kseidel

Yes, raising the rear dee would have been the proper adjustment to maintain the shallower, larger radius of the rear jockey to match the skirt.

Nice looking saddle Jon. Clean and neat and well made. May I add a critique...mostly related to design... skirt shape does not match seat and jockey shapes. Skirt should have a fuller rear corner to match jockey (or change jockey shape to match skirt). Side seat jockey is a bit too deep down the side, and a bit too short front to back. Follow the cantle line around the seat jockey and back thru the front of the swell. This is cosmetic, and wont affect the functionality of the saddle.

Interesting to read the replies and hear the "guesses." The proper way to bleed strings is to cut from the bottom up, as shown in your pic labeled "UP". This allows the strings to lay down smoothly and is more attractive.

Your swivel knife is not a tool to skimp and go cheap. All of your tooling depends on the swivel knife... right down to the borders. You will use it more than any other tool. The cheap knives produce a lot of friction in the barrel as you carve since you are applying pressure to the top of the yoke. This leads to ragged cuts and tremendous fatigue! You will never regret spending a few more dollars on the swivel knife. If you want professional quality results, get a professional swivel knife. Chuck Smith also makes a blade machined from cobalt bar stock. This material offers a nearly drag free cut. I seldom even strop these blades, they carve so smoothly. Total cost of knife with blade about $125. Not that much in the scheme of leather working tools. It's not like buying a stitcher!

I prefer Chuck Smith Ol' Smoothie. Shaft and yoke are mounted with a ball bearing and are balanced and smooth. Barry King's are not. Both are the same price. No comparison. I have them all, and carve many hours a day. I mainly use the ol' smoothie.

Well Jared, congratulations on making your first saddles. By the looks of your facebook page and reading your posts, it will be the first of many. You are ambitious for a 16 year old in this society. If you are willing to work as hard at perfecting your skills as you seem excited about promoting yourself, you will enjoy a bright and successful future. Just last week someone sent me a pic of one of my first saddles and it reminded me of where I started. I was 14 when I started making saddles, and they were pretty rough! But I didn't know any better, and I was proud of them. Big Sioux gave you a direct and accurate critique... and he didn't cut you much slack. I appreciate that he was willing to give you and honest evaluation. I would like to encourage you to burn the book and video that you used on this saddle, and start fresh with a qualified maker. Then make it a priority to study saddles. Expose yourself to all that you can find. You will learn much good from saddles made by masters, and maybe more of the bad made by inexperienced and commercial makers. Learn to evaluate what you are seeing and to be able to duplicate the designs. It is apparent that you do not have a very good base of knowledge regarding the finer elements of a saddles' design. As you evaluate the saddle that you have just finished, you will see the glaring design flaws. Later, you will see the more subtle elements that you can improve in the future. If you want to make a career as a saddlemaker, consider getting some personal training. Your swell cover is testimony that you respond well to personal help as this may be the best part on this saddle. You can learn a great deal from books and videos, but many times more from training in person. Get some GOOD books and videos, and invest in some personal training. Maybe take some classes at a leather worker trade show, and find a local saddlemaker (or several) to teach you some tricks as you develop. You could learn the hard way and take 20 years, or get some training, and shorten that learning curve by many years. Don't get discouraged, this is a great career, and very rewarding. I wish you the best of luck in your venture. Keith Seidel

The metal not what causes the black marks on the leather. It is from your hands... sweat, oils, etc. The tools you handle, the water, even your diet can create black stains on your leather. A simple wash with oxalic acid before oiling will neutralize any black marks on your leather.

Sorry for delay in response... I am not getting notifications on this post for some unknown reason. Your assumption is incorrect. Both fenders will cut out next to each other from the butt of one side. The riggings come next to the fenders and mirror each other side by side. Then one skirt. The seat will cut out of the butt on the other side. Then the rear jockeys nest to each other to match, and then the other skirt. Both skirts are cut lengthwise on the hide and will be back of the skirt toward the butt of the hide, and bottom of the skirt to the back or top of the cow. They will now be consistent in surface and have the best leather toward the back for consistent visual and stability of the back corner. Front will have shoulder wrinkles running from top to bottom and are covered with the rigging.

Impossible to answer without seeing the same video. Can you post a link?

I would not say the tensile strength is different from hide to comparable hide. However, the strength varies throughout a hide. Cutting one skirt lengthwise and another crosswise will most certainly affect the strength from one to the other. Cutting riggings from different hides, but from similar positions and directions in the hide will have comparable strengths and is acceptable practice.

I always make my saddles from one right and one left side of skirting. It is possible to make a quality saddle from two rights or lefts, however, I prefer to make from matching pairs. This is largely for the symmetry of the skirts. It is especially beneficial when making in-skirt riggings and single rear skirts without jockeys. I believe that the location of a part on a hide and its orientation has a critical relation to the quality of a saddle and how well it will hold up under hard use over the long years. Keith

Sounds like you are a prime candidate for a good hook and awl stitcher!

Diamond Wool panel pad comes in either a 1" or a 1/2" pad, both have 1/2" removable panels. If your saddle is wide enough in the front gullet, and rising up in the back, then it has too much rock and is making contact in the center behind the stirrup leathers. Removing the center panel will relieve the rock by 1/2", allowing the saddle to sit more level with less pressure in the center. Center pressure causes the horse to hollow the back to get away from the pressure. This complicates any movements requiring collection. If your front gullet is too wide, then, like Big Sioux commented, the front will drop too low, causing the back to rise. Still, you would have too much pressure in the center, not in the front. Removing the center panels will still help the fit.

Bridle leather is not a good alternative for lace leather. Bridle leather is essentially skirting or strap leather with a finish. It is mouldable like skirting yet has a factory applied finish. If you were to split it thin enough for lace, the surface will crack and the string might break. Same for use as saddle strings,,, not soft enough. Latigo or indian tan is the best leather to use for saddle strings and general use lace, I agree with big souix regarding kangaroo for lacing swells. I would suggest 1/4" or 5/16" beveled kangaroo with a #3 or #4 hole. You can buy wider widths of cut lace from Y-knot lace co. It will be thin enough to lay smooth on your swells, and strong enough for many years of use. Keith

You can shorten the fender cutting it off of the top and shaping it to fit under your seat and have some stirrup freedom. Stirrup leather can be shortened at the same time to allow you some adjustment. If your fender is tooled, you will be cutting into the tooling pattern and across the borders. Also, if it has a stitched edge, this will need to be considered. You could also consider a petite stirrup, which is about 1" shorter than standard and about ½" narrower. Keith

Getting lots of interest in other workshops. What time of year would work out best for you to attend? What subjects would you like to study? Doing saddle making workshops is difficult at trade shows without the use of a fully equipped saddle shop. I realize traveling to Cody WY adds another obstacle to overcome. Cost is also a factor. More students equates to lower costs. However, more students means less personal time with the instructor. So I would like to hear from you.... Keith

I am not going to give you specific dimensions, rather try to explain that rigging depth is more relative to function and cosmetics as it relates to the skirt. A Dee ring rigging will sit higher than a flat plate or in-skirt. The fold on a dee ring rigging should be covered by the seat jockey and therefor it's depth is determined by the position of the seat jockey. The hardware on a flat plate rigging should fall just below the skirt to facilitate wrapping the latigo and reduce the bulk under the leg. This depth is determined by the skirt depth. An extra deep dropped rigging is only necessary if one is building a small saddle for a very large horse. An in-skirt rigging is determined by the depth of the skirt. It can be dropped, but does not need to be excessive. A rigging depth must also be balanced with the length of stirrup fender, tail length, and position of the stirrup leather buckle. Respectfully, Keith Seidel

SEIDEL'S SADDLERY will be hosting a SADDLE MAKING SEMINAR targeting GROUND SEATS, HORNS, & SWELL COVERS. August 1, 2, & 3, will be 3 full days of comprehensive, hands-on training from renowned saddle maker, Keith Seidel. Class size is very limiteClick to choose fid. Reserve your Station NOW! Cost $750.00 Call 307-587-1200 or message for more information. See our promo video on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SeidelsSaddlery/

SEIDEL'S SADDLERY will be hosting a SADDLE MAKING SEMINAR targeting GROUND SEATS, HORNS, & SWELL COVERS. August 1, 2, & 3, will be 3 full days of comprehensive, hands-on training from renowned saddle maker, Keith Seidel. Class size is very limited. Reserve your Station NOW! Cost $750.00 Call 307-587-1200 or message for more information. See our promo video on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SeidelsSaddlery/

I'm sorry that I have not replied to this post. I have not been getting notifications, so did not see this post. Yes, your drawing is showing the cut higher up the cantle. Do not change the shape, just move the entire shape up the cantle. You should be at least 3/4" from the corner where the cantle meets the bar. Keith

Very few. Most makers who hand stitch saddles in their entirety do so to exhibit their skills in hand stitching. The rest can't afford or justify a stitcher.

Big Souix, Ron, and Ken have all done a good job addressing this issue. To add some to their comments, many commercial single ply billets are made from inferior leather and not strong enough for their application. A double and stitched off billets should be at least 11/12 oz skirting or harness leather lined with at least 7/8 latigo or harness leather. The holes should also be stitched with a figure 8 pattern to help prevent tearing. I have seen a lot of single ply billets fail while being ridden. This usually causes bodily injury to the rider and a torn up saddle, as the rear cinch is usually still attached. These failures usually come from the hole tearing out due to cracking of the leather around the holes when they are punched. I have even seen a couple of good quality heavy single ply billets fail for the same reason. When punching these holes thru this heavy leather, some punches have a lot of wall thickness, and stretch the leather around the hole, causing cracks that can tear out fairly easily. I prefer half breed latigos for off side. This is a 5 ft strip of heavy latigo 1¾" wide, folded in the center over the cinch ring. The tails are then run thru the rigging, and then back thru the cinch ring. This makes an equal number of layers under the leg on each side, and is incredibly strong and has fairly short adjustment.

I will be teaching SADDLE CONSTRUCTION design and patterning, using concepts that can be applied to other areas of construction--- including holsters, knife sheaths, saddle bags, rifle scabbards, and various cases. There are only a few seats left for both classes; however there are several openings for just the first day. Day 1 is Lecture and Demonstration. I will teach you how to take a sketch of your concept / idea and translate it to a functional design, and then to usable patterns. If you can only attend the first day, you will still go away with all of the hand-outs, notes, and a plan and method. You should be able to go home and create your own patterns after only taking this class. Day 2 is Application---I will help you make your own patterns for your own tree. You will go home with patterns! Call me with questions. 307-272-1881. http://www.leathercraftersjournal.com/product.cfm?product=851 http://www.leathercraftersjournal.com/product.cfm?product=852