oldtimer

I have a big sign on the wall in my shop " Don´t touch my tools". When entering the shop you can´t avoid seeing it !

You should have seen the big smile on my face when I had it all figured out and it started to skive leather ! I guess it will save an hour or two in the long run. Trial and error works ! ( I call it the monkey method)

Old Timer saddlery : an old timer making old time saddles !

Thank´s ! The haflinger was just a photomodel I saddled for the pic. He is round as a barrel so the packsaddle stands right on top of him after a long winter with too much food and too less exercise. Haflingers are nice and sturdy horses and he would make a good pack horse after loosing a pound or hundred.

Here is an old skiving machine that I got for free from a friend a while ago ( JEM in this forum). This morning I took the bull by its horns, cleaned the machine, took away all rust, turned the switch on, sharpened the knife and started figureing out how to get the machine working. I turned screws and knobs and suddenly the miracle happened ! - It started skiving leather ! It works ! I think I´ll have to buy me a lottery ticket ? The skiver is german and is labeled " Fortschritt" which is ( correct me if I am wrong) "Progress" in english. Yes, I made some fortschritt with this machine! / Knut

This is my first attempt to make a pack saddle. Got some advice from Mulefool in ordering the proper hardware. Thank´s Chris ! The photomodel is a winterfat haflinger named Sting. / Knut

My favorite knife is an old, rust pitted Theo. (Theodore) Harrington head knife. I bought it on a flea market for a very low amount of money. Sometimes you have luck on your side! How it has found its way to a flea market in Sweden, no one knows! For skiving I mostly use an old H.Gomph round knife, a twin to the Gomph knife in Steve Masons pic. / Knut

I made a bouncer from a crome/brass hame ball that I bought from Weaver leather. Filled it with molten lead to get some weight, then drilled out a hole for the handle. I turned a rosewood handle on my lathe and epoxied it into the hame ball. The wooden edge burnisher is made of a left over piece of rosewood. I polished the wood on my benchgrinder using a cotton wheel and and abrasive wax for stainless steel. Both tools work great and are nice to hold in your hand. ( I think they look good too ) / Knut

Congratulations, Tom ! You never know where this ends ! / Knut

You might find them in a pet store? I found a batch of dried bulls pizzels in the local pet store. They are sold as chewing toys for dogs. ( I don´t think the buyers know what they serve their dog ! )

God dag Lee ! Nice to meet you and to see swedish language written on this board. I know there are many "swedes" in Minnesota, "New Sweden". Söderhamn is 3 hours trip from my place Tröndelag is the district straight to the east of where I live. Jämtland, my district , belonged to Norway a long time ago, so we use to call it East Tröndelag. ha en bra dag! have a good day! Knut

Hello from Sweden, Lee. Welcome to the board! Knut

Agron, you can order your thread from www.jerndahls.com/ I think shipping will be cheaper than ordering from the US.

Sorry, I misread another topic: vegan-retan latigo ! I apologise ! / Knut

Hey Agron. You can call Pepes Lädervaror AB , Adress: Flisvägen 1 743 94 SKYTTORP, SVERIGE. I think they can help. Telefon: +46 18-35 21 00 E-mail: info@pepesladervaror.se Webbsida: www.pepesladervaror.se /Knut

Try here : http://www.zabasearch.com/ / Knut

I have used both Bowden and Timberline trees, and IMO Timberline is far superior over Bowden, so no more Bowden trees for me. / Knut

My 3-legged stool has 6 mm bolts welded together. I don´t think you can find a tri-bolt commercially, so your neighbour is probably the best solution to your problem. Make sure that the welds are carefully done ! Hitting the ground hurts!

That is a great looking rawhide sheath for your knife! I like that mountain man style ! / Knut

A splendid thought, UKRay ! I´d like to see machinery, tools and classes and meeting people with mutual interests (and of course dancing girls!) . Never been in England before so .. why not?? / Knut

Denise. Moose hair and reindeer hair are hollow so they make a good insulation and a very soft padding. Many riders in this country use a dried reindeer hide ( hair on rawhide) under the saddle. I would rather choose a reideerhide than a sheepskin for padding. During the fur trade era in North America they used an "Ephishemore", a doubled piece of buffalo robe,and a wool blanket for a saddle pad. The saddles in those days had no skirts - and no seats either so they had buffalo both under and on their saddles (ref: "Man made mobile", Smithsonian Institution, download) Interesting reading ! /Knut

The mongolian horses are small, 13 - 14 hands, so they are donkey/mule size. Also, they use stuffed pads under the saddle tree. / Knut

This is an old swedish, home made, pack saddle tree. I have a couple of similar packsaddles in my collection. On the old pack saddles I´ve seen there are thick ( 4" ) pads ( often made of grain sacks) and stuffed with hair ( moose- horse- or pigs hair) under the bars. The slots in the bars are for the single cinch billet and the ring on the back of the cantle is for the crupper. The reins were looped around the horn so the horse couldn´t stop to graze, if no leadrope was used. This type of packsaddle was frequently used in Sweden during the 1700:s and 1800:s and were often made of birch wood. Two big baskets, often made of weaved Juniper branches, were used to pack the gear. The poor man´s solution of packing, but apparently it worked ! / Knut PS Tina, There is really one mule in Sweden !!! A friend of mine in Västergötland found one in Skåne and he got it for free as there were "behaviour problems"! The story goes that a breeder of Swedish warmbloods got a small donkey stallion and they put him in the same pasture as a 2 year old, show jumping bred filly without considering what love could do to a young virgin. The filly "grew fat" and one morning they found a long eared creature in the pasture. The big question is still: Did he use a ladder? The donkey saw the possibillities more than the limits! The mule is named Tequila Daisy and she is being trained as a pack mule, the beast of burden to one of the members of the Scandinavian Mountain Men. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVR4nDtyhzU

A beautiful belt for a gunslinger ! I like those Meander borders ! / Knut