Rachel and I have been living in “Pigsville”, also known as “Valley Park”, for about two and a half years now. We still have a lot of neighbors to meet, though. Just recently we got to know some of our neighbors a bit better via a small photo-shoot. Frank Kaiser, of Rocking K Saddlery, and his partner, Justin, live across the alley from Rachel and me. Frank and a mechanic have been working on restoring a Korean War-era Army jeep for two years, finishing up most of the work this past summer. We got together to make some photos of the jeep at the nearby VA.
Here’s what Frank had to say about the project and about his leather-working business (below is a photo demonstrating his lovely leather work)…
“The jeep we obtained in pretty poor shape. I do have both before and after photos. It’s a 1952 M38 Willys Jeep used towards the end of the Korean War. The M38 is the rarest of all the Jeep models as it was only made from 1950-1952. This was the only Jeep designed to be totally submersible with the ability to drive under water! It has a snorkel kit for the exhaust and intake that we do not have as I think it looks a little ridiculous. We spent about 2 years restoring the Jeep, to near mint condition. There is still some fine tuning to do, but the majority of the labor is done. My mechanic and I did virtually all of the work on the Jeep ourselves. As to how we obtained the Jeep is a strange story. I had made a Wade type ranch saddle and listed it on an online auction. I set the price as $1,700 and being the economy was tanking at the time I also mentioned that trades are welcomed if it is something that interests me. A rancher in Idaho had the Jeep and emailed me about a possible trade. We eventually traded the saddle even-up and had the Jeep shipped here.
As far as my business, I deal with mostly western style horse and shooting related leather items. I repair and make holsters, gunbelts, saddles, and all manners of horse tack. I also create custom leather signs, commemorative leather plaques, photo album covers, day planner covers, bracelets, belts, wrist cuffs, watch bands, and knife sheaths. I am always open to new ideas and welcome them greatly. All of my items are custom ordered. I do not carry an inventory. I also repair most leather items except for clothing, jackets, and upholstery.”
As always, all photos shown here are copyright Troy Freund and may not be used outside this blog with permission. Please respect my business and the photos.
