Uni-Saddle

[Jdavies]

Absolutely stunning saddle keith. Thanks for sharing.

[kseidel]

Hi Keith,

First let me say thank you for taking the time to look at my Mule saddle!

Boy you do not miss a thing. Actually I think you where pretty kind in your evaluation.

I totally agree with you on all your suggestions. So much to learn when trying to make a good saddle.

If you don't mind---- I have a couple of questions.

- What is a Block Shave?

One thing for sure is I need to be more particular on my edges.

- How much length do you figure on the back of the Skirt?

- Should I have dropped the back rigging to give more curve to the Back Jockey or just gone over the Back Billet?

- Fender shape to me is always challenging. The fellow I built this saddle for had a 27 inch inseam and he was 5' 7 inches tall.

Absolutely no thigh bone---- every shape I tried looked like a little kids saddle. How do you determine shape for a particular saddle?

Again thank you for your time, and I appreciate you pasting my saddle on your thread, people get to see a Masters saddle a novice saddle maker and see where to start from and where you might end up at.

I was a little slow to respond back to you, I have been helping my better half at the Stock Show with her events.

Regards. Billy

Hope all is profitable at the stock show Billy. I've been at several shows myself recently and so slow to reply also. Leaving again Sunday for Elko. Haven't been there in 20 years.

A block plane is a woodworking tool I have re-appropriated for leather work. I like the small ones that fit in the palm of your hand. I turn the blade over so its angle is parallel with the face, and sharpen it to a fine smooth edge. It works well for evening out long curves and trueing edges smooth and square before edging. I use it for skirts, horns, cantles, and fenders, and many other items. You can get one at most hardware stores. Link to block plane. The one in the link is my personal favorite. It would be difficult to do really clean leatherwork without one of these.

I like to be 5.5-6.5 inches benind the cantle with my skirt length in general, however, I am much more interested in the overall look and balance of the saddle than with the specifeic dimmension. I see too many craftsmen who are married to dimensions like they are universal rules, when they are just references. Your depth to length balance is nice on this saddle.

Your rear rigging is in the correct place, and your jockey is deep enough. I just note that the curve is not smooth and it comes to an abrupt corner just behind the rigging, where it comes straight along the bottom. I submit that it does not need to come straight at that point, but should follow the curve farther... maybe untill it reaches the middle of the billet. It should not be deeper or cover the billlet, just re-draw the curve to be smooth and not have the abrupt corner.

Your customer for this saddle makes the fender more of a challenge. His leg length is another reason for making the seat side jockey shallower. In a case like this, I will calculate length that the fender needs to be, and sketch it on a larger piece of paper or cardboard and, while fitting the rest of the saddle, draw the fender shape to compliment the rest of the saddle's shape. I make a more rounded fender for round skirts, and a straighter more squared fender for square skirts. Fender shape can greatly affect the overall look of the saddle, so I adjust it while fitting the entire saddle. These perameters were challenging for sure!

Hope all of these thoughts are helpful to you. I would love to see more of your saddles in the future, as would we all, I'm sure.

Best wishes,

Keith

Edited January 23, 2014 by kseidel

[AdamTill]

Thanks for letting us be a fly on the wall gents, very much appreciated!

[Billy H]

Thank you Keith!

I am so glad that you responded before starting ( My New Saddle ).

First thing I am going to change is putting the Rigging in before the Ground seat. I think this will help me a lot!

Your reasoning is so true. Thanx

Now I understand what you meant about the Rear Jockey. The Side Jockey looked so right when I was cutting it out, but when I finished the saddle I new it was to long, just could not get the courage to try and trim at that point.

Thank you for the link, I will get a Block Shave very soon.

My wife has a little extra bounce in her step. She made enough to cover all her fees and even pay for desiel to and from and buy me lunch!

Have a safe trip to Elko and I sure appreciate your help. Billy

[kseidel]

Thanks for letting us be a fly on the wall gents, very much appreciated!

Adam, I'm sure Billy will get the most out of this conversation, however, I also know that lots of guys have questions that they don't ask. So I try to make these posts as thorough as possible so they will have as much impact as possible. I hope there is something positive for everyone reading. Thanks for your input. Keith

[begrate]

Thanks for the information Keith.

Reid G.

[SethJ]

Damn! That is breathtaking! Your sheridan carvings are masterful!

[SethJ]

How do you get that edge like that?!!? on the skirt,....and everywhere,.....it looks like a welt bead,....how the hell did you do that?

[Billy H]

Keith I found myself looking at your saddle again and again and........ You get the picture.

One big question--- How did you sew the skirts/rigging? ( All by hand )

Your Uni Saddle is so cool !!! Regards Billy

[kseidel]

Guess I missed your last post Billy, That saddle is really hard to put together. After it is all assembled, I got someone to help me hold it and stitched around it with a machine. I had to hand stitch about an inch or so at the front where the skirts meet the swell, and around the rear rigging slots. Everything else is machine stitched.

Keith