Big Sioux Saddlery

What kind of round knife do you have? The steel is so poor in some, that you never would get it sharp enough.

The one in the link you provided is THE "Original Strap Cutter". I believe others similar are copies. I have one of the originals, and all the markings are nearly worn off. I've had it for over 30 years. It works best for lightweight stuff. If you try to cut saddle skirting or heavy harness leather, you will crumble the blades. I have several vintage steel draw gauges, and if the blade is sharpened correctly, they are hard to beat. It takes a little practice to get proficient in using one. I wouldn't buy a new one though. If you decide to buy a draw gauge, contact Bruce Johnson Leather Tools and buy a good vintage one from him.

It should shave hair from your arm and make virtually no noise when cutting. I will say patent is not as easy to cut as other leathers. The coating on the patent clings to knives, kind of like the plastic sheeting used for harness parts for Biothane harness.

Yes!! Due to the fact that it costs $10 to ship one tool, I usually order a number of tools at one time. Who wins there? Haha!

That's so true! I can identify the sound before I even see the machine!

That is certainly more informative than the original!! Thank you Cowboy Bob.

CS Osborne put their mark on pretty much everything they made, as far as I know. These look a lot more like older Tandy edgers to me. My favorite edgers for heavier leathers are the Gomph round bottom edgers. Very difficult to find in complete sets though, and even singly they fetch a good price. As far as NEW edgers, I know of a couple I'd advise you NOT to waste your money on. PM me if you want to specifics.

I always assumed that silk is stronger than linen so it would be possible to use a smaller thread/finer stitch using silk. It is also probably dressier in appearance. That is all pure speculation. Somewhere I've seen mention of silk carriage thread. . .of course it's quite possible it was in an old book or journal, but I can't say that I've ever seen it.

I second JLS' recommendation of Wickett for lighter weights of drum dyed veg tan. They will have the widest variety of colors to choose from. I will say however, that their veg tan can be a challenge to carve. It gums up my swivel knife really quickly. But it is beautiful leather.

I agree with you on the possum Ferg!! I largely try to "live and let live", not a hunter, never will be because I'm not much into killing things. But possums are fair game around my place, right along with mice and racoons. Destructive, filthy, disease carrying critters.

I tend to agree, I made the move to heavy horses 15 years ago or so, and haven't looked back. I worked enough Arabians in my younger years that I just don't get that feeling that of awe when I see a picture of one. But to each his own.

I'm in awe of you guys that can do figure carving well. Very nice!

I would assume it is clinched the same as the top nail. To access the clinch you'll have to loosen the front of the panel. They should be attached in the same manner as the rear. It's a real pain in the rear, which is yet another reason I hate working on English saddles.

That was the funniest thing I've heard all day, and also the most true! None of them are cheap to keep, but the free one do seem to end up costing a pile! I am sorry about your husband's impending layoff. Tough to keep ahead of expenses when income is cut or disappears. Not having enough to budget for anything seems to be a common complaint these days! Everyone is scrambling for money.

Almost any good saddlemaker will work with a long distance customer to get a good fit. It is a little more challenging than being able to see and fit the horse in person, but it is done all the time. If a custom saddle is in the budget, feel free to PM me to visit and for more info. Most of the tree companies will work off a set of tracings, but the guys handmaking trees often offer more options and provide a superior tree. There are exceptions however, because I just paid close to $700 for a handmade tree that not only has absolutely the poorest workmanship I've ever seen it wasn't even what I ordered. So it pays to do your homework.

Personally I avoid dye jobs like the plague. For repair jobs like you are talking about, I will choose the tannery-dyed leather that comes the closest to the original color, and oil until it matches as closely as possible. Saves me time, money, and I usually end up with a better job than if I had tried dyeing the leather. Only if someone wants a two-tone job, or if the desired color is so far off anything I have available will I dye a whole piece.

Your best bet would be to ask around in your area. Sooner or later someone will have a recommendation. I hesitate to recommend anyone whose work I haven't seen, or that i haven't been impressed with just by looking at pictures. I thought someone from that area might see your post and respond, but apparently not. There are some parts of the country that are more sparsely populated by saddle makers than others. Just a thought, you could try asking for a recommendation on social media. I am getting a larger and larger percentage of my work that way. Good luck.

She is a very good looking mare under saddle. I could see the Percheron influence in the first picture. There are saddles out there that will be wide enough, but what I find with the drafts and crossbred horses is that the bar angles are wrong, even if the width works. I have personally not seen any good quality "draft saddles", so cannot comment on whether they come closer to fitting that an extra wide saddle made for light horses. So in short, the point I'm trying to make is that the bar angle and rock are going to be more important than the width. If the angle is correct, the change in width lowers or raises the front of the saddle. While your mare does have quite a bit of dip in her back, her topline may be able to be improved through muscle building exercise and training. My personal recommendation is to find a knowledgeable saddle maker in your area and enlist his help in determining what will end up fitting. Even though a custom, handmade saddle may be out of your budget, many makers will still help you find a correct fit in a used saddle. It will save you time, money and many headaches in the end if you can do so. I sincerely wish you the best of luck. I started out with Percherons, have owned many, and still have a great fondness for the breed. Your beautiful mare deserves the best chance you can give her in order to be a successful partner with your daughter.

I would take the tracings and take them with you to look at saddles. What would you measure? There is really no reliable way to measure the width of a finished saddle, because there is no real reference point once the tree is covered up. Even holding tracings up under a saddle, I find to be of limited value. It will eliminate the ones that are the furthest from fitting, but the best option is to try saddles on horses. Your mare looks like she will be a challenge to fit. It looks to me like you are going to need a saddle with a lot of rock to the bars, and I daresay it's going to be next to impossible to find a factory saddle to fit. Is she a draft cross, and of what age is she?

Good explanation and I can relate. Customer likes to think "But you can make stuff out of the scrap and make money".

I very much like the contrast of colors! Yes there are imperfections to be seen by a practiced eye, but for this to be an early project, you did very well!!

I love these old catalogs. Thank you for sharing!

My experience has been consistent with what Fredk said. Leather that is really smooth and burnished on the surface can be a problem also.

The scalloped edge is created by use of a pinking punch. They come in a variety of sizes and I've seen them with both pointed and rounded scallops. They are like a half round punch, only scalloped. Bruce Johnson may have some for sale on his tool site. Otherwise, watch eBay for them and the tools for sale groups on FB. They aren't cheap.