StolpSaddles Report post Posted March 13, 2009 I was thinking the other day The saddles I build will still be on horses when I am no longer around Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrooperChuck Report post Posted March 13, 2009 I've had the same thoughts. It kind of feels good to think that decades from now someone could still be riding a saddle with my name on it. There used to be a saddle maker named Art Barrett here in northeast Washington. He wasn't well known outside of our little area but he made lots of saddles. He died a few years ago, and I still run into lots of folks who own his saddles and enjoy riding them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mulefool Report post Posted March 13, 2009 The thought of somebody enjoying a great ride on a good horse or mule and looking down and seeing my name on their saddle, years after I'm gone gives me a good feeling, too. Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barra Report post Posted March 13, 2009 I also get a kick out of the fact that some kid who is not yet a twinkle in their old mans eye will be making saddlery with my tools and will be able to pass them on. I in turn got most of them from a saddler who was using them when my grandfather was born. Barra Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted March 13, 2009 I am with Barra. There is something kind of cool to think you are using something for sure that is over a hundred years old, and it still is tight. I had a lapse yesterday morning. I realized the dichotomy of using a neon orange plastic handle screwdriver to set the blades on Hansen and Randall splitters. I got a $5 wooden slab handled screwdriver at an antique store out of guilt. It looked better laying next to them this morning. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer Report post Posted March 13, 2009 I was thinking the other day The saddles I build will still be on horses when I am no longer around And someone will bring out a question on a leatherforum: " I have an old saddle marked Stolp Saddlery. Does anyone have any information on a saddlemaker named Stolp ? " Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarryB Report post Posted March 14, 2009 My war department (wife) keeps talking about how much more my stuff will be worth "once I'm gone"! Think she's trying to tell me something? ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer Report post Posted March 14, 2009 My war department (wife) keeps talking about how much more my stuff will be worth "once I'm gone"! Think she's trying to tell me something? ? You´d better watch your back, Harry! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Casey Jordan Report post Posted March 14, 2009 My war department (wife) keeps talking about how much more my stuff will be worth "once I'm gone"! Think she's trying to tell me something? ? My parole officer (wife) keeps telling me the same thing. She also tells me I need to make more "stock" to take to shows. I get nervous when I see her with a calculator. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Randy Cornelius Report post Posted March 14, 2009 For those of you that do not know I have a son, Riley who is very much into leather like me. He tells me to buy the best tools I can. I ask why, he says, "because some day they will me mine". Now is that love for your dad or what? Randy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tonyc1 Report post Posted March 14, 2009 I get really jumpy and reach for the Paracetamol when my wife says, "Now I've been thinking". I also wonder when my son is in the workshop and says things like "What would that machine be worth?" Tony. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blake Report post Posted March 14, 2009 This is a good topic Several months back , I had someone drag out an old worn saddle and ask me what my thoughts were about it. I recognized it to have been made by a long deceased saddle maker . After more thoughts about the saddle the next day, I realized that I own and use the tools that were probably used to make that very saddle. It sure makes you want to be sure that our tools are left in good hands when we depart. Blake Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UKRay Report post Posted March 15, 2009 My take is a bit morbid, but I actually had a conversation about this only this morning... I was wondering what would happen to my tools and machines after I'm gone. Some of my kit is incredibly old and I do feel like I hold it in trust for the next generation, but my son is a computer nerd (bless him) and I can't see him ever bothering to learn how to use them. I actually found it quite distressing to think that the collection I have built up over my lifetime could end up in a dumpster simply because nobody knows what the stuff is. I have decided to appoint a special trustee in my will to find good homes for all my tools. Hopefully they would take on the responsibility of clearing my workshop and ease the burden for those left behind. I'd be perfectly happy to let them take their pick of the toys! Any volunteers? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Go2Tex Report post Posted March 15, 2009 My take is a bit morbid, but I actually had a conversation about this only this morning... I was wondering what would happen to my tools and machines after I'm gone. Some of my kit is incredibly old and I do feel like I hold it in trust for the next generation, but my son is a computer nerd (bless him) and I can't see him ever bothering to learn how to use them. I actually found it quite distressing to think that the collection I have built up over my lifetime could end up in a dumpster simply because nobody knows what the stuff is. I have decided to appoint a special trustee in my will to find good homes for all my tools. Hopefully they would take on the responsibility of clearing my workshop and ease the burden for those left behind. I'd be perfectly happy to let them take their pick of the toys! Any volunteers? Nah, don't worry. They'll have an estate sale and somebody like Bob Douglas will get hold of them and make a fortune off them selling them to guys like me..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StolpSaddles Report post Posted March 15, 2009 (edited) Boy did I start something. love reading all the comments. I did not even think about the tool aspect. I should be around for a while yet ( i hope as I am only 50 ) So I would be willing to put to good use of any tools you want to pass down to me.. LOL Edited March 15, 2009 by StolpSaddles Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UKRay Report post Posted March 15, 2009 Boy did I start something. love reading all the comments. I did not even think about the tool aspect. I should be around for a while yet ( i hope as I am only 50 )So I would be willing to put to good use of any tools you want to pass down to me java script:add_smilie(%22:lol:%22,%22smid_6%22) I'm only four years older than you, Mr Stolp, so you might be out of luck! (any pictures you might have seen that make me look older simply reflect my exceedingly misspent youth....) I would like to add that I have every intention of misspending my old age too! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StolpSaddles Report post Posted March 15, 2009 (edited) The best way to stay young is to forget about getting old and rock on Edited March 15, 2009 by StolpSaddles Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tonyc1 Report post Posted March 15, 2009 Here's another good question for all of us. I wonder what our ages average out at? I'm 65 but I'm sure there'd be a lot older than me. Tony. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barra Report post Posted March 15, 2009 I intend to leave mine to someone just starting out. As for age, I'm a mere pup at 45. I was born Nov 05 1963. For those with a British connection. I started life with a bang and hope to go out with a bang. Barra Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Suze Report post Posted March 15, 2009 My nephew's boy is the one who will inherit all of my worldly goods..... Not married and have no kids. I hope that he will find good homes for a lot of my things. and I am trying to get the 80 years of my parents debrie cleared out before he has to deal with it. And my only sister is not helping in the least. Everything has a "Memory" for her and must be saved HERE --- I cant't tell you how much pure JUNK she has taken home --- because it might be valuable someday you know. like a 50 year old ice chest....or bed pans (Yes you heard me - a bedpan - what Mom saved it for I have no idea either) sigh - it is a fight to get anything OUT of the house. Somehow she finds out when I am in a pitching mood and shows up and makes my life HELL she took home a box of 50 year old sewing patterns that last time that were falling to dust in my hands...she doesn't sew. the worst is when she is telling me that I can't throw out stuff **I BOUGHT** in the first place and is my property. I've just been packing it all in her car - let her husband deal with her. sorry about that - it just slips out sometimes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrooperChuck Report post Posted March 15, 2009 I've sometimes wondered what will happen to my tools (and everything else) when I pass away. My wife and I had three children, but they died, and none of our nieces and nephews seem seriously interested in leatherwork or saddle making. I'm only 49 years old, so unless God has other plans for me, I hope to have quite a few more years left for pondering this question. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Russ Report post Posted March 16, 2009 My saddle teacher had the incredibly good luck to buy the first saddle that his dad made, under the tutelage of his grandfather. You can see where his dad was practicing his carving, since every fender, jockey, and skirt had a different flower on it! It's sitting on display in his shop, and it's certainly a conversation piece. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites