Don

Thanks a lot Bruce. Sorry I have not posted in a while folks, but things have been really busy here this past month. It doesn't look like it is going to slow up in November any (thank god) so I apoligize. I hope everyone is snowed under with work for Christmas. Keep pounding. Thanks.

As a rule of thumb I use the thigh, or Femur Bone, as a way of deciding what seat size someone may need: 16" Femur = 16" seat(as a rule of thumb...dependent on the decipline). But I have never used, nor thought about thigh width. I am eager to hear more about this subject and I will also do some inventory of what we have on the floor.

Holy Cow! That is great work Greg. I love the Geo mixed with the floral...you do a much better job of making it all come together and flow than I do. I really like the silver frog plate on the housings...that is first class.

I agree with Bruce and Mulefoot, you should advise her to replace both sides. In our shop we only replace them in tandem unless a new saddle in a wreck, and we never, never, and I mean never patch stirrup leathers... As far as price we charge $135 for complete replacement and another $20 for blevins.

Alan, Saddle Number 3 looks great. I agree with Bruce on the tooling, leave yourself some room along the edge. There are very few if any times when the tooling is run close to the edge. Your overall lines of saddle and the way the pieces flow together is good, the finished saddle looks clean and square. I really like the braiding on the horn, it that rawhide?

Using computers for everything is the way of this world. They save us time, money, and a lot of aggrevation. But in the same moment they cost us a lot of time(I should be tooling but here I am typing), money(they are cheaper now, but now we just buy more gadgets), and aggrevation(sometimes shooting one with a high powered deer rifle would be a great time). I think computers can and will be used(if not already) for pattern layout and reproduction in the future. But to me if you are creating a custom piece of working art that will out last all of us, then nothing can replace a craftsmen pouring sweat over a pattern for hours trying to get it just the way he/she wants it. Everyone designs their patterns differently, I draw mine on the leather piece I am making and then carve it in. Once the pattern is carved I will trace over it using mylar and then transfer it to the other piece or file the pattern for later use. This is just what works for me and everyone has a different way of doing things. I am sure that there is or could be a program that will allow you to free hand draw and pull flowers and leaves from a database. This could be really helpful, but I get a better feel for what my goal is with a piece by just drawing it straight to the leather. That is the main objective with this craft...No rules, find what works well for you and do that.

When sharpening your awl, using a flat bastard file works best for me. I only sharpen the two opossite angles on the awl. I have found that doing this will allow you to keep the awl sharp longer. I have not had much luck sharpening my awls on a stone or buffing them on a buffing wheel. After filing the awl, I keep a ball of bees wax handy and every so often I stick the awl into the bees wax, this helps the awl slide through the leather much easier. On thinner projects this usually isn't a problem but on thicker stuff the bees was will really cut down on the blister factor. As far as thread, when I was hand stitching my belts and other projects I liked using the prewaxed thread. The brand I used was Nyltex I believe. Got it from Leather Factory. Also using the thinner harness needles worked better for me, a little harder to thread the heavy thread through the eye but your hole doesn't have to be as big and your stitching looks a lot more professional. Main point: Keep your awl sharp.

Great job Tim. I really like the shape of your knife cases...gives a nice stylish look. I use black latigo also when the project needs to be black, but if you ever have to do a lot of stamping or floral tooling you may want to give black skirting a try. This is a vegetable tanned leather just like tooling leather but it is dyed black. I have found for tooled projects this works better for me because it cases well and holds the stamping better. Latigo works well also but sometimes (depending on the stamp) I can't get the depth that I want in the stamping. Looking at your shealths makes me think I need to keep up with style and rework some of my shealth and scabbard patterns. Great job.

Thanks everyone. I am really glad ya'll like it...it would be nice if all organizations could afford to give saddles like this away. Go2tex My binders are toold on the rock and then I re-lift my petals when its on the saddle. And yes I use plugs...I just try to keep them thin yet really firm. As far as the carving in the seat, I have done a few of these in our roughout saddles and it is popular. On this one I drew one side and then traced it off and transfered to the other side. This is the only way I could keep it symmetrical. I figure the person that wins the saddle can put his/her wrap of choice on the horn. Bruce Johnson: There is a welt in the swell cover. I have covered this style of front three times without a welt...it is not easy, but looks great. This saddle I just blind stitched the front cover and tooled right over it. This is what I usually do on floral saddles because when tooled over you can hardly find the seam anyway.

You will have a great time at the show...like when you go to vegas, only bring a set amout of money and when it is gone your done...if not bring a trailer to bring all your new toys home. We always stay at the holiday inn (it has a great bar...not to say that is all i care about) so i don't know anything about the econ lodge, but i'm sure it is nice. I can't remember where we had dinner last year. We will have some saddles in the show...Open floral and beginner. My brother will have a few pair of boots in the show. Can't wait till next week!

Here is a saddle that we just finished for the All Around Performance Horse Ranch Rodeo. This saddle will be given to the Top Horse of the ranch rodeo. I had a lot of fun building this saddle...they pretty much gave me the reins to do what I wanted to do...which is a scary. It is built on an Association tree from Bowden. The leather is Thouroughbred russett skirting. Let me know what you think.

Abn, These are built with Wickett and Craig Chestnut skirting leather. The only thing on them is a light coat of oil and then a bit of Skidmores leather creame for that broke in feel and color. That is all I used.

Pete, TLF has a small economy splitter that works pretty well, it is called a "Craftool High-Tech Leather Splitter." I bought mine about seven years ago for $80.00 and still have it on a bench in my shop. There are a lot better splitters out there but for what your trying to pull down, this one would work great with a small investment. I have to file on the blade about once or twice a month but other than that it works great. Hope this helps.

Kevin, Both the machines in my shop are Ferdco. I have a 440R baby bull and a pro 2000. My 440R used to leave marks as well, but I guess after a few years of using it, it now stitches with minimal marking. I need to get a narrow pressure foot for my 2000 because it does leave marks if the leather is even slightly damp. These rigs were stitched on my 440R and it didn't leave any more of a mark than I could rub out. The machine marks are still a problem I am trying to solve. Thanks for your coments.