Members rdl123 Posted March 3, 2014 Author Members Report Posted March 3, 2014 Have been busy with other projects so not much time for this one - However did stamp and install my horn cap last night - Finished at 5.25" dia. R Quote
rktaylor Posted March 4, 2014 Report Posted March 4, 2014 Ron, That looks really nice. The stitching is very uniform and I like the tooling. Keep the updates coming. Randy Quote
Members harrington Posted March 4, 2014 Members Report Posted March 4, 2014 Did you forget to do your decorative cuts? I kind of like the point to the front of the horn, like a Guadalajara style, but not. Really nice sewing and nice domed shape to the top of the horn. Quote
Members rdl123 Posted March 4, 2014 Author Members Report Posted March 4, 2014 Randy / Harrington - Thanks for compliments - Harrington - Yes, I haven't done decorative cuts yet - Need to study up on them as so far I've never made a decorative cut I liked! Do you have some tips? I need serious help with my tooling - I think what I need to do is spend the time to study Sheridan/floral style carving in detail, get a feel for how it's supposed to flow etc. The slight point to the otherwise round horn is something I picked up from Dale Harwood - He does it to break the monotony of round caps on larger horns - I like it too although I think I'll order my next tree with a Guadalajara style horn... Roughed out the fenders last night and have made patterns for the second set of skirts - I'll cut them to size once they are blocked on tree this time. R Quote
Members Goldshot Ron Posted March 4, 2014 Members Report Posted March 4, 2014 Ron, your horn design looks good. One thing you need to do is hide the hole created by your dividers. If you use a stop on your petal junctions, it'll define the petals and cover the hole. It also appears that you used a lifter on your leaf, but you need to lift the tool more to enhance the raised areas of the leaf. Quote
Members rdl123 Posted March 28, 2014 Author Members Report Posted March 28, 2014 Thanks Gold Shot: I will try to hide the divider mark - Have also been practising my decorative cuts as well... I have bought a larger lifter and it seems to work a lot better - Last one was so small it kind of got lost...Also lifting the lifter like you mention sure helps too! Anyhow, I am planning of putting my seat in tomorrow. I have watched the Jeremiah Watt DVD's and will use his layout method for putting the seat in - Does anyone have advice for a compete newbie on installing seats? Also, I have the new skirts blocked on - They fit this time and look ok...I will try to post pics for critique on Monday... An interesting thing, I discovered the cantle on my production tree was off square by probably 1/2" - I fixed by adding a chunk of heavy neck and skiving it out till both sides matched. Not much fun - Took me a whole afternoon of carefully checking balance...Anyhow, I am about to order a second tree and this one will come from Glenn Christman out of Alberta. I like the fact that he uses rawhide he personally prepares over factory produced stuff... Quote
rktaylor Posted March 29, 2014 Report Posted March 29, 2014 Ron, Can you elaborate on the cantle not being square? Where did you measure from and where did you place the leather to compensate? It's this a common problem? Thanks, Randy Quote
Members rdl123 Posted March 31, 2014 Author Members Report Posted March 31, 2014 Randy: Glenn Christman (tree maker) made me aware of this potential issue. The biggest problem is if your cantle is not square it will push you off center when you lope trot etc...I am not sure how common this problem is - When Glenn explained this to me I immediately checked square on the saddle I am building and it was off...Strange thing is I've never heard of checking this in any books or DVD's...Guess it should be common sense to check it but it sure never crossed my mind. I had marked center on my cantle and horn. I marked center on the cantle by coming off of the bars - Not dividing the width of the cantle. From there I used the nail and string method. One from cantle center mark and one from horn center mark. The right side of the tree - The cantle sat further back by probably a good 1/2" off square. I was told to try and get it within 1/8" of square. Luckily I was able to get it bang on... When I have a minute I will take a pic of the leather neck piece I installed to make up for it. Here is a pic showing the measurements I took... Funny thing is - I had noticed previously that when I sat in the saddle I didn't line up with the center line on my ground seat. It always seemed like I was sitting at a minor angle. Anyhow, after the fix If I just jumped up I'd wind up being perfectly centered automatically. On Saturday I fit my seat - Went fairly well - now I just need to glue it in. Will post pics when I take some. Ron Quote
Members BondoBobCustomSaddles Posted April 1, 2014 Members Report Posted April 1, 2014 Randy: Glenn Christman (tree maker) made me aware of this potential issue. The biggest problem is if your cantle is not square it will push you off center when you lope trot etc...I am not sure how common this problem is - When Glenn explained this to me I immediately checked square on the saddle I am building and it was off...Strange thing is I've never heard of checking this in any books or DVD's...Guess it should be common sense to check it but it sure never crossed my mind. I had marked center on my cantle and horn. I marked center on the cantle by coming off of the bars - Not dividing the width of the cantle. From there I used the nail and string method. One from cantle center mark and one from horn center mark. The right side of the tree - The cantle sat further back by probably a good 1/2" off square. I was told to try and get it within 1/8" of square. Luckily I was able to get it bang on... When I have a minute I will take a pic of the leather neck piece I installed to make up for it. Here is a pic showing the measurements I took... Funny thing is - I had noticed previously that when I sat in the saddle I didn't line up with the center line on my ground seat. It always seemed like I was sitting at a minor angle. Anyhow, after the fix If I just jumped up I'd wind up being perfectly centered automatically. On Saturday I fit my seat - Went fairly well - now I just need to glue it in. Will post pics when I take some. Ron Ron, Curious, what make of tree are you using? Bob Quote
Members rdl123 Posted April 1, 2014 Author Members Report Posted April 1, 2014 Bob: Timberline. Here is the seat fitted. Few things I will do differently next time that's for sure... Still have to glue this rascal in. R Quote
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