Denise

The old saying "The best way to make it as a full time saddle maker is to have a wife who works" is truer than we would like to think - at least at the beginning. In our case, I worked for the income to support us while Rod was starting the business. Fortunately for us, within less than 3 years I could come home and work with him and our business has supported us ever since. With the two of us, while I work in the shop a bunch, I also handle a lot of the administrative stuff so he can keep building. Keeping production up to pace with orders can be a problem at times (but a good one). We decided long ago that we didn't want to go the route of employees. Reasons - difficulty getting and keeping a good one, training time, quality control, lack of space in the shop, government regulations when you have employees, etc. etc. One guy we know who is a good businessman was at the point of max production and crunched the numbers regarding hiring. He figured somehow that he would need to triple his production to pay for one employee. He is still a single man shop.

When you do the file, export route, does it take them all, including the current ones? Can I take my archived ones and leave the current ones behind somehow? When they are exported, where do they go and how do I find them to save them? (Too late to try tonight... Thanks for the help)

I would like to back up my e-mail address book so I don't lose them all. I also have a whole lot of old e-mails saved into folders in OE that I would like to put on a disc and delete from the computer, but be able to read from the disc if I ever need to. How do I do this? Please type slowly and use small words and minimal abbreviations. Thanks for your help.

There are two different sites I have found that use the name Steele. One is against flex trees and the other is the major maker of them, so they are different companies. Don't know any more than that. http://www.steelesaddle.com/trees.htm http://www.steelesaddletreellc.com/index1a.html

I don't use stamping tools so I am not speaking from experience, but from reading this thread, you all seem to be agreeing - the old Craftools were decent quality using tools. The newer ones are entry level tools whose quality doesn't match the old ones or the more expensive tools. To my understanding, then, knowing when a Craftool was made is important when determining it's quality.

DaCoda, take a look at ClayB's website and Rob Barr's stuff as well. I think you will get a lot of inspiration there for the type of thing you are leaning toward. And yes, show us pictures! Give some others some inspiration too!

CountryCharm, A Wade saddle is the type of fork, not a brand name. Here is a thread that explains more about the Wade, if you are interested. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=1907

I did this a few years back not only for the shop but for the house to figure things out for insurance purposes. (Amazing how much stuff we accumulate! We live in such a prosperous society, and we take it for granted.) We know a number of people who have lost everything to fires, so it does make sense to know what you have. Time for me to redo and update the list. The other thing that is recommended is to take pictures. Now with a digital camera it doesn't take much to go around your house and shop and snap paictures of everything. Then make a copy and keep it somewhere else. If you ever have to sit down and make a list of everything you lost for the insurance company (and yes, they do ask you to do this!) pictures make it a whole pile easier.

With some behind the scenes help here, to the best of my ability I have figured that for an individual to purchase the lowest cost materials in North America (not necessarily originally from North America) to make a saddle, the cost would probably be around $380.00 US. That is plastic stirrups, fake shearling, etc. etc. For a really good quality saddle, the $1500 to $1800 figures given in earlier posts I am sure are more accurate. Gives me something to think about and base some opinions on when I see the range of prices in a tack store.

Nice work brock! Welcome to LW.net. If you want, here is a link to help you post pictures right here on LW so you don't have to deal with an outside program. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=15122&st=0#entry93658

WyomingSlick, Thank you very much not only for the work you have put into these indexs but that you have made them available for others to use. Sharing information like that is what this place is all about - helping other leatherworkers. WELCOME to LW.net.

Ashley, If you wouldn't mind, please e-mail me the sheet. Yes, I really do want to know the costs. A while back someone on here was seriously looking to build saddles for the cost conscious market, and I am wondering what the actual material costs would be if you really wanted to do that - plastic stirrups, synthetic wool, lowest cost leather. To my mind,the materials would still cost more than the $350.00 that seems to be the wanted price tag for a lot of people. (And no, I don't think you could make a living at that.) But when talking with people, I can tell them that a lot of makers have $1500+ in materials into a saddle, but then they say "Yah, but that's for top quality ones." I would like to know the bottom of the barrel price to give them that figure too. Then I can ask the question "If that is the minimum North American material costs, what quality of materials and workmanship do you think are in this $350.00 saddle?" It might make them think a little. I am in full agreement that low cost is definitely not the best way to go. After all, our trees do cost a tiche more than $70.00. (And that was for wood and rawhide! Makes me wonder what kind of wood and what kind of rawhide. We have substantially more money into the costs of our trees than that selling price!) But for some businesses, using a weaker area of the hide isn't a problem so long as they make more $$ out of the end product. That is where the concern about safety and defective saddles comes in. Note: I am not talking about the people on this forum. People who are in any business just for the money are not likely to spend their time learning more about building things better, just about selling them better.

So, what is the range of cost for the leather for a saddle? I think we have a good idea here of the cost for a good quality hand made saddle. I'm still trying to figure out the minimum cost for materials for a saddle. How little can you pay for new leather, hardward, stirrups, etc. here in North America and still have a saddle at the end of it?

And Merry Christmas to everyone on LW.net from in Northern Alberta!

I know you guys are using good quality leather on your saddles, and most use 2 - 3 sides. If you were purchasing leather in North America (not necessarily from North America) what is the range of prices available? From what I read here the good stuff is $150 - $200 per side. If someone was looking for the lowest priced skirting, how much would that cost them? (Not including the lawyer's costs for the lawsuit filed when it tore during its first ride...)

In reading around the net, it is not uncommon to find people expecting to buy saddles for $350 to $500. The comment that really got to me was "If I get one for $1000.00, it better be custom fitted to my horse!" So that got me curious as to what kind of range of prices is there for materials for a saddle. I looked around the net and you can get a tree for as little as $70.00. Even Ralides cost $85.00 and up. Production wood/rawhide was at $200.00 to $225.00, but that was an almost 2 year old price list. Hand made trees can go for $550.00 and up. What about the leather? Hardware? Other costs? Or maybe the question might be more easily answered if I just asked "What do you figure is the cost of materials in the saddles you build?"

So the seller has a reserve that is over $40 on a tool worth $4.99? Remind me not to let him sell me stock...

Why is y***i bidding himself up? It appears like he has done this 5 times.

I grew up in Edmonton, but wanted things a bit warmer - so moved north. Only -43 here Sunday morning! I have had the chance to see a tree (half tree I believe they are called) that goes into these excerise saddles, but I know many people haven't. They are very different than either English or western trees. It would be educational for them if something like that were posted here. If you have another one kicking around and were willing to post a picture, that would be great!

Casey Jordan has the information you want in post three on this thread: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=14181 Maybe if you contact Casey he may be able to answer more questions for you too?

Betty is Harry Adam's daughter and is selling his book directly. PM her or e-mail her through her profile. Here is a thread about it. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=752

Glad you had a good owner who made sure you got your stuff back. My brother had something he made as a young teen on consignment. Shop closed. Never heard from them. No idea whatever happened to his work. Kind of affected his outlook on trusting people.

Happy Birthday Art!

I corrected the topic title for you and to make searches easier in the future. Sorry I can't help you with more information. The pictures will be helpful for others, I am sure. Also be sure to tell us what the maker's stamp says. Apparently the different stamps can be connected with different time periods and places the Billy Cook saddles have been made.

Nice job, as usual, Elton.