My First Saddle... The Hard Way

[drugfree906]

Thanks much, Bob. Happy to have great craftsmen nudging me in the right direction. I see you're from Manchester, Mi. My folks live in Brighton. Interesting

Edited July 16, 2015 by drugfree906

[Billy H]

Hi Nate,

Wishing you good luck in your adventure to building your own saddle!

Some great advice on where to start from. You will be surprised at the cost of starting your first saddle.

Good tools are not cheap but really make a difference in the final project plus they just work better.

I had to laugh when Keith mentioned building a airplane in ones garage, being a retired airline pilot I can assure you that it is not a good idea. The saddle tree is so important to a good saddle. Custom saddle trees are expensive but worth the extra money in my opinion.

Rod and Denise Nikkel make really nice trees and they contribute to this forum a lot with great advice. I had a chance to see a few of their trees at Keith Seidels Work shop in Sheridan this spring. This forum has so much information about the ART of building a good saddle. If you have the opportunity try and talk to a saddle maker in your area---- sometimes they are willing to give you a little of their time in getting started. I would try and offer to pay for their time it shows respect for the time they have spent in learning their trade.

I am working on saddle number 8 and I can tell you that you will find yourself getting very frustrated at all the mistakes and material discard factor that comes into play.

J Watts DVD series on building a saddle is really good to watch, you will find that it will fill in a lot of the blanks in starting a saddle.

Hardwoods saddle making series is better suited for someone who has a few saddles under their belt, but a real treat to watch him work.

I think that anything is possible if one is willing to put the time and effort and of course $ . Regards Billy

Edited July 19, 2015 by Billy H

[rktaylor]

Nate,

I built my first saddle with little to no instructional material. My thought process was similar to yours. I learn by doing. That said, I would not wish that experience on anyone. Now I have JW's video, Volume 1 and 2 of Stohlman's, Dusty Johnson's package, Harry Adams' book and John Hooper's book. Harry Adam's book is the first place I look when I have a question. Stohlman's books are second. I need to pick up volume 3.

With three saddles completed, I am far from an expert (but that hasn't stopped me from chiming in). My advice is to really think about your ground seat. You can hide a lot of mistakes, but this isn't one of them. It doesn't matter whether it's all leather or a tin strainer.

Your going to do a lot of head scratching and staring into space, but you will be pleased in the end. And you'll probably be thinking about your second saddle and half way through this one.

Good luck. I am looking forward to following your journey.

Randy

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

Well said Randy. As for the ground seat, I have done both and regardless of what type it is, it needs to be right.

Drug free, small world! Where are you at now?

Bob

[drugfree906]

Again, thanks all for the continued support. I'm just waiting for my stainless ring shank nails to come in, at this point. First free night I get I'm going to start making some cuts from the hides I've got for this project. Finishing up some knife sheaths in the meantime!

Bob - I've planted myself in Vermont for the last few years working for a coffee company during the day, and riding as much as I can at night/on the weekends. Looking to move again (west) in the next couple years once the misses finishes her Masters degree up.

Thanks again everyone. Talk soon!

Nate

[drugfree906]

Hello Everyone,

What a crazy few months. Among other life events, work decided to put over 300 of us on permanent vacation following a recent acquisition. Actually pretty nice, though, as we're covered with severance through the first of the year!

So. I find myself with quite a bit more time to ride my horse and work on this project!

After much deliberation, reading, and a little bit of cutting, I decided to follow the sage advice of everyone on here/I've ever talked to in person... and make patterns/lay out all my pieces. I've managed to get everything on two hides at this point, except for my rear jockeys. Looks like I'll be needing to pick up a third hide before it's all said and done. From what I've read, it seems like lots of guys find themselves cutting in to their third hide before the end of their project. And I'm sure I'll be making some mistakes along the way, so I expect the body count to climb before I'm riding this thing.

Hoping my thread here will be a little more active in the coming weeks/months as I really get to working on this job. So excited!

Nate

[hannahrain]

Did you ever make any progress on the saddle? Debating on beginning my first one. 

 

Hannah

[oltoot]

2 cents worth: I want to register a vote against any kind of ring shanked nails. Reason being, they wreak havoc on the wood when they are removed. My mentor taught me to think about that in the basic design of things, He said that when I got it right, a basic saddle should outlive me and to always think about the guy who would be repairing the thing cause it might even be me.
Along that line I have, in the last several years, begun to employ drywall screws (#6) in a lieu of tacks in many places. They are tenacious and non-destructive when removed, plus they are easy to employ with a battery powered drill/driver. I haven't stopped using tacks and various sizes of cement coated nails where appropriate but the drywall screws have replaced a lot of them. Oh yeah, #12 wood screws are still the right stuff for some final assembly steps.

[Ken Nelson]

I second the vote against ring shanks anywhere on a saddle..  NOT a good idea any time.

[drugfree906]

Good Morning Folks,

Just wanted to check in on this thread.  For all of you who chimed in on my first go around, I can't thank you enough.  I got all the way (more or less) through my first build.  All hand stitched.  It was a complete mess once completed.  Big surprise, eh?

That saddle sat around my shop for the entire spring, summer and fall.  Never moved.  Couldn't bear to show the world my first attempt at building a saddle, and certainly couldn't bear to have my horse pack such an awful joke of a saddle around!  So, there it sat.  As soon as I finished throwing my last hand stitch, I immediately purchased a Cobra Class 4.  Since then, I was asked to build all kinds of things that I would never have been able to (without loosing my shirt) before.  Stitched belts, holsters, headstalls, etc all started coming together.  I never really made any money, in fact I've been putting more in to my business, but that's because pretty much every dollar that comes in is turning around to buy quality tools or to replace materials that I learned valuable lessons on.  All the while, that 'saddle shaped thing' sat there and collected dust.  I'd rotate it once in a while so it would get suntanned evenly, you know, to be reasonable and all.  I built chinks, spur straps, sheaths, holsters, belts, gun belts, and a slew of custom orders.  All the while, my hand was improving.  I got the change to visit with a maker over in NY who showed me a few things about finishing edges.  I continued to learn and remained excited, despite my awful failure at saddle #1.

This fall, when my horse's winter coat started to come in, she had a couple white spots on her shoulders.  I felt absolutely horrible.  Upon checking the fit of my only functional saddle, I found that she had filled out quite a bit towards the end of the summer and it no longer fit her well.  I had accidentally made her sore and felt very badly about it.  Not sure what to do, I vowed to ride her bareback until I found something that fit her better.  Then, I remembered that junker in my shop.  I tore it completely down to the tree, which I brought out to my mare and sure enough it fits her quite well.  So, I started on attempt number 2.  You can see pictures of basically the entire build here (if you're interested): https://www.facebook.com/MakerNT/

Now, I've hit a hard spot, and I am hoping to find a little guidance here again.  I'll be purchasing the JW DVDs on Monday, as I'm sure this will help me quite a bit, but in the meantime does anyone have any tips for getting this cantle binding on?  I've cut it out of a straight piece of 6/7oz HO.  I get it to stretch in just fine across the 'face' of the seat.  Backside looks good too, right until I get to the last 3 or 4 inches down where the cantle meets the bars.  Gets all bunched up back there and do matter how much skiving, casing, smashing, stretching, cursing, etc I do, I just simply can't get the binding to lay in there well enough to stitch.  I'm not looking to build a museum piece here, folks.  Just want to get back on my pony.  I expect my third attempt will be far better once I've viewed the Watt DVDs, and I expect I'll be doing most everything different from the start.  For now, though, I'd just like to get through this bad boy, get back on my horse, and start the next one fresh.  Any advice you could offer would be much appreciated.  Thank you all, very much!!