oltoot

Just curious, what's in the nice vial?

You have done a great job and its only because of the great detail in your work that detailed observations can be made. That said, most mouths appear mixed with top teeth and bottom teeth appearing to be of different ages. It is switched too with some showing youngest on top oldest on bottom and some vice versa. The young teeth are 4-5 yr old while the older ones appear to be 10+.

Try the Cobra 14. Looks rugged and dependable even though a little bigger than you might need. Weaver makes 8 inch hand crank.

Safer than steel, not as safe as rawhide or poly

Something else if you are continuing to look, it has been sharpened a lot and that has altered the shape and width of the blade. Just looking, I would guess that 1/2 to 3/4 of the width is gone and the sides which began life as a graceful curve are a lot straighter.

Bore, then before assembly, use a french edger to cut out a slight groove between the holes and a matching one for the center of the strings on their flesh side and then beat in with a hammer before gluing on sheepskin. If you punch the holes in the skirts and jockeys with a 1/2 bag punch it will help with smooth installation of strings.

Dirtclod, I and some others agree and don't rough up very much but in defense of the rough bunch, most trees arrive with a THICK coat of spar varnish applied by dipping in vats, often multiple times. The varnish adds moisture protection but doesn't do much if anything for structural integrity so vigorous roughing of the varnish but not breaking the top grain layer of the rawhide looks destructive but really isn't. The biggest baddest offender that I have found in many saddles comes from cutting the stirrup leather slot in the ground seat and scoring the rawhide cover at what is often the weakest part of the whole assembly, the top side just across from the slot in the tree. Coincidentally, this is what Arizona bars overcome. Ask the engineer, sometimes its not just the mass of the piece that determines its resistance to certain kinds of stress but its shape and orientation to the stress (rigging placement and conformation) So although this aint rocket science its a lot harder than falling off of a log.

First and second hand accounts of tests using straps and hand winches to exert forces and rulers and magic marked spots on top of horns and cantles to measure response. Give a solid pull and it moves a little, release the pressure and it comes back to original measurement. Sonny Felkins of Quality Mfg is an irrepressable tinkerer and has been ever since he had his first tree company in Moab, Ut in the early 70's, and has tested every different combo that he uses or has considered using. BTW he has started offering a tree with the same custom wooden 'frame' and a synthetic covering that meets his high standards and is cheaper. He still features and I still prefer outstanding traditional wood and rawhide trees. Then a lifetime of anecdotal accounts of use of traditional materials vs "new" ones. History reveals that every few years somebody has had a "new and better" idea for tree making. That includes different ways to make rawhide covers or the wooden 'frames'. For instance, it was long ago learned that long staples or nails were better than screws or lag bolts that resulted in a completely rigid 'frame'. The rigid ones failed catastrophically more often than the nailed or stapled. AND let's just leave some of it to the mysteries of time. I'm sure that modern engineering could come up with a product that would be superior in many ways, BUT in all ways? Remember to be comparable it would also have to hold screws, nails, tacks well, but not too well. it would have to stand up to repair and modification. AND it would need to be capable of being assembled in an almost endless variety of combinations of sizes and configurations to suit horse and/or rider, all for a reasonable price.

If you must do it that way the 1/4 splits will work better after splitting vs before. That means you can cut the 1" pieces on tighter curves than if you were going to use the 1" whole. Suggestion: resist the temptation to cut off 13 foot pieces as you go. You will want your water tie ends to be in firm parts and straight. Also, I would play around with the Aussie Strander or whatever you are planning to use for splitting and see how tight of a turn you can make and keep on track and let that determine when to stop. BTW if one side of a piece gets too sharp a turn while there is still room to go on other corners, you can round that sharp turn off with a sharp knife and go on for a few more turns.

I didn't say that 9.99 isn't more attractive than 10.00 just that I refuse to play the game. I might feel different if I were selling hardware or toys or cell phones but I'm just greatful that I'm not.

You should visit a tree maker sometime. The wooden pieces are not joined rigidly. The 'frame' gets it's structural integrity from the smooth fitting of joints and the generations of trial and error that have gone into development of designs. (Horns are attached rigidly to swells). Then the rawhide cover holds everything together with great strength and some rigidity allowing just a bit of flex and rebound and thus withstanding forces greater than possible with unyielding resistance. It works better as that cover is better assembled and not comprimised in the process of saddle making. Now then to 'fiberglass'. Not all synthetic coverings are created equal nor are they applied all in the same manner. So one cannot compare rawhide covered with all synthetics collectively. For valid comparison, One specific treemaker's product must be compared to another's. For me, I have a traditional treemaker that I trust (Quality Mfg) and I can't get very interested in shaving $50 off the price of a $3,000+ item so I don't spend the time and money it would require to do those valid comparisons and just stick with the tried and true. JMHO

Nylon cord has been acceptable for fiadors for quite awhile. When I put together a working set, I use matching nylon for Mecate and fiador. The really fancy sets have horsehair fiadors and then for the really special finishing touch, matching leather buttons on Mecate ends, fiador ends and heel knot.

Burnish smooth before any finish

Yes there are charts available from LaceMaster but you have another issue here. At 1" wide the strings won't straighten out if cut on too tight a spiral. If you are going to cut the 1" into 1/4" strings then you can more effectively cut from the center of a circle and pull the strings straight before beveling them if you cut 1/4" strings to start with. And if you will be leveling (splitting) them any, 1/4 will handle better through most splitters. If you must cut 1" then they would be best cut from the outside in and stop and go to another hide when curves get too tight which will take a lot of leather and leave several unuseable (for cutting 1" strings) circles.

Walking is easier on a good solid tooling surface, one that doesn't bounce or make a lot of noise. A proper mallet or maul helps, too with proper being rawhide or poly. Mallet should be on the heavy side. Now, with properly cased leather, beveler will bounce slightly if struck correctly. It is controlling this slight bounce that makes walking work. Tip the tool ever so slightly away from the desired direction of travel. Hold tool loosely so as to allow the bounce. Use that energy to walk the tool in the desired direction. For me that is into my hand, not away. I don't move my hand on every strike, just tighten the curl of my fingers a little then every few bounces when my hand curl gets tight I straighten it out by moving the heel of my hand away from the tool. Once a rythm gets going it looks like I'm just sliding my hand along in the direction of travel.

Martingales are what the Old Timers used with SR. In most of the pictures you see the girth connector is hanging down loose so they became pretty much decorative that way. Now days you see a lot of Martingale inspired collars that in addition to the strap going over the neck have small side straps that connect to the saddle up high by way of rings like a breast collar (which it has become). Adjusted snug all over you have real solid three point stabilization for a rig. It is worthy of note that it doesn't take 1 1/4 double stitched straps to hold a good load if everything is adjusted right. Look at the breast plate set ups on 3 day eventing rigs or Aussie outfits. Take the image of the flank cinch hanging down to snag and apply it here.

I have 2 and they are great, pretty too! The pin vises work fine for me. I keep several awls on hand (I have seven on the bench, now) and do not change blades but leave them. The ergonomics are excellent and help with the appearance of my work. And as for pretty tools, life's too short to dance with ugly women.

441 is the model# For starters look at the top of this forum page for 2 good ones

The Pedinghaus is high quality but low suitability. That design would suit you but with flatter, squarer faces. For your use, BK flat faces in the 20-32 oz range would be my recommendation. Home Depot might have something like the Pedinghaus but with a flat face. I don't know, its 115 mile from here to a Home Depot.

If in any doubt, overbuy for first one if you don't want to end up disappointed and need a second right away

As I and others have said on this forum before, unless you use cardboard and chewing gum for materials, this saddle will probably outlive several batches of horses and maybe even you. So make your decision with a longer term in view. I really like the look of a SR with long taps. I have seen some guys accomplish a lot with a SR, mulehide, a long rope and plenty of space and time to get the right shot. Being a retired BLM Wild Horse Specialist and having been involved with roping lots of horses. Our SOP was to never let anything get away that got within sight of the trap so as not to teach rebels to turn tail and run. I have never seen any SR in use outside. The rare heading and healing to treat could employ one but outside? All that said, if I wanted to start out riding a specific bunch of horses with a SR, I would put a back rig on and leave the billets and cinch hanging in the barn until wanted or needed. BTW i am of the school that says if your back cinch isn't snug take it off. Just my HO

Are you taking my comments from another thread and combining them with these? There I was responding to different questions and basically said why not just make the saddle double rigged and leave the flank cinch and billets in the barn. Having visited your website I see you place great stock in single rigs. My experience has been that most saddles are going to see multiple uses, horses, even owners in a lifetime and most will eventually wish that a SR was double rigged. That has been my experience. I might add that I am of the school that says if you do not keep your flank cinch snug, take it off.

Clockwise for bobbin

Again, depends. But, most O ring riggings are the first thing to go on the tree with everything else on top so hardest to replace/repair. Dropped Os require that rigging be under the leg and carry the friction and they have less to give than plate before structural integrity is threatened. Actually all rather pointless as, done right, neither should require replacement/repair within useful life. You are lucky if a customer base in your genere doesn't favor full double D ring riggings just because that's what everybody else has. And IMHO the reason that is is cause they're cheap and easy. Last one I made was in 1976.

I guess my exact thoughts on the drop ring would be dependant on position and ring type. If by DR you mean D rings hanging down way low in full or 7/8 then plate rig is to be much preferred. If you mean O rings low in about 3/4, 5/8 then it might become closer to a toss up. All that said, DR in any configuration would be harder to repair. Plate gives much more flexibility in position and other placement as well as stirrup hanging/movement. IMHO, a plate or skirt rig that utilizes D rings in place of the 5053 or JW is the best of all.