oldtimer

The stirrup leathers are not riveted together. If you take a close look they are made the "usual" way, with the stirrup leathers riveted on to the fenders, old time style. So there is nothing unusual in this construction.

Try putting a sharp round punch in a vise and then pull a strap of heavy leather through it, and you will end up with a round string

I don´t think one side of leather will be enough, so I´ll suggest that you order two sides just to be sure.

Have any of you guys made a mochila? I´m very interested in how to build a mochila. Where do I start ? At the fork or at the cantle ? Do I start with a single piece of leather or with two pieces? I really need some ! I plan to build a mountain man saddle and and a mochila is part of the plan, so I need some good advice before starting to make scrap out of leather .

Nails and screws won´t stick in the long run and the plastic has a tendency to crack and break from the pressure of the screws. Holes for screws has to be pre drilled. IMO: junk

For my personal use I built this Santa Fe style saddle built on a Timberline tree. I often ride the trail in the Swedish mountains, and I find no sense in carrying a lot of leather in my saddle, so I built this skeleton rig. The horn cap is made of rosewood with a brass Texas star inletted ( saddle bling bling ). A lot of weight can be saved by choosing light weight stirrups and 10/12 oz leather. Weight of this saddle: 10 kilos / Old Timer

She loves it ! It weighs 11 kilos, about half the weight of a regular western saddle.

I built this light weight saddle for a lady last year. I believe this style of rigging is called mexican rigging. / Old timer

hey Tony I have a 3 legged stool and the bolts are 6 mm dia.( ~1/4") Make sure the weld is OK ! It hurts to hit the ground on your back! A painful experience ! :-)

You can save some weight ( more than you think) by choosing a set of lightweight stirrups

Thank´s for the pic! :wtf: Never seen anything like it before ! What´s the theory behind this construction ? I can´t see any advantage in it ??

Greg, What is a "seat rig" ? Never heard of it before!!

Question: Is the shape of the bars ( rock , twist and width) on a "true" Wade tree different from production "North West" bars or "Arizona" bars ?

Steve, do you split the grey apron leather down or do you use it as is when you buy it?

I have an old iron Boss, and there are no problems in sewing skirts. I have built a 2´x 2´wooden flatbed connected to my Boss stitching bench", that is of great help when sewing the skirts. Also, I have had an aluminium frame Boss but got rid of it as I consider that a lousy machine, so my advice is, if you´re going to buy a Boss, find an old iron frame Boss, have it shipped to Tippmann´s to get it overhauled.

You can make bonefolders of your own design from a material called " Pakka-wood", actually laminated wood impregnated with some kind of resin, that makes it hard as ebony. Pakka wood is used by knifemakers to make handles and can be polished to a mirror finish on the buffing wheel.

Thanks ! Btw I found a pic on the web, showing how to use the cantle handholes on the old Santa Fe saddle, to make it a makeshift pack saddle.

Hi. I´ve had one of those cheap "left handed" Chinese machines. I returned it to the seller the day after it arrived, as it was a cheap piece of metal junk, that never should have left China. My suggestion, don´t buy it! This is a cheap clone of a Pfaff or Singer "left handed" machine with a roller foot, used in the shoe business.

I think that the damage of the leather is a result of too much oil, which ruins the leather more than the result of "expanding" oil

Keith, once I thought I was wrong, but that was a mistake ! LOL I haven´t done any experiments on freezing oil, whether it expands or not, but as far as I know only water expands when frozen. But, as I don´t have any scientific background or have made any practical tests, only what I learned during the physics lessons at school I´ll pass on this matter!

Oils do not expand when frozen, only water does, ( at least so they told me in school once in a while) so I don´t think oil will cause any damage to leather when frozen.

I believe heat is worse on leather than cold. Living in a country where temp can drop to 40 centigrades below I have never had any damage on my tack and saddles. So my experience is that cold is no problem on leather. I think it is a myth !

A "Tejas style" Santa Fe saddle, Mexican double rigging, Rosewood horn cap with an inletted solid brass Texas star, built on a Santa Fe Full QH tree from Timberline. Weight: 11 kilos. A comfortable and practical piece of equipment for the trail

Hey Buffalo. I have built a couple of half seat saddles, the latest project was a Santa Fe style saddle for my own use ( to keep weight down on the trail). A half seat saddle , with the groundseat properly installed and shaped, makes a very comfortable piece to ride. I built the front rigging old mexican style and installed a rosewood horn cap with a brass Texas Star (to cover the screw heads). There are no special tricks to build a half seat. I have used my saddle for a couple of years, riding week long trails up in the Swedish mountains, and I won´t trade it for a regular western saddle. My next saddle project will be a half seat saddle built on a Wade tree. "If you ain´t riding a half seat, you might just as well walk"

Visit www.militaryhorse.org. / old timer