oltoot

I guess that there are "tricks" that I am not even aware of but I have successfully used a draw gauge for over 50 years. I think that pulling slightly into the leather is a big part of the trick after the adjustments mentioned by Weaver. For me, the wood/razor blade thingys are useless junk?

Check out a PRCA spec bronc saddle closely and note that stirrup leathers go under the front pads of the tree to be locked forward, as previously noted, not comfy for prolonged use and not very horse friendly. Stirrup slots underneath must stop where they do to leave some weight distribution area. Everything about rigging placement, ground seat design, etc that can be said has been said; that said trees are like saddles, cheap is not necessarily good.

I'm probably going to ignite a firestorm here but in my 50+ years associated with saddles and horses,( I'm a saddlemaker and saddle user), i've developed a sore spot about "saddle fitting" To be sure, I much preferred that my customers know, not just believe but actually know, something about trees and riggings and equine anatomy but fundamental was that a decent saddle should outlast a few decent horses so "groups" of horses and "groups" of trees should be the emphasis, not exact, microscopic adjustment to the tune of a specific partner. Once a decision is made, individual accommodations can be achieved with padding, rigging adjustment, etc. IOW, if the expectation from a SF exercise is that exact fit of every horse for the rest of our time, the bar needs to be set at a more realistic height.

Stitch looks good. Only improvement would be for the slight period of time when needle was brand new

If you do this again, make it easy on yourself and only make two loops on the vertical run on the double diamond. I have thrown a lot of these useful hitches and never with more than two loops, usually only one. Not actually knowing how it is most often thrown, you did an absolutely amazing job figuring out how to picture the hitch and the top pack. Kudos for everything.

It's all about picking the right size rivet for the work

Three and used to be four required for me. The best and most all around is a piece of railroad rail with a horn turned on a big lathe. Small one from Harbor Freight and modified shoe last holder. #4 was horseshoer's anvil also made from railroad rail. Got too old to shoe horses and sold it along with other tools to a young buck just getting started.

I had to cut down on the lard to cure that ill, also melting the lard at pretty high temps seemed to help

BK makes custom tools, they aren't cheap but they are good and I haven't looked lately but Clay Miller had a good selection

Maybe Jeremiah Watt or someone slightly modifying a JW design to make the tool useful in circle based applications rather than straight lines as are the JW offerings??

1 lb rawhide maul and assortment of progressively lighter mallets for most tooling, 3 lb rawhide maul for geometrics and makers mark and 8 lb rawhide maul for punching

During the second world war, sheepskin was in short supply, most being snapped up by defense contractors for flight suits. Felt was widely used. After the war, when sheepskin was once again available, felt quickly faded into memories. Personally, I think that good felt would be as good as most artificial fleeces and given the advances of pads today should be in a position to make a comeback. For me, give me a saddle that fits , a couple of good double Navajo blankets and a good bark tanned sheepskin lining. The good Navajos are getting scarce so felt pads look like a good 2nd choice.

Here's my 2 cents worth, or maybe 1 1/2. I like the larger than normal cutout above the rigging plate. I'm sure that you can critique the tooling as well as anyone and that you have your own list of goals to achieve. Now to some observations that come from ~50 years of building, repairing and using saddles. I am very much opposed to doming copper rivits any place that they will be subject to strap wear as eventually, the top will wear through. I prefer to set the rivits where the entire face will be below the surface of the leather. I achieve that by running a small french edger around the edge of the hole resulting in a slightly cone shaped depression to set the rivit in. I freely admit that the result is not as attractive but it has been my experience that homely girls get more work done than prom queens (though I followed a different line of reasoning when I was picking a wife and allocating some of my meager earnings to silver bits, spurs etc). Next, I put breast collar dees on rigging plates or skirt corners for years but probably about 30 years ago I looked at how horse anatomy, breast collar function stirrup leather travel work together and moved my breast collar dees up to between the front concho and the rigging plate or tree surface, depending on the construction being employed ( the attachment looks like a minature flank rig on a full double dee ring rigged saddle and is secured to the tree by the saddle strings and #8 screws.) I use either a 1" 1 1/4" dee ring and leather for the Attachment. I experimented with metal but abandonded it for leather for the simple reason that metal would make an annoying squeaking sound some time when just riding along without weight on the collar. Among the desirable (IMHO) results is that there is no contact with stirrup leathers and the supporting pull when a dee ring type breast collar ( with a snug tie down from BC dee ring to cinch dee ring between the front legs) is employed is more nearly straight from point of attachment on the saddle to the main pressure bearing region of the BC. now, in closing, let me say that you are doing great on your journey as a budding and then blooming saddlemaker.

Yes, if you want it off and aren't planning on replacing it, it won't matter how the treee is constructed, you can just saaw away, it wont matter if the horn and fork are one piece of wood or if a metal horn covered in wood putty is used. at any rate plan on covering up the raw surface with a leather or rawhide cover. Be advised that if it is of one piece construction and you cut the horn off, plan on keeping it the rest of it's life cause no one will want to undertake what it would take to put a horn on it. It would be daunting enough it had had the top of the fork inlet for a cast metal horn. Have you looked at a plantation or endurance saddle, they are made without horns and will always have some resale value as opposed to a butchered up Wade.

Drywall screws don't need to be predrilled as they are the least likely to cause splitting. Predrilling the larger wood screws is a good move, especially when repairing older, wooden trees. Avoid placing either type of screw in a straight line, aligned with the grain of the wood in the tree

Bellies would be the place to cut many of the pieces you are not planning on replacing so the short answer would be that you don't need them for the saddle, itself. Plugging (IMHO) is an excuse for not having enough leather that is heavy enough for skirts but plugged is better than too light and not plugged. You have seen enough reasons for having 2 sides to work with and planning to have a lot left over for the next project. Blocked vs unblocked is a no-brainer (IMHO) rough cut skirts first, block, then mark the final lines, such as the bottom line, meeting in the back the way you prefer and aligning perfectly with the front jockeys on the seat, then make the final cuts after the blocking has dried. Buy woolskins large enough to be able to lay out the skirt linings properly and be OK with having plenty left over but resist the temptation to line things such as breast collars or rifle scabbards as sheep wool plus sweat and other grime that is attracted to wet (or oily) places equals extra abrasion. Breast collars that fit and are adjusted properly don't need padding. If you feel the need to line a breast collar, opt for something that will result in smooth, continuous contact such as grain side out latigo or light weight veg tan (a candidate for the skirting bellies you will have if you buy 2 sides).

Leather is not plywood and if you are not building an entire saddle, you may find yourself wishing you had 2 sides instead of just one. That said, one side should have more than enough square footage for your needs though perhaps not yield the ideal places for some of the pieces, get some of the mentioned books/dvds that give you suggested cutting layouts and study those against the "typical" side of leather in terms of things like firmness, weight, stretchiness, flexibility, and then make your decision. NOTE: The Chahin from Weaver is a good buy but picking a source where the minimums fit your budget may lead you to try other things.

Dry wall screws are a good replacement for most tacks and nails in saddle work. Ring shank nails are a big no-no

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It has no place on quality work, period, regardless of price.

youth/pleasure

FYI You can specify blades to fit Tandy when you order from Barry and they will be round. I don't use stones to sharpen my blades, instead placing sheets of emory cloth or metal working sandpaper on my marble slab and working on them. Lots of different grits available at your home improvement or auto parts store. My sharpening jig came from Tandy 50+ years ago and will outlast me.

Assuming that you are braiding 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 strand (or even more in O2U2 sequence) the trick is in Bruce Grant's book but still requires covering with a decorative knot (usually some version of the same multi string bosal noseband knot found in the same book. If you don't already have the book you should if you want to braid or even just understand braiding as the world heritage art that it is

Without examining the rest of the saddle and comparing with period catalogues it is impossible to say if it was entirely custom made or just a personalized standard model