Mojave Lever Crew - Roll Call!

[RAMCLAP]

Sorry for my ignorance. Could you please elaborate on which '73 you are refering too here please?

Thanks.

[bigbossman]

Thats a score for sure! So many leather carved items out of Mexico are not but embossed instead. This rig was hand carved and by someone that knew what they are doing. Two things stand out to me that show that it was not the craftsman's first rodeo. 1) The curves are curvy. Often times ya see some work, particularly flower carving and if ya look close at the curves they are kinda faceted, not as curved as they could be. This is pretty darn good. It takes experience and skill to get em curvy. 2)The depth of the carving. This is not as easy as it might seem. Ya don't just hit your tool harder with your tooling maul. Moisture content has to be maintained correctly in the leather throughout the time you are working. Also skill with a swivel knife to make the cuts the proper varying depths to give the pattern layers a realistic look. Decent leather is also a must. Mexico has several very good tanneries and quite a few meh tanneries even today. Very hard to carve poor leather well. I really like the old style carving too. Ya don't see that much anymore. My wife does it quite well, even though she's only ever done it a couple of times. Actually, better than I do, shh don't tell her I said that since I taught her how to carve. Many old timers would make their own carving tools and stamp out of nails spikes etc. and that appears to be the case here as I don't recognize some of the stamps. Good score! I'd put some Skidmore's leather conditioner on it. Wipe it on with an old t shirt. Let it sit for a couple of minutes and wipe off any excess. On the carving use an old tooth brush to wipe off any excess. Let it sit overnight and come and buff with another old t shirt the next morning. The Skidmore's will condition the leather very well and will also produce a nice soft waxy gleam after buffing that looks like leather not like plastic. Then take this rig shootin'.

Thanks so much for your detailed, knowledgeable, and informative reply.

I do not have any Skidmore on-hand, but do have Lexol..... would that serve as well? Also - could you elaborate on the part I bolded above, re: "old style"? What do you see that tells you that?

[200Apples]

[200Apples]

Could you please elaborate on which '73 you are refering too here please?

Thanks.

This one

[Kerplow]

This one

This is correct!

[golfish]

I had a rig like that that I bought at the LA county fair in the late 80s. It's around here somewhere. I've seen them at the Ontario gun shows a few times. They usually have a hundred or so hanging on the racks.

[RAMCLAP]

Wow. The wood is beautiful.

[200Apples]

I had a rig like that that I bought at the LA county fair in the late 80s. It's around here somewhere. I've seen them at the Ontario gun shows a few times. They usually have a hundred or so hanging on the racks.

These old gunslinger rigs are cool. The first holster/belt combo I bought was from that old company out in San Dimas that catered mostly to LE. They're gone, now, but I had a Jordan holster made for a 4-5/8" Blackhawk with 41 Remington Magnum brass loops, in cordovan colored basket weave. It doesn't really fit any real niche, and now the Sam Brown(e) belt is too small for my tiny waist. LOL.

Here's a rig that SplitHo0f just shared with me via email. He's not near his computer and asked me to post it.

What is unique about it?

(of course I can't see this image - did it post?)

FF93BA3B-4092-4F3F-A276-FA9A1C197CC6.jpg

[golfish]

(of course I can't see this image - did it post?)

What the hec, you shouldn't post pictures like that on a family forum..

[200Apples]

I can't see these pics! What the heck is up with that.

[bigbossman]

What is unique about it?

Aside from the fact that it is left handed?

[Killer Bee]

These old gunslinger rigs are cool. The first holster/belt combo I bought was from that old company out in San Dimas that catered mostly to LE. They're gone, now, but I had a Jordan holster made for a 4-5/8" Blackhawk with 41 Remington Magnum brass loops, in cordovan colored basket weave. It doesn't really fit any real niche, and now the Sam Brown(e) belt is too small for my tiny waist. LOL.

Here's a rig that SplitHo0f just shared with me via email. He's not near his computer and asked me to post it.

What is unique about it?

(of course I can't see this image - did it post?)

[ATTACH]1040773[/ATTACH]

I can't see these pics! What the heck is up with that.

quote it and the attachment will be hyperlinked like above

[pennstater]

Simply perfect. I like it. I believe I have something similar to that around here. Must dig!

MLC

[Horsewright]

Thanks Spyder, ya bet! Yep Apples thats the stuff, thanks for the link. bigbossman, Lexol has kinda fallen along the wayside in the leather crafting world. Even in the tack world. Use to be ya walk into the tack shop and they'd have a whole Lexol shelf. Now not so much, if any. Years ago, as a very young man, I had a saddle cleaning service. I used a lot of Lexol back then cause we all thought it was the latest and greatest. Now I wouldn't. There is just better stuff. Also, I'm much more fond of a cream over a liquid conditioner and why I don't recommend neatsfoot oil. It's just too dang easy to get too much on there to the detriment of the leather. Leather can get too soft, too pliable too greasy and basically just ruined. Gunleather particularly ya gonna want some life some firmness to the product. It needs to keep its shape. Added bonus for gun guys with Skidmores. They make an excellent wood polish too. I use it on our podium for our booth when we set up at a show. This piece of wood gets way more abuse than gunstocks do. Heck its been darn near sandblasted at some shows then tossed in the back of the truck and hauled around and stored in the well house. We did our first show in a couple years back in mid August . Got the podium out and wow it was looking tired and thirsty. Got the Skidmore's out and wiped er down. Left er on for a few minutes and then came back and buffed. Fixed er right up. Here's a pic of my booth babes for that show, my daughter and wife the podium to the right. Got some sheen to it. Really made it brand new. I'll rub the occasional dab on a gunstock too.



So then a guys says dang, now I got to get Skidmore's leather cream and Skidmore's wood cream. Nah, its the same stuff just a different label. They are clever that way on who they are selling too. Western world and the label has a couple of cowboys sitting around the campfire conditioning their saddle and boots. Biker world and they got a couple of guys working on chaps and vests but its the same stuff. Not just me saying this but many of the biggest custom saddle makers (including mine) use and recommend this product. When ya drop north of 5K on a chunk of leather ya tend to listen to what the guy that put that chunk of leather together says. Leastways I do. Plus its one of those deals started in a garage, so thats kinda cool too. Not some outfit owned by Amazon or something.

OK the tooling. We all know or many of us will, that a buscadero type rig was not a true old west deal. My understanding is that it was an invention of Hollywood during the heyday of westerns. However the carving in the old days in the 1800s and on into the 20th century was simply a different style. Ya here it commonly referred to as "old style" carving. It was larger with much less backgrounding. It used a lot of scrolls and leaves to fill in where the flower wasn't. All the elements were larger and you can see that in the pics of the rig here, all the elements flow together to fill the available space. The back grounding is minimal. Thats the little dots concentrated together that aren't part of the flower. It looks like they used the same tool for the flower centers but if ya look close maybe not. A seeder is a single dot and the backgrounder used several different tools some dots in a row called a bar backgrounder but they also used a single dot tool as well. If I had to guess the belt was tooled by different hands then the holster. The style is similar but just a hint of differences in how the tools were used. But ya gotta look dang close. The rig was dyed and that is seen in the mottling of colors on the belt tip where Mexico is stamped.Often times areas like this aren't tooled at all. The border was cut with a swivel knife then beveled with a push beveler and then the camo border was added. The camo border tool is the one that looks like a shell there around the 44/45 numbers and Mexico. Each one of those camo borders is an individual maul strike. Notice that they are not even, some of the tails of the stamp are down in the beveled area some are slightly deeper on one side or the other. Again this lets us know this rig was really hand tooled not embossed as so many are. Really the only short cut I see in the whole thing was the two large stitches on the cartridge loops instead of stitching multiple stitches in the same stitch length as the rest of the rig. I know why they did it cause loops are a MAJOR PITA to sew. In fact I refuse to make cartridge belts, just won't do it. Don't need the aggravation, there ain't that much beer! Here's a loop style holster my wife carved a while back:



Notice how large the elements are and fill the space. Here's a sheath she carved in a more modern (Sheridan) style. The elements are smaller and more stylized. That flower will be very similar to anything else she carves in this style:



A Glock holster she carved:



See the similarities despite the difference in canvas sizes between the sheath and the Glock holster. Plus as I mentioned, a lot more backgrounding in this style. I have probably struck a camo border stamp as much as any man alive. I use it a lot. Now I don't cut and bevel a border for the camo stamp as much of my work is used and abused by working cowboys and I found this to be a weak link in the leather but look at the camo stamping. Its not perfect, again each one is a single stamp and hit with a maul, but living proof it was hand done not embossed. Look particularly at the belt. This is a buddy modeling these leggings before we shipped em to an Air Force Major in OH. Here's a good contrast of using the camo tool. I did the belt and notice no bevelled border that it goes into. On the leggings notice we did bevel it. Figured a guy riding on the weekends wasn't gonna break em dwon as much as a working cowboy.



Before we ended the day Lil Sis, my filly, wanted ya to see what real good carving looked liked:



Nah not taking a leak, fixing fence. But here is my saddle when it was new. Its done in an oak pattern:





Our friend John Willasma is a master's master carver and saddle maker. There is an organization called the TCAA the is extremely difficult to get into and only represents the cream of the cream of the cream of the crop. John is a member. If this tooling stuff interest you go on their website and your mind will be blown. Here's a saddle he made for the wife:



He uses a Hawaiian flower in honor of his wife who is from there:





Anyhoo a buddy sent me this the morning. Thought the guys here would like these pics. His pronghorn hunt in WY, he's from AR. Lever gun is a Marlin obviously, in .308 Marlin. He sighted for 200 yds and it only dropped an inch at 300 yds when he nailed this guy. Used that Hornady Leverution ammo for it.



The knives I made him years ago (he owns a gun store in AR and is one of my wholesale customers). Whats cool about the bone handled one is it from the shin bone of a buffalo he took with his Sharps.

[RAMCLAP]

Outstanding.