Aurelie

Hello guys! Yup, i know.....i have too many questions and i am too curious for my own good.....but i can't help it Maybe someone can give me some explanations about the structure of a Barrel saddle versus a ranch one (for example) Specifically about the skirts , mounting the skirts and the fact there is no back Jockeys (i guess it's all about gainning weight for the speed) but i was wondering : how can you mount the skirts on a barrel saddle tree and NOT HAVE a bulk on the bars at the back? and last question : where can i find pointers about "how to build a barrel saddle" and find all the technical differences? Any book existing? thanks a lot

I am using this for skiving : My link some people have advised me to work with that : steel scrapers My link Is it a good idea ? and if "yes" where can i buy good ones?

Ok guys, I reached a step into saddle building that every "beginner" has come across i suppose still , it's not good for my mind and my self esteem I have learnt to build my ground seat this way : ground bars, strainer, yokes and top yoke i try to work that the nicer possible so that the seat does not sink down where the stirrup straps seat it works rather good most of the times but i encountered some troubles and that bothers me a lot where i finally have troubles is here : red arrow shows roughly where it sinks down on the right side blue one on the left (sorry picture could be better ) it s not directly on top of where the stirrups straps seat (and where expected to sink down) it s just a bit upper and behind them what i did on this saddle is putting some plugs on the ground seat and skived them down so that it got back nicely shaped and smooth surely NOT the best way to fix the trouble but it turned out ok I ve been taught : do your ground seat as nicely as possible as if it was the finished seat I am asking here what am i doing wrong because i am still encountering the same trouble on the saddle i am building I did a 1 st fit of my top yoke (to be sure ) and i felt some suspicious dents (light but still there) under the ground seat Maybe i am turning either parano or i am trying to reach perfection where i should not BUT for me it's not acceptable i ve tried to turn around the problem in my head and can't put my finger on what's wrong.... I know the method works since i already done it but i am starting to wonder if i ve not forgotten something along the line.... Any advice? ideas? Thanks a lot Aurelie

Horn neck = ok it come out rather nice and did not "bother" me as i expected Ground seat almost finished Top yoke cut out and i just have to glue it down took it from a part where leather should be rather thick and firm....and turned out way less firm and thick that what i can have encountered on my other hides..... that black leather really boggles me! i will let you know how it turns out.... scientific test in process about glue here in France, i have a hell of a time to find a cement glue that works good for that one....and i found a new kind of glue that i have to try

Ok !thanks for all those explanations!

Bravo! really nice job!

ok so i guess that i have to solder it to the bolt by myself here is a good job for greg! thx for the reply Keith!

Hello guys, i am "brainstorming" about some "little" things that bother me on my on-going saddle Maybe you can help: see that picture for illustration (took on another thread around here ) my question : How does the conchos is screwed to the "big screw" that runs between the stirrup? I mean : is there a specific trick to do so? Here, in France, i ve got big screws (roughly 5/16") and i ve never seen conchos that can be screwed on this size of screw Any advices and ideas would be welcomed Aurelie

Love it the style the quality

thanks again for all those advices, informations and opinions! i am taking whatever stone i find to build up my wall of knowledge

Ok , thanks a lot for explanations and links From what i understood, those "gaited" horses have a "special" bone structure + 5 gaited (walk, trot, and canter, but also ambling gaits) That's it?

Hello guys and girls Here i have a "translation trouble" I ve seen several times this term "GAITED Horse" about horses or even saddle trees i can't find the right translation in french or even a good explanation in english for this "gaited" term Anyone can explain to me what exactly it is? I ve seen that the bars for a gaited horse saddle tree seems shorter and slightly tipped toward the outside Reminds me of those "Hope" kind of bars mixed with Arabian bars Is that right? I would thanks anyone for giving me more explanation about this

to pull the seat on is one of the most "tricky" and difficult part of saddle making along with the fork cover so, only advice i can tell you : do not rush measure several times cut when you're really sure that everything is ok and cross your fingers that no wrinkles appear when glueing it but the positive part : when you are at the stage of pulling on the seat => you are "almost" finished with your saddle!

:D Cool! that's exactly where i took my parts! i guess i was just not prepared psycholocally to encounter leather stiffer than usual As for the fork cover, i guess that i am going to "play safe" and directly do a welt Not that i am not a gambler but i am limited with my Hides cannot afford to wreck 3 fork covers and 2 seats.....(and odds are that i am going to wreck at least 1 seat .... So better be safe than sorry! Anyway : Thanks a lot for the help!

i ve sent you a message through Ebay

And here the "soap opera" is starting!!! Get your seat belt buckled , i guess some are in for a good laugh! 1st , the pictures, then the story AND the questions! The gullet: A real pain in the butt to set on the tree! and it 's usually something easy and fast to do! It took me 1H and an extra set of hands and i got a kick in the butt from my Hubby because i started swearing like a truck driver (as usual when things do not go the way i like...) AhAhA ....in French and in English : 1 whole sentence without any verbs FYI Here what happened: i prepared it the same way as usually but i felt the leather stiffer than usually At this stage, i became kinda suspicious..... I have 3 drum dyed hides in black H et O Grade A i inspected the 3 of them to see where to find the best part for the Fork cover and the gullet I took it from the most stretchy belly part of all those hides but those hides seems to be really more stiff than natural color ones even saturated and skived the way it should be , i had a hell of a time to stretch it on the swell so i was wondering : - Drum dyed hides are more stiff than natural ones? - Do the dye "harden" the fibers in a way? or Did i end up with a bad "batch" of hides? Have you encountered that kind of troubles? and what's the way to deal with it? Skive the leather? Case it? and now i am "all scared out" about the fork cover!!! If it's too stiff...gonna be even more than hellish to set on the Fork!! Any advise? any opinion on the subject??

I just asked them that...waiting for a reply... Now , you interesting me! "doing myself a rope" => meaning drill the cantle and put a real rope??? or meaning making a rubber one myself? some hints on the process?

Hello guys! i wanted to buy some rope twists from Ralide you know those "rubber waved sticks" to make rope edges on a cheyenne roll I found those only on their website i wanted to know if i could find those elsewhere because the price is fairly decent (around 6 $) but when they told me the shipment fees for France i just fell off my chair!! (128$ by UPS) for 6 poor rubber sticks this + the french customs upon that...and it will cost the price of gold!! i know i am a girl and girls are well know to burn off their credit cards.....but here i reached my limit.... so please, if you could tell me that i can find the same thing elsewhere with decent shippment fees , i would be really really happy!

I am drooling like a rabbid dog while looking at all those nice saddles i really like this style i need to gather as much info as i can regarding the way to build one....and i have to build one!!

You bet! Better make the trip worthes the money! but i really thing that i have more to gain than to lose in this "experience" some saddle makers i met last week here in France told me it was a waste of time and money (i bet they are just jealous, scared that by any chance i do better than what they ve done in the past......héhéhé ) only 1 told me to go and that would be the best way to learn . troubles here in France : most people do not like competition, they won't "share" their ways of doing something for fear that newcomers come around and do better than themselves (totally stupid way of thinking in my mind...) and furthermore, in their mind , a girl can't do as good as a guy (even more stupid!) So imagine what they can think about a girl building western saddles! when i went into Montana to learn how to build saddles , it lasted 6 INTENSIVES weeks ...no time for kidding around! (and if it could have lasted a bit more i could have learnt even more...) when i came back in France some people just replied to me : "Were there nice those vacations???" and they were just not taking my motives seriously so just for all thoses things, i want to build a "decent" saddle (regarding the high level of saddle building in the USA) to prove : 1st : to them that I am a girl and i can do as good as anyone 2d : to have fun myself and be proud of what i am able to accomplish => that one will be the hardest because i always find a lot of "defects" or things i could have done better on all the saddles i have done So time will tell!

don't know... you have to keep away from dust and anything metallic because contact with metal will leave nasty tiny black spots but those are not mold and you can remove with Oxalic acid regarding the "container" used to wet leather, back at saddle school we used to do it in an alumn sink = no troubles here at home i do it in a ceramic tub = no troubles i think i ve seen somewhere on this forum several posts about leather and mold the origins possible + the way to try to remove it search for them but i understood that the mold could "jump" and spread to your other hides in your stock so better be sure from where you got it! AhAh reminds me of a song parody i heard few days ago about mushrooms, mold and nasty things! Yuk! Good luck Gianni

No Keith, it was not in the USA but here in France There were 2 saddles : 1 for Reinning with a crocodile in laid seat and 1 more simple for cutting but i guess it was something like the same process you mentionned! noting that in a corner of my head

Oh! i forgot to ask : about oil the saddle when it's finished last week i had the opportunity to see a beauty of art from Pedro Pedrini with a nice shine as if it was several years old oiled how can i do that? i usually apply several coat of olive oil that darken the leather and i finish with a coat of Skidmore's but the result is not so "fine" as this Pedrini saddle Does it exist other oil or specific products that help to reach that shiny look?

Hello guys! I know some of you will think that i am totally crazy (and i know some around , here do think so) but i've been taught that you learn from your error and even more in saddle making I like having fun and challenging myself so here is the thing: May 2012 , i have planned to go to Sheridan Leather Show At 1st it was to meet suppliers, see really nice saddles and meet some friends and i came out with the following idea : in for a penny, in for a pound => i have to pay plane ticket for myself so why not for a saddle i would have built for the contest??? :D i am a rookie, i am totally aware of this i do not aim a price but i go for fun and in order to learn even more about saddle making i started this thread because i know at some point i will need some advices Here what i ve planned to do : - saddle tree is a Timberline 6 1/2" Old mexico (might be easier to deal with than the last Sid Special i ve done ) - in skirt saddle - straight cantle => here i guess i will ask you some advice (the binding just scare me off) - in laid seat => never done that i ve searched on the forum some info on that and found some but any additionnal advice is welcomed - fork cover : i wanted to try a "slick" one (without welt) i am not sure it's possible , i guess it's "borderline" regarding the shape of the swell so either to help me or to make fun of me you can keep tuned anyway i will really appreciate your advices Thanks Aurelie