Timbo

This is a Jeremiah Watt LiteRide saddle and I cannot tell how the rigging is done on it. Since there only appears to be one skirt, is it built into that and if so how is that attached to the tree?? Anybody got any ideas?? Thanks, Tim

Those look really good and hopefully don't wind up hung on a wall for life. You build them so well it would be a shame for them not to get used. Tim

I'm definitely in on this!!! Ultimately what we want is when people search for anything made of leather on the net to do a search and our collective e-store comes up as the #1 search. I can see this taking off and becoming a real force for us!!!! Let me know if I can do anything to help. Tim

But if you drilled them you could tap them and use bolts.........that would just be weird. Tim

That looks great!!! I'm working on a scabbard for a customer too. What kind of rifle is yours for?? Tim

Cool bike Rog!!! I love old non-Harley choppers and bobbers. I would have a hard time on yours though....shifting with the right foot would be hard to get used to. Thanks for posting pics of it!!! Tim

The first and second pic was taken the first week of July.....got back on the 4th. The 3rd pic was taken towards the end of August. I usually put a couple thick horse blankets under my sleeping bag pad for insulation against the cold ground. Which is also the reason everything gets washed when I get home.....even stuff I didn't have to wear. Apparently I am the only one is this house that loves the smell of horses!!!! By the way the mountains are the Sangre de Christos. Tim

Tom, I sent you a PM but also thought to ask on here as other people might want to know how.......but how did you do the name with a stylus and make it so deep???? It looks great!!! Tim

Ok, I googled it and still don't know what a "barmagh in buffalo" is..........?????????? Tim

Ok, here's my pics. But there is a story and explanation that goes along with them. I spent the summer as a trail guide in training for horseback packtrips in the mountains. I work for Bear Basin Packtrips out of Westcliffe, CO. This summer I was learning the ropes, so to speak, of all the ins and outs of trail guiding. All the trips I went on was as the wrangler, meaning I took care of the horses and clients but did not lead the group. (by the way, in case you don't know a wrangler only works with horses and a cowboy works cows, so I am a wrangler) The first pic with me in the cowboy (er, wrangler) hat is my first trip. The pic was taken at roughly 11,500 feet. This first trip was sure a learning experience. I love the old west and love dressing the part, hence the tall boots, round crown hat (which sheds water really well), vest, scarf, band collar shirt, gun rig etc..... which leads me to my second pic. This is the valley that we were camping in the first night. Beautiful isn't it??? But, see the sky?? This is what it looks like before all hell breaks loose. By the time we hit the valley floor it was raining hard and by the time we got camp set up it was hailing and really started piling up. (but not as bad as it could have been as I found out on the third trip) The long and short of it is.........I was soaked to the bone from the waist down. My cowboy duster really was waterproof and it worked, the problem was the boots. Leather soles and high tops got wet quick, and yes I had waterproofed them with Feibings Aussie, like I do all my boots. Problem was the water was being wicked in by the leather soles. By the time I turned in for the night I couldn't feel my feet. So inside my sleeping bag I had my feet stuffed into my down vest with a piece of shearling (that I use when somebody gets a sore butt) stuffed into the neck hole, and dry wool socks. Took a few hours but finally got them warm. Next morning my boots were still soaked thru and cold as ice. Well I knew I would never be able to get them on this wet..........problem was I did not bring another pair of boots or shoes or even flip flops with me. But..........I did have some Wal-Mart bags!!!! So I stuffed my feet in the bags and taped them on and went and started a fire. Finally got the boots dried out enough that I could get them on......hours later. ........and yes I caught a lot of guff for my Wal-Mart bags. But I was glad I had them. Since this trip the only time I wear the tall boots or anything leather soled are for ranch rides or day trips under perfect skies. Which brings me to the 3rd pic. This is towards the end of my second trip.........notice the change in attire!!!! Traded old west for North Face, micro fleece, ball caps and wool watch caps, caprilene and on my feet Vasque waterproof hikers and Gore Tex gaiters!!! Way more comfortable!!!! I did however keep the silk scarf as you can use it for alot of things and it is warm. The 3rd pic was also taken at between 11 and 12,000 feet. Notice that stuff on the left?? Those are clouds and we were above them, had to ride down into them and stayed in them for the next 5 hours. They were wet and cold. Sunshine never felt so good!! By the way, my friend, Will Ghormley, made fun of me in the first pic for having "petroleum" saddle bags. Sorry, Will but they sure do keep your stuff dry!!! (I even keep my clothes in dry bags inside them, so they are double protected) I don't dare show him the 3rd pic.............. Sorry I got so long winded, but story tellin' is what I do, 'specially 'round the campfire!!! Tim

It looks great Tom!!! Grooves look really good too!!! What dye/finish combo did you use??? What are the measurements of it buckled?? Tim

I've probably cut a mile of grooves with mine and am still on the first blade. It is easier for me if I am above and over the piece that I am grooving. Apply a lot of downward pressure and keep it tight to the edge but you also want to put pressure on the blade by twisting it to your left as you draw it towards you. (it is assumed it is in your right hand) It also helps to make sure you have a surface that the tool guide can slide on easily. I cut grooves on my rock as it is a slick surface that will not cause too much drag. Don't worry about getting depth on the first cut. Finish the first cut completely then come back and cut it deeper if needed, but be careful to follow the first cut or you can really screw it up badly. You also have to make sure you are holding the tool at the right angle to get the optimum cut from the blade. Hope this helps............and groove all your scrap for practice. Tim

Tina, I want to know more about the fine print....we are one of the only nations that don't eat "things that wear saddles". With less fat and more protein it sounds like it would be better for us than beef..........so for the big question, what does it tast like?? Does it bear any similarities to beef?? Tim

Thanks Gary!! That is what I was wanting to see. I have never seen one at this stage before, only the finished product that is wrapped in mulehide. How much of the 2 seems running to the swell gets trimmed off?? and is it possible to do this type of horn cover without the mulehide wrap or is it just the accepted practice that it gets mulehided?? ..................and everybody turn the caps off and resume handing out useful knowledge. We can't tell what tone of voice is being used when typing so all we have to go on is caps.......regardless of the intention...........well hell, you can't tell the intention, which is the problem...........use caps wisely. Thanks, Tim

Could somebody posts some pics of these types of horns that are being covered?? I'm new to saddle making and apparently don't understand how to do a horn without wrapping the wings around it. Where is the seam on a sewn horn?? Tim

No bad questions on this board. I am also wanting to build my first saddle and am wanting to build one exactly as you've described with Sam Stagg rigging. I drool alot over Will Ghormleys 1870's Colorado stock saddle. http://www.willghormley-maker.com/ It is under the saddles button. Will has been working on patterns and instructions for making historically accurate saddles. My question has and still is on doing the half seat itself. I have never seen a half seat saddle in person so I am totally clueless as to have the seat leather wraps under the seat. Maybe someone with experience on these will chime in. Tim

Yup that's what it is for....the lighter weight leathers stretching more overall than heavier weights. Most saddlers don't use anything on the backs since the skirting leather is so heavy. Taping the backs reduces stretch and also helps "round up" the tooling giving it more depth in appearance. Of course the more stamping the more stretch. Basket weave on a large piece of lighter weight leather will stretch like mad in "all" directions. This is also the reason lots of people have a hard time getting there Tandy kits put together after they get them tooled. Light weight leather, lots of tooling and prepunched lacing and stitching holes = completed project that won't go together well and probably doesn't look to whippy when it does get put together. Sorry so long winded. Tim

For those of us who use clear packing tape on the back of the leather before casing and tooling, here is a warning. I ran out of my good 3M tape and could not find it at Wally World. So they had some Duck Tape brand HDclear tape that looked pretty good. Bought a roll, took it home and gave it a try...........well it went down nice and seemed to stick good.......buuuuutttttttt the problem came when I went to take it off. The plastic tape came off but all the adhesive stayed on the leather. I mean all the adhesive. There was nothing sticky about the clear piece of plastic that came off. Apparently moisture causes it to adhere more to the leather than the plastic tape......or it just plain sticks too well to the leather. I never remove the tape from the leather until the piece is all the way dry so as not to distort the leather or carving. This stuff was also very hard to peel off and taking it off quickly or slowly made no difference. After it was all off, the back of the leather was shiny with stickiness. You could of stuck it on the ceiling. ........anyway, finally got it off by taking more of it and sticking it down and peeling it back off. Boy is the back of this leather fuzzy now. So anyway.......moral of the story....don't use Duck Tape HDclear for backing tape......use it for packing tape!!!! Tim

Cool idea...........gonna have to make myself one of these too!!! Thanks for the tip!! Tim

well of course we're joking!!! It's just my way of honoring someone who has obviously mastered floral carving. I continue to practice but have to yet to achieve anything I believe worthy of posting. ...by they way......how is the "birdseye" backgrounding done.......it looks excellent. Is it just 2 different sizes of seeders used to do this or what?? Tim

WOW!! Tim

They are very hard to find.....occasionally Seigel will have some......but everything but the butts are either fashion weight or shoe leather weight. Had somebody along time ago tell me (not sure it is 100% true or not) that if your shoes say "genuine cowhide" thats what they are and if they say "genuine leather" they are more than likely horse. We're pretty much the only country in the world that doesn't eat them...........to us they are pets. LOTS of people don't even want to know that something of theirs was made of horse, so I am really careful to disclose that info. But anyway from what I am told most of the horse hide goes to the shoe industry. Back in the 40 and 50's the best leather jackets were horsehide and lots of them are still around. ...and then sometime along the way people became disgusted at the thought of wearing Old Dan or Trigger and they fell out of vogue. But it is some of the best leather on the planet. I'd love to have one veg tanned just to see what it is like to work with a whole hide. Sorry so long winded, Tim

Good job and I'd be proud to ride it!!!! 'Course with a last name like "Jones" how can you go wrong!!!! What kind of tree did you use??? I am assuming Ralide since I see one in the background. .....again.....it looks great and I like the lacing on the swell!! Tim

Thank you very much for the compliment............ down side of the black nubuck is that it gets everywhere!!!! Ruined a good shirt before I realized how much black was transferring to it..........live and learn though. It's one of the reasons I rarely do black. But I still have a whole side of it that I know I'll have to use sooner or later. Good luck on the chaps!! Let me know how they come out and also let me know how the patterns work too. I'll wait to order mine until you give me a thumbs up on them!! Tim

I have made my own chap patterns before...see some pics of my chaps on my website.......and I will agree with Bob that mods could throw things off.....but its not impossible. What I would do is to get the patterns and make a template from poster board from them and start modding from there. Sounds like you are only going to want to change them from the knee down so it should be fairly straight forward. I can't see what the backside of the leg does on his pic, but take your template and change the outside of the leg to be the way you want then bring the backside around and make the necessary adjustments to make it fit. Be careful though as sometimes mods can put a twist in the leg that you can't get with posterboard but shows up in leather. Also for that reason don't change the relationship of how the yoke goes onto the body either. That can make the chap legs do really funky things.......found that out the hard way. I like his patterns and believe I will also be ordering some from him as well. Especially that #34....and I am with your customer and not liking the bell bottom look too much either. I do like his chink patterns though. Hope I have been of some help. Tim