mulefool

It's great to hear the perspectives on the different tapes and DVDs. I'm seriously considering the Harwood DVD. I'd like to learn more of the things that make a good saddle a great saddle. Also very interested in how he makes his ground seat. I guess one of the things that made me a little leary was it seemed like the attitude of the distributer was just "Look, it's by Dale Harwood, you don't need to know anything else" I'm suggesting that anyone that sells ANYBODYS video could probably sell more by putting an outline and maybe a few snippets of video on the internet. At least to suspicious buggers like me.

Hey Mike, thanks for posting the information. It sounds like it would be worth the money, and I'll probably spring for the set when I get some extra cash.

I've seen some older saddles with felt. I heard somewhere that during WW2 sheepskin was in short supply or used for the troops for something, so they had to do relines with felt. Not sure if it's true.

Non Driller

I use a clear ruler and a rotary cutter. I run a light line with my fingernail to where I want the top of the cut to end so that the cuts are all in a straight line. I cut from the outside of the leg to the inside. I really like using the clear ruler to run the cutter against because I can clearly see how wide I am cutting. I cut the pie shapes out too when I get to bottom on the chinks. I usually do it one small pie for every 2 fringes I cut. the end of the fringe on the side of the leg ends with a point because you're cutting at an angle, but the fringe across the bottom is straight on the end. When I do an Idaho twist on it I started pointing the ends of all the fringe so I could pull it through the slit easier. I thought that looked kind of pleasing, so now I do that sometimes even if they don't want an Idaho twist.

Real nice. Looks like you think outside the box, but they don't come off as weird. Workmanship is very clean, too. Nice job.

I use Montana Pitch blend for waterproofing. I like it and it smells like Christmas. I believe it's a combination of pine pitch, mink oil and beeswax.

I run the grain side over the tree. I twist and wrap all mine. I've heard it called "Wyoming twist" and "Hamley twist".

Looks real nice. I've got a couple of Bob Douglas groovers. They're sure nice. What sewing machine do you have?

Wow, that's really nice. I'm wondering as well how you did that. I had an order for a watch strap once and I said never again. It was so dang SMALL, it was really hard to work with, course I'm used to big stuff. That's just real nice and unique, I've never seen anything like it.

Boy, you've really got everything working for you, excellent composition and clean execution. Really nice. you know I don't know the first thing about motorcycles and I had no idea of the things folks did with the seats until I joined this board. There's some incredible work out there. Next time I see a bunch of those things parked at the local cafe, I'm gonna go over and check them out.

I have built saddles and related equipment for a living for over 20 years. Due to my own lousy bookkeeping and record keeping skills I actually have managed to lose track of how many but I do know it would be over 100. My special niche is pack saddles and related equipment and I really market to mule people because it can be hard to find those special mule items, and I just plain like mules and mule people. I've tried to develop my pack saddles with the same qualtiy of materials and attention to detail and craftmanship that you would expect in a custom saddle. About 6 or 7 years ago I cut way back on the number of custom saddle orders I took and a few years I didn't take any. I'm just so much more efficient on the pack saddles and other stuff than I am on the saddles. I really fret too much on them and was just getting a little burned out. Now I might take a couple orders a year to do over the winter when the other stuff is slower, and I have been able to just take orders that appeal to me. The rest of the year I love doing fancy chinks and chaps, headstalls and martingales, etc. to satisfy the desire for something on the artistic side.

This is where I got my mannequin. www.northwestmannequins.com. This was about 15 years ago, at that time all he had were old used ones. Seems like the old ones are best. The new ones are kind of weird looking.

I bet those taps hold up good. To display my chaps I went to a used mannequin store. That was a trip. Imagine this house chock full of naked people. Anyway I got a half man from the waist down for about $40. He works pretty good for display at shows and also for taking pictures on. We call him Dwight. One day my friends cow dog came into the shop wanting someone to throw him a stick. He dropped the stick at Dwight's feet and sat there waiting. Hey, Bud, you're gonna be waitin awhile there!

I started to read that article in the journal, too. Notice I said "started". Couldn't keep with it. Although I do like the idea of being an employee with a wage tied to how many hours I work. That'd be a new one for me.

Well, isn't that the best kind of deal? Where everybody thinks they got the best part? Honestly I couldn't tell what you were unhappy about, but sounds like you've got another chance to make it the way you want, so that's great.

Could you give us a little more info? Or is there a website with more info? How is it set up? Does he make a saddle from start to finish, can you tell us what is covered? How many hours is it? Maybe there is something out there that gives this info, but it would be cool to maybe see a little youtube-like clip or something that gives you some idea of what you are getting. I don't doubt there is 400$ worth of knowledge but before I would plunk that down I'd just like a review or something.

That's true. My granddaughter has made belts, bracelets, bookmarks and gosh knows what else for all her friends and family. She loves it. Maybe THAT'S who should be makin the coasters!

While I kind of agree with the concept of "no such thing as scrap" and sure I can think of things to do with it, when I'm running behind on custom orders when is there the time to sit down and work on things I don't have an order for and am not sure will sell? "Sorry your custom saddle isn't done yet, I needed to make some coasters to get rid of all that darn scrap" LOL I guess I just generate it faster than I can keep up with it. I didn't know Tandy leather Factory would buy scrap. I've got Hermann Oak scrap so maybe I'll give them a call.

I'd be interested in hearing how you guys deal with the scrap you generate. There's just so many slobberleathers, spur straps, bucking rolls, etc you can sell. So I still end up with alot more than I want. I have donated some to groups like the Boy Scouts. One I donated some to the prison. But I'd really like to sell it. How do you guys deal with yours?

Excellent tips on having an efficient shop Steve. Especially the beer fridge. I'm always more efficient with a couple cool ones. On my polyethylene table tops, yes I do flip them around until there's nothing left before getting a new one. The last 4X8 sheet I bought was around $125. For my carving I use a 3"X18"X24" granite machine shop surface plate. I beleive I paid $80.00 for it 10 years ago. Before that I used a tombstone, too, til I broke it in half. It is inset flush with the top of my carving bench. I have a drawer with holes I can just drop the tools into. I find I always end up standing while I carve so the top is just the right height for me to stand, although I do have a chair the right height if I want to sit down. I should probably take some pics in my shop to share, I can demonstrate some of the "don'ts" of a well organized shop for you all. I don't know if this should go under a seperate topic, but I'd sure like to find a better form of lighting. For my carving bench I've got a regular light on one side and a halogen light on the other, but still can't seem to avoid shadows. The overhead lighting is all flourescent, but I'd sure like to get one of those really good lights like they have in the doctors office on a stand with a gooseneck for working on saddles.

I agree with you barra, I want to know the content of the DVD first. I certainly know that Dale Harwood has $400 worth of knowledge for me, but is the stuff I'm most interested in knowing in the DVD? Maybe when it's ready they will put alittle more info in the advertising. For $400 I want specific information, not just a philosophical interview about saddles, although that would be interesting.

I never thought I liked carving til I saw a Ray Holes saddle back in the 70's. I was going to mention Rick Bean for his figure carving.

I really like how you put the flowers in the corners. Makes it more interesting than just a 90 degree.

Haven't seen anything yet, but I'm looking forward to it, too. I haven't called on it yet, I haven't seen a price on it .