The cowboy arts

I’m a shop rat. Always have been. If I wasn’t working on my cattle or other FFA projects, I was more than likely to be found in our shop. I was also a vocational student, which meant in my last three years in high school, I spent an hour every day in the school’s ag shop. This was in addition to two automotive classes I took and one woodworking class in junior high school.

Nearly every piece of furniture in our house has either been refinished or reupholstered by me. I’ve worked on all our cars and trucks and consider myself a proficient welder. By watching YouTube videos and reading books, I’ve taught myself blacksmithing, silver soldering, plastic molding, engraving, and how to use a milling machine, wood and metal lathe and a key-making machine which I restored. I even took classes in jewelry making which helped me in making belt buckles and repairing old bits and spurs. For years I restored items for a very high-end antique store.

Having said that, I hate the household arts. I don’t have the “thyme” for cooking and couldn’t stand working at Starbucks and doing the same old “grind” every day (puns intended).

By far, the thing I enjoy the most is leatherworking, and I’ve collected hundreds of leatherworking tools along the way. I taught myself, and it was the second most difficult skill I’ve learned. (Engraving was the hardest.) It took me years before I was proud enough of my work to stamp my name on it. Now I’ve restored saddles for museums and leatherbound French clock boxes that held $25,000 clocks. One of my miniature saddles brought $50,000, and a scrapbook I made was auctioned off for $18,000.

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