Padded Saddle Seat.

[jbird]

Howdy all

I am just starting my first saddle from scratch and I am trying to under stand better how you guys do your padded seats.

1. are you still making a strainer and forming a seat and then adding foam, and shaping the foam?

2. are you inlaying the padded seat leather or on laying?

3. would you post some pictures and go in to some detail as to your method of doing a padded seat.

thanks so much

Josh

[mauifarrier]

Hi There,

I recently made my first padded seat on my third saddle. I searched here and didn't find a whole lot either. I wanted to use Gel rather than foam. Bought high quality gel on ebay from a company that sells gel inserts for motorcycle seats. On ebay their seller name is "knoplace" I'm very happy with the material. Bought size small from them, and would recommend Medium to anyone else in order to make sure they had enough square inches to work with. Right now the medium size is $47.95 with free shipping.

1. are you still making a strainer and forming a seat and then adding foam, and shaping the foam?

-I still used a strainer, formed my ground seat with layers of leather as usual.

-Then I shaped my seat leather over it and let it dry.

-Deciding where I wanted the padded insert, I cut a hole out of the seat piece. It was nerve wracking, because the seat piece is one of your largest leather pieces, cut from some of the best hide. You do not want to make a mistake and be searching for more skirting leather to start over.

-The hole you cut for your padding will almost certainly spread open a little more. I then cut my gel insert, laid it in the "hole" in the seat.

-Then from 4-5 oz latigo, I cut a piece that would cover the gel and be hand stitched into the seat leather

2. are you inlaying the padded seat leather or on laying?

-my style was inlaid.

-The style of saddle I was making required the option to disassemble it fairly easily. Very little glue or tacks are used in Hawaiian Saddles. They are held together with strings. So my gel insert simply sits (without adhesive) under my seat piece, and the seat leather is not glued down against the ground seat. Nevertheless, everything has stayed put and not shifted or migrated. In criticism of my own work, I "over-shaped" the edge of my latigo insert, and it is a bit too square at the edges. However, after many rides in the saddle I have had no pressure points, and absolutely love the high density gel.

3. would you post some pictures and go in to some detail as to your method of doing a padded seat.

If you click on this link to my webpage, You'll see all my photos of the process:

http://www.mauifries...boo_Saddle.html