colttrainer

I use cardstock & laser jet. To many times the shop has made an error. SO I ask which is better a cheaper card that you always have on hand or do you tell that potential client that sorry but you are out of cards. Al

Gary Those are very nice cases! Al

Mike I would be interested in seeing what you have & how much. You can PM the info to me. Al

Glad I could help. I to got tired of buying so many, also got tired of removing them to strop so started doing in the tool. I only turn the blade over every so often, not every time. Have fun

set the tool down on your strop & push away from you, unscrew the blade turn over & repeat.

I would like to clarify something. I agreed with a staement that a saddle could be custom made for X amount of dollars, I will still say that. But before you all come unglued, you get what you pay for. Let me add that I do not build a saddle for that price! I have to this point only built my own & I have lots to learn about the finer points of leather work. I do not & will not under cut prices just so I can build saddles. My base price is $3000.00, that may be lower than some but I believe that it is still higher than some, but being new I can not be at the top end of the scale, I do need to work for less at this time & as quaility improves wages will improve. I will continue working leather refining my skills on projects, building saddles for myself, untill I reach a level that people can justify spending that kind of cash on my product. Keith if my wife was not bring a $100,000 a year in I would be more then happy to learn the trade in your shop. Al

Why take it out to strop? I strop mine right in the skiver, I strop & turn it over & re-strop from time to time. Blades seem to last me for ever. Al

Thanks Luke plan on building one, saves some time testing speeds. Have a grand day Al

Thanks for that Art.

So about 800 rpm or did I go the wrong way on the speed?

Hi All When finishing edges using an motor driven slicker how fast is to fast, are does it mater so long as you work quick enough? Al

Good day all First good sewing machine coming, should be here this week. I was woundering what is the best thread lube to use. Have not asked he dealer what they recommend figured this would be the place to come. that way not getting just what the dealer sells. Thanks Al

Here are some photos they may help, wish I had the dog here so you could see better how it fits. I will try & post some others for after the weekend. I don't have a pattern. It is designed on how horse harness works & measurements from the dog. This one is adjustable to pull heavy loads or adjust up for sking behind. does not put pressure on dogs back. Hope it helps, I will see if I can find my measurements also & pass them on if you are interested. Al

Good day all Has anyone heard of the titan tn-441? Looking for the good & bad on both it & the tech sew. Both are avaliable in Canada which makes it alot easier on me. Thanks Al

I use alot of poster board. For more patterns I don,t plan on changing I use a hard 1/8" board product. I believe it is made from compressed paper, usually found in the backs of cheap old dressers & cabinets. Al

Where did you find the anvils. Al

I will start by saying that I believe Mr. Johnson to be correct in what he has said. Now to try & explain way I agree & I hope this comes out the way it is in my head. I have spent 35 odd years packing horses in the mountains, ranched all my life, started colts for 30 years & have never had a horse out of service do to saddle sores (knock on wood). That said I believe what he said is true based on my packing experience, if you look at the saw buck tree of which 95% of mine are, their bar quality is a far cry from what we use in our riding saddles to day or even of days past. But a properly balanced pack DOES NOT sore a horse, simply because the load is sitting in the proper position & not moving around, if starts being out of position then you have a sore back. Some will say that we now have adjustable plastic pack trees now & yes we do & I owner a couple but once they where set they have never been adjusted ever again. There have been a lot of points brought up that I also feel play a role 1) breeding: to many poor horse crossed resulting more poor horses, result no conformation resulting in saddle fitting issues. 2) people: everyone that can, do own horses, but after the first 6 mos. spend more time in front of the boob tube, while their horse stands in a box stall. there are others but this post has a long history & I would have to be here for a month. So what do we do, there again back to what Mr. Johnson said to Bruce, FIND A TREE BUILDER AND STICK WITH THEM, that way if you have that rare horse that your most common tree won't fit you can call & have slight changes made, lot easier than trying to find a different tree maker. I am sure that these tree builders are more likely to make adjustments for a regular client than they would the guy that buys 1 may be from him. Upside you & the tree builder are on the same page. Just my 1 1/2 cents worth, who knows maybe it's not worth that much. Al

arronmartin.com or brubachersharness.ca Al

Very, very nice! Wish I had seen your design before I made the one I did for my daughters dog. It has no tooling her choice. I will post photo's when she comes to pick it up, that way the dog can model it. Again very nice work great design. Al

What type of dog harness?

Ross I never said it would be a pretty saddle, I just said it could be done & it would last. NOT SURE WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE! You have a good day AL

Denise Check out netkaster.ca you will be redirected. We have their slowest & I have no problems at all with the sat. system. The only thing better would be cable but us rural folk don't get that choice & probably never will. The cards don't work in my yard nor does the cell phone. I do believe that netkaster is cheaper than the cell system. I also have unlimited internet usage. Al

Tim it is hand stiched and poorly at that ( not my best hand stitch but to many feet to tear out & do again) next one will be done on a machine. Dirtclod, I started out with the intention of it being a oval, but had a tooling issue, so opted to go abstract to hopefuly draw the untrained eye away from the mistake. I don't know if I succeded or not? I still focus on the problems. Grandpajoel, sides are cut from 12oz utility sides, the gusset was split from some left over side I had, hence the lacing seam. All the metal parts are leather factory. desgned & cut all the pieces here. Al

Ross to further try and clarify what I was getting at, lets say you & I were to build twin saddles, priced the same. All aspects the same ( overhead, material costs ect. ) I would say you are under paid & I am over paid. Your years as a saddle maker is worth something, my lack of refinement is worth less. Just because my cost are the same as yours doesn't mean my product is worth as much as yours. So if I need that much to stay in bus. that tells me that you should be charging more hence under paid. I do realize also that customer base dictates to some degree what a person gets paid. Until I tried tooling leather, and creating things in leather did I realize the effort, & artistic talent that is involved in creating these works of art. Al

What I was trying to say and I am not sure that it came across right or not is .1) There are alot of very artistic crafts men out there that I feel should probably be charging more for their work, not only is the tooling superb but they truely know how to build a saddle. 2) there are the ones that they have no idea what it takes to make a saddle, not something that looks like a saddle,but a true working piece of gear. These are the ones I feel are getting paid more than what their work deserves. All the power to them. I also understand what you are saying in regards to over head etc., but keep in mind there are the ones that have alot less in these expences. Geographic area, buying power can all reflect on the final numbers. I was not trying to start a war, this is my opionon, which you may find totally of base & that would be you choice. But for the most part people getwhat they are worth & if they are not worth it they don't last.