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It's been a rawhide kind of week around here...

Making rawhide takes time, and isn't pretty...
Subscribe to RSS Feed which he then filled with water, changing it as needed till... Monday, when he spent all morning and half the afternoon making rawhide, and… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/its-been-rawhide-kind-week-around-here/

Flex in a wood/rawhide tree

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/

Extracurricular activities

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/

Spontaneity is not an option…

Building saddle trees means babysitting them as they dry, and that leaves no room for an impulsive style of life.
when you are a tree maker.  I’m talking about the Friday morning “lets just go away for the weekend” kind of spontaneity that a lot of people take for granted.  No, when… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/spontaneity-is-not-an-option/

She wasn't a keeper...

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/

It doesn't matter...

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/

Change

Half a day of cutting up rawhide makes a slight visible change...
Subscribe to RSS Feed On Tuesday, before lunch, this is what the white board in the rawhide room looked like. By 5:58:00 pm, after this and this… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/change/

Before, after and another kind of FULL

Changes in trees and lots of barrels in the shop tonight.
Subscribe to RSS Feed Here's some pictures from the shop tonight, as the look of some trees changed dramatically, and the rawhide room is very full - of large, blue… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/before-after-and-another-kind-of-full/

Cutting lace - a mundane, but important, part of the job

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/

We told you it would be good...

A very sad tale of the life, and death, of a saddle tree.
Subscribe to RSS Feed Our saying has always been "We won't say you can't break one of our trees, but we do say we want to hear the story, because it's going to be… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/we-told-you-it-would-be-good/

What Rod did today

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/

Drying calf hide for lace

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/

Cutting up rawhide

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/

It's spring!

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 happens before what happens, happens...

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/

Rawhiding - again...

Some tricks Rod uses to get the rawhide looking good on our trees.
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/rawhiding-again/

Rawhide Soup, anyone?

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/

Tools used when rawhiding a saddle tree

Here's the tools Rod uses when he is rawhiding saddle trees.
Subscribe to RSS Feed Today was another day of rawhiding for Rod.  Here he is almost finished rawhiding this Wade tree that will be heading to southern Alberta when it… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/tools-used-when-rawhiding-a-saddle-tree/

Making rawhide isn't fun

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/

Today in the shop

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/