Stamping Leather

Howdy;

Here is a series of photos that will help explain the process of stamping leather, I am making a pair of wrist cuffs.

The tools used for this project are:
-small stamping maul made by Don King
-med stamping maul made by Barry King
-wing dividers made by C.S. Osborne(very old)
-San Carlos border stamp by craftool
-geometric stamp by Don King
-Beveler made by me out of a bolt
-seeder by craftool
-two border stamps by Don King
-double cut border swivel knife(or beader blade) by craftool
-bag full of lead shot used as a weight


The leather needs moisture to take the impression of the stamp, but there is more to it than that. If you simply wet the leather then immediately stamp it, the leather will take the impression of the stamp, but the impression will have no color and will not be a very clean crisp impression. To get the best out of your stamp the leather must be "cased". To do this the leather is wet, then dried back some and placed in a bag, an airtight container, or between some wool blankets. You leave the leather for a day or two until the moisture content is even throughout the leather. Then your leather is "cased", once cased the leather is not wet nor dry, it is damp throughout. Now your stamp will leave a very clean and crisp impression on the leather, and if and only if your leather is "cased" properly the stamping tool will not only leave a crisp impression in the leather but the tool will also burnish the leather giving you much more depth and color to your stamping.

Once the leather is cased the double line borders are layed out and cut into the leather.


Then the first row of San Carlos border is stamped


Then the second row of the San Carlos Border.


Now the geometric stamp is layed out and stamped into the leather, each impression is meticulously placed.


Continue stamping until you filled in the whole piece.


Then the outsides of the double line border are beveled, the seeder is used in all corners, next the smaller outside border is stamped.


Then the inside border is stamped.


Now that the stamping is done, the leather allowed to dry completely at room temp. Once dried it is edged, oiled, the finish is applied and assembled.
Once I have finished all these steps I will post a photo of the wrist cuffs when they are complete.

In the near future I will also show the process of flower carving.

ruff out saddle

Howdy;

I just finished a saddle which is for sale at this time. The saddle is all ruffout out, with an inlaid seat that is buckstitched in. Flat plate rigging, a hamley style Cheyenne roll. The tree was made by Rod Nikkel, it is a Ray Hunt tree(which is exactly the same as a wade except the stock thickness is 4 1/2" instead of 5") the seat length is 15 1/2", 4" X 12" cantle, wood post horn 3" X 4 1/2" finished cap and a 4"handhole width and a 90*spread on the bars.

finished saddle

The saddle is finally complete, between buying and selling a truck, feeding cows, trade shows, moving family, building chaps and doing repairs, then getting the flu, I got it done and if I do say so myself it looks damn good.

Here are a few photos

oiling

The saddle is oiled with 100% neatsfoot oil and only 100% neatsfoot oil. I will use some saddle butter on the back of the fenders so sweat does not bleed though. Oiling the saddle can takes a couple days to finish. One heavy coat is applied, the oil is heated to help penetrate the leather. Then another coat or two to even the color out. Once the oiling is done the final assemble is done. Not to far away and this saddle will be done.

cantle bind

Next the top seat is glued to ground seat, once the glued into place the cantle bind area is trimmed and shaped. Then the bind is fit, glued in place and hand sewn. Now that the bind is sewn the double cut border is carved into the swell.

This is the last job of the saddle construction, next is oiling and assembling the saddle.

inlaid seat

The inlaid seat plug is cut out, then the high density foam insert is fit to match the plug, the foam is then covered with oiltan chap leather and it is glued to the seat, then sewn and trimmed.

small parts

Now is the time to finish all the small parts for the saddle,

: flank cinch and gobetween, billets, latigos, hobble straps, rope strap and buckle, string buttons, martingale dees, latigo and cinch Carry's, swell protector, bucking rolls, and tread the stirrups.

lining skirts

To finish the skirts the blocking leather leather is installed and they are lined with 100%Genuine Bark Tanned Shearling. The saddle strings and lace skirt hangers are installed. Then the skirts are sewn by machine. Once the sewing is done the skirts are trimmed flush, the shearling is trimmed for a nice clean look and edged round. Then the edges are slicked or rubbed with a canvas rag. The process of slicking edges can be done with many different ways. But the best way to get a nice smooth burnished edge that will stay smooth or slicked is elbow grease, if your slicking an edge and the canvas rag doesn't get hot you are not working hard enough.

A little side note on saddle strings, I drill string holes through the tree, I do not just screw the strings to the saddle with a wood screw like all factory saddles are done, even many current custom makers do this also. If the strings are only screwed to the tree and the saddle is cowboyed out of, somewheres down the road the strings will rip out. Drilling through the tree does not affect the integrity of the saddle tree if done properly, this method has been is use for over a 100 years, that is because it works.

horn

The horn is covered after the swell cover has been put on the saddle because a horn cover can take a lot of abuse. Roping, horses flipping over backwards, jumping in a trailer while the horse is saddled( a great way to break a tree) are all very hard on a horn cap, So the horn cover may need to be replaced years down the road, this will make that an easier repair.

The horn cover is fit and stamped then hand stitched.

fenders and leathers

The fenders and stirrup leathers are made to length for this customer. The stirrup leathers are prestretched to minimize stretch once the saddle is made. The heavier of the two stirrup leathers is used on the near side, since that stirrup leather will be stressed more by getting on and off the saddle. Next the fenders are cut and stamped, they are assembled using blevins buckles, holes are punched in the leathers. Then the fenders and leathers are put on this stetching and shaping devise. It will stretch the leathers and fenders minimize stretch and it also will train the fenders so the stirrups will always hang in the proper position.