TrooperChuck

Scott: I sometimes use artificial sinew for the same reasons already mentioned... it gives a more rustic appearance to some items, which I like. Rayban: Awesome looking rig!

Dang it! I just counted all my pennies, and I'm gonna have to save a LOT longer before I can go on one of these trips. It looks like it was a fascinating day. Thanks, guys, for sharing the pics.

Excellent work! Thanks for sharing the pics with us.

S: It sounds like you are in the same situation I was a couple years ago. I wanted to learn how to make saddles, but I didn't want it to become a full-time job. For me, even though I do have a business license, saddlemaking is definately more of a hobby than a business. If I can make a few saddles a year, and sell them locally, I'm happy. As Alan mentioned, the initial outlay of money for tools, supplies, and reference materials can be a bit spendy, but you CAN recover a lot of that money buy selling some saddles. So, keep us informed of your progress! Chuck

I don't like what I'm seeing, either. The state of California is pretty much bankrupt. What happens if the whole country goes the way of California? There have been thousands of lay-offs in the past couple months. What happens if more and more people get layed off and how desperate will they become when they can't feed their families or keep their homes? The two tactics our government is using to combat the financial crisis are printing more money (can you say "inflation!") and borrowing money from other countries (sorry kids, YOU are the ones who are gonna have to pay off those loans someday). I'm not one of those "The World Is Gonna End. I'm Burying Guns And Food In My Backyard!" type of guys. But, I live a lifestyle where I can grow my own food if necessary. I can heat my home and cook without electricity. I've got a year-round source of fresh water. My wife keeps at least 6 months of staple foods in the pantry. My vehicles are old enough that they don't have any computerized components. I typically keep a store of gasoline and diesel on hand for emergencies. When I buy hay for my horses, I buy a year's worth at a time. And, I have the tools, training, and experience to defend my home and family from thieves and marauders (assuming they don't come at us in large numbers!). (Gee, after reading the above, it sounds like I AM one of those survivalists! I didn't mean to be. I just always wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible. Within reasonable limits.) But, having said that, I REALLY hope and pray there's enough wise people left in the world to head off a total collapse of our society.

[attachm ent=21230:saddle__6_010.jpg](Okay, I just bought one of those digital cameras... I hope this works.) This is the 6th saddle I've built. It is a 17" Santa Fe style, half-seat, with Sam Stagg rigging. I built it on Bowden's Santa Fe tree, using skirting leather from TLF. All the patterns are of my own design. Please ignore the stirrups... they are temporary, until I receive some plain wooden ones from Weaver. A couple of resources were invaluable for this project: -Half Seat Saddles by Dick Sherer, in the Sept/Oct 2004 issue of Leathercrafter's and Saddler's Journal. -The section on Sam Stagg rigging in Harry Adams, Jr.'s book, Saddle Maker's Shop Manual. There's a number of things I'll do differently on my next saddle, and I definately want to build a saddle with a better quality tree and leather. I built this saddle for myself, but a customer was in my shop recently and decided to buy it. So, now I get to build another one!!!

I highly recommend you get some books on saddlemaking before you start this project. The standard seems to be Al Stohlman's saddlemaking encyclopedias, but there are also others which are quite good, too. Even though these books won't give you patterns for making a Hope saddle, they will give you tons of information about selecting leather, which parts of the hide to use for various pparts of the saddle (some parts need to be more stretchy, some need to be more firm, and you need to know where to find that type of leather on a given hide), how to case the leather for shaping and molding, etc, etc, etc. I love the Hope-style saddles, so I'm sending some good luck wishes your way! Chuck

The idea behind roller buckles is that as you pull up on the billet to tighten it (on a rear cinch, for instance), the roller allows the billet to slide through the buckle easier. I don't know this to be a fact, but it seems to me roller buckles are best used on items that tend to get dirty or dusty. Dirty leather doesn't slide through buckles smoothly, so I'm guessing someone in the past said, "What if we put a roller on that buckle?"

Bruce: Are you saying I WASN'T supposed to recycle all my used hay baling twine???? Dang! Now I guess I gotta go buy some real thread.... LOL Your analogy about needles and binder twine was great.

I don't care if it's true or not.... it's a great story reflecting the feelings of many of us who understand and appreciate the people who have VOLUNTEERED to serve our country.

Daggrim: I agree with Luke. Some #12 or #14 copper burr rivets would look great on your work. You can buy them in lots of sizes, but I buy the 1-inch length and use a pair of end nippers to cut them to size when I install them.

I suspect the folks who invented Ralide trees KNEW their product was questionable. Otherwise, they wouldn't have tried to disguise it with a name that sounds so much like "rawhide".

On page 95 of his book, Saddle Maker's Shop Manual, Harry Adams Jr. says this about drilled holes: "Drilled holes are used only by the motivationally challenged, the uninformed, and the ignorant." When I was first learning about leather work I experimented with using a drill, but I was never satisfied. Not only do drills remove leather, they remove it REALLY fast! Usually too fast to correct a misplaced hole. An awl pushes the leather aside, so it closes up around the thread, AND if I see my awl is not coming out where I wanted it, I can back out and reposition it without leaving a big ugly hole.

I love the old-timer saddles. I'm very much looking forward to seeing pics!!!

There's going to be a lot of sad, sad families today. My heart hurts for them.

I prefer having the head of the rivet on the outside (the visible side) of the project, and I always dome the head so it looks nice. But, as with most other things, there are exceptions to the rule... If I am making a piece of horse gear I tend to put the rivet head on the inside of the piece. I do that so the peened end of the rivet is AWAY from the horse's skin. I don't want that little piece of hard copper sticking up above the surounding leather and rubbing a raw spot on my horse.

If President Obama gets his "stimulus" package passed we will spend about 900 BILLION dollars to help big corporations, government pork projects, and somewhere along the way... the "little guy". The problem is, WE DON'T HAVE 900 BILLION DOLLARS! So, where will we get this money? There is no such thing as "free money". It has to come from someone. In this case, the USA will borrow the money from other countries. Japan, China, the UK and others. What happens when these loans come due? Who will be paying off those loans? Our children and grand children! My other question is, "What happens if the USA can't pay off the loans?" What will China take from us if we can't pay these loans? Instead of borrowing money from countries that probably don't have our best interests in mind, why don't we let people KEEP more of the money they already make? Cut the "Little Guy's" taxes, and he ends up with more money in his pocket. That money gets spent, thereby allowing businesses large AND small to employ people. Those employees, in turn, spend their money, and the whole thing perpetuates itself. Cut taxes. Allow people to keep more of their money. Seems pretty simple to me... Unfortunately, our current President and the Democratic Party don't believe in this. So... Let's borrow more money from China! We'll let our children worry about paying it off.

I love the looks of old timer saddles. I just finished building a Sam Stagg rigged Santa Fe-style half seat saddle for myself. I haven't even ridden it yet, but a customer saw it and now wants to buy it! Oh... how sad... now I have to make ANOTHER saddle for myself... I guess I'll suffer through it... Someday, when I remember to buy myself a digital camera, I'll post of pic of the saddle here.

Wow. I'm thinking a case like that could easily be modified to serve as a pommel bag on my saddle. Thanks for sharing your work, Nick. And, like others have already mentioned, no matter how good a project turns out, I as a maker ALWAYS find something I wish I had done differently.

Oldtimer: I was going to mention Out West Saddlery as makers of wade-type saddles with Sam Stagg rigging, but you beat me to it. I've been to their shop and talked with the owners, Bob and Terri Beecher. They are wonderful people and make beautiful saddles.

Rus, Tandy has a "Horse Tack Accessory" pattern pack. In it they have a pattern for a mule halter. It also has patterns for a bunch of other horse gear.

Hmmmm, Vegemite in trade for pure maple syrup? Bad, Roo, bad! LOL

Josh: What a great idea! Now, I gotta get started making a case and strop for my swivel knives. The belt buckle is cool, too.

Allen: I'm glad you liked the knife case. I know what you mean about the knife being a trusted friend. I have a Leatherman tool that I carried on my gun belt for over 20 years. Like your knife, it's seen some pretty interesting "situations" too. Chuck

First, I give the leather a light coat of neatsfoot oil. Then I use my finger to apply glycerine leather soap to the edges and rub it with a piece of canvas. Works good for me. Sometimes, if I'm feeling extra ambitious, I'll dye the edges before applying the oil and glycerine soap, but usually not.