Shelly Report post Posted September 26, 2008 A few pix of a cutter I delivered last Tues...has an acanthus border, customer didn't want flowers, so I had been considering making a saddle with this design...sent him a sample by email, and he went with it. He already has at least a half dozen of my saddles in his barn, and this is the fanciest of them...basically, he orders the same setup - 7/8 dropped rigs, beveled stainless hardware, rounded corners (4" circ.)...so, half are RO/SO, a basket stamp or two, and a geometric design - that one has a stamp pattern his grandfather's saddle had - I did a rubbing from it, and had Barry King make the two stamps necessary for it...from an old Miles City saddle, so that's what we call it...! Now working on another reining saddle - not too fancy - but will be making this with square skirts, leg cut, inlaid seat, inskirt with beveled stainless rear dees, Nettles stirrups...will be building on trees ordered from Nikkel and Watsabaugh later this fall... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MattW Report post Posted September 26, 2008 Beautiful! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tina Report post Posted September 26, 2008 Absolute Gorgeous, Congrats:-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BearMan Report post Posted September 26, 2008 Excellent Job Shelly! It reminds me of a Saddle we used to make. Thanks for sharing! Ed Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johanna Report post Posted September 26, 2008 Shelly- I don't ride horses, so I can't offer an educated opinion on the construction of your saddle, but from a leatherworking perspective- that is a beautiful work of art. The simplicity is elegant, and I love the rich color. Thanks for sharing! Johanna Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dbusarow Report post Posted September 26, 2008 Wow. That is beautiful. Dan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
craftsman827 Report post Posted September 26, 2008 Just Beautiful ! ! ! What color is that ? Was it carved than dyed ? What type of leather do you use ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shelly Report post Posted September 26, 2008 Just Beautiful ! ! !What color is that ? Was it carved than dyed ? What type of leather do you use ? Hermann Oak - Russet skirting...and just keep oiling until it gets dark....biggest problem I have is with slick leather, the grain doesn't want to take the oil as well as when it's carved, tooled, and stamped, as that 'breaks' the surface and oil soaks in fast - the skirts were cased and slicked out before they were fit, so the light areas seen just didn't want to get darker - this was oiled only on the lightest areas for 4 days and didn't change it much...I can only figure the fibers compressed enough to cause it to be such a pain...so, no dye used, to answer that question... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jwwright Report post Posted September 28, 2008 Great saddle Shelly. You did a great job getting that color. It takes some work, patience and I would bet some Texas sunshine as well. Who was the maker of the tree in this one? JW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ArtS Report post Posted September 28, 2008 Really great job Shelly! Art Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites