Hi Miles — welcome to the forum! It’s great to have someone with such a deep family and personal connection to the industry here. Your background is seriously impressive, especially with that mix of hands-on experience, technical machinery knowledge, and a real respect for craftsmanship and history.
Your offer to share advice on leather machinery repair is incredibly generous — there are definitely folks here who will appreciate guidance with Campbells, Unions, and all the other equipment you mentioned. And your restoration projects sound like they’re going to be both meaningful and educational — preserving that kind of family history is a beautiful thing, especially with pieces as old as the 1880s saddle.
Looking forward to seeing your future posts about those saddle tree builds and the tool setup. Glad to have you here!