Making rawhide takes time, and isn't pretty... Subscribe to RSS Feed Last Friday, I came back from Grande Prairie with 5 hides which Rod dutifully split, trimmed, and put into barrels... which he then filled… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/its-been-rawhide-kind-week-around-here/
Do rawhide covered trees flex more than fibreglass covered ones? Should they? Here's our answer to those questions... Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/flex-woodrawhide-tree/
Dedication and hard work... Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/extracurricular-activities/
Building saddle trees means babysitting them as they dry, and that leaves no room for an impulsive style of life. Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/spontaneity-is-not-an-option/
Brands and scars on hides have to be worked around and sure making cutting out pieces for trees more difficult. Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/she-wasn-t-a-keeper/
Making rawhide again... Subscribe to RSS Feed Rain... or shine... ya still gotta make rawhide... But that doesn't mean you can't have fun doing it!! We are no longer… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/it-doesn-t-matter/
Half a day of cutting up rawhide makes a slight visible change... Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/change/
Changes in trees and lots of barrels in the shop tonight. Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/before-after-and-another-kind-of-full/
Just one more of the things that are hard to factor into the equation when someone says "how many hours do you put into each tree?" Subscribe to RSS Feed We use rawhide to lace our trees as we feel it is the best material out there for the job. And we make our own rawhide, usually out of deer… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/cutting-lace-a-rather-mundane-but-important-job/
A very sad tale of the life, and death, of a saddle tree. Subscribe to RSS Feed Once upon a time there was a very nice, Modified Association saddle tree. He was built straight and strong and true, and had a nice… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/we-told-you-it-would-be-good/
Just another day at the Nikkels... Subscribe to RSS Feed What I did today. Mine smelled better... We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/what-rod-did-today/
Not that complicated, but here's what we do... Subscribe to RSS Feed Normally we use deerhide for lacing our trees, but our hunter friends were more particular last fall and we didn't get many hides. So rather than… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/drying-calf-hide-for-lace/
This is a necessary step between making the rawhide and using the rawhide on the trees. Subscribe to RSS Feed It is a beautiful, sunny, summer day, so what better to be doing than... cutting up rawhide??? I've done previous posts on making rawhide, and… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/cutting-up-rawhide/
You know it's spring where... Subscribe to RSS Feed You know it is spring when Rod can put newly rawhided trees outside to start drying. This is the norm during the summer - outside just long… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/it-s-spring/
What we have to do before Rod makes the rawhide. Subscribe to RSS Feed Yesterday I posted even more pictures of rawhiding trees, and previously I have posted about Rod making the rawhide. But before he can make… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/what-happens-before-what-happens-happens/
Some tricks Rod uses to get the rawhide looking good on our trees. One of the things Rod had to learn was where to leave the hide loose and where to stitch it more tightly, because rawhide doesn’t dry evenly. For example, in the center of… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/rawhiding-again/
Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/rawhide-soup-anyone/
Here's the tools Rod uses when he is rawhiding saddle trees. Here you can see a couple of constantly used tools. On the back of Rod’s right hand are the straps that hold his palm protector in place. It is a piece of metal encased in… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/tools-used-when-rawhiding-a-saddle-tree/
But making rawhide has to be done! Here's how it goes inside the shop during the winter. Subscribe to RSS Feed especially when confined in a small space inside the shop. But that was the biggest of the jobs for today. We are no longer building saddle trees,… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/making-rawhide-isn-t-fun/
Rod is finishing rawhiding the trees we built before going to Edmonton, and I am gluing up wood for next week. Just a typical kind of day! Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/today-in-the-shop/
