steve mason

do a search, there is already a long thread that a bunch of us posted how we do inlays, if you search under 'inlaid seats' or in my past posts you should be able to find it. Steve

glad to hear the saddle has worked well for your customer JW, thanks for the update. Steve

they have sold the saddle, it came from double h

Billy I have repaired and seen many saddles over the years that have had brass hardware wear outn both on riggin rings and other dees and buckles etc, i have yet to see any stainless hardware wear out. As I stated Borks and harwoods are not brass hardware they are maganese bronze so they will wear fine. But there is many other riggin hardwar available that is made of brass and will wear out if the saddle is rode and cowboyed out of like most the saddles I build are. If brass riggin hardware suits you and your saddles thats fine, but it a no go in my shop. I do use brass hardware in some cases since it is all I can find in certain buckles ,dees, rings etc. Steve ps;thanks for the compliments on the 8 string saddle, and I just reread my post here and I hope it does not come across as offensive as that is not how is sounds in my head while I type, but you can't read emotion in typing on these darn keyboards.

I also agree it is worth the $$$ as you are paying for more than just the instruction, you are also paying for his years of experiance and knowlege. Steve

Justin; I see that you are local, if you like some time give me a phone call for a visit, sometime when I am not to busy (don't know when that is LOL) you can come down for a visit if you like and talk a little saddles. But fair warning, I just had a look at your website and saw your base price, I will be giving you hell for pricing that low. Looks like your using a Nikkel tree, I know what they are worth and what the other costs of a saddle are before you even put any time into it. With that base price you are not getting paid anything for your time after materials and overhead etc. Oh, looks like a gave you hell here . anyways give me a call sometime if you like, my number is on my website stevemasonsaddles.com Steve

http://www.aaronmartin.com/

Chris has takenover harwood hardware which is the best hardware available at this time IMO. the watt hardware will work but it is curved away from the horse which I would prefer it not to be, the harwoods are not curved. the rivet holes in the harwoods are even from one side to the next, the borks are not always even which makes installing them a little more difficult. the harwoods rivet holes are also made for a #8 rivet. In regards to the brass/bronze issue or stainless steel, stainless is the hardest of the three and they will last the longest,manganese bronze is a much harder steel than brass, brass will wear out to fast if the saddle sees a lot of use, borks are made from manganese bronze. Do not buy riggin hardware that is made from brass. chris has a website www.cheneycustom.com there is a link for harwood hardware Steve

Howdy Lamplog; First off, for your first saddle, wow awesome job!!! Nice balanced lines and pretty clean work overall, but enough atta boys,LOL I am assuming you posted for some constructive critisism. So here goes, -make you curved lines curved with no straight sections and nice and even, looking at the rear jockey line there is a bobble in the flow of the line, try keep these curves as smooth as possible. -the front seat jockey is a little to high, it should balance with the rear jockey line -try to keep the cantle binding edge an even distance with the leading edge of the cantle, it looks like yours is close to the edge on the corners then a little farther back on the top of the cantle, this just gives a cleaner look to the bind -from looking at your second photo it appears as if the skirts and not screwed to the front gullet edge, this will help sucure the skirts to the tree. -OK another atta boy!! you did an awsome job on the ears, IMO this is where many saddle makers fail, your ears are very nice and tight and clean. -I would like the see the rope strap buckle strap a little shorter, I prefer the buckle as close to the seat edge as possible so there is no chance that your rope can catch the buckle when you are taking your wraps. -the hobble carry appears to be canted forward a little, and the leather hanger on the hobble ring could be a little wider. You are definatly on the right track, IMO there are many full time makers whom should take a look at your saddle and pull up their socks. And by using true custom trees from folks like the Nikkels will only make your next saddle better, there is some many little details that go into a custom tree that makes the job of building the saddle easier. Steve

here is a pearson for sale in halifax pearson 6

Great topic, it's been a fun and educational read. For my take on this topic, I will and have "gave" some info out over the years, I have not "sold" it nor do I plan on selling it in the future. I am very carfull of who I "give" my teaching to, for a couple reasons, the first being that I have spent over 20 years of blood, sweat, and tears learning this craft and art. Therefore my knowlede has a value to it, I don't want to sell that knowledge but I am damn carefull to whom I give it to. I have had guys come into my shop and only have a visit, then sometime down the road I hear about them telling thier customers that they have had instruction from me, that's the last they will see of my shop. I have also had some people coming into my shop because they say they want to learn, then they spend all day telling me how to build a saddle, again no need for them to come back either. So I need to be very carfull when I choose someone to teach, because the info has value and my time has value, after all I am not a hobby maker this is how I make my living. I do not worry about them being competion as I like competion, it makes me a better saddle maker buecause I have to be to stay in business. So, I have to read the "want to be" student before I start giving away info and spending my time with them istead of working on my orders. this can be difficult to do in a short period of time, I think the best route a new maker can do is first cultivate a friendship with a maker and then try start the learning process, instead of showing up thinking you have the right to be taught. I think this may be why some makers arn't very willing to teach new students as it can be a waste of their time and knowlege when they should be working to pay their mortage. It is their knowlege that has value to it so they need to be carefull of whom they give it to. Just my two cents worth on the topic. Steve ps; I think in this day and age it is as easy as it has ever been to learn the craft and art of saddle making, this forum and others are great to learn from, there are some great dvd's out there, and there are so many websites from great saddle makers, you can look at these sites and learn so much from that alone. And there is so many hobby maker and profesional one man shops out there that you can befiend and learn from, no big closed doot shops like in the past. Unfortunatly there just are not any shops big enough now days to aprentice under like there was in years gone by, so an appenticeship may be pretty hard to find now.

Billy; I stitch on a person, one of the best machines there is IMO, but nothing on this world can make as mad as a sewing machine that don't stitch right when I know it can. Ben; I have been using richards silver since he started, we went to High School together.

thanks for your comments, troy; swoper, LOL. I used the "sam stag studs" from tandy, I first used them on a pair of cuff I made a few years ago, I made the cuff with a rolled edge planning on putting a snap on them, the rolled edge was in the way so a snap would not fit, out of desperation I tried these studs or else I was going to junk the cuffs. Since then, the studs are all I use on cuffs, they have worked out great, now a few other makers around are using them with sucess also. Ben; the silver is by Richard Brooks From High River, Alberta, a very talented silversmith/bit & spurmaker. the buckle on the chaps is an envgraved steel buckle with a silver inlay. I will post photos with more of richards work below. Andy & Denise; the name swade kinda came up as a joke, glen and I were wondering what to call the tree, we said it was a swell fork wade, then joking said swade, both laughed about it and the name stuck, so swade it is.

I have not posted any photos on here for quite a while so here is some work I have made the last while. Steve

to solve the wet cinch problem, get 2 cinches then you can dry one out if you are riding every day. I know cowboys around here that ride every day in wet conditions that have 4-5 cinchs to make sure they always have a clean dry chinch on their horse. 5 would not be neccesary for you but 2 might help you out.

Awesome Dude!!!

thanks everyone, Hilly; I will see if I have a good photo of the oak leafs. tdwarburton; an 8 button seat is when there is 4 leather buttons and strings on each side of the saddle, have a look at photos of old saddles, lots are 8 buttons, most modern saddles are 6 button. Bobby; I wrapped the vines around the border on the jockeys and going up the billets which you can't see in the photos, the ring is for hobbles. thanks again all for the comments. Steve

I have a few tools made from Elton, he is doing some nice work. I have a edge slicker, a maul and a couple veiners, here is some carving using eltons tools, the veiner in the stickers and the wiggler veiner in the leaves elton made.

Howdy;Here is a wade I just finshed. Dime corner square skirts, 8 button seat and exposed leathers, inlaid padded seat. Basket/carlos border, california rose and oak leaf accorn combo carved. Silver is made by Richard Brooks. And a pair of 27" taps I made a while back. Steve

Darc; again you have made a VERY nice clean balanced classy looking saddle. Steve

wet saddle blankets will break in a saddle better than anything.

I agree with Darcy, I will not use the 550 rings with riders with short inseams, a couple other things to consider with short inseams is the depth of your seat jockey, you don't want the bottom of the jockey sitting right under the knee joint,another thing is the drop on your fenders, for shorter fender also shorten up the drop on the fender. Steve

Justin, my rule of thumb with that riggin hardware is as follows; the bottom of the ring is 6 1/2" below the bottom of the bar edge, with 777 hardware 6 1/4" Steve

I sew them, just makes a cleaner smoother finished saddle IMO.

Just wondering what you have against canadians? from your listing " Absolutely no shipping out of the USA! "