Shoptalk! February 2017

T H E L E AT H E R R E TA I L E R S ’ & M A N U FACT U R E R S ’ J O U R N A L

E L PA S O COWBOY B OOT CAPIT AL OF THE WO RLD WE PROFILE:

Champion & Caboots Rocketbuster Boots Stallion Boots

Deana McGuffin Third-Generation Boot Maker F EBRUARY 2 0 17

S I NC E 1984

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$6.50

Great Selection, Great Quality, Great Value!

THE LEATHER RETAILERS’ & MANUFACTURERS’ JOURNAL

FEBRUARY 2017

FEATURES 21 Boot and Shoe News 25 Deana McGuffin 28 Esatto Custom Footwear 33 El Paso: Cowboy Boot Capital of the World 37 Three El Paso Bootmakers

28

40

33

El Paso

Esatto Custom Footwear

IN EVERY ISSUE 4 Laugh Lines 7 Hide Report 16 Goods & Services 23 Lisa Sorrell 52 News, Notes & Queries 56 Classifieds COVER PHOTO: Stallion Cowboy Boots

2 FEBRUARY 2017

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SHOP TALK!

Published by Proleptic, Inc. • P.O. Box 17817 • Asheville, NC 28816 Ph (828) 505-8474 • Fax (828) 505-8476 • shoptalk@proleptic.net Read Shop Talk! online with links to advertisers and online information. www.proleptic.net

Browse our wide variety of leather backs, bends, shoulders, sides and much more. Leather is at the very core of everything we do at Weaver Leather. By cultivating close relationships with our tanneries, we are able to work with them to develop high quality leathers that offer you performance and value.

We also offer a great selection of classic nylon, polypropylene, safety, seat belt, elastic and cotton webbing in a variety of widths and colors to meet your needs. In-stock and ready for immediate shipment, this webbing is a great value.

ShopTalkLeatherMagazine Proleptic, Inc. is the creator of an original work of authorship entitled "Shop Talk!". Proleptic, Inc. attempts to maintain the highest accuracy of content; however, neither Proleptic, Inc., nor any of its officers, employees or agents, warrants, makes any warranties, guarantees or representations as to the accuracy or timeliness of any information published or referenced in "Shop Talk!". Under any and all circumstances, Proleptic, Inc., including its officers, employees and agents, shall be held harmless from and against any loss caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information.

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Call 800-932-8371 shop.weaverleather.com DAS121516R-1

SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 3

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LAUGH LINES

IT'S FEBRUARY! February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

It is the third month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the last month of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

The month has twenty-eight days in most years and twenty-nine days in leap years which occur every four years, the last one being in 2016 and the next one occurring in 2020. It is the only month of the year that can pass without a single full moon.

The Roman month Februarius comes from the Latin term februum which means purification and was associated with the purification ritual of Februa, held on February 15 in the old lunar Roman calendar.

4 FEBRUARY 2017

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Groundhog Day (Pennsylvania Dutch: Grundsaudaag and Murmeltiertag) is traditionally celebrated on February 2.

According to folk legend, if it is cloudy when the groundhog emerges from its burrow on that day, then spring will arrive early, sometime before the vernal equinox; however, if it’s sunny and the groundhog sees its shadow, then winter will persist for another six weeks.

The celebration in this country began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries. It has its origins in ancient European weather lore in which a badger or a sacred bear is the prognosticator.

It also bears similarities to the pagan festival of Imbolc, the seasonal turning of the Celtic calendar which is celebrated on February 2 and also involves weather forecasting.

“Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.”

Originally, the weather reporter favored by the early settlers was a hedgehog rather than a groundhog. Pennsylvanian Groundhog lodges celebrated the day with fersommlinge, social events in which food was served and only the German dialect was spoken.

Groundhog Day was adopted in the U. S. in 1887. Clymer H. Freas was the editor of the local paper, Punxsutawney Spirit, at the time and began promoting the town’s groundhog as the official “Groundhog Day” meteorologist.

The largest Groundhog Day celebration is still held in Punxsutawney, PA, with Punxsutawney Phil as the best known groundhog weather forecaster. Crowds as large as 40,000 gather there each year to await Phil’s appearance. Other celebrations of note occur in Quarryville in Lancaster County and the Sinnamahonig Valley in Bucks County.

FUN FACTS ABOUT

GROUNDHOGS

• • •

he average groundhog is 20” long T and normally weights 12 to 15 lbs It’s a member of the ground squirrel family known as marmots. he groundhog is called a T woodchuck as well as a whistlepig because a groundhog can whistle when alarmed or when they are courting in the spring.

•

Groundhogs are one of the few animals that truly hibernate which is actually a deep coma rather than a deep sleep. Their body temperature drops a few degrees above freezing, their heart barely beats, blood flow slows down, and their breathing nearly stops.

• •

Young pups or kits are born in midApril to May and by July they are able to forge on their own. The size of a litter is normally 4 to 9 babies.

A groundhog normally lives 6 to 8 years, but some authorities cite a shorter life span.

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The first documented American reference to Groundhog Day can be found in a diary entry dated February 4, 1841, by Morgantown, PA, storekeeper, James Morris, who wrote:

SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 5

CANDLEMAS

Q: What do you call Punxsutawney Phil’s laundry?

Candlemas also takes place on February 2. It is known both as the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord Jesus which commemorates the presentation of Jesus at the Temple (Luke 2:23-40) as was require by Jewish law. February 2 is traditionally the 40th day of the Christmas-Epiphany season.

On Candlemas, many denominations of Christians bring their candles to their local church where are blessed and then used for the rest of the year.

A: Hogwash.

“Of course, I do,” he answered indignantly as he slammed the door and drove to his office.

At about 11:00 am the doorbell rang, and the man’s wife answered it.

There at her front door was florist delivery man holding a box filled with twelve red roses.

Later, at 2 pm, there was a knock at the door and this time a deluxe box of Belgian chocolates was being delivered.

Eventually, the husband came home, tired after a long day’s work. His wife greeted him by saying, “First the flowers, then the chocolates—I’ve never a more wonderful Groundhog Day in my life!”

6had FEBRUARY 2017 SHOP TALK!

Q: What do you get when you cross a groundhog with a pistachio?

A: A green beast who predicts a dry spring and acts like a nut.

The Hide Report

HIDE PRICES

Q: What happens if the ground log sees it shadow?

US CATTLE HERD TO CONTINUE EXPANSION

“There’s more cattle and cheaper prices,” Johnson said, adding that cattle prices began a rapid downward spiral leading into the fall. “It seems like we fell off a cliff fast,” he said. “We started building back the cow herd at a 3% clip and then prices fell nearly 40% this year.”

The cattle inventory across the US will continue to expand and that will likely keep prices in moderation through 2017, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist Dr. Jason Johnson.

Johnson, an extension economist in Stephenville, TX, discussed cattle market trends during the recent Blackland Income Growth Conference in Waco, TX.

Johnson said during 2015, when cattle prices hit historic highs, feedlot operators were bidding up feeder cattle to keep lots full and operations going.

Feedlots operated much like hotels, attempting to keep occupancy rates high. “When they closed the books on these pens of cattle, they were losing $300-400 ahead,” according to Johnson who add-

Most selections are either down slightly or unchanged.

A: We’ll have six more weeks of splinters!

Q: What’s green, has four legs, and jumps out of its hole on February 2?

A: The ground frog!

Pig farmers have never have done very well in the United States. Most Americans prefer beef to pork.

Hamburger is an American favorite but contains no ham. The porcine raisers were hopeful to see a significant increase in their business after the scares about health over beef, but most of the benefits went to the poultry and fish industries. The sale of ham and bacon remained virtually unchanged

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Over breakfast one morning, a woman said to her husband, “I bet you don’t know what day this is.”

YOU R GLOBA L PE RSPE CTIV E

Because of this, the National Porcine Association hired a major advertising agency to help boost the sale of pork products. They decided on an intensive campaign to saturate magazines, television, and radio with ads urging people to eat pork patties.

The ad campaign was given an extra boost when Congress was convinced to designate the second of February as the day when every US family would be urged to eat pork sausage. That day would be celebrated nationally as, of course, Ground Hog Day.

“Tanner’s Oil,” the long-time favorite among horse owners and saddle makers is back!

This famous light all-purpose oil softens new leather and beautifies and restores aged leather by replacing lost oils. It guards against moisture, mold and mildew. Will not harm stitching nor darken most leather.

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AGS Footwear Group 11234 Air Park Road, Ashland, VA 23005 Phone: 800 446 3820 Fax: 800 822 0180 Email: sales@agsfootweargroup.com Website: www.agsfootweargroup.com SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 7

The Hide Report

The Hide Report ed that there will be buildups in cattle inventory over the next two to three years.

UZBEKISTAN’S LEATHER AND FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY TARGETS EXPORTS Uzbekistan’s leather and footwear industry plans to produce an output worth $1.68 billion in the next four years which would rank the country among the CIS leaders in the production of footwear and leather goods according to the Jahon information agency. Uzbekistan also plans to export footwear and leather products to neighboring countries as well as expand exports to Russia, Turkey, and China as well as explore new markets including those in the European Union.

Over the next four years, the country plans to produce a total of 29.1 million pairs of shoes, 2.9 9 billion square decimeters of leather, and various leather goods to total $35.6 million.

skin arrival with other major leather clusters—Agra, Kanpur, and Kolkata—have recorded a more than 75% decline in this regard,” noted the associations survey-cum-analysis titled, “Impact of Demonetization on Leather Industry.”

According to Assocham, the leather industry is reeling under stress as butchers are not providing animal hides because they are not being paid in cash. Tanneries cannot get hides transported because they cannot pay drivers in cash. Moreover, a coal shortage for boilers is also adding to the industry’s woes.

TRUMP PROPOSES 10% TARIFF ON IMPORTS The Trump administration has asserted that it may enact a blanket tax on imports, according to the Sourcing Journal. The team is considering a 10% tax

on all imports in an attempt by the president elect to follow through on his tough talk regarding trade.

The idea is to encourage Americans to produce more goods in the US. But that only tells one side of the story. The flip side of this legislation, however, is that it could incite foreign countries to institute their own protectionist trade barriers which could hurt US exports and the economy at large.

Initially floated as a 5% tax by Reince Priebus, Trump’s Chief of Staff, is now being reported that as recently as early January the team has double that number. According to U.S. News & World Report, the incoming administration has been warned that the move could “start trade wars, anger allies, and also hurt the new administration’s effort to boost the rate of economic growth right out of the gate.”

PRODUCTION IN INDIA’S LEATHER CLUSTERS DOWN BY 60% Trade in major clusters of leather and leather products in India have been hit hard by the union government’s demonetization [the replacement of an out of date currency by a newer one], according to Assocham. “There has been significant decline in the arrival of animal hides while tanneries in Chennai have recorded a more than 60% fall in

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The Hide Report

The Hide Report

FEBRUARY 2017 MA RK ET I N REV IEW Selection

Weight (lbs.)

November

December

January

weights vary month to month

(early)

(early)

(early)

Price Last January

Heavy Texas Steers

66-68

$69-71

$71-72

$69-70

$64-65

Heavy Texas Steers (Hvy)

74-76

$72-75

$75-75.75

$72-73.50

$72-73

Branded Steers

66-68

$64-65

$64-65

$62-63

$60-64

Branded Steers (Hvy)

74-76

$74-75

$74-75

$71-73

$71-72

Colorado Steers

66-68

$63-64

$64-65

$61.50-62

$57-58

Butt Branded Steers

66-68

$75-76

$74.50-76

$73-74.50

$69-70

Butt Branded Steers (Hvy)

74-76

$81-82

$81-82

$76-77

$77-78

Heavy Native Steers (Hvy)

74-76

$83-84

$81-82

$78-79

$77-78

Heavy Native Heifers

52-54

$57-58

$59-60

$57-50-58

$59-60

Branded Heifers

52-54

$55-57

$56-57

$56-57

$56-57

Heavy Native Cows

52-54

$41-42

$43-44

$43-44

$45-48

Branded Cows

52-54

$33-35

$35-50-36.50

$35-36.50

$35-37

Holstein Dairy Cows

52-54

$50-51

$53-55

$54-55

$57-60

100-110

$47-48.50

$52-59

$52-59

$56-61

Native Bulls

(early)

US 2016 HOLIDAY SPENDING UP 60% OVER 2015 The 2016 holiday season has come to a close with spending up 60% over 2015 and 4% over customer expectations. The International Council of Shopping Centers recently revealed that consumers spent an average of $711 on gifts, just $100 more than 2015 and $27 more than they had planned to spend.

US-MADE FOOTWEAR PROVISION FOR MILITARY NOW LAW President Obama signed the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act which ushers into law a provision that requires the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide American-made athletic footwear to new recruits upon their arrival at basic training.

The provision, which is known as the Berry Amendment, will be implemented over the course AUCTION • TRADE SHOW • AUCTION • TRADE SHOW

Western Leather & Equipment Trade Show & Auction March 20-21, 2017 French Lick Resort Event Center, IN

Auction:

Consign Today! Machinery, Leather, Tools, Hardware, Supplies, Finished Goods

Trade Show: Tables available to vendors. Call to reserve space.

Visit our website at www.moserleatherco.com Click “Western Leather & Equipment Show” SPECIAL $119 HOTEL RATE CODE: 0317WLE. Call the French Lick Resort at (812) 936-9300 COMMISSION RATES AS LOW AS 13% BOOTH RENTALS STARTING AS LOW AS $150

For more listing info, go to www.auctionzip.com & enter Auctioneer8433. Or call James Cox at (513) 889-0500 and we will fax or email you an updated listing AUCTION • TRADE SHOW • AUCTION • TRADE SHOW

10 FEBRUARY 2017

SHOP TALK!

2017 US LEATHER & HIDE MARKET PREDICTIONS While not offering any guarantee, Hidenet had their usual success rate in 2016 in forecasting market direction. Their “US Week in Review” that predicts market movement each week (and then shows if they are right or wrong the following week) had an annual success rate of 89%.

Hidenet has received reports noting a general increase in leather usage in athleisure and a return, albeit in moderate degrees, of more leather footwear being sold in the past few months. They think this trend will continue in 2017 and push side leather prices modestly higher, if not somewhat more.

If they are correct, then the odds are good for a price increase in the first quarter of 2017, when the worst grains of the year are produced due to winter weather. They expect to see between 5% and quite possibly 10% gains on steers in the period leading up to the Asian Pacific Leather Fair in late March.

As the year progresses, Hidenet forecasts the traditional decline in hide prices going into summer, but not so much that the market will give up the gains they expect in the first quarter. By late summer, just prior to or during the Shanghai Fair, and into the fall and winter, they projected recovery to the highs previously seen during the year.

They think, at least in the US but possibly in other mature economies as well, current economic optimism has already created more housing sales and starter apartment rentals for the younger generation. This means new furniture in living rooms and a preponderance of leather due to its wonderful properties and an array of new styles and fashions.

Automotive leather remains a question mark for Hidenet. On a global basis, they are told that new units will not match the record numbers of the past two years; however, they do not predict a significant drop but more or less an adjustment for various and sundry reasons, such as one style becoming more popular over others.

SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 11

The Hide Report CBW ranks Western as Canada’s largest feeding operation with 100,000 head of seating capacity in three feedlots at High River, Mossleigh, and of the next two years and is seen as an opportuniStrathmore. ty for New Balance’s three factories in the state of Western beganthose operations Maine to make shoes. in 1958 at Strathmore with 975 head of capacity in a few pens. It quickly“EXPRESS became known as the of modern NIKE LANE” TO pioneer CUT PRODUCT commercial cattle feeding in Canada as it grew.

TIME-TO-MARKET Western hired current CEO Dave Plett as general Mark Parker, the Nike boss, outlined his stratemanager in 1986. The following year, it began gy for optimizing Nike products’ time-to-market shipping cattle to US packers. It then became called “Express Lane”. “We know that speed is very a major supplier of cattle to Cargill’s High River important our customers,” he said. “It is what plant after to it opened in June 1989. drove us to create a host of business initiatives Western also gained a reputation for within applying based on flexibility and speed at all levels the latest technologies to cattle feeding and for our group. For example, we have introduced the instituting a value-based pricing grid for cattle. system we call ‘Express Lane’ which allows us to Western’s large presence in cattle feeding will cut down to a few weeks, rather than months, the leave producers forced to find other outlets for time between [a product’s] design and its availabiltheir calves and feeder cattle. In turn, Cargill and ity the shelves. is a away majoratcomJBSon Canada (with Express its plantLane not far Brooks) have to turn to other feedlots in the province for their life cattle supplies.

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The Hide Report USHSLA SESSION ADDRESSES CRITICAL TOPICS The hideadvantage supply availability, and credit petitive and in thistraceability, quarter it allowed us markets some the topics at the to launchwere a new shoeofmodel calledaddressed LunarCharge, annual meeting of the US Hide, Skin and Leather which was well received by consumers.”

Association meeting which was held in Chicago during first week ofshoe, October.

For thethe LunarCharge the time between design and market has reportedly been Kevin Good, senioravailability market analyst and manager four times shorter than usual. of corporate accounts for CattleFax, presented the “Situation and Outlook of the US Cattle Heard:

SNEAKER MAKERS LOOK TO BOSTON Will Expansion Continue?”

Overall, Good noted that inTALENT 2016, the herd is definitely bigger. For 2017, FOR

he forecast it will to continue to expand Shoe makersthat are racing the Boston area asbut theyat a slower rate. The moisture situation is good, compete for millennial talent, reports the Associfeed is cheap, and producers have a good cash ated Press. AP points to Reebok which picked the situation. By 2018, however, Good said that he city’s rapidly Seaport its new expects beefgrowing herd size to beDistrict flat orfortwo slightly global in December, following decline.headquarters On the dairy cow side, herd size in will be the footsteps of New Balance and Converse. Just flat going forward. outside the city limits, Wolverine World Wide, Inc.— This year, the herd is still expanding but at a bit the Rockford, Michigan-based of Saucony, slower pace. In early October,owners beef cow slaughter Keds, Sperry, was up 11% and and other in thebrands—opened past few weeksa itregional was up 20% Good noted. The dairy cow herd is stable. In North America, Mexican beef cows have picked up lately with increasing feeding and packing capacity. In Canada, the herd has been flat and declined in recent years.

Globally, there are fewer beef cattle, down 7%, and more dairy cows which are up 5%. Good said that a 2 to 3% increase in slaughter over the next two years is a conservative estimate. Also, capacity is likely to be an issue in the years to come: it will be a bigger seasonal problem from May to September every year….

Current Course Dates

March 27-31, 2017: Intro to Making Bridle/Saddle Course Bridle Level Courses March 31 to April 2, 2017: Intro to SMS Course April 3-7, 2017: Bench & Onsite Course Saddle Level Courses

12 FEBRUARY 2017

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8 NOVEMBER 2016

SHOP TALK!

SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 13

The Hide Report

SUN BIAS, INC.

INDUSTRIAL SEWING SERVICES 1718 N. 1ST. STREET ** MILWAUKEE, WI. 53212 Serving the needle trades 90 years.

POLYPROPYLENE WEBBING Firsts & Seconds. 28 colors on Firsts 59/60” NYLON FABRICS Firsts & Seconds Urethane Coated. 60 colors on 1000-Denier & many other fabrics.

HOOK & LOOP Sew on 1/4” to 6”, some widths in 35 colors.

P. S. (Stick on) 5/8”-5” Rubber & Acrylic.

SPECIAL Hook/Loop. Call for prices ELASTICS Woven H D 1” thru 3” & Ex H D, also knitted & braided types.

PLASTIC & METAL HARDWARE for webbing & miscellaneous items Grommets Washers 3 colors & Snaps 39 cap colors.

Firewood Bundle Webbing Handles Automated Hot/Sear Cutting on webbing, Elastics and Hook & Loop. For no-fray ends use Hot cutting on webbing for belt tip ends.

2-1/4” Electric Webbing & Rope Cutters for cut it yourself.

campus in Waltham for 370 workers last summer after moving it south from Lexington, MA.

UK, CHILEAN AUTHORITIES CONFISCATE MILLIONS IN FAKE SNEAKERS

Rockport Co. was scheduled to open a new headquarters for 212 employees in the affluent Boston suburb of Newton in late January of this year. The new locales recognize that younger, more skilled workers prefer to be closer to the amenities that cities and their neighboring communities provide, such as better transit, more restaurants, and greater cultural options over more distant suburbs, according to industry watchers.

Nearly $2.5 million worth of knockoff Nike sneakers bound for the UK’s counterfeit capital, Manchester, never made it to their final destination.

The BBC reported that Greater Manchester Police and Trading Standards officers seized two 40-foot containers filled with fake goods on December 13 and December 16, including Nike and Converse track suits and phony Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Vivienne Westwood handbags.

The different moves also affirm New England— historically the nation’s footwear- making region— remains a viable center of the industry, said Nate Herman, a senior vice president at the American Apparel & Footwear Association trade group.

CALERES ACQUIRES ALLEN EDMONDS FOR $255 MILLION St. Louis-based Caleres announced that it has acquired US-based men’s shoe brand Allen Edmonds from the private equity firm of Brentwood Associates for $255 million. The nearly 100-yearold brand joins Caleres’ stable of men’s footwear brands which includes Vince, Dr. Scholl’s, and George Brown Bilt. Caleres’ portfolio is predominantly woman-focused and includes brands such as Diane von Furtsenberg, Fergie, Via Spiga, and Franco Sarto.

Allen Edmonds’ footwear—the brand also added assessed Reese and apparel to its offerings in 2013—are made in Port Washington, WI. The company has 70 stores throughout the US.

Self-Locking Nylon Ties (Cable Ties) 4” thru 15”.

BIAS or STRAIGHT CUT fabric binding tape slitting SINGLE & DOUBLE folded Bias Tapes * 200+ colors.

CORD EDGE PIPING 200+ colors & Asst. Cord Fillers for horse blankets.

Up to 200 Catalog color pages available.

Save paper order as needed from our catalog index pages and the latest changes by e-mail in the same day to sales@sunbias.com (or USPS mail takes longer) TOLL FREE NATION WIDE 1-800-425-4747 • FAX 1-414-265-5353

MOST IN STOCK MATERIALS ARE SHIPPED WITHIN 24 HOURS. MASTER CARD,*VISA,*DISCOVER & E-CHECKS

14 FEBRUARY 2017

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SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 15

Goods & Services FEBRUARY 2017

There’s a BIG sale on collars at Shetler’s Collar Shop! 10% off through the month of February on the #10 Buggy, #8 Buggy, #7 Pony, #6 Buggy, #60 All Purpose, #61 All Purpose, #52 Work, #92 Work, and #99 Work Collars!

You can get your collars in full face, full sweeny, or the ever popular half sweeny. You better shake a leg and order your collars TODAY!

Shetler's Collar Shop 5819 Flatiron Rd. Conewango Valley, NY 14726-9716

And while you’re at it, ask for a catalog and to be placed on their mailing list to receive notices for future sales.

Wow! American Farrier’s Journal publishes an annual buyer’s guide that is super, super handy—what a great resources in so many ways! The directory is about 300 pages so it is a whopper, and it contains a very comprehensive listing of all the different products a farrier might (everything from gloves to glue) and the different companies which sell them.

Great resource. You can find what you need—from files to order forms.

Goods & Services

The 2017 issue also contains a number of feature articles which are very relevant to the shoeing trade and even one about selling your business which would be a great read for any small business owner including folks who run leather shops, harness shop, and saddle shops. Excellent advice and something to keep on file even if you may not be quite ready to sell.

There are also listings for farrier schools, clinicians, farrier groups, museums, and the shoeing rules for a number of horse organizations.

If you’d like a copy—and it’s well worth having, especially if you can customers who are farriers— please contact:

American Farriers Journal P O Box 624 Brookfield, WI 53008-0624 (262) 782-4480 www.americanfarriers.com

Cut Once, Cut Clean •Limited edition prototype from Weaver Leather •Solid Cast, Made in the U.S.A. •1” English Strap Punch $ •Large Striking Area plus $2.50 SH •Helpful Color Rings •True Collector’s Piece

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Proleptic, Inc.

P.O. Box 497, Belgrade, ME 04917 ph: (207) 495-3600 • fax: (207) 495-3601

www.proleptic.net

16 FEBRUARY 2017

SHOP TALK!

SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 17

Goods & Services

Goods & Services

CATALOG ALERT! We’ve recently changed the way we sell our used tools, equipment, and machinery.

From now on we won’t be having our massively huge BIG TOOL SALE—sorry. BUT, we will be listing used tools and equipment on our web site, www.proleptic.net. We’ll probably post 50-100 tools at a time and they’ll be changing constantly so if you don’t see what you need, then check back with us. We’re also planning on posting the tools on our Facebook and Etsy accounts as well as Amazon. Enjoy!

The Vendor is published every other week and is read throughout the plain communities in Ohio so it might be a good place to advertise if you sell harness, collars, or pads. I know I see our friend Mid-River Sales in there!

Quality Leather Goods From Our Family to Tour Family

For more information, contact:

Here are the names and addresses for a couple of catalogs which may not be on your radar but just might have something odd and unusual that you’ll find helpful. You never know!

Green Valley Printing 2680 Township Road 7 Brinkhaven, OH 43006 (330) 276-6508

Everyone knows that Troyer’s Rope makes the best rope in the world and has the best variety. But did you know that they also make birdhouses!! In fact, they have a 51 pp. catalog of all the different avian products they manufacture. They do a lot with houses and accessories for purple martins and swallows.

Their rope sales are only a sideline!!

Of course, they sell houses for other types of birds as well as bird traps, winches, mounting pole kits, ground stakes, pole guards, and more.

Penn State Industries 9900 Global Rd. Philadelphia, PA 19115 (800) 377-7297 www.pennstateind.com Penn State Industries caters mostly to people who turn real nice wooden pens so they carry lathe tools, lathes, hardware, tools, gadgets, and supplies.

To get a catalog, contact

Troyer’s Birds’ Paradise 20785, Conneautville, PA 16406 (814) 587-3879

CAPROCK Saddle Tree Shop

806-231-6958 Hereford, TX 806-223-9009

Traditional Wood

Handlaid woven fiberglass cover light & strong Roper—Ranch—Cutter—Reiner—Slick Forks Lifetime Guarantee

Bob Marshall Cutters Just like the Original

Lee Valley Tools P O Box 1780 Ogdensburg, NY 13669-6780 www.leevalley.com Lee Valley Tools caters to woodworkers and cabinet makers. They carry some very unique tools and supplies that might light a fire in your imagination! Of course, they have sharpening stones and supplies. Lots of jigs and oddball gadgets. I’ve even gotten SB ferrules from them for the tools we make and repair.

Manufacturers Of:

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18 FEBRUARY 2017

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SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 19

PE OPL E PROD U CTS PL AC E S

Boot & Shoe News

SSIA WILL BOARD THE QUEEN MARY FOR ITS 2017 CONVENTION, JULY 22-23 The 2017 SSIA annual con­ vention will be held in Long Beach, CA.. Always lots of very useful, very practical seminars cum trade show where you can see the different new products that a variety of suppliers from all over the world have on display. Don’t miss it!

The dates are July 22-23, 2017, at The Queen Mary, 1126 Queens Hwy., Long Beach, CA 90802, (877) 342-0742 for reservations. Mention the SSIA and book your room early to take advantage of the discounted rate.

For additional information, visit the SSIA website at www.ssia.info

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Boot & Shoe News

CRIMPING VAMPS WITH LISA SORRELL OF SORRELL NOTIONS & FINDINGS

When I was first asked to write a regular column containing tips and techniques for cowboy boot makers, I wondered how I could fit that into my schedule. Then I realized… I can do it in my spare time, between 2 and 4 in the morning!

For my inaugural article, I’ve decided to write about crimping vamps. This can be a contentious issue— some boot makers do not crimp, and there are strong feelings on both sides. “Crimping” is simply stretching and shaping the boot vamp over a shaped board prior to sewing the vamp to the boot top panels. Because the foot part of the boot is a very three-dimensional configuration, some pre-shaping can make lasting easier.

The crimp board in the sketch is the style I use, but 22 FEBRUARY 2017

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many crimp boards have a more rounded curve. The following tips will apply to either style of crimp board.

I prefer to crimp my vamps. I like the defined shape that it lends to the finished boots and I prefer to pattern with a crimped (pre-stretched) vamp. If I’m adding inlay or a wingtip, or doing toe bugs or decorative stitching, I do all of these things after crimping. Working with a three-dimensional shape is a little more difficult, but it allows me to accurately plan where the decorative elements will be positioned on the finished boots.

I teach cowboy boot making classes in my studio, and in February of 2014, I released an 8 DVD boxed set containing my entire class. The accompanying book SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 23

Boot & Shoe News

Deana McGuffin Third-Generation Boot Maker

by Liisa Andreassen, Senior Staff Writer Deana McGuffin, owner McGuffin Custom Boots, comes from a long line of boot makers. It started with her grandfather, C.C. McGuffin, in 1915. Living in Texas, he moved to New Mexico when he was 27 to set up a boot shop in the courthouse square in Roswell. His son, L.W., followed in his footsteps, so to speak, and his natural ability for the craft quickly turned him into one of the Southwest’s most sought after leather craftsmen. And then along came Deana.

contains all of my patterns and templates I use in building boots. When I’m teaching a class in my shop, on the day that we crimp vamps I always draw my students a simple diagram that shows nail order and position. It recently occurred to me that it would have been helpful to include this information in the book, so this diagram is the page I’ll be adding to the second edition of the patterns and templates book.

The illustrations above show nail order and nail position, as well as the direction of the pull in the tongue and vamp top line.To see crimping in action, visit my YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/customboots. Episode 62 of my monthly show “It’s a Boot Life” features a crimping demonstration.

MY B UY GUIEDR’S E!

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Deana reflects that she used to watch her dad make beautiful boots. She repeatedly asked him to teach her the “family business,” but he was hesitant—could girls do that kind of stuff? After several years, her persistence paid off, and he agreed to teach her the tricks of the trade. She says that her father was her only mentor, but she learns from other boot makers, craftspeople, and her students all the time.

In 1981, she started learning from and working with her dad. After about five years, she struck SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 25

out on her own. Today, she has more than thirty years of book making under her belt.

BEHIND THE SCENES: A Q-AND-A WITH DEANA MCGUFFIN

Working out of her Albuquerque home, she says, “I work alone.” She always has except when she has students, but they only work on their boots, never on clients’ boots.

SHOP TALK!: How long does it take to make a basic boot?

Both she and her father have demonstrated their craft at the Smithsonian, at New Mexico Folklife Festivals, at the University of Wyoming Art Museum in Laramie, the Gathering of Gear in Elk, Nevada, and were featured in the “Sole Mates” exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Art (Santa Fe) in 2010.

Deana is an annual participant in the Boot and Saddle Makers’ Round-Up in Wichita Falls, TX, and has earned a reputation as a world class custom boot maker.

LIVE...

DEANA: About 40 hours, hands-on working time to build.

ST: What’s been one of your more unusual requests?

DEANA: I don’t consider designs unusual just different.

I guess my most different request was no toe box (soft toe).

ST: Tell me a little about your customer base.

DEANA: My customers have never been the rich and famous. They are just people who want a good pair of boots. continued on page 39

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the little parts have to come together and work well. A boot or shoe we make is specially built for your foot.

No one else can put it on. It’s designed for your foot, only.”

Kovalenko is a perfectionist, a trait reflected in his superior workmanship, a distinction that also resonates with the word “esatto,” which in Italian means precise or exact. “We have a high standard. That’s what we’re known for,” he commented.

by Lynn Ascrizzi, Senior Staff Writer As any avid hiker and backpacker knows, even the most exhilarating trek can be miserable if your heels blister, arches ache, and toes cramp—all because of an ill-fitting pair of shoes or boots.

SHOP TALK!

to the toes. “When you unlace it, it opens widely.

Customers with large volume feet have a hard time putting their foot inside a regular shoe.”

Moreover, some feet tend to over-pronate, which means that more weight is put on one side of the foot. “If you look at the soles of their shoes—they’re worn out a lot more on one side than the other. Also, a lot of customers want ankle support. We do modifications to deliver more support. Many people have weak ankles.

Our classic hiker, a boot that gives a lot of support, is overall, our most popular. It’s made of strong leather. It’s a rigid, strong boot. For

“Our boot has to work properly with the foot,” Kovalenko explained. And, given the unique differences in human anatomy, it’s safe to say that no two feet are exactly alike. In fact, there is typically a half-size difference between a person’s right and left foot. For folks with extra-wide feet or hammer toes, Esatto offers a lace-to-toe walker, built so the laces go down

The problem is that every human foot comes with a variety of anatomical, idiosyncratic challenges. For this reason not all feet are happy campers when it comes to conforming to mass produced, off-the-shelf footwear.

28 FEBRUARY 2017

— Alex Kovalenko Owner and Operator Esatto Custom Footwear

Other custom products crafted at Esatto include logger’s boots with steel toes and spikes, cowboy boots, sandals, dress shoes, and even three-pin ski boots, “an old-type style that used to be built out of leather,” he said. The company also offers lightweight summer boots, insulated winter boots, and various styles of walking shoes.

Esatto Custom Footwear puts your feet first

Fortunately, there are a few businesses which do produce shoes and boots designed for a person’s distinct foot shape and size. One of those uncommon enterprises is Esatto Custom Footwear. The small business, based in Vancouver, WA, is owned and operated by leather artisan Alex Kovalenko. There, in a 2,500 sq. ft. workshop, he and his two

“The boot or shoe we make is specially built for your foot. No one else can put it on. It’s designed for your foot only.”

co-workers hand build all leather, custom hiking shoes and boots. Creating a high quality product with a comfy fit is what his workshop is all about.

“We’re in the business of building a custom product,” Kovalenko said. “My life would be so much easier if I built regularly sized boots and shoes. Custom making is more complicated. All SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 29

time. “We build about 130 pairs of shoes and boots per year. It takes about 40 hours to have one pair built,” he said.

THE RIGHT FIT

some customers, the boot is too rigid and too heavy. But we can modify that for them,” he said.

Not surprisingly, the painstaking work involved in Esatto footwear reflects in their prices. Their classic boot is $999; walking boots, $749; sandals, $849. “We offer repeat customers discounts. Once we’ve built a custom last, we keep the last for another sewing. We have over 700 pairs of lasts from current customers. Some order the same style a few times,” he said.

Customers can also send back their old boots for new soles or for repairs.

Besides working in the shop, Kovalenko spends “The people we see are not necessarily those a sizable part of his time with customers and who can afford a pricy boot, although you on improving his product line. “I, and another assume some customers are person, design most wealthy and don’t care about of the footwear the cost. Customers say: “A lot of people know how to ourselves. My two ‘We buy a closet full of shoes co-workers do a lot sew shoes, but they don’t know that don’t fit. Hey, I’m going of the sewing. I’m how to modify for custom-made. to spend $1,000 per pair of there, throughout the They know shoes, but they don’t boots that fit me right,’ ” he process. We’re workknow feet. You spend a lot of said. aholics. We love to time training people. ” work,” he said.

Esatto, however, does not — Alex Kovalenko offer customer refunds. “A And work they do.

Owner and Operator customer’s boot or shoe is Handcrafting custom Esatto Custom Footwear specifically built for their foot. leather footwear takes It can’t be used by someone exacting skill and

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else. But we will work with customers until they’re happy. We will take back their footwear and make necessary modifications. Out of ten orders, one or two will come back for an adjustment,” Kovalenko said.

GROWING DEMAND Over time, the demand for Esatto’s unique custom products has grown. Around 2012, Backpacker Magazine gave the business a boost when they published a glowing gear review written by Joel Nyquist who had special ordered a pair of Esatto classic hiking boots for a long trip: “After six months of testing, over 400 miles of walking two of the three high points in the UK, and zero blisters, I am quite clear that the boots are the most comfortable underfoot that I’ve ever worn,” he wrote.

“That gave me so much promotion,” said Kovalenko. “When the article came out, I got double the amount of orders for the next few months.” Right now, however, he doesn’t do any advertising. “I rely so much on people’s feedback and reviews. A lot of customers who find us are amazed that a custom footwear business like mine still exists. But we can only can produce so many pairs per year. We had to extend our wait time. Right now, there’s a six to seven month waiting period for customers,” he said.

Are customers willing to wait that long for an order to arrive? “Oh yes! Definitely,” he said. “I get many repeat customers. Many buyers will reorder the same style. And many send back their old boots to be re-soled or repaired.”

These days, his biggest challenge is finding skilled workers so he can expand the business.

“Even if you find someone with a passion for the work, it takes so much time and energy to invest into them. That is why we stay small.

I prefer to increase our wait time so we can produce quality boots. I do get people inquiring about work, but I don’t do much aggressive looking for help,” he said. continued on page 40 SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 31

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PA S O L E COWBOY BOOT CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

by Gene Fowler, Contributor Nestled in a mountainous valley pass of the trickling Rio Grande, the city of El Paso has long been known for its many zapateros que hace botas, or shoemakers who make boots. A traveler might think that’s all they do in El Paso.

Cruising through the city on Interstate 10, one passes outlet store signs for Tony Lama, Justin, Lucchese, Cowtown Boots, and others.

“Boot making is a big part of the fabric of El Paso,” says Barbara Angus, curator of “Made in El Paso: The Traditions, Influence and Legacy of El Paso’s Cowboy Boots,” an exhibition that the El Paso Museum of History hosted several years ago. The tradition is so vibrant, in fact, that the El Paso Convention and Visitors Bureau pitches the westernmost tip of Texas as the Bootmaking Capital of the World. A recent economic development survey reportedly noted some forty-nine boot makers in the city, and a majority are said to be custom boot makers, handcrafting footwear that is both rugged and artistically designed.

tour right before Christmas. “The first was in 1982 and focused on the bigger companies like Tony Lama, Justin, and Larry Mahan. This one presents more emphasis on independent companies and Mexican-American contributions to El Paso boot making. It’s totally different from the previous exhibition—even the modern styles of the boots are often completely changed from how they looked thirty-three years ago. They tend to be more adventurous designs—not all of them, but many bootmakers these days are producing flashier looks.” Boot companies documented in the exhibition included Rocketbuster, Caboots, J. B. Hill, Stallion, Tomasso Arditti, Blackjack, and Botas Nueva Vizcaya.

“This is the museum’s second cowboy boot exhibition,” said Barbara as she gave me a

The exhibition explored why and how the cowboy boot was developed. “Cowboys and SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 33

others who spent a lot of time in the saddle experienced leg chafing from the straps that held the leather stirrups,” Barbara explained. “New World Spaniards produced a form of leather leggings called bota mallas. And in the early 1870s, the high heeled, pointy toe was created to help the foot find the stirrup, as well as to stay on the stirrup and to disengage from it should the rider suddenly find it necessary.”

THE RAIL CONNECTION There was already some custom boot making in the area before the arrival of the railroad in 1881, but the rail connection turned El Paso into an important shipping point for cattle. And that, of course, created a need for more and more footwear suitable for ridin’ the range and roundin’ up the dogies. Antique city directories indicate that Charles Rokahr may have been the first long-term, put-down-roots bootmaker in the region. His factory, employing some twenty or so Mexican and Mexican-American craftsmen at a time, outfitted folks from around 1890 to the end of the Great Depression.

Rokahr “has long been noted for the excellency of his cowboy boots,” the El Paso Herald Post reported in 1899, when the Rokahr Boot Company rebooted with a new manufacturing plant, new equipment, capital stock of $25,000, and twenty-five employees. “El Paso ought to be a boot and shoe manufacturing center,” the Herald Post editorialized.

“Leather and labor are both cheap and easily obtained, and the markets are close at hand.”

Cowboy boots were one of the many locally produced leather goods— along with chaps, saddles, and pistol holsters—featured in the Herald continued on page 41

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Three El Paso Boot Makers

A Christmas Riddle nce upon a time, a perfect man and a perfect woman met. After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life was, of course, perfect.

Unfortunately, the diving conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple and Santa had an accident. Only one of them survived.

One snowy, storm Christmas Eve, this perfect couple was driving their perfect car along a winding road when they noticed someone at the side of the road in distress.

Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help.

Who was the survivor?

The perfect woman survived. She’s the only one who really existed in the first place. Everyone knows that there is no Santa Claus, and there is no such thing as a perfect man.

So, if there’s no perfect man and no Santa Claus, the perfect woman must have been driving. This explains why there was an accident.

A very merry Christmas and a prosperous (and healthy!) 2015 from all of us here at Shop Talk! to each and everyone of you out there!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

PHOTO:

There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys.

Not wanting to disappoint any children on the eve of Christmas, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their SUV. Soon they were driving along, delivering toys all over the world.

F. ANTO LÍN HER N

O

ÁNDEZ

BY GENE FOWLER

Bustin’ Rockets and Rockin’ Your Roll: Rocketbuster Boots You never know what might happen on a wild night out in the West Texas town of El Paso.

Photographer Marty Snortum woke up one morning in 1989, a bit tequila-crusty, to find himself the new owner of a fledgling cowboy boot company, having traded his 1953 Cadillac hearse for an outfit called Rocketbuster. Hello!

Marty liked photographing the boots made by the many companies in the Cowboy Boot Capital of the World, but he always hoped the assignments would present his lens with more colorful and creatively designed boots like they made back in the 1940s. So when he awoke to find himself the new Rocketbuster bootmeister, he continued on page 48

2017 836 | FEBRUARY December 2014 SHOP TALK!

Shop Talk!

Champion and Caboots: Generations of Bootmakers “My grandfather Ydelfonso Sanchez came to El Paso around 1930 after a flood destroyed his mercantile store in Leon, Guanajuato,” says 75year-old El Paso bootmaker Jose “Chacho” Sanchez. “He started making boots at his boot and shoe repair business on South Mesa Street. But he didn’t speak much English. I had an uncle who was a professional wrestler, and people would come by the shop asking to see El Campion.

So my grandfather named it Champion Boots. He eventually went back to Mexico and sold the business to my dad.”

Jose made boots for Champion after graduating from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1963. Four years later, hearing continued on page 46

Bob Dylan’s Bootmaker: Stallion Boots “I got my first beautiful pair of boots in a general store in the rural town of Zaragoza,” says Pedro Munoz, the owner/ designer of Stallion Boots in El Paso. “I was five years old, on the way to our family ranch in the Sierra Madre mountain range with my grandfather.”

From that day on, cowboy boots were almost always on his feet. He got his first custom pair of boots while in college in 1974, when his father took him to a bootmaker in Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso.

Pedro collaborated on the design of the boots, and his lifelong fascination with the process of boot making began. In Tyler Beard’s book, Art of the Boot, Munoz cites continued on page 38 SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 37

DEANA McGUFFIN continued from page 27

ST: What’s a pair of boots typically cost?

DEANA: They start at around $2,100.

ST: Do you have a favorite pair of boots?

DEANA: My Dios de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) design. They are probably my signature boots. The inlay/overlay work took approximately 100 hours alone before I started the rest of the construction.

STALLION BOOTS continued from page 37 Sam Lucchese as an inspiration and mentor.

“The company started under a different name in 1980, operating at first out of a hole in the wall,” says Annette Lawrence, Pedro’s ex-wife who, despite their divorce, came back to work for Stallion and now says, “Basically, I do everything here.” Munoz founded Stallion with two older boot makers who knew how to make boots but didn’t know the business end of things. Pedro sourced skins and sold product.

In time, he bought them out and changed the name to Stallion.

“We source our hides from everywhere,” adds Annette. “We buy it in crust, just as they take it off the animal, before it is tanned. Then we have most of it tanned in Japan. We have an ostrich supplier in Africa, and we make many of our boots from Nile crocodile and American alligator.”

Annette showed me a leather room full of exotics like buffalo, horse, goat, python, lizard, sting ray, caiman, kangaroo, as well as suede and calf. “We have just about every skin that can be utilized, much of it pre-dyed. When requested, we’ve used fossilized walrus and mammoth ivory. Fish and Wildlife permits on some of our hides can take as long as six months.”

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More than 140 steps go into a Stallion boot. “For each custom order, we make a new last,” Annette continues. “Our master craftsmen work with wet leather, pulling it over the last for a perfect fit and a perfect look. All stitching is done by hand. The X toes are made with vegetable tanned leather, and a steel shank is used to support the arch and reinforced with rows of lemon tree wood pegs. While we do a lot of unique custom work, we also have several lines that we produce for high-end stores.

Our patent leather and alligator boots are among our most popular.” With twenty employees, the company turns out about sixty pairs a week.

In addition to the inscrutable troubadour from Hibbing, Minnesota, (who famously sang on one of his earliest records about “Spanish boots of Spanish leather”), Stallion Boots have found a home in the closets of Madonna, Sade, Shakira, Billy Bob Thornton, Tina Turner, and other celebrities. Revered fashion houses including Dolce & Gabbana, Dior, Celine, and Ralph Lauren have produced lines accented

by Stallion Boots. Munoz creations have been worn on runways in Paris, Milan, and New York.

Along with higher-end stores in the states, the elegant footwear can be found at boutiques in Japan, France, Germany, and Switzerland.

ST: What’s one of your greatest challenges when it comes to bootmaking?

DEANA: People have many ideas when it comes to their boot designs. Trying to understand what they want can be a challenge. It’s often easier to fit their feet than their head.

ST: Where do you source your materials?

DEANA: I get my materials from all over the U.S.—whatever suppliers have for what I need, want and like.

ST: Any plans for the future?

DEANA: I’m beginning to think about semi-retirement. I will always make boots as long as I’m able, but the years have taken their toll on my body, particularly my hands. I still love teaching. I offer two types of classes. One is geared towards those interested in becoming

professional boot makers; the other is a learning vacation. People come and spend two weeks with me in the shop and we build them a pair of boots. They do as much as they want to and still have time for sightseeing around Albuquerque/Santa Fe. My dream is to have an RV and travel around the country and visit and work with other boot makers. That’d be a real hoot.

CONTACT: Deana McGuffin www.mcguffinboots.com (505) 550-1113 bootwoman13@yahoo.com

www.stallionboots.com SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 39

ESATTO CUSTOM FOOTWEAR continued from page 31

IN THE SHOP Esatto footwear is made mostly from cowhide and goatskin, purchased primarily from Hide House of Napa, CA. “We also use exotic leathers if the customer wants it, like kangaroo or snakeskin,” Kovalenko said.

Lining material is made from a veg-tanned leather processed in Germany, but he preferred not to name the source.

Tools regularly used in the workshop include a Manufacturer’s Supply model 15A skiving machine, a Sutton S 1000 belt sander for finishing leather and soles, and a Sutton Rapid E stitch down machine with a curved needle for stitching uppers. “That lets you replace the soles in the future,” he said of the Rapid E. “One of my challenges is finding companies who work with small businesses like me. Most of them ask us to order a large amount of material, and for me, that’s impossible financially and space-wise. It’s not too bad with buying leather, but finding the soles, laces, and hardware in small amounts is difficult,” he said.

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THE RIGHT FIT Esatto customers are basically active, middle-class folks, ranging from 35 to 70 years of age, who love the outdoors. They spend a lot of time on their feet, but typically, foot problems have kept them from fully enjoying a hiking and walking lifestyle, Kovalenko explained. Most sales are from the United States, but orders have been received from Australia, Switzerland, the UK, Russia, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. “They love highend products,” he said.

To purchase Esatto footwear, however, you must first request their “Fit Kit.” Its instructions and simple tools allow people to make an imprint of their feet, take careful measurements, and send the results back to the company. Fit Kit instructions can be found on the Esatto website by clicking on “Fitting Info.” Kits include:

COWBOY BOOT CAPITAL continued from page 25 Post “Made in El Paso” campaign of 1915. “A cowboy’s boots are his pride and they often spend small fortunes on their footwear,” the paper noted in a report on the campaign’s exhibition and festival. “Rokahr’s bootmaking booth shows how these boots are made from the hide to the wearer’s foot.” Artisans at the booth sewed, shaped, soled, and polished the boots.

Born to Italian immigrant parents in Syracuse, New York in 1887, Tony Lama was orphaned as a young boy and went to work in a shoe factory. He came to El Paso around 1910 as a soldier stationed at Fort Bliss, but rather than chase Pancho Villa around the border country under General John J. Pershing, Lama worked as the post’s cobbler, keeping the cavalry’s boots in working order.

Leaving the army in 1912, he opened an El Paso shoe repair shop. In time, as ranchers brought in

Early Tony Lama Repair Shop

hides and asked if he could build them boots, and as the military boot repair work decreased, Lama began to focus more on boot making. By 1933, the Lama factory was reportedly making forty pairs of boots a day. According to the Texas State Historical Association, the company expanded the market in the 1950s by adding lines with lower heels and rounded toes, in addition to boots made of shark, lizard, alligator, boa, turtle, anteater, elephant, camel, goat, eel, ostrich, and other exotic leathers.

• Two Podotrack® tracing sheets, a unique and simple tool to make static and dynamic imprints of your feet • Measuring tape • Two ball point pens (blue and red) and a Sharpie pen • A customer form and an Esatto Catalog To make a foot tracing with a Podotrack® requires an assistant to help with precise foot measuring and tracing.

The 23 steps in the process are clearly illustrated and explained, but the task requires care and patience.

Kovalenko bought the Vancouver business from a custom boot maker in 2009. “My Ukrainian grandparents used to make and repair shoes,” he said. Today, he is literally following in his grandparents’ footsteps.

FOR MORE INFO Esatto Custom Footwear 12823 South East 15th St. Vancouver, WA 98683 (360) 904-6519; Toll free: 1-866-ESATTO1 info@esatto.biz www.esatto.biz

828.665.7060 828.665.7067 fax 1.877.665.7060 order line bucklebarnusa@charter.net www.bucklebarnusa.com

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now.” An uncomfortable silence passed, then Nat added, “I’m in debt to you, sir, and I need boots.”

They talked a little more as Tony Lama studied the young merchant, sizing up his trustworthiness by the look on his face, then finally the boot maker called an assistant into his office and said, “Give this boy some boots.”

A recent interview with longtime Wichita Falls Western wear store owner Nat Fleming provides a backstage look at how Tony Lama did business.

In 1953, a 31-year-old Fleming was struggling to keep his store, The Cow Lot, opened and stocked with merchandise. He trekked out to El Paso and was admitted to Lama’s office where the boot maker sat opening his mail. “Mr. Lama,” Nat said, “I owe you money and I can’t pay you right

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Many of the skilled craftsmen and women making boots in El Paso through the years acquired their expertise in the Mexican boot making mecca of Leon, Guanajuato. Yldefonso Sanchez arrived in the City at the Pass from Leon in 1928, establishing a boot making tradition that is still going strong through five generations. His grandson Joe Sanche, Jr. convinced several of the major boot companies, including Justin, to relocate to El Paso.

H. J. “Big Daddy Joe” Justin started his boot company in Spanish Fort, Texas in 1879, then

ten years later moved it to nearby Nocona.

His sons John and Earl moved the operation’s headquarters to Fort Worth in 1925, and their sister Enid stayed in Nocona, where she started her own company, Nocona Boots. After the Justin and Nocona brands moved manufacturing to El Paso, Lucchese headed west as well.

After immigrating from Italy in the early 1880s, a teenage Sam Lucchese got a job as a cobbler at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. His five brothers joined him for a time in the business, and eventually Sam transitioned to boot making.

In 1890 he purchased the first inseamer machine shipped to the Southwest U.S. By 1918 he was reportedly producing thirty-five pairs of boots a day. Purchased by the Blue Bell Corporation in 1970, Lucchese moved to El Paso in 1986.

Though the current Lucchese factory produces a large volume of fine stock boots, the operation still makes room for crafting boots the old school way. “A small group of older boot makers there handle custom decorative stitching on boot tops,” says Barbara Angus. “They work slowly and carefully, each turning out a small number of boot tops a day.

And their preference is for older style sewing machines, which seems to be a trend with older craftsmen. And Lucchese keeps a trailer load of the older machines on hand for spare parts.”

Paso Museum of History included the bootmaking tools used by El Paso bootmaker Joe Zihlman in the 1940s and ‘50s. In another display case, museum visitors saw a pair of boots gilt with solid gold and another with genuine palladium.

“That had been a dream of mine for years,” says bootmaker Tomasso Arditti. “No one had ever done something like that. I’m a big fan of hand carving and hand tooling. I studied methods for adhering gold to leather—in this case, chocolate alligator—and I had master carver Jim Resley model the design on the Art Deco ceiling of a theater in Los Angeles.”

In addition to a couple of the old sewing machines, the exhibit Barbara curated for the El

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school in 1998. “My father is a lawyer—many family members were or are lawyers, but shortly after I wasn’t accepted, one day my father and I wanted to get matching alligator wallets. We found some in a local department store for $450. My father had a client who was a local boot maker named Mingo, and he said that you could make a good alligator wallet for about $50. I’d always had a thing for footwear, and so one thing led to another and before I knew it, I had received a commission from the El Paso Holocaust Museum to make a pair of boots for Mikhail Gorbachev, who was giving a fundraising speech for the museum.”

WORKING HIS WAY BACK In 2002 a popular magazine named Arditti one of the state’s top boot makers, and his business really took off. When a major retailer ripped off his designs, though, he was out of business for a few years. “I worked the graveyard shift at McDonald’s during that time, sold insurance for State Farm,” he says, “but eventually I worked my way back into the boot making world. I had to. To me, there’s nothing like seeing a pile of leather transformed into a work of art right before your eyes. No two pairs of our boots are alike.”

Arditti specializes in alligator boots, using strictly American alligator.

Today, he employs two cutters, three lasters, and one finisher, and his

company turns out about twenty or so pairs of boots a week during its busiest weeks. “I instruct my workers to take their time and do it right. Quality is the most important thing to me.

Some people call me a perfectionist.”

With bootmakers like Arditti and those in the following three El Paso stories, the reputation of the City at the Pass as the Bootmaking Capital of the World would seem to be secured in place for generations to come.

He sifted through about 800 skins to make a pair of boots for Paul Foster, owner of the El Paso Chihuahuas minor league baseball team. “If you look three or four lines up on each of those boots, there’s a matching tile that looks like a bullet.

Each tile is like a fingerprint, it’s a one of a kind.

So it was incredible to find such a close match.”

A lifelong resident of the state of Texas, where cowboy boots are king, Gene Fowler likes stories like that of J. Frank Dalton, one of the elderly fellows who went on tour in the mid20th century claiming to be a still-living Jesse James. Hospitalized once in Longview, Dalton was adamant that the nurses and doctors not remove his boots. I guess he figured if he was heading to Boot Hill, he was damn sure gonna go with his boots on.

It no longer bothers him that Tomasso Arditti didn’t find his way into the family legal business. He’s doing something he loves. “Our boots are made to last beyond a lifetime. We sell heirloom footwear that can be passed on.

A customer in Arkansas recently told me, ‘I love the boots you made me so much that I keep them in a safe.’”

And Gene's late friend Tyler Beard (Tyler's sister Debbie was Gene's elementary school square dance partner) wrote in his book, Art of the Boot, “As a child, I had to be coaxed out of my Roy Rogers boots nightly.”

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boots on the border. They weren’t aware that you could take parts across to Mexico, have work done on them there, and then bring them back duty free. It was the twin plant system, and the government called the tax break Item 807.

CHAMPION AND CABOOTS continued from page 37

that Justin Boots in Fort Worth was having trouble with its top stitching, he sent samples of his work and then went to visit John Justin. “It was intimidating,” Jose recalls. “John Connally, former governor of Texas—he was the guy who was riding in the front seat of the car when President Kennedy got shot—he was in the office with Justin. They wanted to know how we can make

“So they asked me, can I make boots, and I said, ‘Hell yeah.’ And before I knew it, there was a whole trailer load of equipment and materials. I got it started, got the building and the shoemakers. I worked for them for four years until the politics in the factory went bad. We had about 350 workers.

Then I brought the Dan Post brand of Acme Boots to El Paso, and they used the Item 807 too.

“But Justin didn’t want me to leave. John Connally sent a letter saying they were gonna sue me. They said, ‘We taught you how to make boots’, I said, ‘No you didn’t. I taught you guys.’”

In turn, Jose threatened to sue Justin because they didn’t pay the indemnifications when he

closed down a Juarez factory. “When you laid someone off, you had to pay them three month’s salary. We had about 240 workers there, so it would have cost about $120,000 to shut down, plus there were a lot of taxes owed. I had to load up six trucks of boot making equipment and flee in the middle of the night. I couldn’t go across the border to Juarez for about ten years.”

It’s the large skilled workforce, Jose says, that makes El Paso the Cowboy Boot Capital of the World. “They’re concentrated in this area, boot makers who have done it by hand for years.

They don’t want to leave here. Some could go somewhere else and make two or three times what they make here, but they come back because they miss their friends, their favorite bar, and grocery store. The ones who can make boots by hand are still concentrated here.”

All the while, working for Justin, Dan Post,

and others, Jose kept the family company Champion Boots going at the same time. “My wife Norma handled the mail order end of it for many years,” he says. “Eventually my son Joey took over the Champion Boots name.”

Today, Joey Sanchez and his wife Priscilla operate the family business as Caboots. “We were one of the first boot companies with a big Internet presence,” explains Joey’s nephew, Demetrio Lara, who assists with sales and customer service for

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Caboots. “And we’re one of the only boot making companies that allows people to customize their boot order on our website.”

Caboots shares a rock-n-roll sensibility with Rocketbuster—Joey Sanchez even plays in an El Paso rock band, Tokyo Rose. The company has made boots for the bands KISS, Riders in the Sky, and Motley Crue. Priscilla introduced an “Our Lady of Guadalupe” boot design. “We also make boots for the Cirque du Soleil company,” says Demetrio, “and we’ve outfitted the cast of films like ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and ‘The Lone Ranger’ with Johnny Depp.” When Civil War reenactors need boots, they head for Caboots.

Today, Caboots turns out about ten to twenty pairs a week. But Demetrio notes that they have experienced some problems with the leather supply.

“We’ve had to buy some of our leather from China, and sometimes it’s a synthetic polyblend that isn’t completely genuine leather. There are a lot

of problems with regulation. You have to be more creative with sourcing these days.”

Joey’s father Jose still makes boots today as well. “I only make what they call the ‘buckaroo’ boots, for working cowboys. They’re 17” tall, and they weigh a ton. They’re made out of real heavy cowhide, and I put double lining on the tops and the bottoms, and double soles with stack heels. I make about seven pairs a week.

“The cowboys on one ranch near here, they take care of about 1,500 head of cattle, and occasionally they have to shoot it out with drug smugglers who sneak across the ranch with their illegal cargo. These cowboys sleep in the desert and are not bothered by coyotes and rattlesnakes. The oldest of the cowboys says that as long as he has his 12 gauge shotgun, his flask of Wild Turkey, and his Jose Sanchez boots, he has nothing to worry about.” www.caboots.com

ROCKETBUSTER continued from page 37 determined to bring back that visual-rific retro look. Debuting his new line at the Denver Western Wear Market in 1991, Marty set the cowboy boot world ablaze.

Soon, he was designing a signature line for the Roy Rogers Museum. A photo of Roy and Marty from that era shows them with smiles bigger than Texas as they held up a pair of Roy’s classic eagle boots. In 1992, Rocketbuster moved into its current home, a 1900 building that once served as a trappers’ warehouse in El Paso’s historic Union Plaza District. You can still see labels painted on the walls, denoting sections of the building for various skins: wildcat, ocelot, badger, rat....

Three years later, Marty’s life took another unexpected detour on the Delightful Express when artist/designer Nevena Christi com-

missioned him to create some eye-blazing boots for a New York runway show by fashion designer Nicole Miller. Sparks flew from the get-go. “We dated cross-country for about two and a half years,” says Nevena, “as Marty pursued his goal of running a marathon in every state. Then one day he said, ‘Honey, I can give you a cowboy boot company,’ and hey—what girl could resist a proposal like that.”

Since 1997, Nevena has been the Rocketbuster “boss lady,” designing boots that took even Marty’s ideas to new heights of “spaceship vintage style.” She brought along a background of study at elite schools like Parsons in New York and St. Martins in London and a lengthy resume of fine art, illustration, and fashion design—and perhaps more importantly, a cultural sensibility that compelled her to collect

48 FEBRUARY 2017

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toy Western six shooters, 1940s pulp novels, and other manifestations of cool-abilia.

“Everything is done by hand here,” says Didi Dominguez, who modestly describes herself as an assistant but who is listed on the company website as a master sculptress, “and all our materials are made in America or Mexico.” She adds that Rocketbuster produces about eight to twelve boots a week, fewer if a particular pair requires a lot of detail. “Every pattern is hand drawn and approved by the client before we start cutting leather.

We cut by hand, tool by hand, assemble, stitch, and paint by hand. It can take up to three months in labor.”

Nevena does all the Rocketbuster design work, and she never knows what someone will ask to have emblazoned on a pair of cowboy boots. Or who will be on the phone when she picks it up. A Sotheby’s art appraiser recently wanted boots with fire and hula dancers. A parliamentary librarian in Australia requested parliamentary rules, law books, and the seal of Australia on her silver-tip Rocketbusters. “And the members of parliament liked them so much that they keep them in a glass case when she isn’t wearing them,” marvels Nevena.

Pies, spark plugs, koi fish, dancing skeletons, anything might find its way onto a Rocketbuster boot.

Nevena created a pair for Willie Nelson’s 80th birthday in 2013, complete with a road map of his life and the words and music to his song “On the Road Again.” Inscribing words on boots can prove one of the biggest challenges. “It pisses the bootmakers off,” she confides, in a tone that suggests a little complaining amongst the dozen employees can be a fun part of the process.

“Why do you say yes to these things?” teases Didi.

Julia Roberts, Dwight Yoakam, Taylor Swift, and other celebrities have also worn Rocketbuster boots.

Hides are stored in a climate controlled room that extends under the street out front. Didi points to the door as we step down to the basement where Jesse, aka “Chuy,” the “master laster” works. There the familiar hulking Landis machine stands for sewing side welts. “That one’s only thirty years old, but some of our sewing machines are a hundred years old—to repair them, we have to make replacement parts ourselves.”

When I popped in right before Christmas, the crew was in Day Two of the seven day Great Christmas Dress Off in which work attire grows wackier by the day until they’d finished all the rush orders or torn out their hair trying. “It’s hectic here year round,” says Christi, but in December the only thing I can say on the phone is ‘Nuh uh.’”

LOVE OF THE ART But it’s obvious that Nevena has developed a serious love of the art of cowboy boots, working passionately to preserve its traditions at the same time that she endeavors to expand them and to deal with shifting industry trends.

“Leather is getting harder to find, for one thing,” she explains. “It’s harder to find the quality we need.

Supply companies are moving out of El Paso—a lot of that business is going to China. Or we find sources where the leather is pre-cut. We like to buy hides in piles, it keeps it truer to color and makes for better quality.

“But we don’t really need more sales at this point. That all takes care of itself.

At this point, I’m on a mission to keep this art form a living folk tradition. So many of the older bootmakers are dying off, and we need to excite young people about the art form to keep it a living folk tradition. We’re training young people so this industry will not die,” she says, looking out at the mostly younger staff creating art on leather at wide, tall tables. “We like to hire artists and artisans.

Elena is an architecture major who does graphic art stuff. Didi makes Day of the Dead folk art, and Aaron creates fragrances and makes soap.

“No matter what happens in global politics and social life,” Nevena muses, “people all around the world will always love American rock and roll and cowboy boots. It’s a universal language. Life is too short. Have fun. Make cool stuff.” www.rocketbuster.com

[Editor’s Sour Note: I hate to disagree with some of the wonderful boot makers interviewed for these articles but, when it comes to leather, I don’t think you could find your butt with both hands. Let’s get the facts straight, amigos and amigas: there is no dearth of any sort of leather you want. None. Sole, upper, lining. You name it. You can get a roll or a pallet of whatever you want with just one phone call and please! The leather available today is as good as, and in most cases, better than anything that boot makers have ever used.

In this single issue of Shop Talk! there are AT LEAST eight to ten suppliers who can get you whatever you want—any exotic, any color, finish, weight, or grade. Now you might not want to pay the going rate, but IT’S THERE! So stop this song and dance about good leather being hard to find. It’s just not true. Stop it! Thanks.]

50 FEBRUARY 2017

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News, Notes & Queries

FEB RUARY 201 7

News, Notes & Queries

PINNELL LEATHER FEATURED Very nice article on Chuck Pinnell at Pinnell Custom Leather in the December 2, 2016, edition

and Sons, makers of lovely holsters and other leather gear who also run more Lands 16’s than any other shop in the US.

one but you better do it SOON! Run, don’t walk. Their number is (319) 362-3027. Their new address is P O Box 2067, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406.

A BIG THANKS to everyone who bought a copy— enjoy!

HOW TO SELL YOUR BUSINESS

BE A PART OF MY BUYER’S GUIDE! 2017 The best way I can think of reaching

There is a very useful article entitled, “So It’s Time

16,000 shops,

to Sell Your Farrier Business,” in the 2017 Farrier

retailers, and

Supplies & Services published by American Farriers

manufacturers with

Journal. You can read “Your Harness Business” or

information about

of the Crozet Gazette (Crozet, VA). What a great guy

Tex was offering a 20% discount on all orders of $150

“Your Saddle Business” if you’d like since the advice

your products is

who does equally great work! Read all about the

or more PLUS free shipping! What a deal!

is applicable to most any sort of business which

to advertise in our

practices a trade. The advice is very practical and

annual buyer’s

one of those things you might want to file away for

guide! Your ad

future reference. Well worth it!

will also appear

very interesting (and unusual) life of Chuck and his successful career by visiting www.crozetgazette. com and searching for “Chuck Pinnell”.

NEW YEAR, NEW GEAR! Wow—I know it’s too late but I just have to tell you about the GREAT offer from the folks at Tex Shoemaker

So you better get on Tex’s mailing list and contact the company at: texcustomerservice@gmail.com. They are located at 131 S. Eucla Ave., San Dimas, CA 91773.

ENGLISH BRIDLE MAKING CLASSES & MORE There are a couple real nice classes coming up this

which is searchable— www.mybuyersguide.net. So you get great exposure both in print and online.

The cost for an 1/8th page ad is $189—not

which is run by Annette Gavin at Hastilow Saddlery/

too bad, and we can set up an ad for you at

USA Saddery.

no cost to you.

On March 27-31, there is an Intro to Making Bridle/

My Buyer’s Guide! reaches every tack shop

Saddle Course and then on March 31-April 2, there’s

in the US as well as every harness shop, shoe

an Intro to Society of Master Saddler’s course. On

and boot repair shop, English tack store, every

April 3-7, there is a Bench & Onsite Course being

saddle shop, and every Western store in the

offered.

US. It is also sent to a whole lot of people who

at (717) 294-6757, e-mail: saddleryschool@gmail.com, www.SaddlerySchool.com.

make custom boots and other leather goods as well as manufacturers of pet goods, safety equipment, holsters, bag makers, makers of belts, period equipment, and more.

SOLD OUT AND GONE HOME!

Why not take this opportunity to reach out to

I can’t believe it—I guess it’s taken us about eight

1,000’s of potential customers who can’t be

years to sell 1,000 copies of Making Harness: A Step-

reached any other way? Deadline is March 10.

By-Step Guide but as of now, we have no more

Give us a shout—YOU’D BE A FOOL NOT TO!

copies on hand. We sold 20 copies recently to Rural Heritage so please contact them if you’d like to buy SHOP TALK!

(262) 782-4480, www.americanfarriers.com.

on our web site

spring at the North American School of Saddlery

For all the details, please contact: Shannon Lehman

52 FEBRUARY 2017

Contact AFJ at P O Box 624, Brookfield, WI 53008-0624,

Call: (828) 505-8474, e-mail: shoptalk@ proleptic.net. Thanks!!

SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 53

IN-STOCK TREE PROGRAM

News, Notes & Queries

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

STRANGE SADDLE? STRANGE HARNESS? We’re looking for pictures of strange saddles and

FEBRUARY 18-200

harness. So please send us what you’ve got and

Charlotte International Equestrian Market Hopper Expositions Charlotte Convention Center Charlotte, NC www.hopperexpos.com (800) 945-1208 ginger@hopperexpos.com

we’ll share it with our other readers and thanks!

FEBRUARY 24-260

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17th Southwest Leather Workers Trade Show Prescott Resort and Conference Center 1500 E. State Route 69 Prescott, AZ Leather Crafters & Saddlers Journal (888) 289-6409 www.leathercraftersjournal.com

We’re looking for STRANGE and UNUSUAL! Contact: Shop Talk!, PO Box 17817, Asheville, NC 28816, e-mail: shop-talk@proleptic.net. Thanks!!!!

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FUND setback like a fire. They’re a good group to support, and we’ve been happy to do that for many years now. Why not start the year off right and make a contribution of $10 or $20? You never know, one of these days you or a friend might need them.

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Trade Show and Auction French Lick, IN Moser Leather Co. (513) 889-0500 MAY 19-21 240

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Weaver Consignment Auction Mount Hope, OH, 44660 (800)-WEAVER-1 JULY 20-210

48th Harness Makers' Get-Together and Consignment Auction Hillside Harness Hardware Millersburg, OH, 44654 54 FEBRUARY 2017

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CLASSIFIEDS

Classified ad rates are $26.50 for the first 20 words and $.65 cents for each additional word. Words (or groups of letters) fewer than three characters are not counted when calculating the cost of the ad. Street addresses are counted as one word. City, state, country, and zip or postal code are combined and counted as one word.

Enclose payment when submitting ads. Ads received without pay-

WANTED NEW SUBSCRIBERS FROM MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, WISCONSIN, AND IOWA. Now is the time to renew! Give us a call at (828) 5058474, e-mail: shoptalk@proleptic.net or visit www.proleptic.net.

COMPLETE TOOL COLLECTIONS. Contact: Shop Talk!, P.O. Box 17817, Asheville, NC 28816, (828) 505-8474, e-mail: shoptalk@proleptic.net.

BENCH EQUIPMENT. Any condition. Skivers, splitters, pressers, spotters, etc. Also parts and pieces—bolts, frames, springs, blades. We pay shipping. Contact Shop Talk!, P.O. Box 17817, Asheville, NC 28816, (828) 505-8474, e-mail: shoptalk@proleptic.net.

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repair. Pay based on experience and training required. Located in beautiful Central Texas.

Please e-mail resume to: ludwigsandmarglin@ gmail.com. (R&B)

FOR SALE WALLETS AND BI-FOLDS FOR SALE: black and brown. Excellent quality. $4.75 ea. $57/doz. Can mix. Contact: Don Livingston, 3092 Ravenwood Dr., Greensburg, PA 15601, (724) 219-3400. (2/17) WHOLESALE HARNESS SUPPLIES: Brahma web, nylon webbing, threads, hardware, BioSheer, PVC belting, Healzall, and much more! We also manufacture the Crae Free horse collars in buggy, all purpose, and draft styles. Harness in all sizes and a full line of harness parts. Large inventory for immediate shipping. Ask for free supply catalog. Contact: Countryside Manufacturing, 504 S. Humbert St., Milton, IA 52570 or call (641) 656-4246 between 8 and 9 am. (R&B) SADDLE BUSINESS: Machinery and inventory for sale. Hydraulic press, USMC splitter. For full list of all inventory, please call (256) 597-2001.

Wish to sell entire inventory together. (3/17) HITCHING POST SUPPLY has horsehair and mohair cinch cord available in natural and dyed colors. For use in pottery, braiding, hitching,

56 FEBRUARY 2017

SHOP TALK!

THERE’S A GREAT MACHINE

Model 2600 cylinder walking foot

Model 830 post bed roller feed

Model 2900-L leather patcher

Model 1660

TECHSEW 5100-SE The Techsew 5100 Special Edition is the ultimate sewing machine designed for a wide range of leather work projects. Featuring the latest in time & labour saving technology, the Techsew 5100-SE will increase your

TLG Laser Guide

products.

Features: - SmartServo-NP Needle Position Motor - TLG Laser Guide - Flatbed Table Attachment - Swing Down Roller Guide - LED Work Lamp & LED Stitch Light - Chrome plated specialty presser feet - Complete with instructional DVD & user manual - Includes diamond point needles, nylon thread & much more!

TOLL FREE

Flatbed Table Attachment

Swing Down Roller Guide & LED Stitch Light

1-866-415-8223 www.TechSew.com info@techsew.com

SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 57

Better Research,

CLASSIFIEDS

Better Products

and more. Instructional books and DVDs at www.hitchingpostsupply.com, Call or e-mail Hitching Post Supply for new wholesale and retail catalogs at vickie@hitchingpostsupply. com, (800) 689-9971 or (360) 668-2349 (outside USA). (3/17)

KREBS SKIVER BLADES new. $200 plus SH. Made in US. Double tempered. Contact: Proleptic, Inc., P O Box 17817, Asheville, NC 28816, (828) 505-8474, shoptalk@proleptic.net INSTALL AND REMOVE CHICAGO SCREWS quickly and easily in the shop or on the trail. $16.95 + $4 S&H. Call for wholesale pricing.

Contact: JP’s Bridle & Equine Tool, 26266 E. County Road 700 N., Easton, IL 62633.

(309) 562-7266. E-mail: jp-equinetacktool@ casscomm.com, www.jptacktool.com.

THE PRO-CONCHO TURNER: The only one in the U.S. Makes removal of decorative conchos a snap! Used with electric drill. Take the fuss and bother out of a difficult job with the ProConcho Turner! Saves time, makes money!

Rubber gripper protects the concho and makes

Day” is: e h t f o d r The “Wo ation g o r r a r e p su 58 FEBRUARY 2017

SHOP TALK!

removal or installation easy. Only $29.00 plus $3.95 S&H, 6-inch steel shank, and rubber gripper. Ready to use! Contact: Proleptic, Inc., P.O. Box 17817, Asheville, NC 28816, (828) 5058474, e-mail: shoptalk@proleptic.net.

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PRICING GUIDE: “HOW TO ESTABLISH PRICES FOR THE SADDLE MAKER AND LEATHER WORKER.” Only $39.95 plus $4.50 S&H. Contact: (828) 505-8474. (12/17) NEW AND USED ADLER, BROTHER, CONSEW, JUKI, PFAFF, SINGER MACHINES for sewing bio-plastic, canvas, leather and nylon. Available in single or double needles, standard, long arm, flatbed, postbed, cylinder arm. Contact: Bob Kovar, Toledo Industrial Sewing Machine, 3631 Marine Rd., Toledo, OH 43609, (866) 362-7397 or (419) 380-8540. (12/17) WWW.THELEATHERGUY.ORG for all your leather, tool, and supply needs. Friendly, helpful staff at (507) 932-3795. (R&B)

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FOR ALL YOUR LEATHER NEEDS. Call Moser Leather (800) 874-1167 or (513) 889-0500. You can visit our website at www.moserleatherco. com. Polyboard clicker blocks for your clicker or workbench in assorted sizes. United Carr Automatic Line 24 snap setting machines for sale. Please inquire. (R&B)

THE ORIGINAL SINCE 1977

Coated Webbing for Harness, Tack, Pets and Livestock

Contact us to learn more 800-487-2358 or visit us online at biothane.us

ADVERTISERS INDEX A. Lyons & Co., Inc.....................................21 AGS...................................................................7 American Leather Direct........................34 Beacon Hollow Blankets............................7 Beiler’s Mfg. & Supply.................................7 BioThane......................................................59 Black Mesa..................................................20 Booth & Co..................................................19 Bowden Saddle Tree.................................22 Brayer............................................................13 Brodhead Collar Shop.................................8 Buckeye Engraving...................................18 Buckle Barn USA........................................41 Buggy Builder’s Bulletin..........................54 C.S. Osbourne.............................................12 Campbell-Randall......................................27 Caprock Saddle Tree................................19 Center Square Harness.............................9 Chino Tack...................................................19 Chupp Blacksmith Shop.........................14 Chupp Brothers Wholesale....................48 Coblentz Collar...........................................18 Danny Marlin Knives.................................41 Dietec...........................................................14 Double K Leather Sales, LLC.................22 El Paso Blanket..........................................50 Evener Shop, The......................................39 Fiebing Leather..........................................36 Fine Tool Journal........................................17

George Barta Hide Co..............................49 Gfeller Casemakers, Inc..........................13 Goliger Leather Co....................................44 Guard Industries........................................42 Hadlock & Fox Mfg. Co............................36 Hanson Western Gear.............................41 Hermann Oak Leather................................... .......................................... inside front cover Hide House, The.........................................45 Hillside Harness Hardware.....back cover IHS ELP, LLC................................................45 International Sheepskin.........................22 J.M. Saddler, Inc.........................................46 Kalico Products..........................................29 Kelly-Larson Sales....................................44 Landis Sales & Service...........................48 Leather Crafters Journal, The..................8 Leather Machine Co., The............................ ...........................................inside back cover Mark Staton Co..........................................43 Maverick Leather......................................47 Mid-River Sales..........................................16 Miller’s Wholesale Harness......................9 Moser Leather...........................................11 Mud Creek Leather......................................8 Mules and More.........................................30 N & A Harness Shop.................................10 NASS.............................................................13 Nettles Country Store.............................14

Ohio Plastics Belting Co.........................48 Ohio Travel Bag...........................................16 Pecard..............................................................9 Perfectex Plus, LLC..................................39 Precision Saddle Tree..............................55 Proleptic, Inc.................................................... .. 9, 13, 17, 21 24, 29, 30, 32, back cover RJF Leather.................................................49 Shelton-Reynolds, Inc.............................42 Shetler’s Collar Shop...............................16 ShoTan..........................................................47 Small Farmer’s Journal............................17 Smoke & Fire Co........................................54 Sorrell Notions & Findings.....................45 SouthStar Supply......................................15 Springfield Leather...................................26 Steel Stamps, Inc.....................................53 Sugar Valley Collar....................................15 Sun Bias, Inc................................................14 Sweat Pad Shop....................................... 49 Tandy Leather Factory.............................35 TechSew/Raphael’s Sewing.................... 57 Tennessee Tanning Co.............................15 Texas Custom Dies...................................52 Toledo Sewing...............................................1 Weaver Leather............................................3 Western Mule.............................................18

Advertising

Inserts

Deadline for advertising copy is the 5th of the month prior to the month of publication. Invoices are due upon receipt. 6 or 12-month prepaid advertising contracts receive a 5% discount.

Classified Ads

20 words or less $26.50 Additional words (each) $ .65

Display Ads

Shop Talk! published by Proleptic, Inc. P.O. Box 17817 Asheville, NC 28816 (828) 505-8474 shoptalk@proleptic.net www.proleptic.net 60 FEBRUARY 2017

SHOP TALK!

Full Page $502.00 Half Page $280.00 Quarter Page $152.00 Eighth Page $81.00 (Color and guaranteed placement additional)

Setup Charge

$60 per hour with a $18 minimum.

Line art may be inserted at no additional charge. $10 per photo.

$399 for one page­— Maximum trim size: 8-1/4” X 10-3/4” $45 each additional page.

Event flyers must be inserted 60 days in advance. All inserts must be shipped directly to printer.

Reduce - Reuse - Recycle Recycling old magazines, catalogs, and newspapers is one of the easiest ways to help the environment. To increase the supply of recoverable wood fiber and to reduce the demand on regional landfills, Shop Talk! urges its readers to support recycling efforts in their communities.

Shop Talk! is printed with only vegetable-based inks.

SHOP TALK! FEBRUARY 2017 61

FEBRUARY 2017 P.O. BOX 17817, ASHEVILLE, NC 28816

Check your renewal date today!

828.505.8474 | fax 828.505.8476 | proleptic.net

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

12 Monthly Issues $36 Canada & Mexico $39 US Other Countries $54 US

ALWAYS FIRST WITH THE NEWS!

Distributors of Quality Hardware Distributors of Quality for the & Supplies Hardware & Harness, SuppliesTack, Saddlery, Pet Industries for the and Harness, Tack,

X

Saddlery & Pet Industries • BioThane Coated Large enough to serve Webbing you. . .

Small enough to need you!

• Thoroughbred Leather

• Quality Stainless Steel and Brass Saddlery Hardware • Fiebing Products • WahlClippers • Fortex & Fortiflex Products • Nylon Webbing • Leather and BioThane Harness Parts plus much more

Large enough to serve you…

Small enough to need you!

We manufacture our own line of leather We will be hosting the riding and training tack.

48th Annual Harness Makers’ We alsoGet-Together do custom leather and nylon work. & Auction on July 20th & 21st 2017

Plan now to attend!

4205 Township Road 629 Millersburg, OH 44654 FAX: (330) 698-3200 Request your free catalog today!