David Genadek

That is a tough question because it is dependent on riding philosphy. Around here we would say there is no difference. The horse moves the same weather he is doing dressage or cutting. They move with in the limits of their God given design no matter what costume the human has on. As for the cable rigging you just need to understand that when you have a triangle and you pull on the point of it the pressure will go to where the area of the triangle is divided in half. The cable allows you to change the shape of the triangle. Personaly I don't think you need that capability if you know what your doing. David Genadek

I agree with Gregg, unfortunetly it is hard to find QH that is not down hill. Judging that from the base of neck to the point of hip not the whither and croup. The whither is not a factor in the horses orientation. I see it as more of an issue of the trees orientation than a rigging issue but I'm odd man out on that on this list. Any rigging style or position should be putting the pressue to the middle of the bar if you have a double rigged saddle that happens by having equal pressure on the front and rear cinch. If you have a triangular rigging such as a flat plate rigging then it is done by the shape of the triangle. I have had extremely good luck on horses with a down hill conformation by making the rear cinch slightly tighter than the front cinch. "Let us assume we have another horse with the same back conformation, but he is built down-hill. And we have a saddle that fits the identical back conformation of both horses." If one is built down hill and the other is not then they have different conformations. They may have the same shape of rib cage but when you change the orientation every thing else is effected. Personally I change the relationship between the spread in the front of the tree and the rear of the tree. I never build atree that is wider in the front than it is in the rear as it rare to see an uphill horse these days. This is a huge issue for the industry as few know how to support the down hill horse when they ride so many are crippled before they hit their prime. David Genadek

I don't do it but everytime I see my son he is swipng more lace from me to lace them up. He doesn't charge though he just does it to help his team. I worked at a place and we had a customer that did that and hockey leather for a living and he made a good living so I don't think you need to be shy. David Genadek

Brent, You reminded me of a piece Bob Brown had done because someone gave him a few artifacts from Egypt. I have attached a picture below. Your daughter may like to see it. The face is done with real gold leaf. I think it is great when you can break free of the traditional mold. David Genadek

I wouldn't worry about tools or what you need to progress. I would find a project that really turns your crank and then just do what it takes. Let your passion drive the experience not your fears and insecurities. I see that as the biggest mistake beginners make. You will mess things up so just enjoy the journey and free your mind to learn and progress. Keep your focus on what you want to create and the rest will work itself out. David Genadek

I think once you do more repair and learn more about saddle construction you will just learn what is important in the market you are trying to supply and the names will mean less and less as you progress. You will develop a list of criteria that you will measure saddles by that will be right for your target market. David Genadek

I've turned away five orders so far this week. Like Steve said if you are sucking wind for business you have to do it to survive but usually you would be better off getting a job at Mc Donanlds to tied you over than to take on a customer that will cost you more than they are worth. The customer is not always right for your business and knowing what your business is is critical. It really drives them nuts when you send them away though. Some times they learn and end up being really strong cutomers in the future. One gal this week had Peruvian Passo the horse whose feet were trimmed wrong and it clearly had two to three ribs out of place and was crooked as all get out. She had sent her tracings in with a check so she was ready to go. I called her and gave her the news and she wasn't real happy but she got with her trainer and vet and they confirmed everything I had told her now she has a plan for the horse and I will hear from her in the future. She is a reasonable one though. David Genadek

Waaay cool way of doing a background!!!!!! David Genadek

Replacing a tree is something everyone should do once so you know how to convince people not to do it in the future. The $ will very seldom add up. But you should know how. David Genadek

I had a lot of trouble with the divider type grovers under heavy use so I took the cheap grover you get at Tandy and made a new blade for it. I use allen wrenches that I grand flat cut them off by the bend, drill a hole in it and use a dremel to put an edge on it. I have a bunch of them all set up to different widths. They work great and hold up well. David Genadek

They haven't mentioned what they mean by small quanity so I would question if they really need a factory. I wouldn't consider Weaver high end. Low to middle but no where near high end. Getting Amish to do really high end work is near impossible. There again everyone says they want high end so what do they really mean? If they say factory it either means they are looking a for a good price or a bit of volumn. They also haven't said anything about the type of leather or if they are wanting tooling and if they want tooling do they want it done by hand or do they want to invest in plates? The other red flag I would see here is they want you to build from their drawings. That would get me asking what kind of experience do they really have with leather and how open will they be about how things need to be done. Do they have any concept of how to design for leather production? The lack of detail in their request would lead me to tell anyone who wants to bite at this to proceed with caution. If they knew the business they wouldn't need to get on a list to ask. David Genadek

Nice use of line and a unique carving style. The blue under the lace on the note book is a very creative idea!! David Genadek

Ryan, I may be a bit more hard core on this than many but in the end it is a business. First thing you need to do is look at your fixed exspenses. How much do you need to make to cover your over head and no one can give you that figure but you. Then ask how much you want to make. A rule a very successful businessman once told me was that if you have a gross profit 2.5 times your labor cost you will have a functional business. Below that you will be hurting above that you will be smileing. That means if you want to make $10.00 an hour then you charge $35.00 ,$15.00 would mean you would charge $45.00,$20.00 would mean $70.00. Your a retail business so you should double your material cost. You shouldn't feel bad about it either because when you go get your car fixed or have to have the plumber come over they will be doing the same to you. It is just what it takes gad from what I can tell the Mayo clinic charges about $900.00 and hour and I have to pay that from what I'm making off my leather work. A bigger question is often if you really have the professional level skills to get things done fast enough to get it done and still be with in the limits of what the market will bear. You are in a really really cheap market and Minnesotans are tough customers. They all figure they can do it themselves, so let them. Charge what you need to have the life you want and if they won't pay it move on. Although I live in Minnesota I do very little business in this state. As for the retailers I view them as leaches, us them for fishing but keep them out of your business. If you can charge your normal rates and then let them mark it up as they need to, you will have a workable deal.They really don't offer you anything if you really think about it. If they want your work in their store make them pay for it. Don't build their business at your exspense because they will switch to the next guy so fast it will make your head spin. Retailers are retailers because they want to make fast easy money which is fine but many don't understand that you need to make a living too. With that said I will say I have had some good relationships with retailers over the years but they have been in places like New York, LA ,Santa Fe ,Jackson Hole but not in Minnesota. David Genadek

Tom, Nice belt!!! I think we leather people often think more is better but this belt proves simple and clean can be realy effective. That touch on the end is so cool!!!!! David Genadek

Did some one say Pigeon?

Pete, One of the things that happens when you start sketching things and loosening up is that you can kind of freak out when you suddenly put a limit on the space. Kind of like dancing out in a field then trying to dance in a prison cell. You can dance in a prison cell too. Not that I have tried.... or had the opportunity. Take your drawing and draw in your flow line. It is almost straight. I have attached three designs. Find thier flow lines. See the difference? Focus on the flow the fill will just happen. I have attached a picture of some decretive cuts. On one side they are just cuts on the other I have put in a few more lines and suddenly a decretive cuts become a design. One of the things that makes a decretive cut work is that everything radiates from an imaginary point so they almost create an arrow. This concept is missing in your drawing. If you can ever get up to Minnesota with a bunch of stuff you want to draw let me know. I'll throw you on a drawing table and help you get past your stuck points. David Genadek

Outback, Your drawing is not rubbish it looks fine. It may not be what your seeing in you mind though. Ask your self what you like and what you don't. Take a piece of tracing paper and put on your current drawing and trace what you like but leave out what you don't. Repeat that process until it is what you see in your mind. Enjoy the creative processs and don't worry if you know how to draw. You know how to create because you had an idea. "Argue your limitations and sure enough they are yours." David Genadek

Tracy, I was just looking for one for some Amish Friends here is an e-mail I got from a dealer in TX: Dave Here are some pictures of the 18 inch Fortuna ( model UAF - 470 ), this is the mint splitter that I was telling you about, not the actual machine that I had priced to you for your Amish friends, but the very same machine. The machine in picture Price is $10,500.00. The machine which is exactly like this with out motors and electrical your cost would be $3500.00. Have also included a picture of the Camoga ( model 512 ), price on the Camoga is also $10,500.00. If you have any questions fell free to call me anytime night or day my cell # is 940-736-4707 ( Ron ). He might still have that one he sent that to me on the 8th of January. One of the questions you want to ask is if it has new guide plates. I haven't worked on a Fortuna for a long time but on a Camoga you need to replace them every year or every few years depending on how much you use it. They have teflon on them and when it wears out your splitting goes down hill. They will cost a couple of grand to replace so if your buying a new reconditioned machine you want to make sure they replaced them. If you haven't owned and run one of these and tore it apart and tuned it up your better off paying more and getting it from a reputable dealer. A really good deal can cost you on these machines. They are worth the learning curve and an essential peice of equipment if your making a living with leather you won't regret it. David Genadek

Pete, Now your really starting to get it. Some things to consider below. "Let it Breath!!!" Bob Brown David Genadek

Peter, I have always trimmed the handle to fit the size of the hand of whoever is cutting. A word of warning though, as I just got home from the Hand clinic at Mayo, this does put a lot of pressure on the carpal tunnel. A bicicle glove with a gel palm will help negate the negative effect. David Genadek

Marlon, You are an artist look at what you just did!!! David Genadek

Marlon, Your pulling off some cool stuff on this design but your missing a few fundamentals that could really make it look great. The biggest thing is that your loosing the stem in many places and you are visually crossing the stem line. I have attached a picture with comments. Something to understand is that few saddlemakers are artists and therefore they have not been trained in how artists actually do things. I have attached a copy of the drawing section in Bob Browns book. This is all you need to know. Really there is nothing more to it. Loose the graph paper and get rid of erasers it is just going to confuse you. Everyone is an artist! If I were just learning to draw patterns today I would be looking toward two people. Paul Burnett and Peter Main. They are artists and have been trained as such. Hope this helps you get closer to what your seeing in your minds eye. David Genadek draw.pdf draw.pdf

Prevail sprayers are a good inexspensive alternative to spray equipment if your not doing the volumn to justify the exspense of spray equipment. To thin dyes you are best to get the solvent that the dye was made with. Dye stuffs can be pretty picky in terms of solubility. Some colors won't be a problem others will but if you buy the nuetral dye you can be more certain that you won't have a problem. I just got a sample of LCI Aqua black and so far I am very impressed with the results I'm getting. It is waaaaaaaay better than the Fiebings version. David Genadek

I've had about 8 Marlins and found them to be fine when they were new but as they wore down the blade got to thick and I would have to do a lot of work to thin them down. If you don't do a lot of cutting that probabley won't be an issue though. The knife I got from Ellis had a double bevel to it had a lot of substance up near the handle but tapered to a thinner blade then ended up with a good edge. The Buchman blades are thin all the way though Which gives them a longer useable life and it makes it easyer to trim things with them. Personally I like a big knife but I know a lot of folks are pretty uncomfortable with that to start off with. The bigger blade gives you more area for guiding when doing straight cuts and if your trimming, for instance a cantle, the bigger blade give you a better visual of the angle your cutting at. I usually start people with a smaller blade and as they become comfortable they will just start grabbing the bigger blades. David Genadek

John, I have attached a couple pictures done by Bob Brown, these were colored with food dyes. David Genadek