Ground seat hand hold w/strainer

[Alan Bell]

I was taught to build a ground seat with a strainer and cut the hand hold as I went along but saw Dale Harwood do it by cutting the hand hold after the ground seat was done. I am wanting to try it this way for the first time and want to make sure of the steps before I do it.

1) I stretch the strainer cover and glue it in place.

2) I tack down the strainer

3) I poke reference holes in the strainer cover at the corner where the strainer meets the swells??????

4) I apply glue to the first piece only where it touches the strainer and behind where the stirrup slots are

5) I apply glue to the second piece but leave a gap for the stirrup leather

6) I apply glue to the final piece leaving the gap for the stirrup leather

7) I cut the strainer cover loose using the reference marks forward along the back of the swell and moisten????

8) I cut the hand hold out of the dry ground seat and cover the cut with the strainer cover

9) I cut the stirrup leather gap leaving the top ground seat cut on an angle with a bit of a "flap" for the transition

10) I proudly say "I did it! All by myself!!"

Am I missing any steps or completely off target? Thanks in advance for any help.

Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

[Go2Tex]

Sounds about right. As with everything, there's variations on that method. I kinda have developed my own slant on it too and even that is evolving as I do 'em, always trying to improve and/or simplify.

I like using stirrup leather plugs instead of the "flap" cutting. But, as far as the hand hole goes, that's how it goes. Except, I glue the cover to the strainer before I nail it down and I use the 2 piece strainer, like Pete Gorell. The front half of the cover is split down fairly thin so it doesn't add any height and the edges skived down. It can then extend under the plugs and glue to the first ground seat piece. The front of the cover is not glued to the strainer until the hole is cut out, so you can use it for a guide to cut the hole. I make my last ground seat piece wide enough on each side at the stirrup plugs so that there isn't much trimming needed at the end. Remove the tacks, pull out the plugs and you're done.