Saddle Shop Life

DG Saddlery is Moving to Moulton, TX

In January of 2004, I took ownership of a small saddle shop off Hwy 21 in Bryan, TX.  I had spent the previous two years working and apprenticing in that shop under the guidance of Jim Plantt.  Jim and I became very good friends and he helped me to begin my saddle making career.  When the opportunity presented itself for the 24 year old me to purchase the business, I thought “Why Not?”

Over the next 16 years, I worked hard to grow the business, build relationships, and above all else, create a quality product and service.  We had our ups and downs as all businesses experience.  I spent 10 years in that location before selling the property in order to downsize a little and focus on my custom work and less on managing a store.

For the past five years or so, I have focused on my saddle list, custom work, and expanding the LeatherCraft Education side of our business.  The latter has become a passion for me that allows me to continue my call of making quality gear as well as passing on the knowledge I have of the craft.  We have been operating all of this from a private studio setting which cut down on the “store management” side of the business.  This gave me more time to focus on my family and my skills.

Much has changed in my life and business over this time.  The greatest change was having my children.  This time has been amazing and I have learned a ton about working to balance all aspects of my life so that I am present as I can be.  It is amazing how a man’s goals change after he becomes a father.

With all that being said, we are relocating our family and Don Gonzales Saddlery to a city that we feel is the best choice for our family and business.  Many of you may already know that I am originally from South Texas.  Although I am from the Corpus Christi area, we are not moving that far south.  We are moving to Moulton, TX which is just about as far south as I want to go.  My mom and dad found this little town while out scouting around for property one weekend.  Dad was planning on retirement from his career and wanted to get off the coast and settle in an area where he could relax and raise a few cows.  They purchased a house there and after retirement they moved in and he set to looking for land.  Unfortunately he wasn’t able to see that through.  We lost dad in 2013.  My mom stayed and we have spent many weekends and holidays there becoming very familiar with the area. Continue reading

Your Dollars Should Work to Strengthen Your Business

For the majority of us in Leathercraft, we absolutely love what we do.  But, if you are like me, you probably don’t love working on the financial side of your business.  If you want to strengthen your business, then the financial aspect of the business has to be discussed.

Tell me if this sounds familiar to you in your life or your business:

You have been working hard on a big project and you are wrapping it up.  Oh boy, now time to have it picked up and get that big check and feel the relief of cash flow coming into your business.  Time to pay yourself and payoff those material bills that you have been piling up over the course of this project. Happy Days!

After the customer leaves with his beautiful project in his hands and his check in your hands, you feel a sense of accomplishment. You know that you have lived to fight another day and your shop thanks you.

After the deposit is made into your bank account and all the checks to your suppliers are written and mailed out, you now look to see what great amount you will be “taking home” to enjoy.  

Suddenly you realize looking at your account and books that you have very little, or none, left for yourself.  WHAT?  How can that be?  

“I bid the job correctly… I think.”

“I didn’t buy more material than I needed for this job… did I?”

“I should have more money than this, what happened?” Continue reading

“Daily Rituals” by Mason Currey Book Review

I have another book review this week and if you are interested in Daily Rituals then this book is for you.  Have you ever wondered how artists work?  What routines and disciplines do successful artists put into place to insure that they are as productive as they can be each and every day?

Daily Rituals by Mason CurreyIn “Daily Rituals” by Mason Currey (amazon affilitate link), he catalogs the daily routines and rituals of many successful artists from past and present.  We get a glimpse into their lives and how they maintained a consistent and productive work schedule despite the pressures of normal daily life.

I have to be honest, I have listened to this book probably six times on Audible while working in my shop.  I tend to listen to a lot of books during the workday.  I get bored easily just listening to music, so Audible is a very important part of my sanity throughout the hours and hours of working alone in the shop tapping away on leather.

Oh sure, Freddy is there with me the majority of the time but he listens to his music in his headphones and doesn’t waste time chattering away the day with me… although I enjoy being able to focus on my chores, I do miss conversation at times. Continue reading

A Review of the book “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield

resistanceThis is a review of the book “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield.  Pressfield has written many books in both the fiction and nonfiction space with one of his most successful being “The Legend of Bagger Vance.”

I am an avid reader of nonfiction books specifically directed at business and development.  I came across “The War of Art” last year and consumed it first in audio form while working in my shop.  After listening to the book multiple times and gaining great insight every time, I have added this book to my list of “Must Reads” for anyone wanting to succeed in their business and personal life.

If you are a creative in any field, this book will bring to the surface those things we all do that sabotage our focus and productivity.  Whether your gifts and talents are put to use as a hobby or they are the sole form of revenue for your household, using these talents in a way that the universe calls for you to do is not something you can ignore.  What Pressfield calls “Resistance” sets up shop in our lives with a sole purpose to keep you from that which your guts tell you has to be done to be complete and happy.

Continue reading

Do You have Projects You Procrastinate On?

img_1011Have you ever found yourself working happily on the project that you are most excited about only to have a voice in your head reminding you of that one job you put off for way too long?  Those projects you procrastinate on consistently? That one job that you set on the bench in the corner of your shop and feel it staring at you throughout the day?  In your mind you know that you need to just put down what you are doing and get it done so you can get back to what you love.  But as the days, weeks, or maybe even months continue to cycle by, you make an honest attempt to convince yourself that you will do it “tomorrow.”

 This is procrastination, resistance, or simply lying to yourself.  We all do this from time to time, but for some of us this can become a chronic disease among the best of craftsman.  We work so hard to improve our skills and talents, that we tend to put off the types of work that don’t add value to our skill set.  In an attempt to be good stewards in our business and remain financially responsible, we take these jobs because of our lack of confidence in our true passion.  We tend to look at these jobs as a necessary evil because it must be a sin to turn down work.  So we end up taking the project on, knowing in our minds that we don’t want to do them and in turn putting them off to the point that the customer is upset.  And we ourselves are upset for having to do them.

Continue reading

MakerCast Podcast Interview

Do you listen to Podcast at all?  Since we, as craftsmen, spend a lot of time alone in our shops working on projects, I find it great to listen to podcast and audio books for either learning or just entertainment.  These days with our smartphones, this is easier than ever before.  No more listening to the same six songs on the radio all day played over and over.

Recently I came across a fantastic podcast that I think you would enjoy.  The podcast is called MakerCast and on this show Jon Berard interviews makers in all types of industries.  Within the interviews, I find useful information and ways at looking at my business from talented fellow craftsmen.  Its also interesting to learn how they ended up in their careers and how many of our stories can have many similarities.

I was fortunate enough recently to be a guest on Jon’s show and I really enjoyed the experience.  This was my first experience in being interviewed for an audience to listen to and Jon was a fantastic host.

If you are interested in hearing my interview, or would like to subscribe to MakerCast and hear the many other great interviews that he has produced on his show follow the link below and see what you think.

DonG

What’s New with Us

This year has been amazing, and we want to thank all our customers who have helped to make 2015 so great.  The shop has been through many changes over the last few years and the patience of our customers is appreciated more than you will ever know.  We have come a long way and more changes are still to come over the next few years. Continue reading

My Antiquing Process

So your belt is tooled, dyed, painted and oiled.  Now all we have to do is antique it and we are ready to line and stitch it!  This is the point at which many craftsmen new to leatherwork will make a few mistakes.  I hope that my process helps you to clear up this step.  You certainly do not have to antique your belt but I feel like the antique really helps to make the tooling stand out and gives added tone and depth.

The first thing that most people new to leatherwork miss is that the belt must be sealed with a resist before applying the antique.  Whether you are using the paste antique or the gel, a barrier is needed so that the overall color and tone of the belt is not changed.  The antique is not meant to change the color of the leather, its main purpose is to fill any cuts, impressions, and background texture to highlight and shadow the depth of the tooling.  This is why I get the final color of the belt with oil before this step; because once the belt is sealed I can’t get oil into the leather if I want it darker.

The resist I use, or sealer, is Feibings’ Tan-Kote Finish.  This finish is not a lacquer finish like NeatLac or WyoSheen, which would lift a lot of any paint work off the belt.  If you are finishing a belt that doesn’t have any paint applied then these finishes are great to use.  But if the belt has a lot of paint then it’s best to stay away from these finishes and use the Tan-Kote.  I apply a liberal amount of Tan-Kote on the belt and work to make sure it’s even and doesn’t have streaks.  Now I let this dry really well, at least an hour or so.

Once the finish is dry, the belt is ready for the antique to be applied.  I use square pads cut from scrap sheepskin to apply all my finishes… keep a pile of these cut so they are ready for any finishing task.  I use the Feibings Antique Paste, and the color I prefer is the Dark Brown.  They make a few different colors and they are all fantastic but the dark brown is my go to color for the look I prefer on my products.  You can put a dollop of paste on a small square of plywood which allows you to wipe up as little or as much paste as you need with the sheepskin square during application.  You want to apply the paste liberally to the belt and work it into the tooling in circular motions to be sure and get it into all the cracks and crevices being sure to not leave any areas missed by the antique.  Do this to the entire belt.  It will appear to onlookers that you have gone mad and you are ruining a perfectly good belt, but stay calm and keep working it around.  Here is where differences vary, some say to leave it for a few minutes before cleaning… I say once you’re sure that it’s worked in well, then take a clean pad and begin wiping the excess paste off the belt.  The goal here is to attempt to get as much of the paste off the belt as possible.  You want to be somewhat gentle as to not burnish the grain of the leather but you want to clean it well with clean pads until you’re satisfied that you got it all.  All that should be left is what is down in bevel lines, background texture, decorative cuts, etc.

My final step is to take a magic towel (This is a towel that is used to wipe hands after oiling, antiquing, cleaning machines, wiping knives after sharpening, spilling coffee, etc.) or any soft hand towel, and gently buff the belt to further polish any residual antique and revive any lost luster from the resist coat of finish.  Don’t go crazy here, as previously mentioned, we don’t want to burnish the grain of the leather but we do want it clean of excess antique.

Now turn the belt over and look at the back… see that mess?  If you would have lined the belt before the finish steps, then your belt liner would look like that… I don’t care how clean you think you can be, antique takes no prisoners.

This post is an excerpt from out eBooklet “Custom Belt Design and Layout” we posted a couple of weeks ago.  We will soon have more of these eBooklets available walking you through the step and processes I use in the shop in creating our custom pieces.  If you are interested in purchasing this eBooklet then click the link below and download a PDF copy today!

Custom Belt eBooklet $5 Download
Custom Belt eBooklet
$5 Download

*I apologize for the lack of photos in this post… fast and furious this morning and Freddy is cracking the whip!  I will try and snag some pics during my day and post them in a followup post!