ArkieNewbie

WOW! That is classy! Very well done!

Based on the dates in the obituary I found it seems that this may have been one of his early saddles so you're probably right, he didn't have a makers mark yet.

Just found this on the Google machine. https://missoulian.com/tuesday-october-gene-vallance-june-brander-gilman-mildred-g-chaffin/article_26797d39-28f4-5a15-9fc4-4d8876f7f3a9.html Owen 'Jerk' Steiner MISSOULA - Jerk Steiner, 78, died quietly at home Oct. 25, 2001, "With His Boots On" after a courageous battle with cancer. Jerk was born Aug. 12, 1923, in Jenkins, Minn., and grew up on a farm near Terry. He became interested in leather braiding while in high school. After a stint with the Civilian Conservation Corps at Ninemile, he joined the Army's 91st Artillery Division and served from 1943 through 1945 in North Africa. He then spent 18 months in Europe on the front lines as a communications specialist. Jerk then became an apprentice at the Miles City Saddlery Co. and learned the saddle-making business. He made thousands of saddles, and his first love was "teaching" his trade to others. He owned and operated saddle shops in Wyoming and Montana. He also worked as a hunting guide and was a "Master" in sapphire cutting as well as an avid fly-fisherman and guitar player. He was preceded in death by his brother Herbert A. Clark. He is survived by his sister Ann Kreager and family of Baker; brother Richard "Dick" Steiner and family of Worland, Wyo.; sister Vivian Huckins of Iowa; and close friends Terry, Doug, Dan, Jerry, Ed and Mike. Cremation has taken place and no services are planned. The family asks that memorial contributions be made to Meals on Wheels, Missoula Aging Services, 227 W. Front St., Missoula, MT 59802; or to a charity of the donor's choice.

A local university, Arkansas State, has something like this. I think they call it the Entrepreneur Collective. They have 3D printers, a laser, and other equipment for people to use. I wish they would buy an industrial sewing machine haha.

Very nice!

Diode lasers are pretty attainable as far as price goes and mine works great for engraving on leather. This is the largest piece I've done and it took about 35 minutes. The laser I have is about $280, it's a 5.5W laser with a 16"x16" bed. I would not recommend a diode laser if you're looking for something to cut out patterns with. For that I would go the CO2 route. For me to cut 3/4oz leather takes about 15 passes. That could definitely be reduced with a more powerful diode laser but over all CO2 is going to be better for cutting.

Thanks!

Man! That looks awesome! Your edges are super clean, stitching is nice and straight, and those rivets and buckles match with your chrome great. Personally I may have stitched the strap keepers instead of rivets just for security but that's just me. And those are high stress points anyways so they should be perfectly fine!

I would say either mount two or three bottom parts on a strap and one top part on another strap or mount a center bar buckle with the bottom part on it so you can shorten it. What are you working on? I'm trying to picture what you would be using this for.

Is this still available?

Yes sir! I double and triple checked with the customer. This "runner" will be hanging off the front of the table not running the whole length of the table. It took a little conversation to understand what they were wanting.

I finished this project up last night. This is hand stitched and it was a pain! But I am very please with how it turned out!

How much are you asking and can you post some pictures?

Thank you sir!

That's a great idea! I'll be at the same farmers market to so that would be great for cross pollination! I have some leather hat patches that I've started lasering my info on. I figured if I'm working with leather what better place to put my "business card" than on a small piece of leather.

I started a project last night for a young lady who will be selling vegetables at our local farmers market. I designed this logo for her. It is laser engraved on a 16"x16" piece of 2/3oz. vegtan. I will be stitching it onto a 24"x60" piece of dark brown oil tan for her to put on her display table. I'm thinking about using yellow or bright blue for the stitching to give it a nice pop of color.

These are great ideas too! I also make leather earrings and bracelets. There's ALWAYS a use for those small pieces.

It's very appropriate and would have likely solved a real problem for the dragoons of the time. Without the advent of a repeating carbine having pistols such as these easily accessible on a belt would have been a huge advantage.

That looks awesome! That dragon scale pattern would be great for a dragoon unit!

A friend at work show me his wallet a while back and how rough it was looking. It was bonded leather and completely falling apart. I told him I would make him a new one. He has a son that is a USMC Aviator so he wanted the USMC Globe and Anchor on it. The main parts are 2/3oz veg tan tied with Fieblings Walnut dye and finished with Feiblings Leather Balm with Atom wax. I was super happy with how the final finish turned out! I used pig skin for the inside parts and the card slot pockets using a method @Frodo showed me a while back and it worked like a charm. If I had it to do over again I would use one piece of leather for the outside instead of two smaller pieces. I feel like that would have made a better "hinge". Anyways, he was REALLY happy with it! He immediately pulled his other wallet out of his pocket took everything out and threw his old wallet in the trash. What do y'all think?

Omtech 40W is $480 right now. It is not Lightburn compatible which would be a downside. But, go with what @Bert03241 says. He's the expert on these type things.

I made my own batches using Scott's recipe as a base. The only things I added were vitamin E oil and about 10 drops of clove oil (just for scent). This stuff works GREAT on everything I've made and could be considered period correct for the pieces you are making. The vitamin E, almond oil, and cocoa butter do a great job conditioning and the bees was adds some sealing and water resistance. I apply mine with a soft rag rubbing it in good. Let it soak in/dry to a haze and then buff with another soft rag. It gives a mellow shine and protects great! Thank you @ScottWolf for sharing this! I made a double batch and include a jar of it with my customer's first orders as a little extra. I even gave some to my nephew to use on his baseball gloves after he was complaining that NF oil left his glove overly soft and heavy. This conditioner does the trick for him as it doesn't weigh the glove down and protects it very well!

Exactly what Bert said. Do not buy a glow forge. Glow forge is really good at marketing and they do A LOT of it. But from what I've heard the many many downsides out weigh the up. The laser I have is $289, so not a huge investment. The diode laser does have limitations as I listed above. I still want a C02 laser but I'm constrained by the space in my shop.

I would love to upgrade to a higher power co2 laser but it's just not in the budget right now. A sewing machine is first on my machine priority list right now.

I have not had very good luck cutting with my laser. It is only a 5.5W diode laser. It takes me about 10 passes to cut 3/4oz. I haven't tried to cut anything thicker.