Newfman

Hey Justin, Nice website and really nice work. I always like to see somebody's hand made gear at work. Smart to add that to your website. I don't make websites, or even know how to start, but, I visit quite a few. I also have two years in commercial photography through Santa Monica College, and ten years in the film and TV Commercial industry. Back in the day. The first thing that caught my eye, was your leather logo. As it should. The down side. . .it is out of focus and very distracting. That is your makers mark. Your Name. Your Label. It should be sharp as a tack and presented in the best light. You don't have to have expensive gear. A pocket digital camera is able to focus, just make sure that it has. Make sure that the makers stamp is sharp and clean in the leather. Make sure the focal plane of the camera, that is, the lense, therefore the camera back, is parallel to the surface of the leather. Up close, with shallow depth of field, the the tooling may be sharp but the makers stamp is out of focus if you shoot it with the camera angled, as may have been done to keep the shadow of the camera out of the way. There are some lighting tricks that can be used as well. If interested, I could help you with that. I have done some vey nice studio quality photos using common household and work shop items. Granted, I did them on film. But it works for digital as well. Some of us still remember film. Don't we? Heavy sigh. . . I hope you find this a little helpful. Cheers, Dennis

Thanks Elton Good idea. Dennis

Don't know if you ever found it. In Maine, the lobster traps by law have been changed to sinking line line. they have an exhcange voucher program. A guy I work with comes from a lobster fishing family. Could ask him about it if you still have an interest. I think they just use more of a nylon type rope now. People will complain if they found out that fisheman were adding lead to the water. Meanwhile, I found these links... http://crabpotsupply.com/index.php?cPath=19 https://www.lfsmarineoutdoor.com/5-16-leaded-polypro-shrimp-shot-400-to-1800.html http://www.blueoceantackle.com/rope.htm Better late than never. I'm reading the archives. Good luck. Dennis

Nice saddle. Thanks for taking the time to post that. So, you started your finished wraps in the middle, going through the slot, and then continued towards the rools, and pulled the ends under the wraps to finish? (Was that clear as mud?) You don't finish the ends in the slot and fasten them underneath. (Which wouldn't be as strong I would think.) If someone brought you a saddle and wanted bucking rolls added, could you safely punch that slot cleanly? Is that the 'industry standard' way of doing it, or would you discuss this with the customer first and offer it up as a more functional way to install them so they don't rise? Out here, in New England, when you do see a wade or slick fork with rolls, they are just screwed and then laced across the hand hold. It does tend to get the rolls to slide up towards the horn should your horse decide to test your seat, and it also puts the latigo strings right across the middle of the hand hold. That is how mine is (for now) and it looks crappy to boot. Yours looks more functional and like they belong, and not so much like a Mercedes hood ornament on a Hyundai. Having matching leather rolls helps too, instead of just any pair off the shelf. The ones that came on my saddle, added on by the previous owner, don't match the saddle leather. Yup, sounds like a project. Dennis

I know, tons of questions. I assure you, I have been wearing down the search engine on this website. Anyhow, Dale Harwood mentions that he "makes a hole" for attaching the bucking rolls for folks that want rolls. He said he had seen how cowboys had carved holes in their saddle to attach the strings to, so he just puts it in during the finishing stage. It keeps the rolls from sliding up the pommel where they do no good. I can relate to that. Unfortunately. . .He didn't show it on the video! Does anyone else do that here? What and when. How do you make a nice finish of lacing the bucking rolls in place. He said he does it just above his brand stamp, just below the hand hole. Haven't found an example. It is about a 1/2" hole (?). Is there a nice clean way to modify an existing saddle? Another thread got me thinkin about this. If you have photos, that would be really helpful, but an explanation would work well too. Thanks folks, Cheers, Dennis

Wow, very nice! That looks like a good size arena. Right now, I just need a good round pen with good footing. Something my horse can get good support on and I can hit from a fairly high altitude. . .and not die. My critter is a leppy. Almost killed by his momma, and then had an abusive owner. Brian Neubert calls him the "worst buckin' horse in my 28 years of doin' colt startin' clinics!" He's a little Oldenburg Thoroughbred. Sweetest horse in the world . . .on the ground. After 4 days, he did mangage to get two 30 second rides without a buck. . .but you knew it was comin!

Thanks Bob, Your input and advice is always appreciated. I'm presently looking at tools for hand sewing as well. I want the biggest bang for my buck. I usually would rather wait to buy the best quality, than to buy cheap stuff and have to, or want to replace it. I find if i buy something cheap, and it works though with some unnecessary struggle, I will just continue to struggle, rather than replace it. So, I would rather buy good tools to begin with. I have a Bainbridge Speedy Stitcher Awl that I bought at West Marine almost 20 years ago. I hand sewed rolls of shade cloth together to cover my atrium and koi pond in southern California, as well as made as sun shade for a 40 foot sailing yacht. I had never sewn anything prior to that. It worked, but I always had tension issues. Strength was the target, pretty. . .not so much. My hands were like hamburger after an afternoon and evening of sewing 30 or so feet. It was strangely enjoyable though. I am sure there are a lot better tools for it than that. I still have the darn thing. Would like something nicer for fine leather work. So, i would certainly take reccomendations on that front as well. I would like to be able to do some hand sewing, as well as machine sewing. So i am also tying to educate myself on the machine side as well. I want to start tooling some practice leather as well, but just cannot bring myself to by tandy tools. I want to gather more instructional materials, find some patterns to work on and buy BK tools or an equivalent quality. I especially would like to, as much as possible, buy hand made American stuff. Support the little guy, and get the high standsards of quality that tend to come with it. How dis I get on this tangent??? Thanks again Bob. (Still like the looks of your Caballo friend in your avatar.)

Yup, a bit ahead of myself here, but I have been trying to educate myself on the $$$ higher ticket items. I haven't found any posts about the Tippman Aerostitch. They claim to be able to sew nylon webbing, chap leather, and saddle leather, all with the same machine. I noticed in other threads, you folks seem to have a machine for this, and a machine for that. The Tippman seems easy enough that even I could learn to use it.I'm not dismissing that fact that I must learn to hand stitch, and learn it very well. I'm guessing that a few other people would be interested to get some guidance on sewing machines for the earlier entrants to saddle and tack work. I should also mention, my better half would be interested in making dog related items. Leashes, collars, leads, and harnesses, so leather and webbing would be an issue. Speed isn't a real factor right now, so 2,000 stitches per minute isn't necessary, and will keep me out of the ER. . .maybe.

Yep. I had a good look at my potato peeler, and didn't think it would do much to leather. Brilliant with carrots though! Thanks Pabloz, I had a feeling my confusion was a little justified. Watching Dale Harwood shape his cantle with a spoke shave, It may still be a good thing to at least have one on your bench. A small one. I just happen to like to collect tools if I can get away with it. Cheers, Dennis

The "Potato Peelers", that is a nick name, yes? I was just looking at tools through Lee Valley Tools, as they have very high quality, and some decent lower price alternatives. Was trying to figure out what fine carpentry tools, would make fine leather working tools. There are a variety o spoke shaves. Can somebody be more specific on the potato peelers. Are you seriously talking about a potato peeler? There is one with a replaceable blade? Something is fishy here. . . I always love that point in a discussion when you know, deep down inside where it counts, that the only on in the room with the stupid question. . .is you. But you really want to know the answer.

LOL, well, I'm sure you had a meeting of the minds with that 'somebody', that cut the seat too small the first time. At least you have a very nice piece of scrap. Plenty of things to make from that. Besides, you may be doing a small seat someday. From another thread, i had been talking about the Dale Harwood videos. I have a list of tools that he used to make the rough-out wade on the DVD. there didn't seem like there were very many, until I looked at the list. Some were certainly to make the job quicker and cleaner, and could have been done with an existing variant. A couple things, different size edgers for example, puts his sense of finish to it. His head knife was a smaller one. That I noticed. Dale also has a few tools that likely no longer exist, except in some little backwater used tool shack that only the locals know even exist. Hmmmm. Speaking of which. I actually know of one of those about 8 miles from here. He mostly has old blacksmiting tools and carpentry tools, but there are likely to be some useful things there. This could be fun. What materials did you use to learn to make the patterns? Books? Videos? Deductive reasoning? Guessing? I still think that is a great first saddle. Truly impressed. Dennis

Thanks Bob. I'm, sure Staples would be happy to sell me a case of the stuff. I could send the Wife to Michael's Craft supply, but that could get way too expensive. Especially if she takes the truck instead of the Cooper.

That sounds like a pretty good idea. There isn't a lot of western saddles around here, but the ones I have seen have been mostly production saddles. There might be a need for a little work there. I moved out here from Southern california. There isn't a lot of good riding time here, nor is there many places to ride. Thick woods, deer flies, horse flies, black flies, high humidity or snow up the wazoo. There is a lot more arena riding, and that is predominantly english. So looking forward to moving out west again. Thanks for the input. Dreamin' 'bout Bozeman. . . sigh.....

Interesting. So, do you use an 'original' pattern and then creat a modified pattern from that for the saddle you are presently working on, and then transfer that to your work? Or do you just sort of freehand your changes from your original pattern to your work? What material do you find works best for a long lasting. durable pattern? Fortunately it's raining today. I have my coffee, remote and note pad, and I'm spending the day with Dale again.

Oy yeah, one more thing. . .it was nice to see somebody actually talk about, install, build up and shape the ground seat! I didn't exactly get a good grip on that from my Stohlman books. Some things you have to see in action to wrap your head around. That, and fitting the seat may have been worth the price of admission, as those were the two things I really couldn't fathom. I feel like I now could survive it.

So, in getting ready to do your first saddle, what tools did you start out with, aside from some of the obvious. Any that you swear you would never do this again without, but didn't think of before hand? How many sides did you end up using, and what did you do about splitting pieces where needed?

Thank you to the both of you. No doubt, the patterns are going to be a big deal. I don't doubt that for a moment. But, for $156, for like new dvd's I had to jump on those while I could. I think they still have another set. JW's dvd's are just a little out of my price range for right now. Seems like anytime I get close, the truck breaks, the dog gets sick, the washing machine implodes. . .you know. Murphy's law. I will be getting them eventually. I could have swore that Keith Valley was going to do an instructional video on saddle making, and that was a couple years ago. Maybe I'm just losing synaptic connections with my mellon. As far as the videos coming with patterns, I think it would be nice to know how to make your own. That way, they pretty closely match the trees you prefer to use. Dale was pretty specific about his trees beeing very consistent from one to the next. So for those who don't make their own trees, it sounds like it is a good idea to align youself with a good tree maker. At least if you plan on making more than a couple saddles as a hobby. Heck, you should still use a well made tree. Rick, thanks for the input. I will look into Bill Gomer as well. I'm one of those weird guys that may take years researching, reading, studying and learning before jumping in. I enjoy that part as much as anything. Watching the Harwood DVDs was interesting, mostly because you got to watch sombody with 40+ years of experience, slowly, smoothly, systematically create a beautiful rough out wade. . . in about two days. Like watching a professional chef make a 5 course meal in an hour, for 4 people, and do it more effortlessly than i do making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Plus you get to see what tools he likes to use, and how he uses them. I just can't say enough good things about the videos. That being said. . .for the knowledge I gained from them, they were right on the threshold of what I am happy to pay for them. I wouldn't be so thrilled, had I paid much more. Willing maybe, but not necessarily that happy. Does that make sense?

I just received my DVDs from Country Supply, via Amazon. Got a great deal! They really are like new. I had previously read comments about these videos in various places, and I agree with them for the most part. 1. You won't learn how to make a saddle from these videos. 2. You will learn a lot from watching these videos. It is my understanding that the Jeremiah Watt series is more instructional, but you do get to see Dale work his craft and he explains why he does some of the things the way he does. While I will likely never have the opportunity to watch a great saddle making craftsman build an entire saddle, it is worth every penny to have this as a reference, and I get to watch it over and over. I highly reccomend them to new saddle makers, as well as those that have several already under their belt. Time to start saving for the JW vids. Cheers, Dennis

UGH!!! I hate living in New England!!!!! Sounds like a great seminar. Good luck, and have a great time. I'll catch it some day! Dennis

Nice job! Looks like you jumped right in with both feet. Even the tools and bench look all shiny and new. Most big trucks start out in low gear, like 3rd or 4th, and steadily roll on through the box. I like how you just skip shifted right on into 10th and started barreling on down the highway. Lots of confidence, lots of skill, and. . .at ten months. . .lots of tenacity. Kudos, nice job and enjoy those other thirteen saddles. I think you will do real well. Thanks for posting your work. Cheers, Dennis

Pretty amazing. Should be interesting to see how much it finally goes for.

Well said. She (buffy the Belgian) has a Duett all purpose english saddle as well. It clashes with my western riding gear a bit though. Barefoot calls their saddle a treeless, so I just go with that. Buff is too wide to use the fiberglass pommel, so she has a foam insert. There is nothing down the spine of the saddle, just very thick padding and flocking. I can flex the saddle in the middle if I try to fold it laterally. the cantle I don't think qualifies as a tree, as racing trees don't have much of a cantle, or so I thought. It is much more a big heavy bareback pad with stirrups and a seat like a saddle. There is really no tree in the barefoot saddle. I could have a western saddle built for her, but she doesn't get ridden enough to justify the cost. It would be easier to justify putting my butt into her english saddle. The Barefoot seems a good compromise though. I have a very nice handmade wade that originally sold for $4K. I love it, but would not buy one for my draft. Barefoot makes some interesting Endurance saddles as well. You could find out from the endurance website what they think of them. Could be interesting. Dennis

I wonder what the horse thinks about that "treeless" saddle?....... So far, so good!

I'm just going to toss this one out there and see how it goes over. . . Being that I was in a similar spot as Uncle, I know that everything he needs to know is here. . .somewhere, a little here and a little there. This question comes up over and over again. I would suggest that a knowledgeable saddle maker/ restorer, that actually has a little time available (if that could be possible) post a how-to thread, and the others chime in their variances, and it becomes a 'sticky thread', easy to find and readily available. Maybe the post could have different levels of cleaning, from just fell off the horse into the mud, to annual, to neglected yard sale to Gramps old saddle found in the barn years later. Maybe you are already working on a saddle like this and could include some photos and or anecdotal info as well. Could be the basis for a book! Just a thought. Uncle, I took mine apart as far as it would go, including removal of the leathers and Conchos. I hit it with the garden hose while it was on a saw horse, and then scrubbed it down with a light nylon brush and Murphy's oil soap. When it was almost air dried, I wiped it down with olive oil, but wouldn't likely do that again. That did however, seem to get it in good shape. Mine was not in 'bad shape' though. Now I do an annual light cleaning and treat it with a coat of Lederbalsam. There are a lot of leather products out there, and what I use is likely not the preferred, but I'm not unhappy with the results. If somebody(s) post a good how too, I may change my ways. I don't think you need to buy all the available products, as you have listed. Since you can't wait for an instruction manual, you may want to search the forum and put together a plan, or give it a few, as these folks have tons of knowledge and experience, and help will be around pretty soon. Good luck, Dennis