TroyWest

After I made this post, I went back and it popped right in. I had already done the things both Steves suggested, but I appreciate your comments. Pete, you can't just sink an old friend. There's still lifein there. It sews perfect, once you get the bobbin in.

I don't use it often but it sews fine when I do. I was sewing with it today, ran out of bobbin, replaced the bobbin, and the bobbin case will not snap back in. If I take the bobbin out of the bobbin case it snaps right in. When I put the bobbin back in the bobbin case it will not snap back in the machine. I've had this problem before but always managed to get it snapped back in. Not today...not yet. It's the same bobbins i've had for years, I've cleaned the case. I can't see anything that's holding it out enough to keep it from snapping in. Any suggestions?

That's very nice, Steve. I really like it. Troy West

Jdavies, Thanks for the kind word. Looking forward to seeing your saddle. Troy

Grunt, Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it. Troy

McFeeley's has everything you want. You can get a free catalog also. 1-800-443-7973 www.mcfeelys.com Hope that helps, Troy West

I'm a full time saddlemaker.

Hello Bob, Haven't seen you post in a while. Thanks for the kind word. Troy

Thank you for your comments Clay and Go2Tex. There is certainly room for improvement in my silverwork and when I look at the Pres. saddle I see things I would do differently now than I did then in the silver and in the saddle. There is no end to learning and striving for excellence. The fun of our work is getting to be creative in design and then in execution and then you back off and look at it and critique it. There are always areas to improve but it's still a lot of fun to me. Just so you know I no longer work at West Bros., but I built a shop at my home about 5 yrs. ago. I live a mile down a dirt road and mostly build saddles, along with a few silver buckles. My brothers shop is on a highway where he has a lot of walk-in traffic and does a ton of repairs as well as a few saddles.

Ian, It loses some detail when you make the photo computer compatible, but the edges are stitched everywhere. If you look at the closeup of the concho you'll see the stitching around the top of the seat jockey. I used all-purpose cement. The biggest challenge, if you've ever worked with ostrich, is that it has a pretty spongy backside. I couldn't groove the top of the ostrich for stitch grooves but I did want my stitches to be countersunk. I grooved the skirting pretty deep where you normally would, then skived the outer edges of the ostrich to eliminate as much of the sponginess as possible. Then glued it down with two coats of glue and ran a creaser on top of the ostrich to push it down in the stitch groove to see where to sew, but every edge is sewn. Apparently he rides it quite a bit. It looked fine but it looked well ridden. He sent it to me a year ago to clean it. He had ridden with a small bottle of vaseline in his back pocket and some had squirted onto the seat. Go figure.

Ben, J.W., and Johnny, Thank you guys for your comments. I really appreciate it. I saw a full ostrich covered saddle about 20 yrs. ago at the world show in Oklahoma City. It was a sort of sea green color and frankly, I thought it was one of the ugliest saddles I've ever seen, so I was a little leery when this guy wanted one. This color is cognac, which is what he requested. It looks better than green, but you have to like ostrich. I am not an ostrich fan but I sure would build another one. Its just like lining a saddle except on top and of course very profitable without spending a huge amount of time building the saddle. Thanks again for your comments, Troy

Thanks Ian, I really appreciate your comments. Troy

Thanks Bob, I really appreciate the comments. Yes, he was a great client. Someone who knew what he wanted and had the money to get it. Troy

Thank you Crystal, I thought the story might answer a few questions about how this thing came to be, and why it was done the way that it was. Thanks again. Troy

I was talking with Clay B. and Crystal the other night in the chat room and they asked me to post pictures of this saddle. I actually made this several years ago for an old trick roper. He saw the pictures of the saddle we made for Pres. Bush and called and ordered a saddle. Then he called back and said," I've been wearing these ostrich boots for 20 yrs. and they held up real well. Whats the chances you could cover my saddle with ostrich?" I said " I think I can do that." It took 4 full ostrich hides to completely cover this saddle. I'm really not a fan of ostrich saddles, but as ostrich saddle go, it turned out O.K. Then he called back and said," I want conchos just like the ones on his saddle." I said, I can do that." Then he called back and said," What's the chances you could put a diamond in the middle of the star on those conchos?" I said," I think I can do that." Now I really had never done that before, but I figured if anybody can do it, I can learn. So I called my cousin, who cuts precious stones for a living and asked him how to do it, and he told me over the phone. Then he ordered some diamonds for me. We used what is known as a tube setting, which means a silver tube completely encircles the stone, holding it with much greater strength than a prong setting. I sure didn't want some horse slinging his head with a bit and knocking the diamond across the arena. Anyway, here it is. Then he told me what he wanted on the horn cap, and on the cantle plate, insisting that I use 14k gold for the letters. The small letters on the horn cap I could purchase, the letters on the cantle plate I sawed out with a jewelers saw. Hope you enjoy the pics. Troy

Paul and J.W., Thanks so much for the birthday wishes. I really appreciate it. Troy

Thanks Pete, You did add a word of cheer Hope you all have a Happy New Year! Troy

Thanks Bob, that's a real encouragement. Now I have something to really look forward to. So when do your teeth start fallin' out? When do you start driving crazy? When do you start repeating yourself When do you start repeating yourself? They say that old saddlemakers who breathe a lot of Neatlac can't remember what they just said. They say that old saddlemakers who breathe a lot of Neatlac can't remember what they just said.

Well thank you very much, I think. I told Bruce this morning I'm officially middle aged if I live to be 100. Thanks for the birthday wishes. Troy

My understanding, at least from Herman Oaks point of view, is that skirting stays in the tanning vats several weeks longer than strap. As a result, stap is a little firmer and has less stretch, which is why it is recommended for strap goods. Skirting or strap will work fine for your chap tops and other items. I mainly build saddles, but ocassionally make chaps and simply block my tops out of firm skirting and take it down to the thickness I want with a band knife. That way I dont have to buy several weights of leathers. I have built saddles out of all these, natural, golden, and chestnut. I prefer natural skirting. The chestnut, like Bruce said, takes a little longer to get wet and requires warmer water to do so. It will take less oil to make it a dark oiled saddle though. I buy Herman Oak by the roll,which is 10 sides. I like to order 5 rights and 5 lefts in order to block out a saddle with one left and one right. In years past, I had a customer who ordered saddles with latigo seat and fenders. They actually hold up quite well. He has ridden these for over 20 yrs. A lot of cutters in years past were actually made out of strap leather to be thin, light and strong. Hope that helps, Troy

Well Bob, You said that so well, you're my first choice for manager................. I can see it now, " Wild West Blade Works, this is Bob." " Hello Bob, I've got a blade I need to sharpen. Have you ever used one of these things?" " Well sure I have. I just make so much more money now that I'm a manager."

You're exactly right. Apparently I cant add. When you get into those big numbers, it just confuses me.

Excellent job covering the swell and front jockey with one piece Jeremiah.

Well, so far it's only 2 swivel knife blades. How many can there really be out there?

Yes, If you send it to me , I'll see what I can do. I dont need the knife, just the blade. Troy