Welcome to the Bits & Spurs forum. I hope you find this place helpful and informative. Your participation is what is going to make this forum successful. Please don't hesitate telling me what you would like to see here. I would like for this forum to be helpful for the practicing artisans of this craft as well as for those who are beginning. So please get involved, share ideas and post PHOTOS of your work.
Thanks,
Otto Carter

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www.ottocarter.com
Abilene, Texas

thanks Otto for doing the leg work to get this up and going. Finally a place to ask questions and share information. This is too cool. thanks again Russell

I was glad to see that someone thinks that we need this type of forum.I signed up right after being sent a link to this site.If you are a bit and spur guy, a silversmith ect.,this will be a good thing to get involved with.
Otto, I don't think that I have met you in person yet but iI wanted to let you know that I think this is a great Idea.

Dave Alderson

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I'm only as good as you think I am.

Dave,
I'm glad you are on this forum. Being that necessity is the mother of invention, I got the idea for making this forum after asking Russel Yates if he knew of a bit & spur makers forum. He said there wasn't, but there needed to be one. So here it is. I'm coming into this area of interest from my background in gun engraving. I'm wanting to learn what it takes to make buckles and spurs. So I'll be posting pics of my work as I progress as a beginner. I'm really looking forward to this place being a treasure trove of information. Thanks for everybody's help.
Otto

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www.ottocarter.com
Abilene, Texas

Is there an "easy button" for posting photos ? obviosly I ain't to computer wise and need step by step instructions to get the job done. This would help me get photos up on the classified and appear much smarter than the average bear.
How are you going to spread the word about this site so we don't just have artisans looking at it. This could be a valuable tool in more than one way.
DSA

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I'm only as good as you think I am.

To post pictures you need to get an account (free) at a photo hosting site. I use Village Photos www.villagephotos.com Upload your photos to your account on that site then hit the "Img" button on this site's messaging panel. copy and paste the url into the box and it's done. If that's hard to understand, I'll try to find some better instructions and post them soon. I'm going to post announcements to this site soon to different forums and websites. Feel free to do the same. Word of mouth from everyone will make this popular quickly.
Otto

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www.ottocarter.com
Abilene, Texas

Hello,
Nice to find a place talking about what I like to do. I just recently got involved in these internet forums and have learned alot. I'm so glad to find one devoted to my line of work excusivley. I'll be checking often. Can't wait to see all of your work.
Jim

Otto, Good idea for a bit and spur forum! This should be a great help of information.

Steve Lindsay

Otto,
Just got home from Abilene and got registered. Thanks for coming up with such a great idea.
Stewar Williamson

by the way, Otto,
You just cracked the gate on this and you've already got a bunch of the greats on board. I think this is going to be good.
Hey Russell and Matthew, if you thought I was excited yesterday, the thought of where this great idea of Otto's could go really excites me.
Stewart

Otto, Thanks for putting this fourm together. This is just what our part of the business needed.
Robert

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"Matthew 6:25-34"

hi: mi nombre es monk. just discovered this forum. don't know much at all about bits and spurs. eager to learn. my interest here is to learn as much as i can about western style engraving. i'm guessing i'll see a lot of it done on the works of the spur & bit makers.

I have been lurking aorund all the engraving forums for a couple of years now and have gleened so much info from some of the best engravers the world has to offer. Several times there were questions that would have been better suited for this forum. This is the information age, and there is such a need for these forums. Thankfully today we all share tech tips, ideas, methods and openly discuss issues related to bit and spur making, so spread the word and welcome craftsmen in all fields. Thanks again Otto for getting the site up and going. Russell Yates

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art is long, life is short....get busy

Otto... Excellent idea! Great job putting this forum together. I am looking forward to all new discussions and I anticipate viewing some amazing art work!!!

Best regards,
Greg Pauline

Thanks Otto! This will be a great resorce and im excited its here!!