GrampaJoel

Brian, how is the cutter set to size the string? Can the cutter be set for more than one size? Thanks Joel

Very cool video. The cutter looks amazingly easy to use. I would love to see more info about the cutter. Joel

Your saddle look pretty nice to me. Yes there are things to change. There always will be. Everybody makes changes until they can do it in their sleep. Now to ( your )critique. 3. Cheyenne roll - Stitching on back looks like hell. Need to really practice on that. I have found that a lot of production saddles look pretty bad too. I use a method I like when my stitching is likely to show on the rear of the Cheyenne roll. I center my stitch measurement wheel and make the stitch marks on the front of the cheyenne roll. Then I push my awl through the center mark at the top of the cantle as straight as I can. Aiming to hit the groove on the back side. I then take the whole left on the back side by my awl and once again use the stitch marking wheel centered on the hole I just made. For me, this method pretty much lines up front and back stitch marks. Then all I have to do is aim well when I press the awl through. Your mileage may vary. Joel

Nice job! That is probably the most uniquely built western style saddle as I have ever seen. Braided and leather hole locked on the fork I've never seen. Now days just about everything I've seen is saddle stitched together. Your method adds a special twist to this saddle. So how does it ride? Is it what you hoped for? Again, nice going! I like things that are unique. Joel

I think you did an excellent job. Those swells look very clean and smooth. As does the rest of the saddle. Joel

Is the leather torn between the stitches where it is loose? Did the machine just skip a stitch? Joel

You might try some newbuck. It looks like velvet but will wear pretty good. Takes oil ok too. That is it won't give up, the ghost if some oil gets on it. I'd bet that she won't be putting the gun in and out of the holster very often. Especially if she is asking for velvet. It would seem to me that she would know how a good holster is built if she had a lot of gun drawing experience. Joel

Very nice! I notice the saddle tan is about half again as wide as the whiskey. Really stands out nicely. That pineapple is near perfect. I can't wait until mine get that good. Please tell us about this ten strand whip maker braid. Is it one I find it in one of my books? Joel

Very Nice! It has a spunky look to it. Some might say punchy. More info please. Who made the tree? Who made your horn cap concho? Stuff like that. Joel

Wow you posted this almost a month ago an I didn't see it. Good job, how do they fit and work for your friend? The first pair I made I used that very same stamp. Joel Welcome to the forum!

Megabit, thanks again. The paint should hold up ok. For a while, At least. It is the flexible acrylic type of paint. I tried it on a sample and it can take a pretty good bending and such. I suppose it will wear with rubbing or maybe a scratch eventually. No big deal. This pair will only see use when I want to be noticed. To raise an eyebrow or two. The edge braid ( three pass Mexican round braid) is just like the rest of the set. Just an experiment. I used 8 different types of knots on this set just to see how they worked. Rectangular cores instead of round, regular off the spool from Springfield leather and such. It was fun. Joel

Goldshot Ron Thanks. I worked at making everything match as close as possible. I'll know how they work in a few days with regards to if there are enough buttons and the weight is right. I think they will be close. My fingers are fine, but my eyes are getting old. Ha ha. My wife gave me a pair of her magnifying glasses she uses for sewing, and it was much easier to see when making the knots. So she said I could keep the glasses and I have. Joel

Thanks rcsaddles & Miss KamiKaze. It was an learning adventure building this set. It took me about a month to build them. But, I only worked on them when I had spare time, so I really don't know the actual build time. Megabit, The grape color was just some I had left over from another project. I ran out and couldn't get any more, so grape is out for the future. ( although I do have some dark purple). The flap on the end of the romal is painted with paint I had colored to match the grape. Since it was a learning experience for me I used what I had handy just for fun. The next set will be more common earth tones. Joel

Thanks for the replies, curlyjo and bucksnort. The pattern in the braid is just a pattern I worked out so it would be different than what I've usually seen. I'm going to braid another set and it will be more traditional. At least for me. I do like to do things a little different. Joel

Ok, here is my first venture into the rein & romal area of braiding. I know they aren't prefect, but I just had to try a set. The kangaroo lace I got from Springfield leathers. I sized width and leveled the strings only. The core is some English bridle leather I had around my shop and it I'd cut 1/8 square for the reins,and 1/8 by 1/4 for the romal( It gives the romal on oval shape instead of round). The reins are 8 plat and the romal is 12 plat. White saddle soap was used as the lube.

I don't know what to say that hasn't been said already, but I'm saying it anyway. Joel

Nice job! Are you going to braid a necklace to go with it? Joel

[Playing Devils advocate], sort of. So say I need a tree, and I have heard of this tree builder from a friend or associate. I hear they are pretty nice trees, but other than that I have no info. So I look on their web site, but,,I cant find a price. Surely price is a starting point for most tree buyers? So,,It would be nice if there were some type of price referenced. Now I look around the web site, but it is so shy of info about their trees. So why would I want to buy something from a web site with minimum info about their product being offered? Where's the pride in their product? The lack of, ( hey look what we have to offer!) info, not provided, almost makes one think, hey, maybe they aren't interested in web page business. Naw, why would they have a web site if they didn't want to sell trees? But it is a pretty clean site. Well pretty minimalist I should say. [/Playing Devils advocate] Now being a occasional builder of saddles I can somewhat see what they are offering. Some what. The site just needs a lot more info. Joel

LTC you got a link to that video so we can see what you are referring to? Joel

Where's the fringe? Joel

Very nice. The eyelets give it an non average look. But holy moly that's a lot of eyelets! Did you have any problem with the close approximation of the eyelets to each other? Joel

Yeah, some customers are just a pain in the backside. Pretty nice seats for your first time.! Joel

I choose bridle leather. Although you could also use veg tan, or even latago. Although you would have to buy it already black if you use latago or bridle. Veg tan you can dye it yourself. Joel

You can never have to many saddle making reference books. Well maybe you can, but a good assorted collection always seems to come in handy for me. Heres a link to the Harry Adams book -->> http://www.saddlemakersshopmanual.info/Introduction.html I didn't pay as much for it as this link wants, but it it a good book to have. Joel

Just saw this one Bob. Very nice work. That padding looks real soft. All that tooling makes my head hurt just thinking about the tension to not make a mistake. Lots of bling too I see. Very nice! Joel