Spartan

yes, then trim the edges so the glues from the tape doesnt get on your toolong suface. After I put it on I use a glass slicker to make sure it is all flat, not leaving any bubbles or anything that could effect the depth of my tooling. But your fingers work just as well.....

In my limited experience, depends on the extent of stamping and tooling... it could deform and loose its depth.... I have tooled on my mold, is all how you want it to look... I would try a few test runs to get the effect you are looking for first

I saw that last week and couldn't believe the price! Theirs are almost 3 times what I paid for my copy

I use a round knife for most cuts.. for smaller radiuses I use a trimming knife

I tried the cardboard method too... had the same problem getting it all off. Now for most projects I use 3M packing tape; seems to work just as well

Chris--- that is some of the cleanest tooling I have ever seen. Simply stunning Chief!

I use resolene then snow seal

Thats awesome.. I wish I had seen this a couple of weeks ago. I just remade one of these.

wow, beautiful.... and the chaps are really nice too! JK Beautiful work

I had this problem with my cuffs.... used resolene to seal them and the bleeding stopped... Did you ever get it fixed; if so what did you do?

I was just trying to search for new border stamping ideas as I seem to be using the same patterns over and over. I typed in border and boprder ideas in the search box and got this: The following search terms are not allowed and were removed from your query: border. What is this about?

Very nice; I really enjoy making the old school rigs

Beautiful work! Great job with the stain

Really good job on them. I made a few of those for a friends team. Seem to be a big hit! haha But they really liked them.

Thanks for the direction!! I searched a little more for triangle conchos and found an exact match at diablo silver! This guy is going to be happy and my wallet a little happier too; thanks again!

I was approached this past weekend about the possibility of making a few belts with both diamond and half diamond conchos. Please someone tell me where I can find the half diamonds!!!

Thanks so much for all the help. I'm not looking to restore my old saddle, the leather is too far gone. I am looking to build one with an "old timey" look and feel to it. I have 3 old high back trees and a more modern tree that i test fitted to his horse yesterday evening; not surprising that none of them will work. Josh/Oldtimer that is exactly the saddle he is wanting built. Beautiful work! I am looking at their site now and I don't see it on there. Is this the tree you are talking about: http://www.saddlemaker.com/tree.html

Thank you very much for your replies. Sadly I can't find very much information at all on these old saddles. I think it is more the style of that saddle he is looking for. It doesn't have to be historically accurate, in that a modern tree could be substituted; which it seems is the best option. Have either of you ever remade a saddle from this era?

I did! Thank you so much for your help, I went for the caimen

I know this is an old post... but, I know a family in Monteray Mexico (grandson lives in Texas) that builds saddles for saddle makers (very reputable companies) all over the US and world....

I have an old Meanea saddle sitting on a stand in my living room (I dont have a picture with me here at work so I found one on google); last week I had some friends over. One of them, who owns a western themed theme park asked me if I could make him a saddle styled like that one (would be my first saddle). I have several old (late 1800s-early 1900s) trees that I could use but he wants to ride it. After searching and searching for a period styled tree that will fit modern horses, I am even more lost and confused than before my search began. I found one company in Tennessee that makes them but are way out of the range I want to spend for one. I do have a couple of modern saddles that are in disrepair I could take apart for the tree then reshape it myself... Anyone ever remake a saddle similiar to this? If so what was your process? Thanks!

I was just asked about possibly making one of these for a walker colt.... Thanks so much!

I second the freezer paper. It is even waterproof on one side so it makes transferring your image to cased or damp leather easy!

Thanks Tiara! I am checking the links out now.

Thank you, great tutotrial!