Alan Bell

Thanks for the help Bob, I do have Likewise book and I can see it in my mind but am having trouble translating it to paper or leather. And yes it was great to watch Jay and he does push the swivel a lot. He told me that when he started with Billy Cook for at least a year he just beveled the design in an assembly line and then he was the back grounder and so on until he had eventually done it all! That is years and years of experience right there!! I took a picture of the original drawing next to the tooled fender and I can see a few things; my flower template is bigger than my actual flower (I cut a cardboard template for the drawing and used a tap off for the leather), ;the second flower inside the vine should have the vine swirl all the way around it and should be growing off towards the upper left not towards the upper right.; my flowers shooting out should have more leaves or swirls maybe even going past the flower a bit to fill the spaces; my middle leaf should be curved the other way and not the same as the other two leaves. These things I see now and I guess I need to do as suggested and shade the back ground on the drawing and spend a little more time looking or REALLY looking at the drawing BEFORE committing to leather! Thank a million!! Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Since there were some questions about scarfslides I thought I'd post some pictures of the last couple I made a while back. the dark one is horse rawhide and the light one is calf. I used the leather collar on a mandrel for both. Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

I don't get Leather Crafters right now. But I'll try and find someone who does and see if I can get a copy of the article. Thanks! Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

On 'roo you bevel the flesh side or the bottom side and it can be done with a sharp knife by hand or you can use a black skiver VERY carefully or if you have a lace cutter they often come with an edge beveler. Also, if you are not then you should try casing the 'roo even if it is just applying a bit of saddle soap to the strings letting hem set to absorb some moisture and then braiding. It will help keep the braid tight and smooth out your work. you could even take the saddle soap to the finished product, case it and then roll it or pull it to smooth things out and even the braid up a bit. Vaya con Dios, Alan bell

Thanks Gregg and Ben I guess genius minds think a like and somehow I never thought of that! (What does that tell you?) I had Jay Gore try and help me a little and he was telling me that "You'll find it MUCH easier to just do the tap offs and fill in the blank" and he does it with his swivel knife!! I watched him work and sat on my hands for a week, I was afraid to touch a piece of leather! I will still continue to practice doing it that way on some scrap leather but I find it pretty hard with a drawing on paper as you can tell. I know it will get easier and that is why I figured I might as well go ahead and try it. I can say I've seen far worse than mine being sold in saddle shops by folks that seem to not mine fleecing the public! (Maybe they don't know any better). I figured that with all the folks on this board to help me I might actually turn out a half way decent tooled saddle IF I don't run out of hides!!!! Thanks and remember...........We're building this saddle TOGETHER. Ain't it a BEAUTIFUL word. Say it again with me.....TOGETHER!!! VAYA CON DIOS MI AMIGOS, ALAN BELL

Bob, Thanks for the input!! I guess you are seeing what I am seeing too. My problem is I only seem to see it AFTER I've put the design to leather. i draw them out on paper and they seem to look OK then I put then the pattern to leather and once I've completed the tooling is when it starts to look uneven or un balanced or what ever. Since I've only done the stirrup fender maybe I'll chalk this one up as practice, go back to the original drawing and add in the elements you mention. Then I'll post the drawing BEFORE I put it to leather for critique! Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

Here's my first attempt at a fully tooled saddle. This is just the first fender. I've also already done underneath the gullet and the rig plates. Let me know what you think. I already am critiquing myself and my use of positive and negative space and background. I did manage to get the flow going up and the flowers growing out of the vine. It is all my own design and flowers and I stole some of the leaves from my favorite Thai restaurant in Orlando FL! They have a lot exquisite wood carving and it is very inspiring besides the food is great! Anyway back to the fender. I am really trying hard to get this down and am appreciative of anything anyone has to offer!! Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

The other suggestion would be for you to go to either the Leather Factory in your area or some saddle shops and look at the hand tools that are necessary to build a saddle. While you may be able to spend less to build a Hope saddle, especially if it is plain and not stamping or tooling the proper tools for each task will make that task easier. A head knife (and the means to sharpen and strop it) a black skiver, a saddlers hammer, a couple of edge bevelers, some spikes, a scratch awl, A work bench with a surface you can cut the leather on, several hole punches, a draw guage and you probably still need a drawdown stand I think these would be the minimum you can get by with. With the leather, the tree and the tools most of the time your first saddle ends up costing as much as it would to pay someone to do it for you so generally speaking if you are not planning on building more than one saddle it is not cost effective. Depending on your skills and your marketability it takes 5 - 10 saddles to break even on your initial investment. That's a rough guesstimate. You can write or call me if I can help you figure out what you need or help you figure out who to see to figure out what you need! Vaya Con Dios, Alan

The basic one is 1 and 1/2 times the length of the finished braid so for a 6" finished project you need strings at least 9" long. Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

This may or may not make you very happy but.... there is an angle for the width of the strings and the circumference of core you are braiding and at that special angle the length of the strings showing on each "over" section will be the same all the way around your project. If your strings are showing more on one side that the other you will create gaps on the other side and your string width may be correct but you will still create gaps by braiding at the wrong angle. The angle is also affected by the number of times around or "bites" you have. Try looking at that factor as you braid. Experience will tell. Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

If you go back a bit I did one when I did the bosal tutorial. Vaya Con Dios, Alan

You can also go U2, O2, U2 on a 12 strand and that way you are only pulling over 2 strands and maybe it will help it lay a little nicer. I reach under the top two (or 3 or 4 or whatever) on each side as I go and it helps me keep the pattern correct. So I would split between the top 2 and the next two and reach between and around and grab the top string on the opposite side and pull it through. Then 2/3 of the job is done because you will already have an under and over done so you just have to go over the final two. This makes it easier to eventually not feel the need to look at the backside. Vaya con Dios, Alan

Bill Confer will have what you need. Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Hey JW, you would want to have the strings just damp (cased) enough to work with because what happens with wet rawhide is the same as wet leather... you stretch the strings as you pull them and then as they dry they will "shrink" back to the original size. For 1/4" strings you could by the precut unbleached circle cut string from Leather Factory or such and use a 1/4" edge beveler on them. I actually did that when I first started on 1/8" string and it worked! They are in the crafts section and would work for your purpose fine. At 1/4" the strings are usually thick enough that worrying about better parts of the hide is almost mute unless it is on a "working" piece like a reata. For a no moving seam like on a saddle this should be fine! Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

Hey Dennis, I agree with Go2Tex. because of the amount you will spend on the tools and material to build your own saddle the first one cost almost as much as a custom saddle and it may not turn out as good if you do t yourself. Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Hey Oldtimer, you could surely help a bunch of folks starting out if they knew what company made your tree. I don't think it is wrong to let folks know because you are not misrepresenting them, they made the tree the way the felt was best and without sacrificing a tree a lot of us would never know what wood was used or nails vs screws etc. Folks like Rod and Denise have published what wood is used where and why on their trees and I'd imagine other tree makers on this forum would do likewise if asked. It should not be a secret and is almost a need to know item! Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Very nice job Mike, You've made her a lifetime piece she can sure be proud of! That's what it is all about! Vaya Co Dios, Alan Bell

Entiendo, I guess it can be tough living up to your name. (little inside joke) Well, it is hard judging from the pics to see where things went wrong but I notice times where you are not consistent in your pattern and go under or over the wrong number of strings. If you are thinking O1, U2, O2, U1 ETC. and trying to remember the full sequence and then trying to remember the next sequence whether it is the same as the previous one or the enlargement then things can get very confusing. I tend to watch the full pattern build and know that I need to split pairs as I go along. I may "trace ahead" and imagine where my strings need to end up to complete the pattern I am trying to make BEFORE I run the string, this is especially helpful when starting up or down for the next pass to make sure you are getting your string under the correct number to come out in the right spot. The other thing is to know that you are in good company and you should save any knots you cut off. They will be something to look back on and realize how far you've come and also to show others that come after you EXACTLY what it takes to become a good braider! I have a little bucket full of cut off knots and quite a few braiders I know have kept theirs also. I have little doubt that you WILL get this sorted out and WILL go on to be a great braider! Struggling through these things is the best teacher I know of! Mi, entiendes? Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell aka Alonso Campana

100% wool Navajo first choice and then a wool pad 2nd choice. Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Don't forget Bob Douglas also makes awl blades! Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Hey Mort, I just thought of another thing. Your horse or any horse for that matter should not "drop his rear" when you saddle up. I'm not even sure what that means but I imagine that the horse is basically trying to dodge the weight of the saddle and since your saddle does not appear to be very heavy I would guess (from my years of learning about horses and saddles) that your horse has some sort of chiropractic issues and is trying to tell you of this in the only language the horse has. Part of this may have been created by not having a saddle that fits properly and how you sit the saddle can be a contributing factor. Also, when riding on endurance trails over varied terrain how you transverse certain areas can affect this too. The horse will generally give the human its all even when contrary to the horses well being and will do things like lope on the wrong lead when going along a trail that is sideways to a up and down hill and throw its shoulder or hip out just because its rider set it up on the wrong lead. It may have tossed its head or swished its tail and the rider ignored these signals and asked the horse and the horse complied. Not saying you did this just giving examples. If my horses do not stand rock solid for saddling and mounting (I do not like to HAVE to tie a horse to a rail or a hitching post to saddle up) then there is something my horse is trying to tell me. It may just want to hang out with its pasture mates or it may actually have a physical ailment and it is MY JOB to determine what my horse is saying and to respond in the correct manner. Anyways, it may be that no matter the saddle your horse may have other issues that need to be addressed. Just something to consider "for the horse". Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Mort, This is the problem that you are having and that you are now trying to pass on to others that to my estimation have gone above and beyond in their effort to help and guide you with their experience and knowledge. in your last post you stated "Threw my studies I have found very few people have taken the time as I have to learn about the horse and the saddle." You think you know! Well I can assure you that is certainly not the case! AS a matter of fact the opposite is true and QUITE A FEW people have taken the time to learn about the horse and saddle! (and some of them can spell) (LORD, I apologize!) So now I would ask you to quantify your vast studies. How many years have you been studying this issue? How many horses have you studied? How many different breeds? How many different types? How many different types of saddles? I know you can not be exact (unless the numbers are quite small) but just give rough estimations. Hopefully we are not all wrapped up in this deal over you trying to fit this ONE horse! Many on here are lifelong horsemen and makers some have 20 + yrs as gear makers. Some of us still get horseback too and not just logging time but actually wrangling livestock which is what the Western Saddle you are finding so many flaws with was actually designed to do. You should probably be looking towards a top end ENDURANCE saddle. (You probably already knew that because of the time you've taken to study and learn) It's hard to add to a glass that is already full! Vaya con Dios, Alan Bell

Hey Jake, that's a real good lookin' first! I hate to be the bearer of bad news especially if you already have a makers mark but there is an established business here in Texas with that name that has already sold saddles and tack nationally and internationally under 'Bunkhouse Leather'. I'm actually looking at buying the business so when I saw you posting here I thought it was Lew the current owner! I'd hate for you to get to far down the road with the name and realize either that his gear is getting mistaken for yours or vice versa. You might want to run a DBA (doing business as) check or just Google a name and see what comes up or simply market stuff under your name. My gear goes out under Bell's Custom Tack but if I buy the business I will buy the name too and will use both Bunkhouse Leather and Bell's Custom Tack. The first name I came up with I ran into the same thing and there were a couple of guys making virtually all the gear I made including braided gear under the name I had picked but they got there first so I changed and decided to put my name on each piece of gear I make. Not telling you what to do just letting you know the situation. Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

In order to be as consistent as possible you should braid as much as you can in one setting and you should do all of your finishing i.e. rolling, stretching, rubbing or pounding AFTER all the braiding is done. Vaya Con Dios Alan Bell

Hey Mort, I guess we can agree to disagree but just because something is new or different does not across the board make it better and as far as history and science let's just say that I once met a man whose parents had set him on a path. He had never looked at incandescent light. He had never put a metal implement (spoon or fork) in his mouth. He had never drank water that had come out of a pipe. He had never listened to head phones or even talked in a telephone. He had not enjoyed our "modern conveniences"! Yet, in the darkest night when we would need a flash light to him it was like dusk. He could smell different people as they came around him and identify them. He could hear both ends of YOUR conversation on your phone from 5 feet away or so. He was as fit as a marathon runner and probably could have beaten most out there if he had seen a reason to compete but life was not about competition for him. By the time I met him we were both in our 20's yet I dare to say my overall health and fitness was maybe half of his (at least that is how I felt being around him) and I'm in fairly good shape and exercised regularly back then. I'd imagine he's lost very little of what he had because he is not allowing "modern conveniences" or "science" to take away from him what the Creator gave him. To him he is the "real" scientist, he and his parents that started the little experiment. Sorry for the total digression but your statement about science and history brought that to mind and I hadn't thought about it for a while. Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell