Horsewright
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2011
- Messages
- 11,672
Recently we were at a show as a vendor and Nichole was competing too. Now these cowboy shows there's always a lot of trading going on. Ya see a guy walking around and he's got a bridle over his arm or some mecates and ya ask him what he's trading. Well Friday evening (it was a Thurs through Sunday show), they announced they were gonna have a trading table set up in vendor's row. So I went on down and took a couple of knives to trade.
This Bowie:
And this filet knife:
The table was set up and things were brisk when I got there. It was an 8' table and it was literally covered in things and there were sacks and duffle bags on the ground around about. There was this silver inlaid bridle bit I was interested in. So I asked who it was and tried to make a deal with him but I couldn't. He liked the knives but said he just wasn't a knife guy and was looking to trade that bridle bit for other bridle bits as he was a bit guy.
So that didn't work. I noticed on the table some reatas. A reata is a rope made from braided rawhide. I have a very nice one at home but its thin, often what is referred to as a calf rope because its not heavy enough to rope heavier stock. A pretty nice kind of every day reata caught my attention. I picked it up and checked it out and thought I might make a deal on this reata. So I said "whose is this?" A voice behind me said "its mine." I turn around and its my good buddy and cross the street neighbor Tyler. "In fact you helped me stretch that one and thats the hondo we traded for on it." So now I recognize the rope. He says: "ya know those damascus folder blades ya got cut out in the shop?" "I want one of those folders". So I said "done" and we shook on it. Kind of funny if ya think about it. We both travelled 3 hours to this show to trade with the across the street neighbor. In fact we'd travelled together and we were staying at the show in their camping trailer with Tyler and his wife Cara.
So I was holding onto my new reata, had it over my arm. There was a guy that had flown in from Germany, a bit and spur maker. He'd brought a bag of bits and spurs he'd made and set up a table in my buddy Greg's booth. Earlier that day Tyler and I'd been over admiring his work. The spurs were priced between $800 and $1200 and the bits about the same. Well he walks up to the table and tosses a pair of spurs onto it. Several people said at about the same time: "Whadya want to get for them?" He says: "a reata". So I hand him my new reata that I've had for about 3 minutes now across the table. He held it for a while and picked up another one from the table. This one was very thin, really not one to use, more of something to show off some braiding, it was maybe a 1/4" in diameter. I told him ya can't rope anything with that but chickens and Tyler behind me says "maybe a cat." He looks at mine again, feels it for a while and hands it to a buddy who looks at it and kind of gives him a nod. I can hear Tyler behind me starting to cuss me and the guy reaches across the table and shakes hands with me. He says "A good trade" and I say "yep, a good trade." I start admiring my new spurs and I tell him hold on. I hand him the filet knife too and tell him to take that. The spurs were worth a lot more than that reata. Told him I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. He grins, flexes the blade against the table and asked who made it. When I told him I did he grins more and we shake again.
So got home and built a new pair of water buffalo spur straps for my new spurs. They were a little unusual in that the spur button was on the smaller side so I had to use a smaller punch for that part instead of our standard one:
Whadya think? A good trade? I think so. My horse likes em too. Very responsive to them with out being resentful, just right for ol Sonny.
So then Saturday a gal walks by the booth with a box. Asks if I want to trade. She's got a couple of carved figurines from when she lived in Mexico 20 years ago. So I say yep we can trade and we make a deal on a couple of knives to build for her. Now Katy Mac my daughter in law thinks I'm cukoo for cocoa puffs trading for these two figurines. Here's one a pelican:
She says: What are you gonna do with that? Stick it on the bar in the cantina?
Good trade? Whadya think? Stick it on the bar in the cantina?
Heck no. I'm gonna cut em up. Some pretty darn nice ironwood in those guys: These handles are a couple of slices from the base of the pelican. This is at 60 grit. Imagine it hand sanded to 4,000 grit and then buffed.
Good trade? Yep a good trade. Questions and comments always welcome.
This Bowie:
And this filet knife:
The table was set up and things were brisk when I got there. It was an 8' table and it was literally covered in things and there were sacks and duffle bags on the ground around about. There was this silver inlaid bridle bit I was interested in. So I asked who it was and tried to make a deal with him but I couldn't. He liked the knives but said he just wasn't a knife guy and was looking to trade that bridle bit for other bridle bits as he was a bit guy.
So that didn't work. I noticed on the table some reatas. A reata is a rope made from braided rawhide. I have a very nice one at home but its thin, often what is referred to as a calf rope because its not heavy enough to rope heavier stock. A pretty nice kind of every day reata caught my attention. I picked it up and checked it out and thought I might make a deal on this reata. So I said "whose is this?" A voice behind me said "its mine." I turn around and its my good buddy and cross the street neighbor Tyler. "In fact you helped me stretch that one and thats the hondo we traded for on it." So now I recognize the rope. He says: "ya know those damascus folder blades ya got cut out in the shop?" "I want one of those folders". So I said "done" and we shook on it. Kind of funny if ya think about it. We both travelled 3 hours to this show to trade with the across the street neighbor. In fact we'd travelled together and we were staying at the show in their camping trailer with Tyler and his wife Cara.
So I was holding onto my new reata, had it over my arm. There was a guy that had flown in from Germany, a bit and spur maker. He'd brought a bag of bits and spurs he'd made and set up a table in my buddy Greg's booth. Earlier that day Tyler and I'd been over admiring his work. The spurs were priced between $800 and $1200 and the bits about the same. Well he walks up to the table and tosses a pair of spurs onto it. Several people said at about the same time: "Whadya want to get for them?" He says: "a reata". So I hand him my new reata that I've had for about 3 minutes now across the table. He held it for a while and picked up another one from the table. This one was very thin, really not one to use, more of something to show off some braiding, it was maybe a 1/4" in diameter. I told him ya can't rope anything with that but chickens and Tyler behind me says "maybe a cat." He looks at mine again, feels it for a while and hands it to a buddy who looks at it and kind of gives him a nod. I can hear Tyler behind me starting to cuss me and the guy reaches across the table and shakes hands with me. He says "A good trade" and I say "yep, a good trade." I start admiring my new spurs and I tell him hold on. I hand him the filet knife too and tell him to take that. The spurs were worth a lot more than that reata. Told him I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. He grins, flexes the blade against the table and asked who made it. When I told him I did he grins more and we shake again.
So got home and built a new pair of water buffalo spur straps for my new spurs. They were a little unusual in that the spur button was on the smaller side so I had to use a smaller punch for that part instead of our standard one:
Whadya think? A good trade? I think so. My horse likes em too. Very responsive to them with out being resentful, just right for ol Sonny.
So then Saturday a gal walks by the booth with a box. Asks if I want to trade. She's got a couple of carved figurines from when she lived in Mexico 20 years ago. So I say yep we can trade and we make a deal on a couple of knives to build for her. Now Katy Mac my daughter in law thinks I'm cukoo for cocoa puffs trading for these two figurines. Here's one a pelican:
She says: What are you gonna do with that? Stick it on the bar in the cantina?
Good trade? Whadya think? Stick it on the bar in the cantina?
Heck no. I'm gonna cut em up. Some pretty darn nice ironwood in those guys: These handles are a couple of slices from the base of the pelican. This is at 60 grit. Imagine it hand sanded to 4,000 grit and then buffed.
Good trade? Yep a good trade. Questions and comments always welcome.
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but we're getting use to the new home...and neighbors...never had neighbors...