Drawdown Stand

[gtwister09]

Denise,

Thanks! That's the same post that I was thinking about. I guess I could have added the link for it but thought that a search for TroyWest and drawdon stand would have quickly yielded it. Sorry Hank.

Tom,

One suggestion is to change the drawdown strap from being tied to the base to something that is mounted under the saddle. This makes it independent on the raise/lower mechanism of the barber chair stand. There have been several discussions on the design differences between the Weaver model that has the drawdown strap attached at the base versus Ron Tools model that mounts it independent of this which allows you to still raise and lower the saddle or spin it with the drawdown strap attached.

Here's a quick look of Ron's model to show how he attaches it and also his tightening mechanism for the drawdown strap.

Here's one of those discussions.

Saddle Builders Stand

Regards,

Ben

Edited March 8, 2011 by gtwister09

[mbnaegle]

Old thread, but it's been on my mind recently. I've got a couple of the traditional draw down stand that my dad bought from some old saddle makers years ago. They could use some repairs but are otherwise going strong. He had another he built using the base of a 1930's-1940's Ritter Electric Dental Chair. It swiveled and locked and had really finely controlled hydraulic rise and fall that could tear leather straps if you were not careful (not that you want to, but having the power is nice). As he transitioned into other fields of work, he changed out the saddle stand top for a flat bench top and used it for a general work station. At some point it stopped working and probably 5 or 10 years ago we called the curtain on it and scrapped it. I'm kicking myself now as I wish I hadn't given up on it, but am thinking about building another.

I know similar custom made electric/hydraulic drawdown stands are out there but would love to see pictures. Currently looking for a good candidate chair base to build up. Our old one was really neat with lots of chrome and such, but it's seeming hard to find electric pump powered hydraulic chairs or chair bases from that period. Most are newer, or older with manual pedal pump hydraulics, which is what I might end up going with.

Edited May 8 by mbnaegle