dirtclod

Seems to me like it wouldn't be to hard to make a pattern out of a file folder. Measure and see how big the bottom needs to be and how tall you want it. Cut that out and draw lines where you want it fold and fold the across part and see how it fits. If it fits the way you want cut a piece of 4 or 5 ounce leather and gouge the across lines see how it fits and if it fits to suit you sew it up.

I set mine to where the foot is all the way down no matter where the needle is.

Putting a D ring rigging on it would be the simplest and cheapest way to go. Because the plate that's in there isn't going to be for long. The rivets have rusted and eat the leather up. If you go with a D ring rigging take the plate that is still there off / out. That way you can use the skirts you have. But it needs to installed by somebody that knows what their doing.

Put it on a south facing side of the building or at least on a side that gets a lot of sun if you can and set away from the wall if you can. I was noticing that the outside walls on my shop have mildew or something growing on them where the sun doesn't hit for very long or at all and the worst place is on the north side. As i'm sure you know the humidity here in Kentucky is high to. A low day for humidity is something 75%. Several years ago i was working in the mountains of Colorado and the news came on telling folks to stay inside because the humidity was so high 25% and i though it never gets low round home.

I use a round or head knife on 99% of every thing i cut. Some use sheetrock knives with replaceable blades. But IMO if you learn to use a round or head knife your money ahead.

I saved it to. Hoping i don't have anybody ask me work on anymore...LOL.

The curved one's are sewing awls. They probely need to be sharpened.

Ray just think how cool it would be driving up in a Unimog. Plus you could make some extra money pulling folks out when they were stuck or you could do it for free and be the hero. Either way a win win. A man with your money cost isn't a problem. :-) I wish i got 50 miles to the gallon. 31.5 miles is the best i have ever done. I did find a picture of your van on the net and would love to have one. But we can't buy them because of the chicken tax. You can read about it here. https://www.google.com/search?q=chicken+tax&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a Anyway hope you kill a bear and i hope you don't get stuck again.

A UniMog hope that's spelled right, anyway your close enough to be able to get one. Chains work pretty durn good in mud. Maybe a couple of boards to drive onto while you load then floorboard it to get a running start !!

To get the length you have to cut it off of a side. I wouldn't use anything less than 10 / 12 ounce 4 / 5 ounce is way to light.

I have no ideal what somebody would charge to fix it. It's been several years sense i worked on a English saddle but the best i remember everything but the billets will need to come off to fix the seat. It's a big job.

I would leave that one alone !!! Espically if you want to put a full seat in. Generally they leave very little SA to sew back to and it's a WHOLE lot more to it than you think. A english saddle is a whole different animal than a western saddle.

Double stitched is a line of stitching down both sides of the strap. I'll try to remember to take a picture tomorrow and send to you.

Nice job !

I would guess a size 46 or 69 thread. Not sure on the size of needle.

Double stitch it and that will be your design / background, or that's what i do.

I think it has the clutch motor just like my machine. I can stop it with the needle down and i sew one stitch if i want to. The movies i have seen where they are using the NPM you can tell when they use it. When you get to know your machine you can do all kinds of things with it. Plus when he starts he hand wheels the machine for a stitch or two. I bough my machine the same year Clinton was elected the first time how ever long ago that has been.

I have the same machine he is using and it has a clutch motor on it.

Get some scrap make you some lines on it and start sewing. Then cut some different shapes and sew them. Start slow and learn to sew free hand and with the guide. Theirs not that much to it. Ever body had to crawl before they learned to walk. It the same with your new machine. Oh don't start adjusting everything right out of the gate.

I'm not sure what you mean by lead time. But every time i have ordered from they had everything in stock and shipped that same day or the next.

Regular stirrup leathers are around 66 inches long. But they won't need to be that long for that saddle because they set lower because of hanging from the square on the tree. I'd make them as wide as the square 1 maybe 1 1/4 inches wide what ever will fit through the square.

looks like a flat piece with the lighter piece laced through it to me.

Try here http://www.pilgrimshoemachine.com/

Double the time you think it will take you and like i was told one time if you get every job you bid your bidding to cheap.

The couple of times i have tried to sew over / through the bumps if your lucky enough to get a needle or awl through one it's really hard to get it out. You might drill the holes with a small bit or you may get lucky and the piece you have can be sewn. The pieces i had i couldn't sew.