bran7347

That is some really nice braiding, you should post it over in the Braiding section. How many hours do you have in it?

Amanda, I think it's all up to preference. I bevel all four corners of any rawhide I use. I don't believe it is a must, but i like it that way. Learning when your rawhide has the proper moisture in it was the hardest thing for me to grasp. Brandon

Alan, I would like to attend if you still have any openings. I sent you a PM last week and never got a reply. Thanks in advance Brandon

If your deal doesn't work out, I have a set of Harwood's that i would trade you. Let me know

Runner, If you have access to a drill press take the awl out of the handle you have and place it in you drill press make your stitch groove and spacing marks. then take and place your work on the drill press table and use the press to punch your holes through. afterwards put your work back in your pony and stitch it up. I promise you will have better than machine results. The press makes sure that all your holes are perfectly perpendicular. You don't need to run the drill just use the press function of it. I drilled a small hole in the table of my drill press just big enough for the awl to pass through. You don't have to be strong.

Looks like you've got a pretty good handle on it to me!

I went up there Friday and saw most of the work, Those guys are amazing. I still think you would have been right in there with the best of them though. Troy told me that Don Butler won that class. Brandon

Thanks Hilly!

Thanks for the ideas guys!

So I was thinking, I use the regular tracing and vellum paper to transfer patterns for tooling, but I know there must be a better way, The paper always soaks up the moisture out of the leather and get soggy, and you can't see through it clearly. So I was thinking about the old projector film that teachers use to use before the age of computers. I was thinking you can run it through a laser copier/printer and boom you've got a pattern that is perfect forever. So I went over to Staples and they have it, about $50 bucks a pack though. So has anyone else thought of this and does it work as good as I think it would, or am I going to have to spend 50 to find out? Let me know.... Thanks Brandon

Here is a bible cover I completed this weekend, The girl who ordered it said I could do what I wanted, So having no artistic ability I copied one Troy West built me about 6 years ago. Very simple design, but I think it looks real classy. Its hand sewn, first project i got to use the stitching horse I built a while back. Man those things are handy. Let me know what you think. criticism welcome

Absolutely breathtaking work! You should have entered it up in Wichita Falls this past weekend.

I built me a stitching horse, Didn't have any plans, just looked at some google images I could find. Hopefully its not to far off. I used an old latigo strap as the pull, but it seems to have too much stretch to it. I was thinking of putting a nylon strap on it. Maybe one of you guys can help me out on ideas there. Let me know what you think. Thanks Brandon

Those are super nice, I wish I had those skills!

David it looks really good, I think belts are a great projects to start with, you get to do the same pattern over and over. You should be able to see your progress from one end to the other. I know I can always tell which end I started and finished at. Keep it up! Brandon