saddle patterns

[tackmaker]

does anyone have or know where to get a pattern for a 17' flat seat cutter? any help would be greatly appreciated.thanks.I' having trouble with the skirts.

Edited January 14, 2008 by tackmaker

[ryan]

You could try Bruce Cheaney. I think his site is prosaddles.com otherwise just google him.

[YRsaddles]

Do you have the Al Stolman books..there are patterns in the books that can be modified to make any patterns you want. Making "NEW" patterns is the fun part in what we do..you can put your own to any saddle you build.

Dave

[tackmaker]

Do you have the Al Stolman books..there are patterns in the books that can be modified to make any patterns you want. Making "NEW" patterns is the fun part in what we do..you can put your own to any saddle you build.

Dave

yes i have the stolman books,bruce chaney video,bill gomer video,harry's book i just can't firgue out the saddle skirt thing.thanks judy

[Don101]

Hi Judy i know what you are going through ive nearly comppleted my first saddle and didnt have one template to use so i made each template as i went along i saw a lot of good ways to do things on ClayB pic site and adopted some things from the pics to suite what i was building, the way i made the skirt trmplate was to lay underneath the tree a large card sheet, centered it to the center under the tree, squared it of at the bottom then clamped the tree on to the paper with the drawdown and marked the paper with my fingernail pressing the card to take the shape of the tree underneath then marked roughly the front curve at the top and along the bars, removed the card and drew it correctly and cut it out, reemounted it under the tree and checked if every thing was ok, probbably a long winded way to do it but not having the experience or someone to show me another way to do it that hoe i did it by checking and then checking again, Don

[Hidemechanic]

The way I learned was that most paterns were generally what you would work from after checking that the patern would cover the part of the tree you needed the part for, then you could cut the leather and fit it to the tree. I think that the only time you can cut directly from a patern and apply it to a tree is when the patern is made for that tree as with saddle kits. That's if you haven't already made your own pats for a specific tree.

For skirts, after casing I align the skirt(in leather) where I want it under the tree on the draw down, when I like where it sits I tack nail it at the bottom of the gullet and just behind the cantle. I flip the tree over, block in the bar, tack nail the skirt to the bar with tacks placed about 2" apart, flip it back to right side up. I shape the skirt a bit to lay the way I will want it and let it dry(actually I remove it first and use it to copy the other side)Point is when I leave it to dry I come back with my carpenters level, and level the stand and tree then use a strait edge to mark a level line at the bottom of the skirt. I use my framing square to get my virtical line front and back. This can be different depending on the stye of saddle but I won't go into that here. Actually I was taught to stand at the rear of the tree and with a strait edge almost eye ball my back lines then the front. I guess I'm not really trying to show you 'How To' do it this way but show that there have been other ways to do saddle parts other than with paterns. I left a lot out but Don 101 has a pretty good take on it. I saw the same basics with other saddle makers. To be honest the way I was taught I have to go the the nail salon to have a nice nail put on my thumb cause that's what was used to make my marks with.

Good luck.GHackett

[YRsaddles]

yes i have the stolman books,bruce chaney video,bill gomer video,harry's book i just can't firgue out the saddle skirt thing.thanks judy

So what are you having problems with??? the over all shape..round skirts? square skirts? old timer? let me know how to help and I try my best to get you on the right track.

Dave

[steve mason]

The best advise I can give is, to become a saddlemaker, you must learn to make you own patterns. Do this right from the start, or else you will end up depending on other for all you patterns. Making patterns is a large part of making saddles.

To make a pattern for a skirt is fairly straight forward, first you block one skirt on to the tree, (cut your leather bigger than the finished skirt size) once the leather is blocked in place figure out what measurements you need, for example only measure a 2" from front bar tip, then 3.5" from back bar tip or 6.5" from back of cantle, measure down from bottom of front and back bar pads, then take a straight edge and get your bottom skirt line true to the world,( this is a tricky line to get straight, if you use a straight edge on the bench then block it on the saddle it will not end up straight) now if you are doing square skirts, take your straight edge and mark your front and back line according to your measurements, then use a set circle to make your corners consistent (I use an empty thread spool) use this to make the corners on the skirts and also the rear jockeys and the front seat jockey. Once you are happy with your line sketched on the leather, take it off the saddle, flatten it out and trace it to the other side and then block them both on and you are done. The distance you measure from the bar tips front and back and how far down is up to you the saddle maker, that will determine your line on the saddle, and that is a very individual thing.

his method of fitting skirts is the way a large number of custom saddle makers fit their skirts on every saddle they make, if you trees are consistent you can get to the point where you can use a paper pattern that will get the job done for you.

another thing to remember is "they make new cows every day" so if you screw it up you can always get a new hide and start over.

Hope this helps, if you have more questions feel free to ask.

[wood]

What Steve said is how a guy taught me to do it. That bottom straight line is tough, I still have a time with it. I also always look at and study other saddles. I pick out depths and lengths that are appealing to my eye and try to remember what they looked like when I get home.

[skinner]

If you have a smaller pattern you can stretch it by cutting it in half, and like steve said keep your end measurements correct and tape the 2 pieces together with a third piece of paper. I've done this with alot of our patterns,{ skirt, ground seat ect.}