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G'Day, I am just about to embark on the restoration of a WW1 Military saddle. Its a UP .( universal pattern) . I'll put some picks up. This saddle was given to me by a local in my town ( in the central wheatbelt Western Australia). He bought ( as is ) it at a market and he put it in his shed, where it remained for 40 years and its in pretty bad shape. But these days, his health and his sight is slowly getting the better of him. I don't make saddles, so this is my first, and indeed, it would be great if I can get it restored before his health worsens. I'll be full of questions from here on. Before I start grinding the old forged (?) rivets off ,that hold the wood to the metal, is there a suitable ( acceptable) replacment? Or do I have to have new forged rivets made? The webbing, seatbelt webbing is not suitable ( so I've read) . So what type , and how to strain it. As you will see from the pics, the wood is in reasonable condition all except a small split where a rivet goes in, and some insect damage. I know a local wood worker that can help on that one. The leather components are beyond redemption , you can see those in the background of the last pic., they've shrunk and are mis-shapen.. So trying to find cutting patterns may be a challenge. Any info that you can provide will be very heplful, and very much appreciated. All the best HS