Fifty years ago, Billy Klapper quit working as a cowboy and became a full-time craftsman. Since then, his bits and spurs have become some of the most collectible gear in the West, but that was never his intention.
Photography by Ross Hecox.
AFTER SLIDING OPEN A METAL DRAWER, Billy Klapper reaches in and pulls out something wrapped inside a plastic shopping bag. He carefully unwraps it and holds up an old short-shanked bit.
Klapper’s workshop has dozens of bits hanging on its walls,...