New Drawdown Stand - Modifying The Stohlman Design

[VanHornSaddlery]

Hello,

Finally got tired of the weaver stand and went and took the time to build one. Would have liked to have gotten one of Ron's but don't have the means at the moment. Maybe if the wife would get a fourth job, HHHMMMMM, probabley not. In the meantime the one I built seems to be working all right. I made the top to the specifications in the stohlman books and so far it is working good. I put carpet pad under the canvas and tried to build it up a little more like a set of withers. The canvas is a little slick but I use a chap leather on top of it and it works fine. It does adjust up and down by undoing a tension bolt, but mostly I use it where it is set. Have a good one.

Jake

[2MadJacks]

Thanks for the post Jake!! Your stand looks very nice and will be helpful to those of us looking to build our own. Thanks again, James

[TroyWest]

Jake,

I'd like to share a thought that I hope will be helpful. The Stohlman design is a good design except it is too high in the front end. This means your tree will sit higher in the front on your stand than it will when sitting on a real horse. What will happen is your saddle will look great on your stand, but when you put it on a horse your skirts will run downhill from back to front. The bottom skirt line will not be parallel to the ground when on a horse. I see this on a lot of saddles and it is a result of the tree not sitting on the drawdown with the same degree as it does on a real horse.

One way to compare this is with a tree, a ruler, and a level. You'll need a horse with nice conformation as well. Set the tree on the horse. Hold the ruler against the back of the cantle, just resting on the top of the bar as close to the center of the cantle as possible. You'll need a level about 2 ft. long. Set one end of the level on top of the horn and hold the other end against the ruler in the rear. Get your bubble level by raising or lowering the back end of the level while holding it against the ruler. When level, take note of the measurement against the ruler, say the top of the level against the ruler says 7 3/4", that becomes your standard.

Take your tree back to your drawdown and repeat this. Set the level on the horn and the ruler against the cantle back and now set the top of the level at the 7 3/4" mark. Now raise the back of the tree up until the bubble is level. The space between the back of the bars and the drawdown is how much the back of the stand should be raised. On that Stohlman stand it will probably need to be raised 2 to 3"in the rear.

That amount really affects a lot of things, including how the groundseat is built and how you actually sit when on a horse, not to mention all your other lines.

I know this sounds like a lot of trouble but it will be very important to the look and quality of all of your future saddles, so it is very foundational. I hope I explained this adequately and I hope you find it helpful.

I wish you the best,

Troy West

[VanHornSaddlery]

Hello,

Thanks for the insight Troy. You were right on the money about the stohlmans being to high in the front. I took a tree out and did as you suggested on a couple of different horses. I ended up adding 2 1/2" to the back of the top of the stand to get it to hold the tree at the measurements that I took. Thanks again, for the tip.

Jake

[TroyWest]

Real glad it helped.

Troy

[horsewreck]

Jake, thanks for showing us you stand design I like the shelf under the tree to lay tools on. I had always thought the Stohlman design was high in front. I keep looking at different drawdowns that other folks are using and thinking I will take the time to build a new one for my shop. My main stand is over twenty years old and I would like to think I might be able to build a better one now.

Troy, thanks for your response to this thread , I found it to be very informative.

Jake, if you figure how to get your wife to take a fourth job let me me know. My wife has two jobs and she refuses to even look for the third one..... Jeff

Edited April 22, 2011 by horsewreck

[15mules]

This thread has been very helpful. I have been doing my repairs on a foldout saddle stand and I have to say it is a less than ideal setup. But we do what we have to do. I plan to build a saddle makers stand and the pictures and info in the thread will make it much easier, some good ideas. I will make the top a little different in that all of my mules put together probably do not have that much withers between them!! Haa

Thanks again for the post and info.

[joe59]

15Mules,

I built my first draw down stand from the directions by Lee Rice in the Bruce Grant braiding book. I used that until the Al Stholman volume one first came out. I built one and have used it ever since. When I started building saddles on mule trees, I discovered that the trees with mule bars fit my stand better than the horse trees. I built a second "Stholman" that I do my repairs on. The only changes made were I made one three inches taller and used auto carpet to cover them. Too slick. I took an inter tube from a tractor tire and stretched over the stand. Much better and easier to clean.

JOE

[oldtimer]

I built the Stohlman stand and raised it 2" at the back end and it seems to level the tree

/ Knut

[rktaylor]

I am getting ready to build a new stand based on Stohlman's design. When you say it should be 2 1/2 inches higher in the back, are you sticking with the pattern and then raising the back plate this distance when mounting it? Thanks,

Randy

[Goldshot Ron]

Randy,

I've used Stohlman's design now for seven years. I've read that his design wasn't level, etc.. So, I parked my horse on a flat place and set a bare tree on her. I took a 3 ft. level and set it on the horn and measured up from the cantle to the level. (It takes four hands, but is do-able.) I then went into the shop and reversed the process on my stand. It wasn't that far off (if at all). However, the modification that I did make was to add some saddle seat foam to the rear of the stand to better simulate a horses loin area, and hold the rear of the bars in a more secure position. The foam does raise the rear of the tree up some, but not 2 inches.

Ron

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

First, Jake, nice job on your stand. I have been thinking about making a new one for some time and yours gives me some ideas to add to my new one. One thing for sure is to incorporate a jig for aligning rigging. The underpinning of the one you built will lend it's self to doing just that. Second, Troy's comments and detailed approach is very welcome. When you can get good advice from someone who "makes it the way you want yours to be" you are always ahead of the game. Thanks to Troy for the advice. Last, as the time is near, here's wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Bob

[Steepdiver]

I know this is an old thread, but I need some help and it seems the most relevant. I am building a draw down stand and don't have the Stoleman books. My problem is with the top. I am having a hard time figuring out what is the best way to shape and Sze it. Any input would be helpful. Pictures would be awesome. 

I have saddles waiting for repair and a tree to start on. I just need to finish this first.