BondoBobCustomSaddles

Sometimes life just gives us a chance to observe an AH HA moment and just stand back and smile. This is the case with this pic. My Grand Daughter Rachel was at the barn the other day holding her horse Titan for the farrier, when my daughter was lucky enough to have a camera and catch this picture. Thought that I would share it with you all. Have a nice day! Bob

Paul Newman, Cool Hand Luke.Bob

I do not have a web sight, nor do I advertise. I am lucky enough to have a few saddle/tack shops in our area that keep sending me business. Most of my work is by word of mouth and because they keep me as busy as I want to be, I am happy to stay satus-quo. I did work at the race track for 3 years, but; that kept me too busy and when they shut down, it simply gave me a little time to actually ride my own horses. First time in years! Bob

Very nice work. Bob

Thanks for sharing Bob. I always love to look at your work! Bob

First off, I agree with CWR. I would redo it from scratch, but; if you are set on not doing that, at least I would put it back together correctly. It appears from the pics that the leather is not stretched as much as it was made to make the horn look larger than it really is by putting a larger piece of wood in over the horn and is also part of why it did not last. Given the solid foundation for the horn is the brass/bronse horn, everything needs to be based off of that and anchored to that. The wood piece should be screwed to the horn through the holes already there. Then the filler leather should be tacked and clinched to the wood, and should not be larger around than the horn. That will leave you with a lot of extra leather around the outside both on the top and bottom. Wet the top and bottom, glue both together to the filler and then remark and stitch. Trim off the excess and die and burnish. Again, it appears from the pics, that originally they tried to make the horn larger than the base and is probably what caused it to fail. Just my opinion. Bob

Since you are going to do it, do it right. You can't expect just glue to hold it all together for ever. Proper way is to use 3 pieces of leather. Bottom, top and filler sandwiched between them on top of the wood. The strength comes from the filler. You glue it in place then add some tacks just slightly longer than the thickness of the wood and leather piece. That way when you pound them in they actually clinch against the metal horn. I usually use 6 in a circle 1/2" in from where the stitching will go. That way the filler is secure and once you glue the top and bottom in place, and then stitch it all together, it is strong enough to last through hard use. Here are some views of how the three layers look when done. Bob

Nice work Elton, first class for sure. I might be a little hesitant about what I said to my wife and how, if she was sportin' a pair of 45's though. Those holsters will get you some business for sure. Bob

Troy said it all. Bob

Tat, first and foremost, glad to see that you didn't let the VA get you Down, I am still working on getting them to belly up to the table on the agent orange thing and hearing loss. As for your saddle work, it is obvious that your tattoo experience has given you a good eye for straight lines and composition and it will serve you well in your saddle design. For a first it is a lot of work, and of course there is still a lot to learn, like a lot of the guys on here will tell you, we are always learning new things. If I were you I would keep on, and on each new project, I would pick out a couple of items the I was unsatisfied with about my last project and work on those to make sure they or perfect on the next . With that said, I would suggest that you start with the edges of your leather. There is a very good tutorial from Bob Park on here that will get your projects looking 4.0 ( a sailor will will understand that number). The perfection is in the details and that's where I would go take my work to the next level. Here's hoping to see more of your work as you progress to #s 2,3,4 and so on. Excellent job on your first. Happy leatherworking! Bob

Yeah, after I looked at it closer, I noticed it, but; it gave me the idea, and that's why I like to look at every one else' work, for ideas. Bob

Like you said, they turned out nice. Like to see them being worn to get the full effect of how they look. Bet they turn heads at the rodeo's. Bob

I'm sure he is up there smilin' down. Thank you for finishing it. Makes me think of my Dad, and the things he did in the past that stir my emotions. Thanks Again, Bob

Darc, I haven't seen your work lately, glad you posted this one. Very nice as the guys have already said. I also like the way you incorporate your rear cinch keeper into the seat cover, makes for a clean look. Again, very nice. Bob

Hi Adam, Just a couple of things. First, a really admirable job on your first chinks. Anyone would be glad to have and use them. That said, just a couple of comments, I echo Marks' commments on the fringe. Here are a couple of pics to show what he is talking about. One has twisted fringe, but ; they are cut the same way. Second, where the reinforcement is sewn on the top inside of the leg, I see that it stops just short of the yoke. I like to have it go up under the point of the yoke an inch or so. I skive it dorn to about 1/8 th thickness as the end so it does not create a bulge there, but it allows for much better strength at the point of the yoke and will be more durable. Bob

Bill, I wouldn't wait till someday. I's finish it and get it to someone in Nashville as fast as I could. It would not only be a hit, sung by the right storyteller/singer, but; also a fitting tribute to your dad. I'm sure he'd be up there smilin' down. Bob

I know I've said this before, but; it still holds true. Everytime I look at your work I see things that I want to add into my work. Since we don't really have someone up in this neck of the woods that does work of your level, I kinda use your work as my teaching pad for tooling. Keep up the great work. I love the way you use finger carving to accentuate the lesser components of a project! Great work! Bob

Looks good on that tree, would look much better on my horse! Bob

Generally I adhear to the 1 1/4" measurement, unless the customer specifically requests different. Bob

Well Bob, as always your work is impecable, and serves as goal for all of us. I love to study your work, because every time I do I find some additional little feature that I want to incorporate into my own work, and even though it takes me a lot of practice to get it in, my work is better, for incorperating it. Please continue to post your work. Thanks for giving us all the insperation. Bob

Well there you have it Shooter, answers that run the whole gammit. Bottom line is it is up to you how you poceed. What ever you do is your choice, I personally, like to have my mark in prominent display on my work. I will however move it to an inconspicuous place at the owners request (reluctantly). A lot of the time I will work it into the tooling pattern, that seems to be a method that is well recieved by my customers. Here is a couple of pics to show what I mean. Bob I wish I could get these pictures to be smaller, but; for some reason I just can't seem to master this new fangled stuff. Perhaps those of you that are computer literate can make them small so that they can be viewed correctly. Bob

Lonnie, Nice clean job. looks good and of course the All Around Cowboy will be proud to show it off "All Around" ! Keep up the good work. Bob

Ross, I am not sure it is the eye, just that I have had the same thing happen to me, so it is something I am sensitive to. That's how you learn and get to be as good as Don, or Keith. Here is a pic of that saddle I made ten or so years ago. Needless to say, I work extra hard now to avoid that result. Bob

Well Ross, another fine job. From the pics, I really couldn't pick up on anything other than, and this could just be the pic, (lighting and color and resolution can play tricks on you). It appears that from the back pic, that the split between the skirts is not exactly centered over the center line of the saddle, and the back of the skirts edge on the right side is not as smooth as it could be. Mind you this may just be the pic, I have had pics show what appears to be flaws that really don't exist too. Other than that, I really can't see anything that a judge could hang his hat on, but; then again who likes judges? Really nice, lots of time in this one, and it shows. Bob

Congrats Chris! It's amazing how each one lights up your life. She's a little doll.