oldtimer

I have read many articles in The Leathercrafters & saddlers Journal on restoring old saddles. They are written by mr Richard L. Sherer, Sherer Custom saddles Inc. in Colorado. You might give him a call ?

A Spanish Mustang and a Hope saddle makes a wonderful combination from "the good old days"! Beautiful horse ! That crested neck gives a hint of pure (horse)power! Dick Sherer of Sherer Custom saddles, Colo. has built a fine Hope saddle : http://www.sherersaddlesinc.com/images/1860_reprob.gif Good luck with the saddle for your Thunderpony! / Knut

I have built a couple of Hope and Santa Fe saddles and studied the subject a lot . I´m still waiting for a book on the subject to be released: "Saddles of the frontier west" by Zon Publ. Co. I don´t know what has happened but the release has been postponed for a couple of years. ( Amazon.com) Also, "The UMO cayuse handbook" has a lot of info about early saddles and tack. A couple of links of interest: http://www.sawtoothsaddle.com/large-photo....es&treeName= A really "fat" Hope saddle http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/handle/10088/2438 " Man made mobile" the history of the western saddle . www.lg-usa.com/UMO/UMO.html The UMO cayuse handbook Good luck with your project, keep us updated, questions are welcome. Let us see pics! " If you ain´t riding your mustang in an old time saddle - you might just as well walk!"

My Juki LU-563 has a horizontal shuttle , as far as I know !? but I haven´t seen a consew 206 so I cant tell the difference. The Juki LU-563 is really a good machine, I can recommend it !

This might be a handy gun for the Swedish moose hunting season ? Recoilless and silent !

A very beautiful saddle ! What did you use to get that beautiful color??

My shop after this weekends snowfall. Yesterday I gave up the leatherwork and became a full time snow shoveler. let it be summer soon!

English bridle leather is stuffed full of different kinds of grease and oils and is very resistant to water in comparison to tooling leather. By that reason you can´t wet form it like tooling leather. That´s my experience. / Knut

Words of wisdom !

Thank´s for your kind comments!

Potatoe flour and it is easy to wipe off, doesnt stick at all!

Hi Sodapop. I bought this house many years ago, tore it apart log by log , and had it transported to my place. It is more than 100 years old and made by hand with an axe. I made concrete pillars as a foundation and put it together log by log ( "house moss" between the logs, old fashion way, which makes the moisture in the logs to travel, and preserve the timber for another 100 years). It rains and snows in Sweden so you can´t live without a tin roof, at least not for the next 100 years! The plan was to make a guest house, but the kids moved out, no need for a guest house, and I moved my saddlery shop from the basement in my house to the log house. I have 5" of insulation inside the timber walls and full height inside. A good place to spend quality time making old timey saddles wit a Sam Stagg rigging!!

I´ll say one kind word about Ralide trees in a saddle in comparison to factory made saddles with "real" trees: The ground seat is better that average factory made saddles! I have opened a couple of saddles from well known saddle companies in the US, and I must say that I´m not very impressed with the ground seat work in them: A tin plate nailed to the tree covered with a less than chap quality leather. After a while you are riding on nailheads under your butt. That is one kind word, no more, no less!

I would use what we in Sweden call !"Potatoe meal" , don´t know the name of the product in english. A heavy layer of that would suck out the oil in a day or two. The product is potatoe starch.

A clean and well organized shop, Harry ! Here are some pics from my shop in Sweden. The shop is not cleaned up before shooting the pics so it is a war zone, sorry for the mess, but I blame on work! One of the signs says: "I know, it looks terrible in here" ! The knives are held to the bench by a magnetic bar.

Thank´s guys ! ( what would life be without the members of this forum !) / Knut

Hej och välkommen till forumet ! Här finns mycken kunskap och massor av trevliga, hjälpsamma människor! Vi hörs! / Knut Östersund

I am looking for 3 1/2" round brass rigging rings. I placed an order at Bowden saddle tree Co in dec -08 and today I called them asking where my saddle rings are. They noticed me that their supplier was out of stock on those rings. Any tips on where I can buy rings are appreciated. / Knut

A big chunk of chewing tobacco along with the saliva will help a lot to make a nice burnished color !

I like the old time saddle styles too ! I´m riding a Santa Fe-style saddle and I like it very much. Built it to save some weight during my mountain rides. I didn´t use the Sam Stagg rigging though, I made a mexican style rigging and it works fine. The saddle weighs 10 kilos.

The Sam Stagg rigging is a strong construction, no screws involved, and - that old timey look !!!! " If you ain´t riding an old timey saddle - you might just as well walk"

Trooper I have been admiring their Vaquero Wades on the web. I have a wade tree that will be a Sam Stagg Wade in time. / Knut

I have found Wade saddles with the Sam Stagg rigging on the web. Looking good! http://www.outwestsaddlery.com/html/past_saddles_made.html

A sad story about a skilled saddlemaker ! Conclusion: If the old lady leaves you, let her be! There is a whole world full of women out there waiting for you!( mostly used, but in good shape and low milage )

Bowden Saddle Tree Co., Inc. FORMERLY RITTER SADDLE TREE COMPANY made the tree. / Knut