Second Saddle Finished

[pharescustomleatherworks]

I just wrapped up my second saddle, and to say the improvement from first to second is drastic is an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, the first has held up great, but there are a lot of visual flaws that aggravate me more each time I look at it. Since the first I have simply just improved my knowledge of how a saddle should look and be constructed and I believe it shows. Here is a link to the first if you’d like to look at it: 

 

This one was built on an 18” stock association tree for my cousin, who is very stocky and built. I am still completely self taught besides forums, books, YouTube, and a few hours spent with a maker. I was going to work on this one with another maker but he ended up getting to backed up on repairs to take me in at the time. All that being said, I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out. The ground seat and the fit of the skirts are much improved from the first. The biggest issue on this one is quite obviously the ears on the saddle seat, as they’re a little bit butchered and very high and forward. In laying in the seat, I completely goofed and made the cut outwards (as opposed to upwards) for the ears, and this was the best I could salvage out of them, as you can see in the last picture. In the same picture you’ll see some ugly stitches as well, but they were all operator error and that’s the only place they are like that. A few other, but smaller issues are the skirt shape and the cantle binding. The skirts don’t really drop down straight from where they connect in the the back, and the binding in the back is just rough. 

 

If you see any other mistakes or issues, please don’t be scared to point them out. That’s what I’m looking for in posting it here. I just graduated high school with my AA degree from the local state college. In 2 weeks I am moving from Okeechobee to Gainesville to attend the University of Florida for the next two years. I have already been in touch with a maker there and should be able to continue my work there as well as get one on one experience in a saddle shop, so I’m really looking forward to that. Thanks in advance!

[battlemunky]

Looks great! That serpentine border looks great and so does your basket weaving. I wish I could comment on the technicalities of the saddle but I know nothing of saddles :-)

Congrats on your 2nd one, I think it looks awesome!

[pharescustomleatherworks]

20 minutes ago, battlemunky said:

Looks great! That serpentine border looks great and so does your basket weaving. I wish I could comment on the technicalities of the saddle but I know nothing of saddles :-)

Congrats on your 2nd one, I think it looks awesome!

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it!

[DirtyDusty]

What size basket stamp is that?

[pharescustomleatherworks]

On 5/7/2020 at 9:02 PM, DirtyDusty said:

What size basket stamp is that?

I’m not sure off the top of my head. I’ll try to remember to measure it when I get back in the shop on Monday. I believe it’s just a simple Tandy one though. 

[rktaylor]

Jared,

I hoped some more experienced makers would have provided a critique. I am currently working on #9 so take my comments for what they're worth. Most of them may simply be a preference.

First off, for a second effort, I think this is pretty good and I commend you for finding an experienced saddle maker to work under. Your stamping looks great. The basket weave is really uniform and the border is great. From what I can see in the pictures, the swell cover looks tight and the lacing is good. It looks like you take a lot of pride in your edges.

The seat ears are obvious. I personally like saddle strings there instead of the screw. I just think it looks better. I also prefer a more defined seat jockey. It's probably a little harder to accomplish on a saddle this large. The front jockey looks like it could be cut a little shorter to align with the rear jockey, but that may just be the picture angles. If it were cut higher, the seat jockey would be more defined. From what I can see the rear jockeys seem tight against the cantle back, but not as tight against the skirts. This is certainly one area where I try to focus improvement. It's one of the first places I look when critiquing a saddle.

Kudos on the exposed stitching on the cantle binding. That's a bold move for a second saddle and it looks like you did pretty good. Good luck on #3, I look forward to seeing it soon.

Randy

[desullivan]

Congrats on a nice saddle!!  I am also a novice maker but here is some constructive input:

Leather weight- looks a little thin since the seat and jockeys look like they are sinking down with gravity.  Chances are it wont improve with rider weight and time.  Consider a different tannery or more weight.

Seat ears and buttons- I can't really see ears just the buttons but both sides are up to high where the cantle meets the seat.  A riders back side may rub on those.  Should be down below and slightly even but behind the cantle on both sides where it connects to the tree.  Also- the leather cut in should be more of a rounded tight curve than what looks like a straight cut in towards the seat ear/button concho on the photo.  Bottom larger concho is already folding up at petals which is sign of thinner and looser leather choice. Same photo-the stitching as you know looks a little sloppy- looks like that cursed machine took a vacation for a bout 2 or 3 stitches while you were doing the whole seat.  They look like they pulled out or skipped.  Not sure if you could have gone back over after pulling that section or not.  Something to actually practice with your machine.  I would not bother stitching around the seat as a reference but that is me.

Cantle- straight up is the real tough one to do visually though simpler to get to the back side.  From the photos- hard to tell how well you did with the hand stitching.  The cut line of the left over material looks a little inconsistent or wiggly.  The right tool helps but still no guarantee cause everybody will see it (at least that is the way I think but not really completely true-you will always see it) until it gets a little dust and dirt from first couple of rides.

Rear billets- right or off side rear billet buckle holes or the stitching appears off center.

 

Great stamping!  

 

Hope this helps