pharescustomleatherworks

You would think that, but sadly most everything is online nowadays. Appreciate the ideas though.

I’m not sure off the top of my head. I’ll try to remember to measure it when I get back in the shop on Monday. I believe it’s just a simple Tandy one though.

I appreciate all of the input and ideas, I may look into trying some of the key rings with my logo on them as something quick and easy to make. I should have mentioned in the original post that I stay busy with commissioned work and I’m also a full time college student. With that being said, I don’t have a lot of extra time on my hands to utilize them myself. I would enjoy some of these smaller projects and really like the creativity, but I just don’t have the time for them. I would love to try to make some handles for tools but I don’t really have all the metal work tools to make my own tools. I guess the main thing I’m looking for is just someone else that could use them since I would be able to, and I should have specified that better in my original post. I really do appreciate all the ideas though!

Hey everyone, I haven't been on here for a while and this topic may be covered elsewhere, but I couldn't find anything on it. Over the years, I have accumulated a lot of scraps. I have a very large Home Depot moving box that is overflowing. Needless to say, most are too small for any of my projects and they are just taking up space now. Does anyone have any good ideas for them? I am not going to use them, so unless someone is willing to purchase them, should I just throw them out? Or would anybody be willing to purchase scraps? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it!

I just wrapped up my second saddle, and to say the improvement from first to second is drastic is an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, the first has held up great, but there are a lot of visual flaws that aggravate me more each time I look at it. Since the first I have simply just improved my knowledge of how a saddle should look and be constructed and I believe it shows. Here is a link to the first if you’d like to look at it: This one was built on an 18” stock association tree for my cousin, who is very stocky and built. I am still completely self taught besides forums, books, YouTube, and a few hours spent with a maker. I was going to work on this one with another maker but he ended up getting to backed up on repairs to take me in at the time. All that being said, I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out. The ground seat and the fit of the skirts are much improved from the first. The biggest issue on this one is quite obviously the ears on the saddle seat, as they’re a little bit butchered and very high and forward. In laying in the seat, I completely goofed and made the cut outwards (as opposed to upwards) for the ears, and this was the best I could salvage out of them, as you can see in the last picture. In the same picture you’ll see some ugly stitches as well, but they were all operator error and that’s the only place they are like that. A few other, but smaller issues are the skirt shape and the cantle binding. The skirts don’t really drop down straight from where they connect in the the back, and the binding in the back is just rough. If you see any other mistakes or issues, please don’t be scared to point them out. That’s what I’m looking for in posting it here. I just graduated high school with my AA degree from the local state college. In 2 weeks I am moving from Okeechobee to Gainesville to attend the University of Florida for the next two years. I have already been in touch with a maker there and should be able to continue my work there as well as get one on one experience in a saddle shop, so I’m really looking forward to that. Thanks in advance!

Thank you very much for the kind words and the inspiration, what you said means a lot to me, especially coming from a great like you. I will consider everything you said, mainly seeking one-on-one help and getting rid of the book and DVD set I currently have. I'm going to order the Stohlman book within a couple of days because I know it will broaden that base knowledge that you were talking about. I've grown up on a cattle ranch here so the main saddles I've seen growing up were work saddles that weren't in the best shape, so I'll definitely be looking around on the internet (a lot more than I have been) and I'll see about checking out some at some of my friends' rodeos. Once again thank you so much for the help and inspiration.

Thanks for the welcome, but I have been leather working for 4 years since I was 12 lol, but thank you. And thank you as well for the good tips, I have watched a lot of the Bruce Cheany YouTube videos and I am subscribed to him, but I do like the idea about cleaning saddles and such, I will definitely try that one. Thanks again for the tips.

First of all thank you very much for taking the time to put together this long and detailed reply, And a few of the things you pointed out are some that I did notice, but forgot to include in the text. The reason I'm not (currently) working under someone is because I am 16 and taking college classes and just don't have the time at the moment. That being said, I do plan on expanding my library, starting with the Stohlman Books, because the one I used, which as you said you think you know, is very very vague and left me pretty disappointed at times. I also plan on getting more tools because what I was working with was less than ideal, as most of them are from Tandy and I've that when it comes to this craft, you really get what you pay for. I completed the entire thing without a head knife (my buddy who makes knives was supposed to have one done on time but ended up hurting his trigger finger and he wasn't able to finish it on time), and this resulted in a good bit of skiving that I wasn't happy with and ultimately resulted in a lot of parts not fitting flush to the tree like you stated. I'm also going to go through a lot of research on the skirts, as that was my biggest disappointment between the look and them not fitting snug. As for the jockeys, I'll go ahead and admit I was getting excited because I was close to finishing and rushed a little. The ground seat might could give the skirts a run for their money in disappointment though, and I'll definitely do something different about that next time. Once again though thank you so much for taking the time to help educate me, and please feel free to tell me about the picky things because the reason I posted this here was to have it picked apart, not to get a bunch of "Congrats it looks great" compliments. I've learned a ton and know a bunch of things to do different next time after this experience, so I'm definitely open to learning more. Thanks again. Thank you for the kind words, Clyde.

Sorry for not getting back with this sooner. I ended up having to get help from a saddlemaker and he was happy to teach me. I finished the saddle about a week ago and have a post for it on another page so feel free to check it out. Here is a picture of the finished swell though:

I posted this in another section but didn't know there was a section specific to saddle making, but here it goes: I finished my first saddle about a week ago but I'm just getting around to posting it on here. I taught myself with a pretty basic book and DVD set and a lot of the posts on here. The biggest bump in the road I ran into was covering the forks. The book and DVD set I was using built the saddle on a Bowman Tree while mine was built on an Association Tree, so the fork cover had to be welted, which I didn't know how to do so I got a little bit of help from another saddlemaker. Other than that I was on my own. Here's the rundown on the stats: Bowden Association Tree, 16" seat, 13" swells, 4" Cantle Flat Plate rigging in the 7/8 position with a D-ring rear rigging for attaching a holster Classic Half-breed Basketweave Latigo wrapped horn (which was also a pretty good pain) Slick-out seat because I like to be able to adjust in the seat rather than be stuck to it Overall I'm pretty happy with it with the exception of a few things: The horn cap is slightly crooked If you look from the rear you can see the tree between the jockeys and the skirts The skirts are a little shorter than I would like I'm not thrilled with the way the cantle binding is ended on either side The seat rises higher than I would like, and if a horse threw into bucking it could become a "ball buster" In terms of pricing for future orders, I think I'm going to start pretty low $2,200 for a base price and gradually increase as I get better. I'm open to any kind of criticism so hit me with it. Here are the pictures:

Thanks for the quick reply, and basically you told me that my brain was headed in the right direction in the sense of pulling the slack to either side. If you know of any links or anything on how to do the lacing or stitching I'd be happy to have them, but if not I can see if Mr. Keith replies or if I could try to message him. But once again thanks for the info.

I'm working on my first saddle and am having a little trouble covering the forks. I'm building it on an association tree since that's what we use for ranch work and roping in Florida. My biggest problem is the slit on either side of the forks that is on most every association tree. I'm using the Dusty Johnson book and DVD, but the saddle built in the instructions is on the Bowman tree and the slit doesn't have to be made. More than anything I just want to know if there is a set way to go about the split, or if you just have to eyeball it more than anything else. Anyways I look forward to the new knowledge and opinions from y'all, thanks in advance! Jared

Ok, thank you both very much.

Hi there, I'm new here so I hope I'm doing this right. I am 15 years old and have been making saddlebags and holsters for about two years now. I would like to eventually get into saddle making within the next year or two and am currently looking at sewing machines that will let me make the holsters and saddlebags now and get me at least started with saddles. The main one I have been looking at is the TechSew 5100 because of its applications and the fact that you can pay it off monthly since as I said I am only 15. I have also looked some at the Cobra Class 4-25 since you can pay it off monthly too. The main questions I have about these is will they work for what I do/want to do and how long would they last me. Thanks in advance