Thickness/Substance of Leather Used for Saddle Construction

[JerryLevine]

I'm about to start on my first saddle. All the source books talk about 10-14oz skirting leather. Does it have to be this thick or could I use thinner leather? A saddle maker friend in Canada feels that English leather could be used thinner, because of the tanning methods we use here. I appreciate that building up the seat requires some thickness, esepcially when skiving it down smooth. I'm keen to make as light a saddle as possible and cutting down on the weight of leather seems to be one way of achieving this.

Any advice gratefully received.

Jerry

[TrooperChuck]

Jerry:

If your saddle is going to used only for pleaure riding (as opposed to hard usage like roping, ranch work, or wilderness packing trips) you could probably get away with using some medium weight leather. Something in the neighborhood of 10-12 oz.

If you are looking to make a really light saddle, think about making a Hope saddle, an old-timer skeleton-rigged saddle, or a McClellan saddle. My old M1928 McClellan only weighed about 18 pounds, versus about 35 for my western saddle. I loved riding that saddle. It was the most comfortable saddle I've ever owned. The problem was that it didn't fit my horses well, but that could be remedied by building one on a tree designed for today's broader horses.

Hope you'll post a pic of whatever you end up building.

[JerryLevine]

Jerry:

If your saddle is going to used only for pleaure riding (as opposed to hard usage like roping, ranch work, or wilderness packing trips) you could probably get away with using some medium weight leather. Something in the neighborhood of 10-12 oz.

If you are looking to make a really light saddle, think about making a Hope saddle, an old-timer skeleton-rigged saddle, or a McClellan saddle. My old M1928 McClellan only weighed about 18 pounds, versus about 35 for my western saddle. I loved riding that saddle. It was the most comfortable saddle I've ever owned. The problem was that it didn't fit my horses well, but that could be remedied by building one on a tree designed for today's broader horses.

Hope you'll post a pic of whatever you end up building.

TrooperChuck:

Many thanks for that. I hadn't considered either a Hope or a McClellan, but I think I'd probably go with the latter. I've got a slot for a tree to be made by Rod and Denise Nikkel later this year (they're very popular and there's a waiting list!), but I've yet to decide exactly what I want in terms of style, fork, seat length, cantle, rigging, etc, so I could always opt for a McClellan tree. I'm currently in Afghanistan for a few more weeks, so I've got some time to ponder! My draw-down stand is being made by a friend even as we speak, so hopefully I'll be able to get straight down to it when I get the tree. Meanwhile, I'm going to 'practice' on a Ralide tree (which was a gift - probably best not to start on the Ralide v traditional tree debate again here!), so I can experiment/make mistakes without impacting my horse too much.

I'll definitely post pics of the results of my Nikkel tree'd saddle.

Thanks again.

Jerry

I wuill definitley

[StolpSaddles]

I would not waste my time or material on a ralide tree. If you do not want a good quality custom tree, ( I am also on the list with Rod) then order a Bowden or Superior tree. A little more than a ralide but then you can practice and puild a proper saddle

MY $.02

[JerryLevine]

I would not waste my time or material on a ralide tree. If you do not want a good quality custom tree, ( I am also on the list with Rod) then order a Bowden or Superior tree. A little more than a ralide but then you can practice and puild a proper saddle

MY $.02

Many thanks for that. Your advice is what everyone else says! I'm rather stuck with the Ralide tree, though; it was a gift and since I live in the United Kingdom, it costs about the same to ship a tree over (unless you accept abpout 12 weeks for it going by sea) as the tree itself. I have to be in Canada in June, though, which is when I hope to collect my Nikkel tree. However, I've still got to figure out all the variables I want to build in. I'm using the Dennis Lane measuring system, together with lots of photos and video to send off so that I get the sizing/fit right for my horse. After that, I guess I'll be looking through a lot of books (again!) and taking advice about what to order. Then I'll actually need to get on and build it, which will be the challenging part and therefore I feel the need to practise. Maybe I should get some Bowden trees in June, pratice on them and postpone building on my Nikkel tree untill I've built something someone can actually ride in!

Thanks again.

[StolpSaddles]

If you are handy and have done some wood working you will find that leather is not that difficult to work with.

The hardest part the tooling. Practice tooling on some scrap leather. I found that the moisture content is the most critical with tooling. Keep the tooling simple, a good job of less tooling looks better than a bad job of lots of tooling.

Make your patterns out of very hard stiff cardboard, I get them from the feed store off the pallets of grain. I cut both left and right parts to help layout on the leather, then use only i of the patterns flipped to ensure the parts are equal in case the patterns are slightly different. Dont forget Left and Right not two lefts. Pay attention to where the parts are cut from the hides especially the seat. Use the blemished hide areas in the ground seat and areas of the skirts that do not show. Use quality leather, Herman Oak or Wicket and Craig. Spend a little extra and use stainless steel or brass harware, stay away from plated as it will rust in time . Take your time and work on it only when you are in the mood , I find that there are day that just dont feel right and then you make mistakes and a mess..

Have fun take your time and most important...... Post picture of your project so we can see haw it is going..

just my $.02 worth

P.S. if you build on the Ralide tree use only ring nails and screw for better holding or better yet only screws.

Edited March 18, 2009 by StolpSaddles

[JerryLevine]

Thanks again! I already do some leatherwork: English bridlery, holsters, rifle slips, etc, but almost no tooling. The only 'wet-work' I've done is moulding over wooden forms for handbags and magazine/knife pouches. The bridlery requires some attention to detail; we sew at 10 stitches to the inch, so I hopefully should be OK with most of that. The tooling does worry me though. I was shown some basic border patterns, and have tried various basket-weave tools, but have yet to take my life (and work) in my hands and try it on a real project. Fingers crossed!

On the actual leather, the same problem arises for shipping leather from the USA. I generally use Sedgwick's or Whites, both are reputable companies, equivalent to Herman Oak, etc. In fact a friend of mine in Canada told me (and this is what started this topic off) that I could get away with thinner (so lighter) leather if I used English saddle leather. Any comments on that? The only problme is that most people here sell shoulders or butts. Sides, including the stretchy belly leather, are generally not easy to come by in the substance described in the various books (Stohlman, Johnson, etc) 13-15oz. I'm actually going to the tannery next week to discuss this with them, to see if they'll refrain from currying the hides too much and let me have some sides without too much fussing with them. We'll see.....

Anyway, thanks again for tha advice. I will post the various stages of development as I go along. More likely to be my Nikkel tree'd saddle though!

Jerry

[JAM]

Do you really need to tool? I did minimal tooling on my first two saddles (minimal borders - a sideways single-barbwire-twist) because my teacher was pressing me to be quicker. I'm thinking about doing my next saddle (I, too, belong to the Nikkel Tree club), which will be the first I've done completely on my own, with no tooling at all so I can concentrate on construction. Because I'm primarily concerned about fit and comfort and getting the ground seat right, and only I will be riding in it (on one particular horse), there's no need to dither about tooling. I've decided that tooling the saddle can wait until I am able to do a good enough job to commit saddle leather to it.

And now I wish I could alter the line of the seat jockeys on my second saddle, but if I cut a new edge it will be obvious because I'll ruin the borderline along the edge of the seat jockey - which wouldn't be a problem if I'd left it untooled.