3D Saddle Started

[Aurelie]

Hello guys!

I know some of you will think that i am totally crazy (and i know some around , here do think so) but i've been taught that you learn from your error and even more in saddle making

I like having fun and challenging myself

so here is the thing:

May 2012 , i have planned to go to Sheridan Leather Show

At 1st it was to meet suppliers, see really nice saddles and meet some friends

and i came out with the following idea :

in for a penny, in for a pound => i have to pay plane ticket for myself so why not for a saddle i would have built for the contest??? :D

i am a rookie, i am totally aware of this

i do not aim a price but i go for fun and in order to learn even more about saddle making

i started this thread because i know at some point i will need some advices

Here what i ve planned to do :

- saddle tree is a Timberline 6 1/2" Old mexico (might be easier to deal with than the last Sid Special i ve done )

- in skirt saddle

- straight cantle => here i guess i will ask you some advice (the binding just scare me off)

- in laid seat => never done that

i ve searched on the forum some info on that and found some but any additionnal advice is welcomed

- fork cover : i wanted to try a "slick" one (without welt)

i am not sure it's possible , i guess it's "borderline" regarding the shape of the swell

so either to help me or to make fun of me

you can keep tuned

anyway i will really appreciate your advices

Thanks

Aurelie

[Aurelie]

Oh! i forgot to ask :

about oil the saddle when it's finished

last week i had the opportunity to see a beauty of art from Pedro Pedrini with a nice shine as if it was several years old oiled

how can i do that?

i usually apply several coat of olive oil that darken the leather and i finish with a coat of Skidmore's

but the result is not so "fine" as this Pedrini saddle

Does it exist other oil or specific products that help to reach that shiny look?

[kseidel]

Oh! i forgot to ask :

about oil the saddle when it's finished

last week i had the opportunity to see a beauty of art from Pedro Pedrini with a nice shine as if it was several years old oiled

how can i do that?

i usually apply several coat of olive oil that darken the leather and i finish with a coat of Skidmore's

but the result is not so "fine" as this Pedrini saddle

Does it exist other oil or specific products that help to reach that shiny look?

You must have been to the TCAA show in Oklahoma City. I was there also. Pedro's saddle had an antiqued finish. It is achieved with oil for depth and a resist then antique then a topcoat of tankote or lacquer.

Good luck on your saddle.

Keith

[Aurelie]

No Keith, it was not in the USA but here in France

There were 2 saddles : 1 for Reinning with a crocodile in laid seat and 1 more simple for cutting

but i guess it was something like the same process you mentionned!

noting that in a corner of my head

[compound]

Aurelie

I think you NOT crazy with your plan visit Sheridan show. I worked(for Frinta saddlery) on saddle for this show in 2005year and this year i eas on Art of Cowboy Makers show in Loveland Colorado with my personal saddle. Hope next year i visit again this show.

Is very axpensive trip for me but i had occasion meet a real Masters crafters and their work. These experiences are priceless

Martin

Edited November 2, 2011 by compound

[Aurelie]

.....

Is very axpensive trip for me but i had occasion meet a real Masters crafters and their work. These experiences are priceless

Martin

You bet!

Better make the trip worthes the money!

but i really thing that i have more to gain than to lose in this "experience"

some saddle makers i met last week here in France told me it was a waste of time and money (i bet they are just jealous, scared that by any chance i do better than what they ve done in the past......héhéhé )

only 1 told me to go and that would be the best way to learn .

troubles here in France : most people do not like competition, they won't "share" their ways of doing something for fear that newcomers come around and do better than themselves (totally stupid way of thinking in my mind...)

and furthermore, in their mind , a girl can't do as good as a guy (even more stupid!)

So imagine what they can think about a girl building western saddles!

when i went into Montana to learn how to build saddles , it lasted 6 INTENSIVES weeks ...no time for kidding around! (and if it could have lasted a bit more i could have learnt even more...)

when i came back in France some people just replied to me : "Were there nice those vacations???" and they were just not taking my motives seriously

so just for all thoses things, i want to build a "decent" saddle (regarding the high level of saddle building in the USA) to prove :

1st : to them that I am a girl and i can do as good as anyone

2d : to have fun myself and be proud of what i am able to accomplish => that one will be the hardest because i always find a lot of "defects" or things i could have done better on all the saddles i have done

So time will tell!

[Aurelie]

And here the "soap opera" is starting!!!

Get your seat belt buckled , i guess some are in for a good laugh!

1st , the pictures, then the story AND the questions!

The gullet:

A real pain in the butt to set on the tree!

and it 's usually something easy and fast to do!

It took me 1H and an extra set of hands

and i got a kick in the butt from my Hubby because i started swearing like a truck driver (as usual when things do not go the way i like...) AhAhA

....in French and in English : 1 whole sentence without any verbs FYI

Here what happened:

i prepared it the same way as usually but i felt the leather stiffer than usually

At this stage, i became kinda suspicious.....

I have 3 drum dyed hides in black

H et O Grade A

i inspected the 3 of them to see where to find the best part for the Fork cover and the gullet

I took it from the most stretchy belly part of all those hides but those hides seems to be really more stiff than natural color ones

even saturated and skived the way it should be , i had a hell of a time to stretch it on the swell

so i was wondering :

- Drum dyed hides are more stiff than natural ones?

- Do the dye "harden" the fibers in a way?

or Did i end up with a bad "batch" of hides?

Have you encountered that kind of troubles?

and what's the way to deal with it?

Skive the leather? Case it?

and now i am "all scared out" about the fork cover!!!

If it's too stiff...gonna be even more than hellish to set on the Fork!!

Any advise? any opinion on the subject??

[compound]

So...

Generally natural hides are better for wet shape and tooling than dyed hides. Is better use nat. hides on saddle parts and dye it after processing and tooling

...i think

Martin

[kseidel]

Dyed leather is usually a bit harder than natural, but not so much that it should cause you that much trouble! Where you cut it out of the hide is most important. Gullet covers are best cut from the front leg part of the belly. It does not need to be great... it is just a gullet cover. Swell covers work best when cut from the belly just in front of the rear flank and as low as possible on the hide. You should have no trouble with the swell even with dyed leather. You can always welt the swell.

Keith

[Aurelie]

Dyed leather is usually a bit harder than natural, but not so much that it should cause you that much trouble! Where you cut it out of the hide is most important. Gullet covers are best cut from the front leg part of the belly. It does not need to be great... it is just a gullet cover. Swell covers work best when cut from the belly just in front of the rear flank and as low as possible on the hide. You should have no trouble with the swell even with dyed leather. You can always welt the swell.

Keith

:D

Cool! that's exactly where i took my parts!

i guess i was just not prepared psycholocally to encounter leather stiffer than usual

As for the fork cover, i guess that i am going to "play safe" and directly do a welt

Not that i am not a gambler but i am limited with my Hides cannot afford to wreck 3 fork covers and 2 seats.....(and odds are that i am going to wreck at least 1 seat ....

So better be safe than sorry!

Anyway : Thanks a lot for the help!