JAM

Rob, Thanks very much for the detailed pictorial/tutorial - it's terrific! Question: Your cutting/beveling tool - did you make that, or buy it? It looks perfect for the job - how can I find/get one or make one? Julia

Thanks, JW.

Does anyone know where I can find a new blade for a Snell & Atherton #3 heelshave? Julia

Here are some pix that might help - left to right they are: antique Osborne pricking wheel, size 6 (from Bob Douglas) antique Osborne pricking wheel, size 5 (from Bob Douglas) Horseshoe Tools size 6 very old Craftool size 5 modern interchangeable Tandy size 6 The Horseshoe is the one I use most often - it gives good definition, is comfortable to use, and gives the deepest track impression, as you can see (sort of) in the view of the tracks on end. The pricking wheels are great for marking but don't do an overstitch for cleanup after you sew. Julia

Steve, I, too, want to add my thanks for your excellent tutorial. It is really helpful, and cutting the holes after fitting the seat is interesting - makes sense, can't wait to try it. Julia

Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for!

Hi, all, There seem to be a hundred ways to fit a seat (talking full seats), from reinventing the wheel each time to following a personal template and procedure every time. I'd like to know how you guys fit your seats, e.g., do you cut the seat buttons on a straight line or on an angle? Where do you measure for them? how do you incorporate different half-circle punch cuts to make them even and perfect? How do you choose a line for cutting around a slick fork (is that just a design thing)? I've got most of the books - they each have a slightly different method - and Dale H's video - but it doesn't show his exact measurements/angles for laying out the seat button cuts. I know this is a mish-mash question, so any techniques on laying out seats would be helpful. Thanks! Julia

That is the single most important thing I have learned about saddlemaking! Thanks for encapsulating it.

Thanks, Bruce - Lots more techniques to add to my arsenal of resources and to try. What I'm finding with Bill Howe's technique (rough-cut, soak, and shape the leather pieces and let them all dry together on the tree, then take them off, wet and glue the first one on, skive and shape while wet, let dry, then soak with VERY thin contact cement and let dry completely, six coats of the thin cement, then repeat for each of the next layers), is that I end up with a three-layer seat that's hard as wood and waterproof, and shaped as comfortable as I can get it. I haven't been able to get my seats that comfortable when I use a tin strainer - but that's probably a reflection of my skills as much as anything. It's a longer process than yours, but I tend to dither about the shape, so I don't mind the extra time. I haven't noticed any problems with the layers drying and not fitting together. (The three layers aren't really three full layers - they are the strainer layer, a half-layer across the handhole, stirrup slots, and front buildup, and the final layer over the whole seat). What I really like about the leather strainers is that I can put a slight arch into the entire underside of the strainer while it's wet, and that arch dries into the seat and helps maintain the stability. It also makes a little more airflow under the saddle, kind of a tunnel, that I cannot get with a metal strainer which arches in front but necessarily flattens out when it begins its curve down into the seat and up to the cantle.

I agree, Dale Harwood is likely one of the best, but there are many at the top of that list and they don't all use tin seat strainers. Each "top" saddlemaker does things his/her own way for his/her own reasons borne of long experience - things like rubber cement or contact cement for skirt linings? Machine stitching or two-needle handstitching? Tool the seat housing/cantle binding/horn cap on or off the saddle? Cut saddle pieces dry, or wet/case them first? And - metal or all-leather seat strainers? It's insulting to many long-time outstanding saddlemakers to imply that only lesser saddlemakers would use all-leather strainers (because "The BEST makers use seat tins/strainers."). Thus my query "How do you define "best"?" Do the BEST have saddlemaking videos and so you've heard of them? (Yep, video saddlemakers tend to use metal seat strainers). If you haven't ever heard of someone, does that make them less than the best? Does not using metal strainers by definition make one less than the best? Debating the pros and cons of seat strainer construction is really useful, but implying that there's only one right way to construct a ground seat isn't so useful. Regards, Julia

Just curious - how do you define "best"?

Thanks - that is exactly what I wanted to know.

I really like the Horween "Little Big Horn" burgundy latigo from Sheridan Leather. It's darker, and feels "waxier" and "fuller. And so far no nasty hard spots like I've gotten in some Weaver hides. Julia

Has anyone used Proleptic's concho turners? Concho turners If so, do they work? If not, are there any techniques for getting conchos screwed in tight and flat on the saddle (especially in tough spots like under a Cheyenne roll ledge?) Thanks, Julia

I've been collecting old overstitch wheels (eBay, Douglas, etc - Osbornes are my favorite of the old ones) but my favorite of all is my #6 Horseshoe (Jeremiah Watt) - he makes the whole series of sizes, $55 apiece. http://www.ranch2arena.com/stitchmarkers.html Julia

Hi, I've tuned in a little late here, but I'm in the process of building an all-leather ground seat right now, and following the pictorial "Buckaroo" tutorial that was posted online by Bill Howe - it's gone now, but I copied it out into a Word doc, and have attached the first ten pages (the ground-seat part) here. The big difference I see is that he shapes and then thoroughly seals each layer of the ground seat before starting the next layer - the result is a ground seat that's really firm but still feels a lot more comfortable than a metal-strainer seat. It takes a very long time - it's not for the quick-turnaround shop. Also he starts with a three-part bar-riser that I neglected to use - I contacted him with questions and he chewed me out for not following his instructions and using the bar riser , but then told me he learned to make saddles without the bar riser and a lot of leather-seat makers do it that way (I feel a little better now) but he changed how he did it and began using the bar risers because it made more sense. And it does - I'll do it his way next time. Anyway, here is the document (the ground seat part) that was posted at www.buckarooguide.com. I hope this works - I haven't attached a Word document before.

My two-cents worth: For shears, I started out with the Tandy shears and thought they were fantastic - until I got a pair of Gingher shears. They are light-speed ahead of the Tandys. They cut everything like butter - they are expensive (I think they were $60 at the local fabric store) but if you like to cut leather with scissors, they are worth every penny. Julia

My collection - I go from one to another until each one is less-then-sharp, then sharpen all of them at once. They are: Three Jeff Cooks - love them best - especially the tiny one - it's my bench knife and I use it all the time. The long, narrow one is good for cutting tiny curves, especially in lightweight leather. A Bill Buchman that I got recently from someone on the forum. It's pretty good, but not my favorite (the shape is not so easy for me). I'd ordered new ones from him, but nine months later I contacted him to see where they were and he told me his shop had burned down, so I don't think he'll make any more. An ancient, pitted Gomph from eBay that I ground down to try it as a skiver (works okay, but not the best). An Osborne and a Weaver - of the two, I like the Weaver best - it came super sharp and is reasonable to use but doesn't hold an edge as long as the Cooks. A vintage, unmarked knife from eBay - I took the handle off to play with reshaping it, but got busy with something else and didn't finish. And my most recent, coolest, most unusual knife - a flat-bottom skiver from Joe Breti. LOVE this - it skives beautifully. I had a Horseshoe (J Watt) - bought it on eBay and sold it again on eBay - it just never cut very well for me - I couldn't keep it sharp. I've been saving up for a Dozier - good to know it's as good as I think it will be. Julia

Okay, my rounder is gone now - ArtS got it. Julia

Art, I haven't heard from anyone else yet, so if you want it, drop me a private message. Julia

Hey, Noah, did you ever find a rein-rounder? I just now found this thread, and I've got a Weaver I'd love to sell for maybe $50. It's in great condition - I even smoothed the holes - but I found a really old, better one (for a ton of money) from the Douglas's vintage tools collection, and don't need the Weaver any more. It's the one that screws down, the more expensive one in the catalog. Julia

Well, Ed, now you've done it. I thought I was done buying tools for awhile - but I have been looking for these very knives for some time! Thank you for finding them at a reasonable price!

Apples to oranges - this is a different tool. The Osbornes are standard round knives - yeah, they work - round knives are what I used to use for large-area skives until I found this one. The flat back and raised handle make it more useful for very controlled skiving (and not at all usable for standard cutting). Do you need one? No. It's a specialized tool that leatherworkers have gotten by without forever because it was only recently "invented" - but I have a lot of specialized tools (like a long-necked cantle-binding trimmer and a turnback edger for tight inner corners) that are fairly new inventions, well-made, expensive, that I don't really need, but make the jobs for which they were designed easier, with better results. Being a toolaholic I don't mind the high price - collecting cool tools is a hobby in its own right and as a hobby it doesn't have to pay for itself. And - I've got an Osborne #70, and two Jeff Cooks (~$200 each), and Bill Buchman ($200), and a Weaver and a couple of antiques. I use them all - go from one to another as they dull - and they expensive ones are worth it - they sharpen up better and stay sharp longer than the $45 Osborne. I probably sound irritated here, but I'm not - I'm just defending my way-too-expensive hobby. Julia

Could. Maybe the best way to do that is go buy a draft for $240 CD and hold it until he finishes the knife - that would be the gamble, wouldn't it?

$240 Canadian was $187 US when I paid for it - that certainly made it more affordable. It would be $195 US at this morning's exchange rate - I guess it's a gamble because you don't know what the rate will be when he finishes the knife and sends the bill. Julia