BuckhornBrand

JRedding- those suggestions are exactly what I'm looking for. Although I've used a roundknife for a long time, I'm not satisfied with my cuts on saddles, I think I'm to hesitant, worried about messing up. On smaller tack items I don't have as much trouble. Edge burnishing has always been difficult for me. I've tried everything on the edges such as water, saddle soap, beeswax; and used wood slickers, antler slickers, and most recently canvas. It seems some things will burnish right up and others won't. Thanks for the suggestion on the seat. I think I was trying to match the curve of the skirt but it didn't come out as nice as I would have liked. Thanks again for the help, Chuck Norris

SmokinP- I like the latigo holder by the rear billet because I'm left handed and that way I don't have to reach under my rope to get to my latigo strap. The guy I built the second saddle for liked the looks of it so I did his the same. ArtS- Yeah, I get that about my name quite a bit LOL. Thanks for the comments everyone, Chuck

Tony- the pictures were taken the day I finished it, definately doesn't look as clean anymore. Thanks, Chuck

Ok- I hit something and it posted that before I was done. I haven't got the hang of this forum thing yet. The second saddle I built for a friend. He also puts a lot of miles on and seems to be getting along really good with it. It has a rawhide bound horn and cantle, and rawhide braided swells. The first saddle was built following the Stohlman books and the second saddle I tried a few things different, but still very similar. I've gotten Jeremiah Watt's DVD and it's been a lot of help. As I'm trying to improve my craft any advice, critique's, honest opinion's would be very much appreciated. Thanks for your time, Chuck Norris

Hello- Here are some pics of the first two saddles I've built. I'm working on the third. These two were both built on factory trees. I won't mention any names as I wasn't very pleased but it was all I could get. Now I'm building on one of Rod Nikkel's trees. The saddle on the left was for me. I've been riding it for a year and a half now. I take care of a pretty good size ranch and put a lot of miles on a horse. I don't like the way it fits my horses but I get along with it ok. I've laid down quite a few cows and yearlings by myself with it and haven't had any trouble. The

Marlon, Great job with the pictures, my wife and I spent all Friday at the show and I came home with a new Artisan 3000. Sorry we didn't get to meet you. I did have the pleasure of meeting Troy West and John Watsabaugh. This was the first big show we've been able to attend and we had a great time- didn't want to leave. We live in Southeast Kansas, so on the way home Saturday we stopped by the Western Heritage museum in OKC and saw the TCAA display. Some amazing work. Between seeing that work and the work at the show, it was two days of great leatherwork. Go2Tex- sorry about the bad hotel experiance. That can definately ruin an otherwise fun trip. We stayed North of Wichita Falls in Burkburnett at the Hampton Inn. Only about 12 miles north of the show, small town and very nice hotel. As soon as I can get my wife's help- I'll get pictures of my last saddle posted. Chuck Norris

Andy and Mulefool- Thanks so much for your advice. I'm pretty creative so a few pointers was all I really needed, and the ones Andy gave were great. The information (and patience) given to us amatures on this forum by those of you who do this for a living is priceless. I'm sure I'll have more questions- Thanks again, Chuck

Mulefool, I agree with what you said on both accounts. I was afraid that cutting so much out of the ground seat for the stirrup slots would cause you to lose a lot of the strength you've built into the seat. After using the hand hole plug method I felt like it may be easier to run the leather all the way to the back of the swells and cut the hand hole out when you were finished. I didn't really like the way the hand hole looked after using the plug. The first saddle I built with Stohlman's methods I've been riding almost daily for work for the past year now. I haven't had any problems but I only way 150 lbs- so I'm not much of a test for it. Jeremiah's video shows how to use the tunnel method for the stirrup slots but with a tin seat. I don't think I can convince my wife I need Harwood's video also. I'm still scratching my head over this one. I have a lifetime of riding them, but not much experience building them. I need all the help I can get. Thanks for your input, Chuck

Greg, were you refering to drawspiking the leather in both directions or nailing at sides and front, back to keep tension. I was hoping to get some discussion going among the saddlemakers here as I find I learn more information and quicker on this forum than anywhere else. It's also great to here everyones reasons as to why they do it a certain way. Thanks again for your help Greg, Chuck

I'm starting my third saddle and was going to put an all leather ground seat in it as I did the first two. The only source I've found on all leather ground seats have been the Stohlman series of books. These saddles are for all day ranch work. I bought the Jeremiah Watt Saddlemaking DVD and really enjoyed his discussion about seats and seat shapes. I was wanting to get some input about how other people put in leather ground seats and what your views were on the Stohlman's methods. Thanks in advance for your help, Chuck

Very nice looking work JW. Where are you located at? I'm just west of Howard in Elk County. I'm just finishing up saddle number two. Maybe I can get some pics posted when things slow down a little. Chuck

Thanks for the feedback. I know this is a subject that has differing views. The shearling I had was plenty big enough but when I got ready to cut it out I found it had two large bald spots, one on each side. The wool was thick enough to cover them up and I hadn't noticed them to begin with. I seem to have a hard time finding good shearling that is big enough for a saddle with full skirts without having to sacrifice a little. Thanks again for the help, Chuck

Hi- I've been following the forum since just before the big crash and finally decided to post a question. I'm just finishing my second saddle and wanted some input about lining skirts. Should you line them front of skirt to back of shearling or front of skirt to front of shearling. Most important to me is could you have one side front of skirt to back of shearling and the other side front of skirt to front of shearling. I've used Stohlman's books and they've been very helpful. As a working cowboy I understand the importance of not having saddle blankets slide under your saddle. But on my first saddle I put front of skirts to back of shearling and my blankets slid forward during summer when horses hair was short. Thanks for the help, Chuck