Josh Ashman

Mac, Personally I like 16" seats in both slick fork and swell fork saddles. I'd say there's probably a little more room in a slick fork until you put bucking rolls on it then it may fit a little tighter than a swell fork but that's a very generalized statement. The size and shape of the swell or bucking roll would play a pretty big part as would the shape of the slick fork (short and stout like a more modern type wade or taller and leaner like an old time slick fork). I'm 6'-1 or so and try to keep under 210 lbs, I've been riding a saddle I built for about 2 years now it has a 15-1/2" finished seat and decent sized bucking rolls. There's things I wished I'd have done better on the saddle but I really like the size of the seat and the size and shape of the bucking rolls. I've been starting a 3 year old gelding this spring and he's a little bucky, nothing too hard to stick mostly straight ahead jumps and kicks but he moves around pretty good. I feel like my saddle helps me stay on top with him. Here's a picture of the horse and saddle, I'm sure you'll get different opinions from somebody else, everybody's a little different. Good luck, Josh

Thanks guys! Best regards, Josh

That looks really nice CW! Great job, Josh

Thanks Doug! I measure with a cloth tape to where the center of the rings should be for the front and back piece then rivet/snap the heel strap in place. If I don't have the persons boots I'll just use one of my wife's or daughter's that's close to the same style. Seems like 7-1/2" center of ring to center of ring on the front and 8-1/2" center to center on the back works for the chunky roper type boots. I add 1-1/2" overall to allow for riveting to the rings. For the heel strap I rivet one side and fit it in place to determine where to place the snap. Best regards, Josh

Thanks Jake!

Thanks guys! I am happy with how the color turned out too. When I was applying it I got a little nervous, it was super blotchy and appeared way too dark around the holes and edges but it mellowed out a little by the time it had dried out and two light coats of NF evened it out just about right. Thanks again, Josh

Thanks! I started off making them with a buckle on the outside, then rings on both sides with the heel strap riveted on both sides and now have switched to putting a snap on one side so you can take them off if you want. This also works better for giving them as gifts since you don't need the boots to rivet them on. I think I got the idea from 80's rock bands, I'm sure Bret Michaels has something similar on his boots Best regards, Josh

I built one of these a while back for my daughter. Just something fun to wear on her boots, kinda like spurs but easier to walk around in. They turned into a family hit, now all of the girls young and not quite so young in my family have at least one... Thanks for looking, Josh

HO 10/11 for the belt, billet, chape and holster with bullet loops out of HO 6/7 (it's a little thick but I had it on hand). Fiebings medium brown mixed with british tan then cut a little with alcohol. Thanks for looking, Josh

I use it a fair amount but mostly just on items that are only oiled. I agree with Eric in that if you use it on dyed stuff it'll lift the dye and dirty up your thread, it'll also streak your dye. I have carefully wiped a LIGHT layer on with a paper towel let that dry, buffed then put on a second coat and had minimal dye transfer but it's definitely an issue. If I apply it over something that just has NF oil then I use a scrap of sheep skin with the wool cut down as short as possible, let dry for at least half a day and buff. Good luck, Josh

My 2 cents is that if you want to make sure you're not crossing any lines find out where the ATF office is that covers the area you're in and check with them. I am not an NRA instructor nor any other kind of instructor, my dad however is a firearms dealer and has been for the past 40 some years. He goes to gun shows all over the western states and can guarantee you that the ATF's rules/laws are interpreted differently from one ATF office to another. If they can't keep there own rules straight or make sense of them it is pretty much impossible for holster makers, firearms dealers or even the NRA to keep them straight. Camano Ridges advise to check with them and get a letter saying you're OK is your best bet. To be honest if it were me and somebody I knew wanted a one off purse holster I'd probably just build it and move on with life but I wouldn't try to make a line of them or do a lot of advertising without going through the ATF. Good luck, Josh

Hey Rick, I got mine from Springfield Leather. They used to have it pretty cheap, around $12 per piece and when I was there a few weeks ago what they had was more like $24 per piece. The girl helping me said the cheaper stuff they had before was a lower grade and that the more pricey stuff they have now is generally nicer. Good luck! Josh

Thanks for sharing your thoughts D Fingers, I'm sorry if I put you on the spot for doing so. Lobo, thanks for sharing your thoughts as well. Best regards, Josh

Thanks Haystacker & Robert, I appreciate it! Thanks Frank, I'm glad to hear it's working for you. How bad do you want to share Lobo's how-to's??? Josh

That's a good lookin' saddle and mule Bob! Thanks for sharing. Josh

Thanks Big O, suede straps sounds like a good idea. D Fingers, but how do you really feel? Sounds like you had a bad experiance with horse but there are a lot of very experienced makers that seem to like it. I wonder if the piece you tried was the horse equivelent of belly leather or possibly it wasn't tanned with the intent of making holsters (maybe oil tanned or something like it). I'll make one for myself and draw my own conclusion, seems like that always works out best. FYI, as far as premium pricing for substandard materials, the horse I used came from SLC and cost $24. It wasn't the cheap stuff, and the butt I got seemed pretty nice. Between the holster, mag pouch and harness I pretty well used the whole piece. I charged $120 for the rig which was built for a repeat customer, a new customer would have been charged a little more. I think he got a fine deal. In addition I made him aware that it was my first go around with horse and we work together, if there's any problem with it holding up it'll be asy to make it right. I don't think there's anything disengenuous abot that, do you? Best regards, Josh

Aurelie, I cut the first line then use it as a guide to score the 2nd line with my dividers, then i cut that line. I have a ceramic beader blade I got from Tandy's and it seemed to drag too much for me too. My bead lines usually turn out OK but the ones on the cantle back are a little rough, for what it's worth the picture makes them look worse . Thanks for the encouraging words! Josh,

Thanks Frank & Samalan! D Fingers, I really liked the horse for this application. It's light, stiff and from what I've seen and heard so far pretty dang durable. I'm hoping to make a personal concelead carry holster and try it out for a while myself before making any more for sale. Why don't you like it? Lobo, just giving credit where it was due, thanks again for sharing your experience! Best regards, Josh

I think it looks great, nice work. Josh

I understand what you mean Aurelie and I wish you luck on your project ! Josh

Aurelie, I relined a set of skirts once with the synthetic stuff, that was about 3 years ago for a guy who rides once or twice a month. I ran into him the other day and he said everything was holding up great. I haven't used it since and can't imagine a reason I'd use it on a saddle I was building. I have however owned several "production" saddles that have synthetic sheepskin, two of them (Billy Cook Classic Rancher bought in 2004 and Saddle Barn Wade bought in 2007) have been used quite a bit and they seem to be holding up just fine. By quite a bit I mean 3 to 4 rides a week most every week of the year. I also had a saddle with a Ralide tree, it was built by a novice maker who didn't stamp his work. I picked it up in the local feed store when I was in UT. Anyway, I used it for a few years and it worked fine. If I was in your situation, trying to build a lightweight barrel saddle, I might consider it. Maybe someone who's built on one can give you some better input or a quality barrel saddle builder can give some ideas on keeping weight down. Good luck, Josh