Building my first mule saddle

[rktaylor]

I buy stainless steel brads (19 gauge) at our local box store for some stuff, but use mostly 2d and 3d SS nails from McMaster-Carr.

I look forward to following your progress.

Randy

[Goldshot Ron]

I started out using blue cut tacks and ringshank.  I now use 2d and 3d SS like Randy.  However, for final assembly where the nail doesn't show, I now use 1 1/4 drywall or decking screws.  The blue cut are ok for temporary holding and under the seat where 1 inch nails may be too long.  Also, I use no. 10-1.5 ss and ss collar washers for the swell screws and no. 10-1.24 ss for ringing plates.

Ron.

[EdOdgers]

I use a wide variety of nails and screws but no blued tacks.  Anything that stays in the saddle is stainless steel or triple coated.  I use GRK brand triple coated cabinet screws, mostly 1" and 1 1/4" for final assembly and screwing down conchos, breast collar attachments, etc, etc, (Menards or other large home centers).  The GRKs are slender, self tapping, super strong and have a good, flat head shape that holds leather and doesn't stick up too proud.   Stainless, oval head screws with cup washers for attaching riggings (Weaver or a very complete hardware store).   A variety of stainless ring-shank nails for strainer plates, horn cap filler, etc, etc (Hagel's Cowboay Gear).  I use a lot of very thin wire nails for temporarily attaching and fitting parts and when blocking skirts to the tree (hardware store or home center).   I like the thin, wire nails for temporary holding as they don't leave a big wound in the rawhide.  I prefer to use a screw over a nail for most applications.  If it needs to be a nail and it's going to stay in the saddle, it's got to be ring-shank.  Lastly, I have an assortment of brass and stainless steel escutcheon pins (round headed nails) for decorative applications like stirrup linings and attaching the back flap of a fork cover that goes down through the hand-hole to the gullet (Weaver and other leather supply).

[EdOdgers]

Here's a photo to accompany the above comment on fasteners. 

[EdOdgers]

More on the skirt plug questions.  Here are photos of plugs being prepared (skived and fitted) and the final product on a skirt rigged saddle.  Note that the installed plugs have been trimmed using the skirt perimeter as a guide.  When first glued on, they extended past the skirt edge by about 1/2".  Also, because this is a skirt rig and the rig panel is attached to the skirt, no plug is needed from the rear rig forward since this area is already two layers thick. In the area where the rear rig slot will be cut (two punch holes in photo) there are three layers for strength and stiffness: skirt + rig panel + plug. 

If this saddle were a flat-plate or ring rigged saddle, the plugs would go from the gullet to the back of the cantle.  In that case, I would make the plugs from two pieces for each skrirt and splice them under the riders leg with a lap-skive.  I would also thin the plugs there for closer contact.

[EdOdgers]

A final comment on plugs.  As I mentioned in a previous comment, I want the combined thickness of the skirt and plug be about 21/22 ounces.  Since all of your skirting is 13/15 ounce, you could end up with 26 to 30 ounce total thickness.  That will be too much so you'll want to split down your plugs.  Since I presume you don't have a splitter, you can use a very sharp spoke shave to thin down the rough cut pieces of skirting.  I used this method for many years before I had a large splitter.  It takes a little bit of time and skill but it's not that bad.  Furthermore, it's a good skill to have that can be useful to even-up a piece of leather for a cantle back or fork cover  that is thicker on one side than the other.  I routinely use a variety of spoke shaves for leveling, skiving, and carving my ground seats.  The photo below shows the spoke shave I use for leveling large areas.  It's a Stanley and is the largest shave I use.  It can be readily found at a good hardware or woodworking supply store.  The blade has pretty good steel, which you won't find in some cheaper knock-offs.

[DirtyDusty]

The pics help a lot. Is there any modification to the Stanley spoke shave?

 

i have the Jeremiah Watt videos coming in.  Dusty Smith sent me a message Friday and said my tree is shipping out this weekend. 

Made me a round knife while I was waiting. Along with a lot of knife sheaths, to practice stitching and tooling. Things are starting to come together. 

[EdOdgers]

Nothing special to set up the Stanley spoke shave, just getting it razor sharp.  Nice knives you made.  You'll find the straight knife handy for skiving.  You are going to be skiving a lot when saddle making so it pays to get set up right with your tools and skills.  I use a a wide French edger (3/4" and 1") a lot for narrow skives, like the plugs in the photo above where the plug blends onto the bar  edge.  I use a large head knife for wide skives and a straight knife (like yours) for narrow pieces.  Whatever you use, it has to be SHARP and get frequent maintenance.  Dusty will deliver you a nice tree.  Have fun.

[EdOdgers]

One correction to the post above about spoke shave setup.  There is a simple modification to this woodworking tool to improve its performance with leather:  Mount the blade with the sharpened bevel facing down.  This creates a lower angle of the cutting edge relative to the surface of the leather.  It will work the other way but not as well from my experience.

[DirtyDusty]

On 9/20/2020 at 2:11 PM, EdOdgers said:

Here's a photo to accompany the above comment on fasteners. 

What diameter and size of ss ring shank do you use?  I found several styles online. Cedar siding nails 1” and up, and roofing nails with s big head. 2d I believe.