Maybe for some projects (shoes?) it's important to recess the thread, but I rarely see the thread fail in horse tack. It's usually the leather wrapping around hardware that breaks. An exception is old linen thread that has rotted. I'd be interested in learning from others why they groove their stitch lines.

I would glue and sew the liner when sewing the strap. I normally trim the liner and finish the edges after gluing and before sewing. I have made guitar straps using 2 layers of bridle leather (6 oz + 3 oz liner). For the next guitar strap, I'll probably use the oil tanned leather shown below as a liner. It splits and sews nicely, and burnishes to blend with the bridle leather strap. The oil tan leather is from the SB Foot tannery and sold by Beiler's as "chrome tanned oiled sides." It was about 5 oz and I split the liner to ~3 oz for this belt.

Bridle leather has a more refined appearance (glossy surface) and is not as weatherproof as harness leather, which is stuffed with lots of fat/wax. Bridle leather also has a smooth, pasted back (moss-back) that facilitates maintenance of tack like bridles made from a single layer of leather. I make reins for English tack out of bridle leather to match the bridles I make. I agree with @sheathmaker that harness leather is the better choice for western reins. Good weight and feel, and stands up to abuse. Hermann Oak Leather Co and Wickett & Craig Leather make nice harness leathers in a variety of colors. An experienced western tack maker (not me) will have a die to click out the slobber straps in one step. I would talk with them about the type of leather you want your reins made from. @Northmount can advise you about a posting to connect with a "rein maker."

Well said, @sheathmaker. The newest pictures show knots exposed on the backside of the stitching, and some very rough edges. Doesn't strike me as a quality job. Given the workmanship and the curling of the straps I suspect that the quality of the leather might also be an issue.

Thanks, Jonas. I am using a cobbler’s wax (pine resin + beeswax) for the thread. This is black nasty looking stuff. Come to think of it the decaying linen thread is coated with something dark, which I had assumed was accumulated dirt. Thanks for checking your sources. Thanks, Chuck. That’s a neat idea. Seems unlikely to make the rivet more secure so I was stumped. I made a shoeing apron out of chrome tanned apron split and had wondered if the copper rivets would discolor the leather. The pitch would be too messy for that project. This surcingle is 1-2 layers of 11-12 oz leather dyed dark chocolate brown, almost black.