oldtimer

The skirts have nothing to do with weight distrubution to the horseback, that´s the job for the saddle tree. You can ride a saddle without skirts , for example the McClellan cavalry saddle, and that´s OK ! What you need to ride, as a minimum, is a saddle tree, a rigging, a cinch, a seat, stirrup leathers and stirrups. / Knut

I built a lightweight trail ride saddle on a Pony Express tree. The skirts are minimized to 1/2" outside the bar edge, light weight unbound wooden stirrups, 2 1/2" stirrup leathers. The saddle weighs 22 lbs. Here are some pics. I´ve ridden this saddle on a week long trailride and it rides real good. / Knut

You did great, Ray! I think you can do without that "customer". I have had a "never satisfied, whatever you do" customer, which ended in returning the goods and money, and after that I am listening very carefully for those signs when talking to a customer to be, and if I get a red alert I´ll pull the reins and back out of the deal. Too much loss of energy! Sleep well tonight, Ray! / Knut

The stirrup groove on the bars will restrict the stirrup leather to shift forward. You can also put a screw in front of the stirrup leathers through the skirts into the bars to be sure. I can´t see why this type of saddle wouldn´t be strong enough for occational roping, as it was used for that once upon a time in the old West. my two cents / Knut

No. I have not tried it yet, but as far as I can seeit must work.

Finally my stirrup leather stretcher is ready for duty. I built it from birch hardwood ( available locally). I found the crank in a pile of junk, originally a crank on a trailer support wheel. The plastic knob was cracked so I turned a rosewood knob as asubstitute. Thank´s to Bruce Johnson and Alan Bell for sharing pics and advice ! / Knut

Tap tap Mine is almost the same as yours ! / Knut

Beautiful, yaklady! And the look in the eye of a bull moose in heat is just perfect ! Knut moosehunter

May I ask what breed of dog the collar is supposed for ? It can´t be a Chihuahua, could it ? And a leash of matching dimension could be made from a tow line!? I couldn´t resist .... / Knut

Tina, today I think I found most all of the Gomph tools and Osborne brass draw gauges that existed in Sverige ! I´ll fill the gaps in my sets and then I´ll sell the rest, so there will be some hope. / Knut PS Hör av dej om det är nåt du är intresserad av !

This is what I stumbled upon today, - in Sweden !!! , and at a price I could not resist ! A batch of Gomph hand tools and a batch of Osborne punches and two old Osborne draw gauges. / Knut

I just found out ( google) that the Schärf-Fix skiver is made in Sweden, but I have never seen it before, living here all my life. I seems to do a good job on thin leather. / knut

Kevin has answered your question, Chris. Rubber cement is for temporary glueing ( you can take it apart ) and contact cement is for permanent glueing. Hope this helps / Knut

I´d give the swap market a try. (There are a lot of women in this world who would let you sleep indoors. and let you keep the money) .

WTB : the book "Santa Fe & Mother Hubbard saddles, 1750-1870's " by Ed Skobalski (1979) / Knut

This is a Mother Hubbard saddle. The saddle is covered with a piece ( actually two pieces laced together) of leather called Mochila. The period is 1850-1860. / Knut

hahaha Sounds like a resonable explanation to me! Thank´s for the info on the ground seat, Qouting rhymes in the lonelyness of the saddle shop might be a good idea ! I found the Mother Hubbard rhyme on Wikipedia so I´ll give it a try . / Knut

Does anyone here have any idea why the saddle style is named "Mother Hubbard" saddle?? (Mother Hubbard must have been a remarkable woman since she gave name to a western saddle style ?? just a thought! ) Also, did the old time Mother Hubbard saddles have a ground seat (full- or half seat )under the mochila ? A history lesson , please!!! / Knut

I´m using a belt sander to sharpen my round knives, 120 grit sanding belt, plus a felt wheel for honing and polishing the edge. / Knut

Very interesting ! Let us get more of your "shameless self promotion" !! ( and I really like that Charro tree) ! / Knut

Use the square ruler and draw the lines with an awl, then cut, following the lines, with a sharp knife. This would help to control your cuts. / Knut

I have no experience of American harness leather, but I´m using Swedish harness leather for rifle slings, stirrup leathers and such, and they take tooling very well. I put the leather in luke warm water for 5 to 10 minutes and then case it in a plastic bag. The harness leather will need more time to absorb the water than skirting and strap leather. This fender and stirrup leather is made from harness leather. / Knut

Hej o välkommen till forumet ! / Knut

Learning saddlemaking the hard way ! ( I have a seatleather, similar to yours, nailed to the wall in my shop as a reminder of "Measure twice - cut once!" but don´t tell anyone, pleeease!) / Knut