Hidemechanic

Mad, thanks that's more specifically what I've been looking for. What cruiser to you have?GH

Hey Beez, did you say you make your own pans? Or do you have customers bring them to you or you get them elsewhere? GH

Beeza said what I was getting at. I agree with rivits. I've redone my Mag seat and redone it again with the same holes, I do keep different sized rivits on hand for the the corners where the puckers are. Git those pics when you can. GH

Great piece. I agree in reverse about the leaves. You only have so much room to work with, as in you can only use two leaves on the bottom(and stay the same size as the rest) you will end up with a glob of nuts in the middle(or corners). Instead of starting in the center you could also end in the center. Leave the side leaves as they are but start your bottom leaves from the corners and work inward then the space in the center you could put a brand, monagram, your maker stamp, or a set of interlacing cutles(vines) with a couple nuts or so. Just creative thinking out loud. So what's on the inside?GH

Jonny Yuma!! Now that's one I wish they'd bring back!

I made myself a set of finger covers that look like backward archer gloves.GH

I'd like to hear opinions and experiences with fiberglass and trees. My opinion(one of them) is that they are too rigid with little flex. I am of the opinion that trees need flex to compensate for the horse's movement. As with other ideas I have had with things I have heard differing opinions that make sense. Enough to make me change my mind? Maybe, time will tell. For instance I made the comment on another post that I didn't care for large lace holes in rawhide caused from stretching dry. The counter commment was that lace holes often do that but it doesn't effect the strenth of the tree and therefore may not necessarily be considered a quality issue(Thanks Bruce). Things like that have helped me to re-assess why I think what I think and ask myself if I really have a good reason for some of my opinions. So lets hear it folks, besides the flex issue what are other ideas out there about fibeglass as a material for trees.

JonW, welcome to the discusion.. Sounds like another related topic. There was a guy in Calif. doing carbon graphite trees but he quit before I could get one. Don't know anything about his recipe. I don't know if it matters if we get 50 or 100 posts on a thread, but I guess I'll go start a new one on fiberglass and see where it goes. GH

What you pay for a tree is about half what you would pay for JW's vids, you ought to hang in a little longer and save for the vids. I hate to think how much you'll spend on leather to get your first tree done learning on your own. Don't know that the subject has come up for you yet but you will likely spend a good 450-500 bucks on leather(the good stuff)plus your hardware and what, 200 for your tree? Don't know what Bowden sells their kit for but either way just your materials for your first saddle is probably going to run a big chunk-o-change(does sound familiar now).GH

You got me thinking in two different directions and my answer would be confusing. I think you said that you intend to wrap the gusset around the pan to staple from under. I'm guessing you are making your P-pad a rectangle box, is that close? If so, why don't you do it similar to how you did you s-bar pad? Make it to fit the foam. I don't see why you can't just make the 'box' (top and gusset laced) then stuff the foam in and then pull the bottom edge of the gusset around the pan and staple. Get those corners smoothed out then between the corners. Maybe I'm invisioning something different from what you are doing, but I don't see why you are going to do enough stretching to distort your gusset tooling. Maybe I do need some pics. You should be able to turn that gusset leather under while it is 'on the dry' in such a way as to not put too much stretch on it's tooling. What waight is the gusset lether? Let's talk some more. GH

Great design and style, is that reg. veg. leather? Since you asked for input, there are at least two things I would suggest you do on the next one. I would like to see you tighten your stitches(tension not closeness) and 'hammer' down the stitches. Using a smoothe round faced hammer to tap down your stitches helps them lay flatter to your work and it closes the stitch holes up around the thread. It' a function with fasion thing. I would also look for a smaller zipper(reduce bulk). It's a very nice piece, the owner should be proud. Cheers,GH

Art, this was kind of where I was going with my post about selecting trees, but since you asked I'll answer yours with my opinion. First off starting out it is common to ask around and you will get varying opinions as to who does what and eventually you will weed them out and make a choise and try one out. Then when you get your hands on one you will look for how well the lacing lays and that they aren't in areas that will be rubbed by the leather you apply to it. You don't want to see where stitch holes have stretched out when drying.They want to be small and close to the lace. As we mentioned in one of the othed related posts you want to see nails set deap against the wood and no gaps between the nail head and the wood. When I first get a tree one of the things I do is set it on my stone ( my best flat surface) and check it for rock. Some trees will get a bit of twist in them that can be indicated by rocking on a flat surface. They should not rock and should set flat. You want to check your horn for center. There should be a smooth transition from the swells to the bars(where they attach) as well as the cantle and bars. I had a long day so I'm going to let others add their thoughts. GH

So, am I getting this right?, you want to cover the loop of the lever where your fingers go in to operate the lever? If so there are different braids and lace you can use to cover the lever. Others will have to jump in on the how to. I've seen sailor's braid everything you can think of. You may want to go with a softer temper, wider lace for the effect you want. You can have tails if you want or tuck the tails for a finished look. Hope that's what you were asking. At first I thought you were talking about the scabbard for levers and I have done different versions of those too, for guys looking for more securety when in the saddle.GH

What do you look for when selecting a saddle tree? Are there ways to narrow down who to buy from without being able to see or handle their tree?

ArtS, sounds like another go topic.GH

Garry, you want to keep in mind when beveling that you bevel as deep as your cut, so there are times in a given patern that your cuts will be at different depths so as to create a better transition from one portion of the patern to another(3-D effect). We are assuming that you cased the leather before you cut and beveled? Properly cased leather will retain it's impessions after drying and should not appear as cuts opening up when bent(for the most part). Hope that makes sence. GH

Stitching looks great. I thought your engraving was a stamp, awsome.GH

okiwen, I think Ben Swanke is still in Billings, and Slick fork saddle shop in Townsand. Might pay you to run down there and have a chat. Might get some tips or leads. GH

That is one of the things that I impress on people that I have given saddle clinics for is too much oil is as detrimental as no oil. Moderation I was taught growing up and it seems to hold true for so many things.GH

Cool, let us know if you need anything. You guard or active?GH

Well you're gonna think I'm worse than rude. I just hung a boar a couple weekends back, He's in the freezer and his hide went to the yotes in the grasslands. I'm with Bruce on the lineing. Not too much else I use it for. Good luck Oynk oynk snarf snarf. GH

Can't enlarge your pics that way but from what I see you do fine work. GH

I only did custom orders and because of my family choices I didn't get to market my saddles in a way to increase my orders.I made marketing mistakes as well. Now I am going to build what I want to build and use a few different market stratigies to find the persons willing to pay on the spot. Ask away and I'll answer what I can.GH

Syd, way good idea. I forget picked up and earlier scanner from a biz and the software wasn't compatable with my Dell. I'll have to dig it out and find a place for it. Thanks. Good way to recycle. GH

I've only rarely done it and it was for utillitarian reasons rather than fasion(no doubt means I'm boring), so no thing wrong with it as a matter of style. If the threads hold up to the use it will get then go for it.GH