Starting First Saddle

[Chaed]

Hello leatherworkers!

I'm pretty new to the hobby and I'm starting big. I've been in search for a new saddle for almost a year now, but it figures that nobody in my country has one that fits. I found LW and stalked the forums for a few months, now I finally decided to make my own.

I owe a bunch of thanks to Rod&Denise Nikkel who made me a perfect wade tree.

After I received that it still took a while to get together the rest of stuff, but I was lucky to combine it with a trip to the States and get three sides of 12-14oz. Hermann Oak, a shearling and Jeremiah Watt hardware. You don't want to know how the airport staff looked at me at customs when I arrived in Austria with one and a half cows and the bling-bling to decorate it...

Now I finally found the time to start this huge project. It's going to be a slow process, because I can only work on it on the weekends, but my plan is to have it under the christmas tree.

Today I did the gullet:

Cut, skived and ready to apply I was a little shocked at how good this contact cement held when I first placed the gullet a little off the side. It was a pain to get it back off and replace it. Next week I'm going to fix my car with this.

I borrowed the design after I saw the Saddle Slide Show video on Youtube by Keith Valley. Sadly, I only did a mediocre job at it because I think the leather was still too wet when I started stamping, but I'll get better in time. My biggest problem is that my ceramic beader blade drags in the leather (even after half an hour of stropping on each side!) and that once I stamp, the double line has those little bumps in it and isn't straight anymore. Any advice?

Now, I have one more problem that I don't know how to solve:

See those little blue/black dots on the leather? They weren't there when the leather was dry, but as soon as I wet it, they showed up. This happened to some of my scrap leather too and first I was thinking mold, but I'm keeping the HO sides in another part of the house just because of that so I was dismayed when they appeared again. It can't be dirty hands, because I've been wearing gloves just so I wouldn't get the leather dirty. Then I thought perhaps it's something in the water, so I cased a piece of scrap in distilled water. Same again. What am I doing wrong? Is there any way to get rid of those spots again or to prevent them altogether?

Thanks a lot for your time,

Anne

[Northmount]

The dots look like contamination with iron filings. The tannin (tannic acid) in the leather plus iron make these dots. Check out the vinegaroon process used to dye leather black. Need to keep all metal filings away from your leather working area.

You can use lemon juice or oxalic acid to bleach the dots out. Some people use a q-tip or paint brush to treat just the spot. You can bleach the whole surface if necessary. Do a search for oxalic acid here and you will find lots of posts.

Good luck with your big project. In about 1961 I got into leatherwork because my grandfather gave me an old saddle that needed a lot of repair. The saddle got left behind in one of our moves, so never ever got fixed and I haven't ventured into saddle making or repair. I envy you and compliment you on being brave enough to try on your own.

CTG

[Chaed]

Northmount,

thanks for your quick reply. Here's the curious thing about it: I cut and cased this piece of leather in a different room, and put it in a brand new plastic bag. The only thing from my workspace was my round knife. Could that be contaminated from sharpening/stropping? I will wash all my tools, just in case.

[Northmount]

It's possible. Maybe a few filings stuck to it past your stroping, or maybe even on your fingers. So yes, wipe down your knife carefully and wash your hands before handling the leather. I was just wondering if some hand creams would do this, but not likely as dots, more likely as finger prints.

What about your water source for casing? If you have iron pipes in your area, it could be from some rusty water. Does your tap run muddy red first thing in the morning sometimes when the first flow of water stirs the sediment in the pipes up? I was in an old city (Belfort France) one day when they had done some work on the street water main. After the water was turned back on, it ran muddy red for a couple hours before it got flushed through. Didn't feel like showering in it!

Some people will only used distiller water or demineralized water for casing due to there water possibly being contaminated with minerals. Lots of water wells in rural locations have high iron content.

CTG

[RWB]

A lot of times Hermann Oak skirting will do that the first time you get it wet. It just happens, and it's really not a big deal. I have a bigger problem with it than other people since I use city water in my shop. I have other saddle maker friends that use use the well water that they have outside of city limits and it doesn't seem to be as bad for them. There are a lot of things that can affect it, I have a terrible time with fingerprints. I can wash my hands thoroughly with soap and water, grab a wet piece of leather and fingerprint it to the point the I have to oxalic acid it. The only thing that I can attribute it to is that maybe the oils in my skin are different than other people's. Not sure.

The point being, it's no big deal, just fit your piece, stamp it, put it in, and don't acid it until you are ready to put a finish on it. Its best not to acid it more than once. Hope that helps.

Ross

P.S. I have never used lemon juice, there is something about that, that makes me kinda run backward. Oxalic acid is what I prefer.

[Northmount]

P.S. I have never used lemon juice, there is something about that, that makes me kinda run backward. Oxalic acid is what I prefer.

I agree with you about lemon juice. There are others here that use it rather than track down oxalic acid, or that seem to be uncomfortable using something with acid in the name. Oxalic acid has always done a nice job for me.

If you can't get it in a good paint supply store, then order it through a local pharmacy. Cost less than $20 for about a pound.

CTG

[Chaed]

I tried fixing a piece of scrap leather with lemon juice, since that was what I had on hand. Worked wonders! I will deffo get oxalic acid for my saddle though! I am just completely relieved that this is something fixable. Phew.

Time for some updates too! Last weekend's work:

Risers.

Glueing the strainer to its cover.

Little hidden code on the backside!

Strainer installed, and some horse armors in the background (my other big hobby).

I then failed to take a picture of the shield phase.

After long sittting/skiving sessions the result my butt is happy with.

This weekend: Horn cover!

Looking forward to your guys' opinions!

Cheers,

Anne

[Northmount]

Great work. Since I have never built a saddle, I'm following this closely and really looking forward to the next post. Keep it up.

Tom

[NoName]

I gotta say, it doesn't look like rookie work to me. I like the pictures you are posting of the progress. The picture in my avatar was my first. Much of the credit goes to the Stohlman books on saddlemaking. I hope it turns out good for you and I will be following your thread as you post more pictures.

[Chaed]

Northmount and NoName, thanks so much for your comments, guys, you don't know how motivating they are!

This weekend I did the fork cover after all. I decided for that cap&wrap horn style, so the fork had to go on first. You'd think that with a slick fork that'd be easy, but I had a heck of a time fitting it good and I'm still not 100% happy with it. But let the pictures speak for themselves...

The rough cut.

The horn was just a *little* too big to fit thru that hole so I had to make a small cut and start the whole dilemma of covering it up again.

I tried about four different lacings on scrap leather and after realizing that they were all too difficult and more or less impossible (for me) to pull off on the fork cover I went back to the good old easy and basic method. After a little hammering (this is before) it looks presentable enough!

This is just before the headache starts. It all went good apart from some hammer marks which I'll erase with my new friend oxalic acid later. That was until I had to do that gullet/fork connection with the scallops. It was horrible. It didn't fit, it made wrinkles and in my desperation I cut into places I probably shouldn't have. There are no immediate pictures of this progress. I was frustrated.

This is it after drying. The front is not perfect (I would have prefered the fork to cover a bit more of the gullet) but it's symmetrical and I can happily live with it.

This is the downside, quite literally. I somehow ended up with too little leather underneath although I followed the instructions from Harry Adams' saddlemaking book + some extra cm for safety. I would have liked this scalloped cover to be a bit bigger. The scallops themselves are smaller than usual because I lack the larger tool I'll rather invest into something else. The real messup is at the fork/groundseat/handhole triangle, but I'll show you that sometime later... like when it's covered by the seat!.... hopefully.

Here is a last sneak peak of some future planning:

Looking forward to your comments!

Cheers from Austria,

Anne

[colttrainer]

nice job on your first. A point about your tunnel ground seat risers, I normally stop mine about an inch in front of the cantle points,this will help you to start placing the rider in a proper riding position and closer to the horse.

[Chaed]

Thank you for your advice, colttrainer! I'll write it down for next time!

[Chaed]

Oh my, I neglected this thread... not so much the saddle building though. It's been slow progress, but that's better than no progress at all.

Here's some stamping of the skirts.

And here they are drying after blocking.

And this is with the shearling on.

Here is my first ever floral carving on the rigging.

And this is a do-it-yourself stirrup leather stretcher (<-- very proud of the invention).

And that's about it for now!

Cheers from Austria,

Anne

[Northmount]

Thanks for the update. I think you are doing an extremely great job.

Tom

[Chaed]

Thanks for stopping by Tom.

I didn't get far this weekend (pre-Christmas chaos), but I put some work into edging all I got so far, and doing some stamping on a stirrup.

[Northmount]

I'm jealous. Really nice work.

Tom

[rickybobby]

First ever floral carving? Nice work, and nice progress on all!

[Tosch]

You are doing great.

I enjoy following your thread.

Tosch

[GianniWest]

Great work, congratulations!

[jeffroberts]

Excellant post and a great job!! I am about to start my first 1/2 seat loop saddle (1880's stock saddle) and I am extremely anxious...Nice tooling and stamping....Stay with it and Merry Christmas in Austria.

Jeff

[Chaed]

Thanks so much to all of you for posting on this thread!

With christmas holidays, there's been some time to work.

Here's the horn. I'm going with the cap'n wrap style, just waiting for the latigo strap to come in the mail, so I can finish it. It'll get a concho in the middle eventually. I'm waiting for the right inspiration there. If anyone of you knows custom concho makers, give me a shout.

This is the cantle back. It'll get something like a maker plate in the ellipse there.

My hands sure hurt after doing the fenders. I needed about three days for each. Hardcore workout for my fingers.

These are the stirrups to go along with. I'm not entirely happy with them, but I have yet to figure out what exactly it is I don't like.

Next on the list are the jockeys and twisting the fenders Nevada style. I read somewhere that instead of just wrapping latigo around them, you could braid something a la turkshead or pineapple knot. I haven't seen a picture of this method, but it sure sounds interesting. I've never braided before, but then again this is a project of many firsts.

Cheers from Austria,

Anne

[Denise]

It is sure coming along nicely Anne. Good work.

[JinxedDream]

Wow! Great work. I definitely want to go this route someday.

[Chaed]

Hey guys! It's been awhile since the last update, but I've been eagerly working.

Here's some stirrup twisting for you. I looked up turkshead braiding and will go with that once I do the final assembly.

Here's some closeup on a stirrup carving.

Next is the seat. I followed Harry Adams' book for this one and although the seat has been my biggest fear it turned out to be managable.

Next came the cheyenne roll. A lot of bad language was involved. If I had to rank what step I hated most about this project, places 1, 2 and 3 all go to the cheyenne roll. It turned out bad, the carving faded once I put it on for good and any good saddle maker will go blind if he sees the stitching on the back side! (which I'll spare you pictures of, because it looks like a 5-year old did a poor job at it)

And then it seemed as if it was all ready for assembly...

[Chaed]

... and I apparently reached the maximum amount of pictures per post. So sorry for the double post. But here goes.

So. I put the jockeys on.

The skirts are not attached here, but you can definitely see that the jockeys are off big time. BIG TIME. I could pull, push, and basically do all I wanted, they wouldn't look prettier. The line between the front and back is just so off, it was frustrating. They fit before. I don't know what happened or if the evil leather ghost jinxed them to death, but they just looked horrible. The second pic shows what I want them to look like.

There was a big internal argument then... and I decided to redo the whole thing if I ever wanted to look at this saddle and be fine with the results.

Again, skirts are not attached and jockeys aren't pulled down, but this is just... much better. And it only cost me two additional days. Oh yeah. And I stamped the fork meanwhile too. In all the cheyenne roll and jockey frustration I just forgot to take pics of the process, sorry!

Next, and - I barely dare say it - LAST is the back cinch and then this baby goes through some heavy oiling, dyeing and antiquing.