bruce johnson

Here is another way I lay out angled baskets. Actually this is the way I do most of them now, especially for strap work. It involves no templates, and the angles may be just a bit different for the same stamp than my template method. First off, I make a light horizontal impression to establish a stamp width mark in the corner. I exxagerated the impression a bit for illustration purposes. I set one leg on this mark, and the other end of the same leg on the base line. This is my first impression. I then use that angle, setting the next impression against the base line and lining up the leg with the previous impression. I stamp an entire horizontal row. I then line up the centers, line up the legs, and stampm another horizontal row. I am building all the way up (or down) horizontally. Again, other than some leather stretch, the impressions top and bottom aor parallel with the cut borders. They don't run up or downhill. This might be a little trickier than using a template, but it results in cleaner borders for me usually. Every so often I eyeball the top of the impression row vs. the remaining open space. If it is not parallel, I fudge the spacing a bit up or down to make it work. Check every few rows, and it can't get too far out of line. Don't change it all in one row, but crawl a little with each row and it won't be noticeable except to another stamper. My wife had heck on straps using angle templates. She would get off a little on her angle, and was meticulous about lining the centers up. That made the weave start to run off one way or the other. I would fudge it back, and 6" later, same thing. I couldn't explain it right to her. I got this tip off Jeremiah's layout tape, and the light came on for her. Worth the price of admission right there.

First of three little tutorials on how I lay out basket stamping. This first one is using a template to establish the angle. To make a template, I take a piece of firm scrap and lay out a base line. I stamp one row, then a row above leaving off one impression until I have a triangle. I marked the outline on the scrap of how I cut that triangle. Depending on your stamp and your personal amount of overlap, that exact angle can be different even with the same stamp. Next I took some rectangular scrap, cut in a border line and lightly beveled the inside cut. I took my template, layed the flat side on the cut line, and scribed the angle line in. Next step was stamping alternate impressions along that line, mainaining the same overlap of the template baskets. Fill in one side totally going up and down along that scribed angle. I eye ball the centers from the impression below to maintain my spacing usually. Take care of the centers, soft-eye the leg overlap, and the angles take care of themselves. The top impressions and the bottom impressions line up parallel with those cut lines (more or less, a little stretch to this belly scrap I used).

I get them at Walmart. They come in a little zippered purse size planner. I just made up a couple last week. I haven't entered that receipt yet, but want to say the planner with all the inserts was about $5. I haven't seen them anywhere else just as the binder clip. I drill out the rivets and make my own covers for them.

Hilly, Keith had some good points about moisture being critical to getting the right effect. Too wet and you don't get a burnish, and the weave is flat. Just right casing with good stamps and the weave rounds up and looks real. I have found that an overnight casing maintains my moisture level the best. I am not fighting moisture soaking in and evaporating at the same time. If the moisture is even and deep already, I only have to deal with evaporation. As far as the pattern getting squishy, I am assuming you mean the centers are getting closer together as you go then? Everyone stamps a little differently. Some people will butt the legs of the stamp up against the center. That makes an OK marker, if you get closer, then the legs will overlap and be obvious. I probably space mine about 3/4 or a skosh more of the length of the leg. That gives me a little sliding room if I need to fudge a line back into alignment. Personally I don't like real long rectangular stamp or patterns with a real long weave. Some guys do, and some makers make their stamps like that. I bought some last fall that I liked the centers, but the overall stamp was just too long. Last night I ground of both ends of these off to shorten the weave and then filed them out deeper on the ends betweenthe legs to re-establish that depth. Makes a whole other look to the patterns now. I like the dimensions of Barry King's baskets as well as anyones. I agree with David too about getting a rythm going. I usually play Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water with my maul and stamp. That gives me 13 hits, and it is time to set my hand down for a second to rest the shoulder with the heavy maul. It is just muscle memory moving to the next impression, and only time and practice can give you that. I like that idea of softening your eye. Some people are just worn out after a checkbook front and really focusing on it. I concentrate on lining up the centers, I focus there, and just kind of let the legs fall into the previous impression lines and let it go. Wavy center lines (the warp) are more obvious on large areas. Wavy weaves on straps like belts. If I am doing a curved basket pattern, then lining up the centers is critical. On the curved patterns, I try to make the outside row overlap only slightly on the legs. As I work in, then I may end up overlapping the centers on some radiuses. It really breaks up a circular object in my eye to mix the curved basket stamp and a horizontal stamped center. I have attached an example of a rope bag without an arced border, and a can and bag with it. Also on baskets, I like a heavier single hit rather than a couple strikes per stamp. A few factors here, less effort overall and more speed. That means less rewetting. I also use a heavier maul than normal stamping. Last year I damaged both rotator cuffs at different times. I like straight mauls for general stamping. For geometrics and baskets, I like a tapered maul. It is a lot more of suspending the maul to stamp patterns and less moving the piece around and that millisecond of rest and movement you get doing that. With the tapered mauls my elbow is down close to my side and less fatiguing on that area of my shoulder. I am not one of those guys who can rest their elbow on something and stamp. I like Wayne Jueschkes mauls for this, they seem to be weighted a little heavier toward the end and have a good dead fall effect for me. I use a 2# for the bigger stuff, and a 1-1/2# for medium stamps. Barry's mauls in my hands seem to be more neutral and I prefer them for general stamping or the little baskets.

In the same vein, there was someone selling a rigging gauge at Sheridan last year. I wasn't there, but see it advertised in the LCSJ. Looks like a clear plastic setup. Anybody seen it or used one?

Tim, The Wades I was talking about came from Timberline. I also got Dee Picketts from them as well that I like. Then I shopped trees a couple years ago just to compare, and ordered the same tree from them and Sonny Felkins on the same day. The rawhide lacing was a little smoother on Sonny Felkins. The rest of the tree was pretty much a twin to the Timberline. Bars, swell shape, cantle, could have interchanged them. Price difference was $150 more and a longer wait. That is is just what I saw. Some guys have had better luck with one or the other, and all treemakers for that matter. Obviously regular customers are going to get a little better delivery times from some makers too. There is however a bigger price difference between these trees and the Nikkel trees I have bought from other guys, as well as other handmade trees I have seen. The handmades are a step up. Problem is with more saddle makers, there is more demand on the good treemakers, and they can only make so many. For a saddlemaker who has a longer list, this is no problem. For the guy who gets an order and wants to get started, it is. I have now built up enough trees that I have a few options on hand and feel comfortable using any of them.

Tim, This is all somewhat independent of the gullet/handhole width and height to a degree. The barpattern itself is just narrower at least through the center. Since these are the only Timberline Wades I have used, I am not sure how it corresponds to their "standard" width bars. I don't know if the overall pattern is narrowed or just through the waist. I measured it at the rear stirrup leather cut as that looked to be the narrowest spot. I compared it to a Nikkel Wade tree I have with the same handhole width. The Nikkel tree was wider, but that is a bit deceiving because the bars on Rod's tree are deeper all the way through and should have more surface area on the horse. This particular customer's complaint with his last saddles were they were too wide. He likes a dropped 4" round ring rigging, and wanted a narrow ride. I called Timberline and told Randy what I needed to do. He suggested the "half-narrow" bars to narrow things up a little. The first worked out well. He ended up and ordered another, then his sister ordered one. He rides that one too. Later I heard the half-narrow bars are the Lady Wade pattern. I haven't ordered another Wade from them, and didn't think to ask last time I ordered other trees from them. I am not entirely sold on the concept of narrower bars to make a narrower seat. The right ground seat build up will make a wider one sit narrower, and a lower build up will make a narrower on sit wider. Also does that extra 1/2" of bar extending down my thigh where I can't bend anyway make me get a closer grip? It is on the same plane as the horse's side. Sitting on them bare on the stand you can tell a difference. Sitting rigged and covered on a horse I am not so sure. The groundseat work I think plays a bigger part in this.

Tim, I am not sure what they specifically do with the ground seat on the Lady Wades. We have a little discussion going on the trees themselves and groundseats for ladies over on the "Saddle Supplies, Tools, and Trees" section under the thread of "tree modifications". I have a Timberline Wade on the shelf, and have been told the "half-narrow" trees are the Lady Wade pattern. They are made with a narrower bar and the bottom bar spread width through the waist of the tree is narrower than another similar tree I have from another maker. I have built three on the narrower bar pattern for a guy who likes them.

Steve, I have bought some off the rack ones from Big Sky and they are good. I had a couple made up by Texas Custom Dies in Mansfield TX. They were very good and quickly delivered. I have referred several people to them, and everyone has been happy.

Jeff, The lights I got from them fit through a drilled hole on the machine table, and have a long gooseneck. They will twist around and hold their position very well for me, and I can aim the light specifically. My bigger machine sits into a corner, and these lights do the job for me. Like I said, they are pretty small and don't block your vision like a regular machine light with the bigger reflector.

Pretty hard to compare much between different tree makers. One brochure I have who lists both of these bars in his lineup said that his NW bars don't have as much rocker and twist as his Wade bars. He offers either of these bars in "regular style" with two stirrup leather cuts, or in Arizona style with the one cut. I don't think I keyed in on that before. Alan, Dug a little deeper. I was like you, remembering it as a '58 done in 1958 acording to lore. Looks like Superior, Sonny Felkins, and Hadlock&Fox all call it a '58 Wade. Holes are calling it a '56. Unless someone modified the "56 again in 1958 and that is what all these guys are copying, I would be more inclined to believe the Holes family that it was done in 1956 now. To add more to the mix, we have a Broadus Wade from H&F, and a snub post Wade from Bowden to go along with their Cliff Wades. Greg pretty well summarized it - "bastardized". Maybe we could have a test on IDing and naming all the Wade styles. After this, we can figure out all the "Bowmans".

Interesting history here guys, thanks. Looking up some stuff tonight. I have a brochure from Sonny Felkins, and he lists a '58 Wade, Regular Wade, Homestead Wade, and Hamley Wade. The major differences seem to be amount of shoulder on the swells and how far down the bars the fork extends. Looking at the 50th anniversary catalog from Holes, they call it a '56 Wade, and say that is when Cliff Wade had them do it. I had heard that the original tree that Tom had Hamleys base the design on originally was Cliff Wade's father's saddle. Anybody else heard of a time frame on that original saddle of Cliff Wade's or what year Tom had it done at Hamleys?

Art and Ann, Thanks for doing the newsletter, Ann. Thanks for referring to it Art, and thanks also for the testimonial on the LED lights. I was wondering also. I have bought 3 of the Artisan standard lights, and think they are the best ones I have used. Powerful enough to light the way, and small enough to be out of the way.

Roo, That hide looks familiar. I am thinking that it looks a lot like the "frogs" I buy from Jerry Van Amburg. Pretty cheap and makes dandy little inlays. Shameless plug for Jerry. I have seen him pass out free frogskins to little kids at leather shows. You know they were there with their folks, and weren't going home with anything but a case of boredom. Jerry gave them each a frog, and they had something to talk about at recess on Monday. Good guy. Scouter, I enjoy slugs. I am a slug salter from way back, and passed on the tradition to my son at a tender age. Twenty years later we still enjoy a good salting together. If I dig back in my music archives I am sure I can come up with Too Slim's (of Riders in the Sky) version of the Salting of the Slug.

And then to further confuse the issue, we have '58 Wades, Homestead Wades, Cliff Wades, .....

Jon, I am not the most computer savvy guy, but here's how I do it. First I have the pic(s) individually on my desktop, I'm not very handy with files. I hit the browse button on the LW.net reply window and bring up the desktop. I click on the picture icon I want to highlight it and hit "open" on that little window there. That should bring a string of numbers or letters into that little box on the LW.net reply window next to the "browse" key. I hit the green "upload" button, and let it cycle through.

Alan, Yes the way the groundwork is put in has as much or more effect than the tree width through the waist. However the wider tree in the waist can have more build up in the center, be scooped for the thighs, and narrowed up top to make the same profile as a narrower tree. This is almost like the pitch of a roof thing. If you don't have as much build up on the narrower tree, and leave them fuller across the bars, you could make that one ride wider. I keep thinking back to those early flat seat cutters. They were much like straddling a 2x12. Some women had a heck of time in them. I did, and I was pretty skinny back then. As an aside, I have 4 different Timberlines sitting here. The Association (bronc tree) has the narrowest width of 8". The two Dee Picketts have a width of 9-7/8".

Alan, I am pretty much in agreement with Darcy's take. Pete Gorrell has a pretty good little section on this he brings up in some of the classes. Basic take-home is a wider spot for the pins, faster narrowing forward, and a narrower or more "pinched" rise and/or more thigh scoop for increased contact because women are theorized to carry more mass inside the femur than men. Regarding trees, as the Nikkels are prone to say, no two tree makers do anything alike. I have two of theirs here, three Timberlines, and have built on Sonny Felkin's too among others. Comparing Wades to Wades here - same handhole width. The Felkins bars are very similar to the Timberlines in shape and thickness. Rod's bars are thicker and wider, they drop deeper. They are a bit wider through the waist. Just put my 24" wing dividers to Rod's and the Timberline. The Timberline is about 9-1/8 wide measured at the narrowest point (rear stirrup slot) and Rod's Wade is about 10". For what it is worth, I think this Wade from Timberline is one of them I ordered with a "half-narrow" bar. It is supposed to be a 1/2" narrower bar in the waist, and I have been told it is the Lady Wade bar pattern. If we figure a 45 degree slant for arguments sake, then a half inch of narrower bar should make each side a little less than 1/4 narrower. The engineers can help me out with the math here. Rod's bar is 4" wide measured with the plane of the bar here, vs. the Timberline which is 3-1/4, both in the rawhide. So yes, you can get a narrower tree from Timberline. I have built three for a guy who rides the tar out of them, and he likes a narrow seat. They have worked for him.

Ryan, That is a very cool buckle, and congratulations again.

Happy Birthday Kathy from Rundi and I. Hope you have a great day, and yak it up with all your friends.

Mike described the function well. I used to buy them by the 6's at the local architectural salvage place. I made nice handles, and then watched them roll off the bench, hit the floor, and break. I got to where I just wrapped the square metal stem that went through the door with duct tape. They broke just as easily, I just had less labor in them. A couple years ago Norm Lynds made me one that hat has two ends on it. One is smaller and has more curve to it. Like all of Norm's tools, nicely made and very functional. I'll attach a pic of Norm's.

Don, A few issues I see with the shearling padded seat. They tend to get lumpy sometimes as the fibers go one way or the other. Pretty tight quilting patterns help prevent that some, but that also makes hard lumps between the stitch lines. THe high spots tend to wear pretty quickly. As they are used more, the wool packs down, just like it does on the skirts. Also I have seen little tufts of wool working up through the needle holes from the quilting. A guy up the hill from us used to do those shearling seats. My first wife's saddle he made is quilted pretty heavily with fancy stitching. Much like sitting on a lumpy rock. It will eat on you after a a while. One of those things you just can't bring yourself to sell though.

Blake, Thanks for the info. After I did that seat, I got some gray dense foam from Don Butler. He said it was AC foam (1/2"?) and he bought a pretty large quantity of it. Since then it has been slick seats, and haven't got to try it yet. I would like to get some a little thinner like maybe 3/16 or 1/4" for the barrel saddles and some of those type seats. Let me know a contact for Rubatex. The good thing is I haven't had to reseat a Dale Chavez couch cushion for a few years, just thought of that. Thanks for tip on the English veg pig. I haven't used that, but have used some pig suede on some of the padded seat repairs. Do you or how do you attach your inlaid seats to the seat?

Might as well brew another pot and add another related topic to Ryan's saddle. How does everybody do a padded inlaid seat? I have done one, and was having a heck of time finding the right foam. Most was too soft for what I was looking for, or my previous experience was that some broke down. Eventually that would leave a crater. I backed up and made a buildup of 3 layers of scrap chap leather, glued each layer and then edge sewed the pad. I used elephant for the seat, figuring two things. One was that it was durable, the other was that it came pre-wrinkled. I had watched a guy put in a padded seat who had done several. Demonstrations are doomed to failure, and his roo wrinkled. Mine came out pretty decent. Since then talking to several guys, no two are alike. Some guys use a thin backer and sandwich the padding, others stitch the seat cover in and cement the seat and pad down to the ground seat. Some guys use foam, others use a chap buildup. All techniques, tips, tricks, and trivia are welcome here.

I sew stingray inlays on spur straps with my flatbed with no deflection either. Biggest issue I had heard from a couple motorcycle seat makers was that stingray was abrasive on jeans. I think it was before the crash that Greg said he hadn't seen problems with it. Others have since said the same. Biggest problem I have had is that sometimes the cut edge will be sharp - paper cut type injuries. A quick pass of the Dremel will smooth that up. On another note, what is everybody using to cut it with? I have been using the "super scissors" that we used to cut pennies with. I found the $4 ones last about 3 times as long as the center aisle ones at Harbor Freight.