Chainsaw Chap Remodel

Well here is the latest project out of the shop.  It is a set of protective chainsaw chaps that I remodeled to resemble a pair of chinks.  There are quite a few pics to see some of the detail spots I put on it so bear with me.

This is how they started out.

 I cut all of the canvas straps off, rounded the bottoms, added a little fringe, and put a tooled belt on them.  Here's how they turned out.  The legs are a black canvas material over a layer of kevlar.

Here's how they look on my underpaid professional model.  He's working on becoming a plus size model soon.

I made the buckle straps wide so they hopefully would grab more of the chap to pull around the leg for more protection.

Here's a close up of the yoke section with his brand in the tooling.  These have a full solid yoke across instead of seperate sides like normal chaps.  I used all Jeremiah Watt stainless steel buckles.

This is Doug's name fingercut into the liner of the belt.

And a flying armadillo put into the liner of the yoke section.

All of the stitching was done on my new Cobra Class 4 that is by far worth every penny.  It breezed through this project with no complaints. 

They were done and delivered in time for his carving exhibition at the Rodeo Austin Cowboy Breakfast.  If you're around Austin area, go downtown and check out some of his work in progress, March 2nd, 6am to 9am.  On to another belt and preparing for the spring garden.  Take care, RW

New Machinery

My new sewing machine has finally arrived.  This machine will open new opportunities for the shop.  It will be able to handle many things my old machine could not, such as saddle blankets, saddle skirts, padded items, etc.  It will also give me better control of stitch length on my other goods.  Thanks to Steve at Leather Machine Company for the machine.

When I opened the machine package it had a "test run" still attached to it from Steve testing and setting up the machine.  It is something I would absolutely never come close to doing, but impressive all the same.

That's probably around a 1" thick hunk of leather stitched perfect. 

Also while I was down in Lockhart last weekend, my folks ran across a nice find at an estate sale so I went over and picked up a good running Singer 331K.  It is already setup with a roller foot and good feed dogs for doing smaller work such as wallet liners, etc.  I'll have a big learning curve to overcome on both of these machines, so I'll be burning through my scrap pile for the next week or so.  Hopefully some work will be rolling off of these soon.  I have a really neat project on the bench as we speak that I should have done in the next couple of weeks.  Stay tuned.....

P.S.  The Ferdco 440 is still for sale and needs to move so I can have room for the new machine.  Take care, RW

Rifle Package

I had this order come in for a rifle sling, butt stock ammo cuff and a pancake style knife sheath.  The sling was built to match one that the customer provided.  The sling is basketstamped, dyed with mahogany and has the customers brand cut in.  The cuff is dyed to match and will hold ten 22 mag shells.  The laced holes are reinforced to prevent stretching when pulling it tight.  This package was a fun project.  It was tough getting a good picture of the whole setup but hopefully you can get the idea.  RW