Freedom

Without seeing the saddle and how dry it really is... I would use "SKidemore's" leather cream... IMO it is the best leather conditioner available. If you go with neats foot make sure you get %100 pure. NOT that compound stuff they sell.

Thank you... I have looked all through those threads and they have been a big help... my biggest question (that I have not seen addressed) was from guys that had actual experience riding in one that might be able to shed light on where the breaking edges need to be/need not to be??? Thanks

Hi, I was looking for some advice or maybe even a pattern for doing a padded inlaid seat. This will be the first time I have done a seat like this. I was hoping (and like the look of the small pad) to make it small as possible and still get support of the pinbones.. My question is: ..is there a specific thing to watch out for.. I am most conserned about the edge where the pad and seat leather meet. If this is under the wrong place on your legs (like too far down under your leg) I would think it could rub. Also at the tail-bone...do I want it to hold your whole fanny or can I bring it accross the butt portion Say ahead of the tail-bone??.. I was afraid of the edge if it was to land right at your tail bone or even up on your cheeks too far it may rub. It is for a thin woman so in the front.... can I shorten it so that the edge will be in the void behind her frontal bone or do I want it all the way forward?? I was afraid if the front seem edge was right under her front bone then it may rub or if her horse jumped I was afraid she may come down with her frontal bone on that hard edge??? She has set in the ground seat and I have measured the distance between her pin bones and their location on the seat... just concerned about the edges and their locations. Any help or pattern design would sure be appreciated. Thanks Wes

Has anyone ever recieved a reply back about these????

And I thought the saddle maker that showed me the soap trick was the only other guy using it...

I tried to test the leather but was not successful...the 4.5+/- number for skirting came from a post from Chuck Burrows, when I asked about it at Cas City forum. Here is a few things I vingarooned...after my testing I just rinsed my leather well with water cause I was more afraid of the alkali than the acid since the vinegaroon was so close the the leathers PH. I did some other testing as well...one piece I stuck in the flume spring of my wood stove and baked it dry and left it there all day...I was able to bend the Wicket & Craig double without it cracking. I oiled it and tossed it asside, several months later the test piece is still nice and supple. Oh yeah...it still stinks LOL

Call Wickett & Craig and order a side of there 10/12oz. russet tan skirt leather Tell them your situation and what you want to make and they should send some fine leather and you can probly get a good piece of "utility grade" if you talk to Glen and tell him your needs...It is expensive but you can get your belts from the back/top. The thickness is less as you move down from the back and is just about perfect for heavy holsters. The russet oils to VERY nice color and takes other dyes and finishes better than most other leather. It tools very well! If you do this, you will hate me cause those $50 import sides will never be good enough again and you will be stuck buying $160 W&C sides Hope this helps

I did some testing with PH strips and found that 3 week old Vingaroon has a PH of about 4...Skirting leather generally has a PH of 4.5+/- so there is very little gained by the soda bath and you risk changing the leather PH TOO much, or even alkali burning your leather if you over do the soda.... I did another test with the PH strips and put a volume mix of 20 parts Vinegaroon to 1 part soda and tested its ph 3 days later...it was an alkali solution of a 7+ ph I know that the soda bath is a good idea to be sure the acids have been stopped but use caution.

I use a small squirt bottle and just apply the water to one side after the holster is made. I then carefully insert the pistol and mould it in.... I think your idea of a thin/rigid blank made of platic or something similar is a good idea and should work well.

I tried to vinegaroon some pre-oiled harness leather and the dye wouldn't take?? (more of a patchy antique brown/black look) I didn't soak the leather but I did wipe the vine on real heavy. Most skirting that I have vined has turned a dark grey and it takes the oil bath to bring out the real nice, deep black. I just use 100% neatsfoot and after it dries a while it is a real dull black, I then apply some bagkote and some "Skidmore's" to bring out the luster.

I am with you...I just use a dawber or a peice of fleece and just wipe a little on. It turns black almost instantly with W&C leather, with import leather it turns more of a blu/grey but still oils up to a nice black. after dye...I rince, dry, neatsfoot, Skidmores, and then BagKote. The Skidmore's blends with the smell and gives it back a leather smell. Rince in water, Baking soda can cause alkali burns if used to heavily I just got some PH strips to check acid/alkali. Here are the results as best as I could compare the little paper strips to the color charp provided. My numbers may be a little off but shoulod be close. Vinegar (white)= 3-4+/- PH Vingaroon (about a month old) 4-5 PH Now I believe that skirting leather is suppose to have a slightly acidic number of 4.5.... as you can seed the vinegroon has nutralized the vingegar to just about a perfect acidity, so to nutralize it further appears to be unneeded or even damageing. FWIW.. I nutralized some with baking soda to a nutral 6 and it still dyed fine, I also took the solution to a strong alkali and it still dyed the skirting black. The alkali solution was more of a brown/black while the acid solution was more of a blue/grey black.

You can cut straight out(away from rider) from the horn hole and then install a lace system to secure the cut. This will allow it to be tightend so it won't slip around/rotate on the horn... I'm not sure of what you have in mind with the buckle system but it would probly work as well or better....... All that being said: you said he was a friend so your situation might be different, but sometimes when "The customer is always right", is obviously wrong, you can be further ahead to pass on the job. When they recieve leatherwork with your name on it and they end up hating it, you will be the one who suffers and all your work can end up as wasted time. In the end costing you potential customers as others see how poorly something you made preforms...even if it was his bad idea to begin with. Just my 2cents and worth just what you paid for it... Please let us know how it turns out.

one thing to consider.. It is a good idea to make it in a shallow "V" shape so that the bags hang forward, or "off-set" the horn hole...otherwise the bags will try to set on the riders knees. One other thing is the horn hole/slot....You can make this with a lace side so that the bags will fit many different sized horns and the hole doesn't have to be as large. Hope this makes sence and helps some Wes

Something else you might consider is a crossdraw holster with a real heavy cant to it..like 30to60 degrees. This is how I carry my Howdah pistol. It is handy and doesn't swing with your leg as your walk and I can even ride my horse with it on. Just a thought

Yeah I supose I shouldn't have said "can't" ...It was plenty sharp, I was just applying too much or the "wrong" pressure....it sure was scary when it made a loud POP and snapped off though, Really got my attention and I had to do a finger count to be sure I was OK.

Thanks for the compliment...I sure appreciate it. This was an old table saw blade that was quite a bit thinner than most I have seen and it had no carbide tips. I cut this out with a "sawsall". I clamped it in a big vice and cut real close to the vice. The blade didn't get too hot, only got hot right where the saw was cutting. Pulled the temper out only about a 1/16" back from the cut, so I was able to just sharpen that part away. It took quite a bit of stone work and it wouldn't hold and edge at first, but once I sharpened past the point that the temper had been damaged....success!..I now have a super sharp/strong knife that only needs a little rub on the rouge strap to keep its edge tuned. I see some real nice knife collections in this thread...Thanks for sharing Wes

here is mine that I made from a thin table saw blade( this is before I polished it). It works great! I also have an Al Stohlman...these are now made in China and I broke mine Skiving with it right after taking it from the box. Luckily Texas Leathercraft stood behind it and sent me a new one.....The AS is a very thin blade so it cuts through heavy leather real well but you can't skive with it.

10 inches is what I normally add as standard but this is usually not nessassary.

Hot blueing is not what you are after... You can just go into most sporting goods stores and by a little bottle of liquid bluing(cold blue)...it is pretty cheap and it will last a looong time. They sell it in tubes but the little bottles of liquid are better for what you want it for. Just take a Q-tip and wipe some on your rivet head, they will turn color almost instantly. You may need to wipe them with alchohol ect. to take off any oils first, but other than that it is easy and gives a nice antique look. You can do it several times if you have stuborn spots that don't want to color.

something that hasn't been mentioned is The copper or brass rivets with a washer can be turned dark in color by using GunBluing...this leaves them a nice color. You can also use vinegaroon but the gun blue works real fast and is easy to use.

Holster looks nice...Looks like you have great control of the sewing. Perfect burnishing can be done with very few tools.. A dremel tool with a little drum sander can make the edges nice and smooth, run it VERY slow so it doesn't burn the leather. I like the look you can get with a dark edge but this works as good with any color dye. CAREFULLY wipe leather dye along your edges and then while still wet just rub the edge real good with denim or canvis ...you will not believe how well this shines and edge. (repeat as nessasary) If you use a Natural color like "SaddleTan" the edge will not be as dark. Then apply wax and rub again. A little shoe polish or "Antique can be used before the wax to fill small voids. Burnish the open ends and any straps before the holster is folded. (lots esier) Sand the seem edges even then edge and burnish the double edges, after they have been sewn together. results like this are possible without fancy/expensive tools. Hope this helps All the suggestions about wood spools ect work great and can be used with a dremel tool on a smaller scale

Here's mine (almost finished) for my Freedom Arms 95 45colt... not a belt holster but still conceals real well.