bruce johnson

Hilly, No need to apologize, natural questions and good discussion points. The strings are to tie things on with. To further cloud the issue, they also can be drilled through the saddle tree and looped through the skirts to help hold the skirts up tight to the tree and the parts they go through on top of the tree cinched down into place. It is more secure to have the strings looped through the tree, than through just the leather on top. An even less secure way is to loop them through the leather conchos and nail or screw them onto top leathers. To drill a tree or not for strings on saddles will divide saddlemakers into two camps.

Marlon, Everybody kind of has developed their own way of cleaning stuff, here's what works for me. I'd clean it first. A lot of times these ones that have just sat around are covered with dust and petrified birdcrap. Physically knocking it off and brushing the dust with a soft bristle brush may be all that is required. If they have been greased up and are oozing that sticky spew, then a little soap of choice would be in order. I like Murphy's soap in lukewarm water about the best. Apply and work it with a soft brush, rinse and hit it again until the water runs clear. I use Dr Jackson's some, especially on new stuff or stuff that is going to be used and exposed. It will leave a sort of greasy feel on top sometimes, and can rub off on clothes. I apply it to some pretty oiled up skirting and then melt in some Dr Jackson's for straps, tugs, and waterloops for rein ends especially. Makes for a nice looking and feeling harness type leather. I use it doctoring and saddle bags too. My favorite is Williams saddle dressing for older leather though. To me it just gives me a nicer feel when all is said and done, and especially for display kind of pieces. It leaves a light waxy topcoat that polishes up well.

Rick, Tippmann makes a bench much like a stitching horse to mount the Boss on. It looks too high to me. Keep reaching up and you will fatigue faster in your shoulder. I mounted mine on the end of a table at the left corner. That made it so the cylinder arm hung over and I could stitch deeper things easier. I got a low counter stool (higher than a chair/lower than a bar stool) to sit on. It made my stitching more comfortable reaching across rather than up. I could still get my legs under the corner and get closer too. As far as the stroke, you will get a rhythm going eventually. The key is a full stroke forward and back. You don't need or want to slam it into the stops at the end of the stroke though. Another key is not to grab the handle too hard. I kind of kept my hand relaxed and pushed with my palm forward, and then "caught" the handle with my fingers and hooked it for the pull stroke. After enough time you will get that muscle memory and it will be second nature. I taught two wives and a son to run mine, they all got onto it pretty quick.

Hilly, What you saw your friend cinching up was using a latigo tie on a ring cinch. It makes a little larger (2-3 layers of latigo) lump at the rigging ring. It is kind of old-fashioned but a lot still do it. Most cinches have a tongue buckle and the buckle is the fastener. The excess tail length is just looped through the slot on the carrier and hangs there. The bumps on either side of the horn are called bucking rolls. They are fastened to the forks of slick fork saddles (without swells) to add some width and prevent you from slding forward. Most are stuffed with some sort of padding - hair, synthetic fiber. clipped wool, or dense foam. They are softer than hitting the hard swells of a swell fork saddle. Some guys will make them from chap or veg tan leather. Some use exotics, some match the seat, some are tooled, some have fancy stitch patterns. Some have different profiles, higher, rounder, tear-dropped. They kind of take on a life of their own.

Pella, I think I know what you are thinking, this guy rides horses that trip and fall down. Actually this is a rodeo event that is also called single steer roping. Fastest to do all this wins. Basically the rider has his rope tied to the saddle horn. He ropes the running steer around the horns (the only legal catch) from the steer's left side (other than Trevor's dad, he's a lefty but that's another story) and then flips the excess rope over the steer's back to hang on the right side of the steer. You ride off to the left and the rope basically pulls up from behind takes his legs out, and lays the steer down. The horse continues to drag the steer as the rider steps off and ties the steer's legs together, and signals for time. Remounts then, gives slack in the rope, and if the steer stays tied, it is an official time. I think it takes one of the better trained timed event horses for this event. They have to run, have some handle, take the jerks, and then pull until the steer is tied, and then stop. This event is hard on saddles because there is one jerk on the horn when the steer hits the end of the rope, another when he hits the ground, and then a steady pull back on the horn when they log or pull the steer. It is a little hard on cattle. As time has gone on, they are roping smaller steers now, less horn on them, and in pretty good ground. I was at the last steer roping national finals they had in Laramie, and it was a cool time and great watching. It was kind of during the change from the old time guys to the new young cowboy athletes, and interesting to compare styles. Who was "safe"and who was "wolfy", add paramutuel betting and it was a stellar weekend. This is not a universal rodeo event. Some states don't allow it. Some states have no regulations, and some have big time steer ropings. Off the top of my head, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Oregon, Wyoming, and Washington have it. It doesn't happen in California, but we have a few guys who compete in the Timed Event Championship in Oklahoma. They practice here and do it there.

Brian, Very cool one again. Is the stirrup leather stitched down to the fender or stitched for effect? Neat idea to run the string throught the carrier.

Tim, As far as is the extra cost worth it? That extra expense will be the cheapest part of that saddle. Your time to take out and stick a new tree in to replace one that is broken is way more. If you and the tree maker do eveything he wants, then if it breaks - it just plain broke from use and no excuses. Some tree makers used to put a steel "skid plate" in the gullet and bolt the horns on rather than screws too. I am not sure if anyone does that anymore. Regarding what size to order, I'd talk with the treemaker and see how much they think the extra will take in. They should have a pretty good idea. It sure could be 3/4-1" figuring doubling up on the back of the swells and depending on if you measure the cantle at the peak or the front of the face.

It seems like these books kind of sell more on their collectible value most of the time than the actual information in them. Another one that tends to sell high but has pretty good info is the one by John Beck. I bought my Cowboys Complete a few years ago for about $90 or so on Ebay, probably worth that to me. Sometimes they'll sell around that, and other times way more. Just depends on how many dogs in the fight. I've seen them in some used book stores for $50 and $500. I don't know how many were ever printed and sold. The saddlemaking section is alright, but the section on making other things in the back is pretty good.

I got hurt one winter and didn't have much going. I started doing a little more leatherwork than the hobby and make for myself stuff. I got some award orders from local rodeo and equine groups which is sort of like wholesale. They want it as inexpensive as they can get it. I made all the rookie mistakes - price based on comparison instead of time and materials, beat any price to get an order, spend time in your shop instead of making money on fewer orders. That did lead to some resellers wanting to do some consignment, which I didn't do. I wholesaled to them. I did the old halve the retail price the other guys were charging, which also lead to some negative pricing deals. Don't do this. A few years later it did lead to some inquiries from better resellers though through word of mouth. People that would pay me what my time and ability was generally worth then. I got orders for 30 belts, 20 spur straps, 10 planners at a whack deals. I got hooked up with an interior decorater. Orders for 30 leather covered toilet lids, 40 double lightswitch covers, stuff like that. I got better at pricing and eventually paid off some pretty hefty medical bills. The upside was I could buy some nice tools and equipment, they paid back in time savings, and could start paying me back. The downside was I still have/had a day job, was a single parent at that stage and never missed an event, and spent a lot of long nights and weekends in the shop. The scenery never changed. When you have 30 toilet lids to do exactly or pretty much the same - it wears on you. I would batch them all and do each step on all of them before going on to the next step. It sometimes took two weeks before you could look and see the first one finished. I got the advice to only do a batch I could finish in 5 days so I could "see" the progress and the end in sight. Do 12 a week and three of something else just to mix it up. Break the mindset of assembly line work. I got to do a lot of different things, that was good. The issue with wholesale and awards are that you can make a steady check. You can burn out if you don't keep it mixed up. Try not to neglect a higher paying single order to do three smaller things at wholesale rate that take more time. Allow time for higher paying stuff, and allow for time off. There are other guys here who do a lot more of this than I did, and higher end. Hope they will chime in too.

Happy Birthday, Andrew.

Johann, and others, Thanks for the compliments and suggestions. We are working to get the links deal fixed, and the suggestions for improvements put into place. I appreciate all of the on the forum, PMs, and email suggestions. On the business side of things, a week into this, and it is working out well with orders and serious inquiries. Thanks everyone,

Working in flipflops + sharp string bleeder rolling off bench top + that big vein that runs across the top of your foot = the reason they came up with the name "bleeder" for that tool. Fleem was too arachaic a term I guess. Much like most other accidents and the reason for slow motion effects in movies, I can still visualize in great detail the whole process of it rolling, falling, that little half turn sumersault to go blade down, and me just standing there with it impaled on top of my foot. The draw gauge hanging off my left index finger knuckle by the blade, it took two shakes and some bad words to get it off - always pull the blade into the work or make a starter cut with a knife, don't push the work into the blade. The Osborne #86 splitter I was looking at that "used to work pretty good". The blade was pretty dull in the middle where he used it all the time. The sides were pretty sharp where Herb French had done his work. Lesson learned - don't run you thumb down the whole edge of dull blade, it may not all be dull.

Hilly, I will admit I am a splitter fan. I have started out low and traded what I think is up as I went. The basic deal is a fixed blade and some type of adjustable roller the leather rides over into the blade. The height of the roller can abe adjusted by screw or lever mechanisms. You can pull the leather through through the blade in one style, or feedwheels push leather into the blades on the crank splitters. The high end other splitters are bandkinfe splitters. Basically a horizontal band saw that levels wider pieces. There are several threads dealing with splitters. The big key is a sharp blade and keeping it sharp. With a sharp blade you should be able to do what you are looking for in several styles. I have a 10" Osborne Chase style that I can pull 7" widths through without a lot of effort. The bevel on those blades is pretty flat though. I had an American crank splitter that was alright. It was tedious to crank on long straps though, and softer latigo tended to bunch up against the blade sometimes. I ended up and just pulled straps through and let the handle freewheel. The handcranks are usually narrower than the pull through splitters too. I got a Krebs 6 weeks ago, and they are everything their reputation says they are. I like having the top and bottom roller to keep the straps from flipping up or riding the bevel and chopping. The Krebs and the Chase pattern splitters both have these. Neither of these have probably been made for 60 years though. If you are looking for new and like a handle splitter, the Keystone from Campbell Bosworth is probably the closest to the old good ones there is right now. It is not much more than the lower priced ones, and looks to be worth the extra. Otherwise Osborne still sells the makings of a decent tool. The blades will require some work to get them right before you use them. The others have a steeper bevel on the blade and more effort to pull something through, but still work alright. This is really one of those things that the old antiques generally outperform the new ones. Looking at the prices for new bench splitters vs. proven old ones from a guy like Bob Douglas or Keith Pommer, the oldies are the bargain in my hands. I think you get more for your money from those guys. You'll come away smarter after talking to either of those guys too.

I think it really depends on the blade material, bevel angle, what you are splitting, and how much of it. I sharpen mine when they need it. If there is resistance or much noise to a normal kind of split, time to sharpen. I use fine wet/dry on a hardwood block on the bevel side to remove material. Early on I let them get too far gone and it took a while to get that off and back to a clean edge. Now I strop more often, and a few strokes of fine wet/dry on a hardwood block is enough to hone with when needed. Big key is maintaining that bevel. I split a bunch of veg tan the past couple weeks, probably used each one about equally. Stropped the Chase twice and the Krebs once. The Krebs has a steeper bevel, but is a bimetal blade. I put a slight secondary bevel on the Chase blade (just from the bevel side), and it seems to hold the edge longer.

Timbo, I'll attach a couple of pics that show the fenders. Pella, I didn't change the rings. These are probably the original EZ dees. I think the EZ dees came out about 1915 or so. Interesting note - these dees are curved to follow the contour of the horse. I had thought for years that it was from use. After reading a discussion among some other makers, I am sure someone formed them. Several guys will form the larger rings to have that slight arch before they hang them on the saddle. The horse was saddled for the train trip. My great grandfather used to feed a lot of cattle. He asked for them to send along a ranch horse on a load. He came down the ramp packing this saddle. He must have been pretty broncy. Apparently he rode the horse to my grandpa's. He could tell he was having some trouble with him and offered to drive him home and they'd lead the horse out the window. Great-grandpa figured he got him there, he could get him home. My dad isn't sure, but seems to remember he sold the horse to a local guy who put on Sunday afternoon catch-all bronc ridings.

Pella, Here is the northern cousin to your Texas saddle. This one came on a saddled horse in a trainload of cattle my great grandfather bought from Miles City in the 30s. Johanna probably didn't believe me at first, but it sits in my living room. Actually I have two oldies in here. That was a pretty common way to cover horns back in the day. I have seen some with a small brass nail and others with a slotted head wood screw securing the tab. The saddle came from Duhamels on Rapid City, South Dakota. The latigo carrier for this particular maker was stamped with the model of the saddle - #106 was the Ellensburg tree from Newton Bros, I was told. I have always heard this pattern referred to a a shell pattern also. One guy who has a Duhamel catalog told me they called this pattern the "acorn". I would dearly like to get my hands on a Duhamel catalog. The only one I have ever seen was under glass and they couldn't open the case. I heard from a collector that one of the Mile City catalogs called it an acorn pattern too, and another Miles City shop called theirs a shell.

Pella, That is a pretty cute little 8 button saddle. Who made it? If the tree feels solid when you push on it form the different directions, you are probably alright. Not sure what others see, but I find those older trees generally to be more solid with the rawhide compromised or worn than the ones that came along later. I wouldn't trust it to pull a truck, but if it fits the horse decently should be a down the road kind of saddle. I worry about the riggings and leathers more than anything on therse oldies. Some of them have screws that have worked around enough and the wood has shrunk away from them. Make sure they aren't loose and the cut tacks aren't all backed out. Check the leathers for strength, if they look original, I'd replace them just because. Laced leathers or Al-Ray buckles?

One of the finest tributes I have ever read.

If you have a drill or drill press, chuck the punch. Turn it on slow and slide the stone against it. You can strop the same way.

Tim The slick forks are the easiest to cover because you don't have much slack to work out. The split you see in the handhole is the result of getting the cover over the horn and not having a big hole at the neck. If the horn cap is big or it necks down a lot, you have to split it to get it over. On some horns if you do a tradtional one piece cap and wings and cover the horn first, you might need to split one that wouldn't need it on the bare horn.

Timbo, I don't much care for cutouts in skirts. They mights tear out if you get in wreck, although I'd hope the tug would break first. The strap and dees can also, but usually they are an easier fix. Most of the saddles I have seen the slots on have them positioned lower than I like to set my breast collar dees also. Echo, That stirrup leather through the fender deal was used in the past. You still see some guys who will bring the leather out through a slot in the fenders down low. The fender leg then makes the inside layer for the stirrup pin to rest on. Interesting look and a little different. Some old fenders had two slots and just slid on the leathers too. I guess it was fairly common on some dude ranch model saddles at one time. I can't think that riveting and sewing a fender to the skirt and then running the leather through it would have any advantage for anything.

Always a pleasure to see pics of your work. I get something out of it everytime. Note to self - more "over and unders" and crossing stems. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback so far. The links deal is in the hands of someone with with way more savvy than me, as this whole deal has been. The colors and gradients are displaying differently on some screens and browsers too. All part of the tweaking process. Thanks for everything, and keep it coming.

My local sewing machine guy has been in the household business for a quite a while. I see those 99s in the antique stores a lot too. I asked him about them, and he said to find a 66. Ummm, my wife has her sewing machine (66-16) in the living room her mother bought the year my wife was born. I threaded it up the other day and it didn't balk on two layers of 4 oz chap. I was looking for one to do wallet interiors and little stuff. While I was in the store he showed me a new Singer CG 550 (?). He had some pretty hard old dried up pieces - skirting weight and some chrome tan. It didn't even cough sewing a stitch at a time. I was pretty impressed. It was priced at about $400 last time I was in there. I wouldn't go to war with it, but it did impress me for what it did. It might be worth checking around. I got prices $100 different locally (one had it on a weekly special), and it seems to be one of those things not many list an internet price - call them for info deal.

Like peas and carrots, biscuits and honey, and kids and mud. There are some very well done tame roses and Sheridan style scrolls that have been done. Someone who has the King of the Western Saddle book about Don King and the Sheridan Style Carving book handy can point you to an example or two. I heard Lloyd Davis (?) did some good ones too. Some guys will put oak leaves and acorns on the same stem as flowers and beech leaves. I think we had a Sheridan scrolls and skulls example here a while back. Anything goes.