Types of Leather

Hi! I went to Tandy Leather Factory today (very dangerous place for my wallet lol) I picked up some new leather, and I thought it might be worthwhile to share my opinion/information on leather for any aspiring tack makers out there. I have 4 leathers to show you today;

4 leathers with the same two dyes on them (Mahogany and Show Brown)

Sheepskin, I try to skive off the second layer, it will sometimes separate when dyeing or even cutting/gluing
It is by far my least favorite leather.

Milled Single Shoulder leather (cow), it is heavier, I will use this
on the outer saddle flaps to imitate Buffalo leather,
it has a heavy grain that would not be suitable for bridles
or finer grain imitation.

Old World Belly leather (cow), very thin, I will use this for outer
flaps and skirting leather. It is very nice to handle.

I wanted to document my observations on the leather, for myself and anyone else who would like to use this information.

Bright Colored Breastplates

I am surprisingly in love with these bright colored breastplates I made for a customer on Etsy

I will have to make more in both styles, they will be on Etsy for $20 each, all have functioning hardware! 

Tack with slip buckles has been discounted in my Etsy store, all or near all of them are $10 USD and under. 

Store link here

Stitch Markers and Saddles

I now have two of each!

Saddle #1, lovingly called "Squish"

Saddle #2, less squishy

Panels are of my own modification from Keri Olguin patterns

Stitch Marker #1

Stitch Marker #2, made from a brass watch gear

Saddle Details

More Saddle Details

Proof that I CAN clean my Work-Space up!

I spend a lot of time making a mess, but I do enjoy having things in some sort of order..about once a week I put everything in a location. At least until the next piece of tack gets made!

Drawer organizer from Goodwill

Slab cleaned up, no longer covered in dye

Laces are on spools, and living on a paper towel holder! 

Cortes helps with holding leather scraps

I CAN ACTUALLY SEE MY DESK

Tool Time!

     I am very fortunate to have talented people in my family, most of all my dad Mark, and my great-grandfather Fred (known as "Grandad" in the family).

     I have had the hardest time making consistent center-ring backings on breastplates (the part that goes behind the ring, it protects the skin of the horse from getting caught in the ring/straps/etc.). Today I went over to my dad's shop, to see if he could help me figure out a solution, luckily he had some scrap copper tubing I could play with, and I made my "prototype" which kinda/sorta/not really cut through leather.

Squashed (sad) looking cutter on the right, my shaping tools,
and the leather cut out it made, not half bad for a piece of scrap tubing!

     It was a little squashed to be honest, but now I had a good idea of how to make it. So I went back over about 10 minutes later, to get another piece of copper tubing. My dad said forget trying to make a million prototypes, and he beveled the copper section on his lathe.

I cannot tell you how convenient it is to have the ability to make my own tools, especially when I know the quality of the tack matters, including consistency of shape and reproduce-ability.

With a few more minutes I had my tool made:

There's nothing some channel locks can't do

Looks to be about right! 

My great-grandfather is making a stitch wheel for me. He has quite a lot of watch parts from making and fixing watches through his lifetime. When I have it in hand I will post pictures. Unfortunately I cannot explain how to make one because I don't even know that, I just helped pick out a gear and gave him a tool to mount it on. The tool he is making will have interchangeable wheels (and a teeny-tiny screw to hold them in). I am very excited to have a nice stitch marker, and will post pics of comparisons against the commercially made one.

I did purchase a few tools in the last week that I am unlikely to have made...

Saddler's knife, single sided, bought on Amazon

Vinyl clamps, from MicroMark, very nice for keepers
and all things on bridles

My new favorite hole punch, a 0.3mm mechanical pencil
bought on Amazon

If you would like to know where to find any of these items feel free to contact me or comment below!

New AD on Model Horse $ale Pages

For those who prefer the leather tl;dr: Ad ...elastic tl;dr : elastic breastplate

I am opening 10 spots to custom orders! I can make tack in all colors and sizes. Just email me at "zoehatgi@gmail.com" or purchase on MH$P

I finally managed to make some buckle tongues...Here's some proof!

New style breastplate!

I was playing around with a new style of breastplate, slip buckles with keepers that are rather adjustable..more so than the others I have made. What do you think of it? Let me know :) I know I'd be hard pressed to find a breastplate for any real horses that looks like this, but I like the halter plate as the center piece. 

Who knew slotted halter plates made good breastplate center rings.

First Post!

Hello, welcome to my blog! I figured I would post all of the pictures that don't make it to my Etsy listings and that don't really belong on my Facebook.

I'll start off by sharing my "workshop" area

My rather messy work area

Photographing area

One of my slabs, these are my favorite surface to work on.
The countertop place near my house cuts their own counters,
and these are discards, best of all they're absolutely free!

This is my most recently acquired slab, it's set on an end table

I keep my models everywhere!

Absolutely everywhere!