I don't think I will EVER go back to sticky wax for boots. This stuff is just as easy to find as sticky wax, and yeah, it's not reusable and you will have to reapply eventually, but the headaches it saves are SO worth it. I threw some of it on the sport medicine boots I made this morning, and my eyes got big when I actually started tacking up. It's amazing! The little tabs just stuck and I didn't have to worry about them popping off or anything. Definitely worth the $4 or $5 a bottle, and I'll be using this stuff as often as possible.
Oh, here are the boots! They sit SO well with the Tack-It glue.
I've got a few other things I love, too, like my craft knives. I use a small snap-blade knife for skiving and a regular exacto for everything else. I can't imagine living without them. The body of the snap-blade knife is old old old, from Walmart. They no longer sell these knives or the blades, but you can pick them up near the paint/wall paper supplies at stores like Lowes and Home Depot. I think the Exacto brand has one too, but I found the home improvement stores to be far less expensive than buying the name brand knife or blades at a craft store.
It's far easier to make your own buckles and most of your own bits when working in Stablemate scale. I use 26g, 28g, and 32g wire. 26g is reserved for bits, western saddle rigging, or reinforcing various parts, like the swells and horn of a western saddle. I also used it for stirrups, but less so now. 28g wire is often used for buckles or smaller D and O rings and as tongues for buckles made out of 26g wire. 32g is used to create the mouthpiece on bits (which is why I also have copper; it looks spiffy on western bits), and fixed buckles. It's too thin to do anything else with, really. Also in the photo is a spool of nylon upholstery & home decor thread. It's thicker than the usual cotton stuff. I use it in raise nose and brow bands, since wire can sometimes poke through the lower lining. It can be very useful on english saddles, as you'll see when the english saddle tutorial is finished!
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| Back: 26g. L to R middle: 28g, 32g silver, 32g copper. Front: upholstery thread. |
I only use two pairs of pliers, and one kind of snip. I do have two pairs of the snips, though. The tips get worn down and pitted eventually, so the worn pair is retired and used on rough stuff like straight pins.
If I could find a smaller tip on the round and needle nose pliers, I'd love it. I haven't seen any at Hobby Lobby or Michaels, so I should probably do a little hunting online. What I have works, though.
So, there's another look at the stuff I use. Questions and comments, especially suggestions for walk-throughs and tutorials, are always welcome!
Don't forget, everyone, 19 more days to enter the raffle! Every post is another entry into the raffle.