Bucking rolls

[JDFred]

I’m building a set of bucking rolls for myself, the packing is supposed to be sheared wool; however I’m not finding a local source maybe I need to look harder.  I have set a sorta unrealistic finish time so I don’t think I’ve got time for the internet to bring some to me.  I’ve sen a YouTube video with a guy using horse hair to stiffen up a set of bucking rolls.  I was wondering if cotton balls would work to pack them?  Or is there something else I could use?

[Mulesaw]

5 minutes ago, JDFred said:

I’m building a set of bucking rolls for myself, the packing is supposed to be sheared wool; however I’m not finding a local source maybe I need to look harder.  I have set a sorta unrealistic finish time so I don’t think I’ve got time for the internet to bring some to me.  I’ve sen a YouTube video with a guy using horse hair to stiffen up a set of bucking rolls.  I was wondering if cotton balls would work to pack them?  Or is there something else I could use?

How about some granulated cork? 
You could get a couple of sanding blocks at a home center and then "grind" them up. Maybe use something like a really coarse file/rasp to granulate the blocks. 
I don't know if you can get readily granulated cork, but it might be possible.

Coarse sawdust could also be a solution, though I think that cork will result in a softer product. Sawdust/chips pack pretty hard. 

Mind you that I have absolutely no experience with bucking rolls, so I am just suggesting based on what I would use for something like that.

Brgds Jonas

[JDFred]

6 minutes ago, Mulesaw said:

How about some granulated cork? 
You could get a couple of sanding blocks at a home center and then "grind" them up. Maybe use something like a really coarse file/rasp to granulate the blocks. 
I don't know if you can get readily granulated cork, but it might be possible.

Coarse sawdust could also be a solution, though I think that cork will result in a softer product. Sawdust/chips pack pretty hard. 

Mind you that I have absolutely no experience with bucking rolls, so I am just suggesting based on what I would use for something like that.

Brgds

 

They need to be fairly stiff as they are used to leverage off of to keep your balance in many different situations, steep terrain, or leaning forward for roping or even a froggy horse.  The saw dust is a good idea.  I may try it if the bottom flap closes tight as the saddle is intended to hold it closed not be sewn down.  I’m not sure either as this is the first pair I’ve made. Thank you for the idea.

[rktaylor]

I'll start with saying, I have only made one set. My comments are based on what I learned in that process. I think cotton balls wild work. High density foam rubber is another choice. I have boxes of scrap woolskin so it was an easy choice. You want them to be fairly stiff with a little give. Good luck. 

Randy

[bruce johnson]

Cotton balls, not my first pick. Will pack down and be soft in a week no matter how tight you pack then initially. You will be repacking forever and this will be the never ending story. You only do this once and learn. Some use horse hair or cowtail hair. I stuffed a few with that stuffing used for toy animals and it worked OK, can't think of the name.  For natural fiber I liked wool. Look around for saddlemakers in your area and be prepared to ask to pay for scrap. Next option would be to call up Panhandle and see if they have some crappy woolskins that wont work for skirts and sell a little cheaper. I used to have a few bucking roll stuffing rods around here that made life easier for packing. All sold and havent found another source yet.

Option B for the next pair - Jeremiah Watt sells bucking roll inserts. Sew them up, no packing time, and surprisingly durable. 

[JDFred]

57 minutes ago, bruce johnson said:

Cotton balls, not my first pick. Will pack down and be soft in a week no matter how tight you pack then initially. You will be repacking forever and this will be the never ending story. You only do this once and learn. Some use horse hair or cowtail hair. I stuffed a few with that stuffing used for toy animals and it worked OK, can't think of the name.  For natural fiber I liked wool. Look around for saddlemakers in your area and be prepared to ask to pay for scrap. Next option would be to call up Panhandle and see if they have some crappy woolskins that wont work for skirts and sell a little cheaper. I used to have a few bucking roll stuffing rods around here that made life easier for packing. All sold and havent found another source yet.

Option B for the next pair - Jeremiah Watt sells bucking roll inserts. Sew them up, no packing time, and surprisingly durable. 

I’ve got a friend here that makes saddles and has some scraps of sheep skin but I wasn’t sure if that would work because of the skin.  I guess you could shear the scraps?

[bruce johnson]

19 minutes ago, JDFred said:

I’ve got a friend here that makes saddles and has some scraps of sheep skin but I wasn’t sure if that would work because of the skin.  I guess you could shear the scraps?

Yes I just clipped the hair off. That said, I have had some I added stuffing to that originally had some small pieces that were squares around an inch that were just cut scrap and leather left on. One of my friends has stuffed quite a few doing piece work and did that. Stuff with clippings to get a layer and lay smooth under the cover, then packed in cut scrap and finished with more clippings at the flap. He had the first stuffing rods I saw and worked the wool all over. He could get them packed really tight down into the ends.  

The synthetic fiber I was thinking of in the earlier post is Fiberfil. 

I already had two phone calls about the stuffing rods mentioned in the earlier post, I don't have any pictures I can find or any on hand right now but I will get some made up.  

[JDFred]

5 hours ago, bruce johnson said:

Yes I just clipped the hair off. That said, I have had some I added stuffing to that originally had some small pieces that were squares around an inch that were just cut scrap and leather left on. One of my friends has stuffed quite a few doing piece work and did that. Stuff with clippings to get a layer and lay smooth under the cover, then packed in cut scrap and finished with more clippings at the flap. He had the first stuffing rods I saw and worked the wool all over. He could get them packed really tight down into the ends.  

The synthetic fiber I was thinking of in the earlier post is Fiberfil. 

I already had two phone calls about the stuffing rods mentioned in the earlier post, I don't have any pictures I can find or any on hand right now but I will get some made up.  

That makes sense to use clippings to get the shape and fill the center with the cut squares.  If you do end up with some stuffing rods I would be interested in getting one. Thank you for the help. I’ll post some pictures when I get them done.

[oltoot]

My way: use shearling cilppings from trimming skirts. Soak in hot water, then stuff, fingers will do. when stuffed full, keep putting more in, squeezing out the water as you go.  Surprising how easily you can compact wet wool.  Then pull them down and let dry (it will take a long time) When they are getting dry, you can polish the edges and smooth out the welts.  When in a hurry, buy the foam inserts.  BTW, my way works with any shape.

Edited July 12 by oltoot

[JDFred]

14 minutes ago, oltoot said:

My way: use shearling cilppings from trimming skirts. Soak in hot water, then stuff, fingers will do. when stuffed full, keep putting more in, squeezing out the water as you go.  Surprising how easily you can compact wet wool.  Then pull them down and let dry (it will take a long time) When they are getting dry, you can polish the edges and smooth out the welts.  When in a hurry, buy the foam inserts.  BTW, my way works with any shape.

Wet would compact better.  It would also dry a little bit stiff.  Did you ever have trouble with mold or mildew while they were drying? Or have staining problems on the leather from the wool being wet at the time of stuffing?

[oltoot]

No, we set them up with a fan blowing on them and they thus dried pretty quick. No staining problems on rolls made of darker chap leather pieces. And we never let dyed shearling clippings get saved, only bark tanned shearlings that we used for saddle lining and relining.

PS placing things in the path of a fan to dry proved useful for lotsa things.

[JDFred]

I finally finished them. Here’s a picture.

[rktaylor]

Those look good. Nice job.

Randy

[JDFred]

Thank you

[PurpleBronc]

These look really good!

Did you stitch by hand or machine?

I made a pair once, but I had to fix them about a month later, cause the seams went and the stuffing burst out!  I think the leather I used was too thin.

[JDFred]

1 hour ago, PurpleBronc said:

These look really good!

Did you stitch by hand or machine?

I made a pair once, but I had to fix them about a month later, cause the seams went and the stuffing burst out!  I think the leather I used was too thin.

Thank you.  I hand stitch them, I’m not cool enough to have a machine. Time will tell if the stitches hold.  I used the handle of a stamp to pack them.