jwwright

Nice job Ronny. Who is the maker of the tree? JW

I do pretty much the others have described. I pre stretch the stirrup leathers by getting them soaking wet, then nail down one end on the bench. I stretch them all I can get, then nail down, put a soup can, maul, or some such under them and let them dry. After the leathers and fenders are assembled I get the leg of the fender wet, the rest damp and strech / set them on the drawdown. JW

Kool, nice job. JW

I don't suppose that this debate will end any time soon. To each his/her own, I say. Personally, I like a good fiberglass covered tree, and am building on those made by Ray Lewis and Jon Watsabaugh. Troy West wrote a couple of good paragraphs on this subject in the is forum a while back. You can find it here http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...40&start=40 It is well worth reading, in my opinion. JW

Thanks Keith...................any leads as to where to purchase it? JW

Thank You for the comments. Yes, the knot on that shoofly is hitched, but I can't take credit for that. That shoofly was prisoner made. JW

Thanks for all the opinions fellers. Tex, I have been using rubber cement on fork covers as well,for the same reason as you are. Personally, if a person is using the scalloped / tucked under / escutheon pin method front and back of gullet, and the cover is well fitted and tacked around the edges..........I don't see a reason that any glue at all would have to be used on fork covers. JW

Thank You Emma and FJ. FJ, on the differing colors of cord in the main cord body of the cinch, I don't splice the cord at all. The best way I can come up with to explain how I do it is...........each different section of colored cord is tied seperately, just as you would tie the cord body of the entire cinch, if using only one color. I hope this answers your question, if not, let me know, and I will try again. JW

I was wondering what all you other saddle makers use for gluing shearlings to skirts. I have been using rubber cement, in order to make it a little easier to reline some day. I have done a few with contact cement in the past. I have generally been covering the entire skirt with glue, but I have heard of some makers just gluing around the edges. Interested to hear how you do it. Thanks, JW

Tosch and Grumpy.........Thanks for your comments and questions. Yak hair has a coaser texture than Mohair, but not as course as Mane hair. Kind of in between. While mohair has some stretch and give to it, the Yak hair does not have much. It behaves much like mane hair. I have used all the above in my cinchas, and all make a good cinch. A new mane hair cinch needs to be broken in for quite a while on long haired horses, and the Yak hair does also..........but not quite so much. Grumpy, if you are having troubles galling a horse with a clean mohair cinch, it will be worse with a mane hair or yak hair. I am sure you have already done your own diagnosis to find out why your horse is galling with the mohair cinch,but I would suggest checking to make sure that your rigging placement on your saddle is appropriate for this horse. There are a few horses out there that don't do well with a full, 15/16 or even 7/8 rig. I would also suggest that maybe you check to be sure that the cinch you are using is an appropriate length for this horse / saddle combination. A too short cinch will place the cinch buckles in bad spots on some horses. Tosch, I, all things considered prefer mohair for my cinchas, but I do use yak and mane hair some as well. It has been my experience that a mohair cinch is a little more forgiving, especially on young horses, or on horses that are not in condition. I have found that durability wise, mane hair will wear longer than either the mohair or yak hair. JW

For me, at least for saddles, it is hard to beat Herman Oak. I have found other skirting to be good, but the consistantcy of temper in Herman Oak is important to me. Panhandle Leather in Amarillo, TX has great service and deals in Herman Oak with no minimum order. You can't order online, but they do have a website for contact info. www.panhandleleather.com . JW

Hi Al...........those are hobbles I made. I'd be glad to help...........what specifically would you like to know? JW

townfire...........Thanks for your knowledge shared. GotoTex...........I won't get involved in the political side of it here, because it would be pointless. I don't think anyone's mind would be changed. I will say that you are sure right about Ebay right now. I usually sell several quality used saddles on Ebay each year, along with some bit and spur trading I do. I also have sold 2 new saddles I made on Ebay this year. Right now...........Ebay is super slow for anything of good quality, and carrying the appropriate price tag. The low quality / price stuff is always there. I have visited with several other saddle & gear makers that have also seen new orders slowing down.......some more than others. I think folks are just scared to spend their extra money on big ticket items right now........thinking they sure might need that extra cash for necessities in the near future. Gotta get back to the shop, and keep trying to make a living in this Republican economy.......hehehe. JW

Congrats on #2!.........I really like your decorative knife cuts. JW

Super work, as usual Brian. JW

Tim..........I personally don't think it is over kill for a tripping saddle. You may already have a tree maker that you like for this type of saddle............if not, you might check with Ray Lewis. There are many tripping saddles in use holding up well with Ray's trees in them. Ray's father, Wilford was considered by many to be the premeir maker of trees and saddles for tripping. JW

It's all good............polling places are closed for the eastern and central time zones,and by all accounts things went well. A few reports of running out of ballots, etc., but those thing are to be expected with such a high turn out. JW

Tony,,,,,,,,,,no doubt that you do, although the population can not compare. It is my understanding that you are required by law to vote , correct? JW

We here in the US have a much larger population to get to the vote, as stated here before..............and in some places a very dense population. Sure, there are waiting lines in some primarily very urban places, but I don't think that is the rule. I live in a very rural area, and our locality has only 370 registered voters. I was able to vote this morning with a 5 minute wait time. As for methods of voting............this is not a federal action..........it is a state action. Each state determines it's own method of casting votes........and many US states are larger than the other countries used for comparison in this conversation. I think we are seeing a record % of voter turn out as well, which is a great thing. A new day for the US will begin Wednesday. JW

Jim........if you could direct me as to how to find that article, I would like to read it. Thank You, JW

Great Stuff! JW

Denise.................I can't take credit for the Albertical line.........Ian Tyson came up with that one. Well, even though it was a different feller.........tell your Rod howdy for me any way! JWrdb.............."it's always something, Rose Ann Rosannadanna." JW

rdb...........no worries my friend. My site is not hosted on AOL, and neither is my domain pointing that way. The new site was all put on new servers last night, and the domain was changed as well. As indicated by the majority of folks being able to access the site just fine..............it will take another 24 hours for all servers around the country to update . Thanks, JW

I am quite sure we'd all get along just dandy. I've always enjoyed visiting with our fellow North Americans from north of the border........especially those from Albertical,,,,where the east side's flat, the west side vertical. If your husband Rod is who I think he might be (besides a great tree maker), then I think I met once at Elko quite a few years back. Many Thanks, JW

Thank You to all for your input and comments. This is the first professionally designed site I have had for either our ranch or saddlery. I am sure there are things I will add, delete and improve upon as we go along. Denise......as for the mad cow thing........I am the sort of feller that you need to have a sense of humor to be around. Not because I am particullarly humorous, but because a keen sense of humor and irony is required just to tolerate me. So.....I reckon if someone finds the name of my business offensive in some way, then they probably are not going to enjoy doing business with me any way. Thank You for your comments! JW