StolpSaddles

I never heard how he liked them, must have been good as I had no complaints. Wish I could find the pictures of the saddle bags.

This saddle was ordered by a Victoria secret model for her husband last christmas. Followed by a matching set of saddle bags for Valentines

If you are handy and have done some wood working you will find that leather is not that difficult to work with. The hardest part the tooling. Practice tooling on some scrap leather. I found that the moisture content is the most critical with tooling. Keep the tooling simple, a good job of less tooling looks better than a bad job of lots of tooling. Make your patterns out of very hard stiff cardboard, I get them from the feed store off the pallets of grain. I cut both left and right parts to help layout on the leather, then use only i of the patterns flipped to ensure the parts are equal in case the patterns are slightly different. Dont forget Left and Right not two lefts. Pay attention to where the parts are cut from the hides especially the seat. Use the blemished hide areas in the ground seat and areas of the skirts that do not show. Use quality leather, Herman Oak or Wicket and Craig. Spend a little extra and use stainless steel or brass harware, stay away from plated as it will rust in time . Take your time and work on it only when you are in the mood , I find that there are day that just dont feel right and then you make mistakes and a mess.. Have fun take your time and most important...... Post picture of your project so we can see haw it is going.. just my $.02 worth P.S. if you build on the Ralide tree use only ring nails and screw for better holding or better yet only screws.

The best way to stay young is to forget about getting old and rock on

Boy did I start something. love reading all the comments. I did not even think about the tool aspect. I should be around for a while yet ( i hope as I am only 50 ) So I would be willing to put to good use of any tools you want to pass down to me.. LOL

Joanne I read this tread a little late but if you bring the saddle around to my place I will have a look at it. Sounds like you are not far away Ron Ps if you do not get this thread I will talk to you next week or at the Kamloops festival

I was thinking the other day The saddles I build will still be on horses when I am no longer around

You can try Brand felt. They are both in the USA as well as Canada. I use 3/4" for contoured pads

Joanne Where abouts are you located. I have a DL system and live in Langley. Might be able to help if it is not to late. I was invited to place a saddle or 2 in the amature saddle compatition. I have sent up 2 saddles one new already sold and one used that is for sale with a wide gullet.

I tried a suspension saddle. Rode one circle of the arean I could not get out of it fast enough. The saddle moved one rythem and the horse another. I could not feel the movement of the horse. It was also the MOST UNCOMFOTABLE saddle I have ever sat in.

I would not waste my time or material on a ralide tree. If you do not want a good quality custom tree, ( I am also on the list with Rod) then order a Bowden or Superior tree. A little more than a ralide but then you can practice and puild a proper saddle MY $.02

I like the DL system. Finally a tool that works, that a tree maker can also work with and is not thousands od $$$$

I was going to reverse the bench grinder if I got one. Seems safer and more user friendly

Has anyone used this sharpening system http://www.sharpeningwheels.com/ I am thinking of purchasing it to keep knives / round knife sharp