Hand Tooled Leather, Leather Craft and Western Saddles

Freshly Restored Black Beauty Saddle

Aluminum Permalife Tree Saddle made by Walter L. Newell
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This saddle came to us literally  a basket case. The saddle was completely disassembled with missing parts. This saddle was made 7/7/47 and is stamped in several places on the underside of the leather. This saddle is built on an Aluminum (Permalife) tree and is a Walter L. Newell signature saddle. Below is a picture of how we received the saddle.

The Above Saddle

This is how we received it.

Hand tooled leather holster

Hand Tooled Old West Leather Holster
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Made By: M.S. Collins

This is a traditional holster designed for a Colt .45 with a 5.5 inch barrel. This holster was designed for a Ruger Vaquero old model.

Leather Color

Fiebing's Medium Brown

Thank you for visiting The Leather Craftsman. This site is about traditional leather craft. Functional  and usable leather goods.

The old west was not about fancy western saddles and leather holsters. The old west was about leather goods that were functional, durable and used daily. The Leather Craftsman continues that tradition with hand tooled leather. We try to bring back the days of the Colt single action and Winchester lever rifles winning the west.

In the past leather craftsman produced items that were used by hard people living a hard life. They wanted a leather saddle or a leather holster that lasted the rest of their life. Sunday going to church attire meant you knocked the dust off your leather boots.

My inspiration and the purpose of The Leather Craftsman is to create leather craft similar to items found in the old west. My inspiration comes from family history and my Great Uncle Walter Lee Newell who owned and operated the Newell Saddle shop in St. Louis MO. The shop opened around 1935 and closed in 1950. Our collection of Newell Saddles currently contains seven different saddles.

I hope you enjoy this site and find it useful. We have a lot of good information about leather craft and western saddles.

Feel free to ask questions, give opinions and suggestions concerning saddles, cleaning, restoration, leather crafting or anything else. I am more than happy to talk shop or just chat about a saddle you have.

Thank You

The Leather Craftsman



Newell Saddle Shop

The original shop was located at:

1629 South Broadway

St. Louis Mo.




Newell Logo Leather Western Saddles

contact_us@theleathercraftsman.com