dbusarow

I just finished adding the saddle horn to my wife's saddle and thought I should update this topic in case anyone else was interested in the future. First I bought the Stohlman Encycolpedia of Saddle Making recommended by horsewreck, volumes 1 and 2. Volume 1 has the patterns, volume 2 has the actual instructions. If you love leather and horses, buy volume 1 even if you know you will never work on a saddle. It is just chock full of good information. If you think you might touch a saddle some day you may as well get volume 2 as well. And if you know you are get all three. Anyway, I didn't think to take pictures at the beginning stages but here's what I did. First I bought a saddle horn. Got it from The Boise Foundry mentioned in an earlier post. Nice folks to deal with. http://www.boisefoun...ddlecatalog.htm Next I brought the saddle into the garage and took the swell cover off. The cover on this saddle was not glued on so this step wen't pretty smoothly. I imagine that if the cover were glued on it could get real ugly. Next I positioned the horn on the swell where I wanted it and used a Sharpie to draw an outline of the base and feet. Then I used a Dremel with a coarse sanding drum to dig out a channel for the horn to fit into. Since this tree is just some plastic and plywood with no rawhide that step went pretty easily. If you have a real tree expect more work to get the horn mounted to the tree. Here is a picture showing things when I was almost done but without the swell cover. After mounting the horn, cut the leather to the patterns in the book. The patterns need to be redone to match the size of your horn but one of the nice things about the books is that they explain WHY they are doing things the way they do so you can make those adjustments. Cutting, molding, gluing and sewing up the horn was actually pretty straightforward for me. Similar concepts to building a wet molded holster. Once done cut a hole in the swell cover and mount. There are a lot of mistakes on this and close up they really show. I'm sure you can even see some in these pictures. But my wife doesn't see them and is really happy Dan

Just last month I got a 1st class letter that was mailed ONE YEAR AGO. It was just a normal letter and envelope. Dan

I order 20 of the rhino brand clips for under $40 shipped. Granted that's not as cheap as a clothespin but you could use them to create a hanger system like you describe. Dan

JLSleather, can you post a link to or image of these clips you are talking about? They sound interesting and I can't image what they are. Cancel that. I just googled "tarp clip" and now I see what you are talking about. I'm amazed I have not run into these before. Aside from hanging up leather I also use hay tarps. Since the grommets are the part that goes first these will save me quite a bt of money on new tarps. Maybe that's why the ranch supply store doesn't have them out front Thanks, Dan

That sure looks like art to me. Beautiful. Dan

I don't have my copy handy but this is the way I do it and I think it is from the book. 1) thread needle 2) pierce thread with needle a couple of inches back from the end of the thread 3) pull free end of thread so that the place you pierced is down at the eye 4) smooth things out and sew Dan

I knew about (and even bought) Weaver tack long before I ever bought any leather, buckles, finishes etc.. from them. Not a problem for me. An awful lot of what I need under one roof. I'm pretty sure they started out selling tack and the supply side of the business came about later. Dan

I did one for a model 29 (44 Mag) 6 1/2" barrel out of a single layer of 8/10 English bridle. The owner loves it. 2 layers of 4/5 should be even sturdier than the single 8/10. Dan

When you are first starting out a hardware store utility knife using replaceable blades will work. Like this one You will end up with some specialized knifes if you stay with leather work but the utility knife and an exacto knife will work for quite a while. Dan

I started with the first one Spinner showed. I've since switched over to a trim knife like this. Mine has no name on the handle but is probably a CS Osborne. Only cost about $12. Once you learn how to get them sharp a trim knife like that can be awful handy to have around. Dan

You will want to apply some neats foot oil since vinagaroon dries the leather out quite a bit. I haven't tested for longevity but none of the items I've vinagarooned have had any treatment other than the NF oil. No resolene, no top coat of any kind. So as far as "fixing" the color goes, at least in the short term (max about 1 year so far for stuff I've made), there's no need. If you want it shinier, then you can add the top coat of your choice. Dan

That is pretty. Are all the decorative lines cut with a stitch groover? Thanks, Dan

Tim, Those are all really nice. But the thing that really caught my eye was the pink string you used for lacing the rear belt onto the chinks. That is a neat touch. Dan

Two different web slings I have setup for hasty sling use are 29" My leather 1903 is set to 35". The extra length makes carry more comfortable. The design allows me to hook up just as tight as the shorter webs. Dan

I've got a big grin on my face thinking of the other shooters as you rode up to the match on your horse! But seriously, yeah, you could put a nice shoulder strap on this design and it would work great hanging more or less centered on your back. Dan

Thank you mattsh. Thanks ifoo Dan

Thank you all for the great comments. For the finish, it is all neatsfoot oil. The long straps and keepers I dunked in NF for 10 seconds which turns them dark. The body is got one heavy coat of NF just like I would use for a holster. Once the NF settled in for 24 hours I gave it a coat of Aussie Wax for protection. On the edges I also used some Angelus Natural Shoe Wax to help with the shine. Thanks! Dan

Here's a scabbard I just finished for a customer. He wanted a scabbard for his scoped 700 that was as slim and trim as one for a lever action. Well, he didn't get that exactly but it is nicer than most you see. Nice and simple. The body is 12-14 oz skirting. The straps are 10-12 oz skirting and the "stiffener" around the scope is 4/5 oz. All W&C skirting. It's hard to see in these pictures but I did some wet molding around the forend to get his fairly wide sling to fit. Here's some close ups The modest sunburst effect on the scope stiffener is just the extra oil penetrating the edge of the leather. Just got lucky on that. And here's one of my girls wearing it When I put the fender over the top of the scabbard the tip was pressing on her shoulder and she wasn't happy. With the fender under the scabbard as shown she didn't seem to know it was there. Did a little loping and trotting as well as walking around. Even threw in a couple turn arounds and rollbacks. I think the buyer will be happy. ETA, Most of the stitching was done on my new Cobra Class 4. The smaller details for the snaps, strap keepers etc I stitched by hand. For those small pieces hand stitching was easier since I'm not as confident with the machine in those small spaces yet. But a three foot long stitch is a snap with this machine. Dan