Building A Drawdown Stand

[Chaed]

Hi guys. I'm slowly getting ready to build my first saddle so I just went through the process of making a drawdown stand. I made it a mix between Al Stohlman's simple design (there's a small sketch in the book when he details the extensive one) and the one in the Bruce Grant book "Making Cowboy Horsegear".

Here is the simple version:

And this is after "Pimp My Drawdown" (I was bored).

I also made a simple sketch for other newbies wanting to build one and in need of some basic measurements - I'm pretty tall, so you might want to adjust the height.

Let me know what you think!

Cheers from Austria,

Anne

[bruce johnson]

Anne, I used one like that for a long time but yours looks a little more finished. The only thing I'd add is a spring to pull the bar up. Otherwise you are always bending over to pull the bar up. I also cut a long wedge from a 2x4 to make adjusting easier for inbetween hole tensions. Just slide it in under the pin and tap it in to increase tension. Great for stretching and setting stirrup leathers on the tree. I ran a section of 4x4 fence post through the stirrups, and it was crosswise under the bar, Just increase tension a bit at a time and they stretch and set pretty well.

[Chaed]

Thank you for the additional tips, Bruce! Especially the wedge for the stirrup leathers is a wonderful idea. I shall make them at once!

[wwstar3]

I know this is a bit old but what Al Stohlman book did you refer to in your opening post? Thanks.

[BruceGibson]

1 hour ago, wwstar3 said:

I know this is a bit old but what Al Stohlman book did you refer to in your opening post? Thanks.

The drawdown stand plans are in Stohlman's Encyclopedia of Saddle Making Volume One.  (There are three volumes in the series).