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 Does a rawhided tree flex? Sure. So does a fibreglass covered tree, tall buildings, steel beams and concrete. Everything flexes to some degree, though… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/flex-woodrawhide-tree/
Dedication and hard work... Into this pile of cut up firewood. And a few more nights and it will fill up the hole in this pile of split firewood. (The two rows on the right we split and added… 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 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… 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 Rod was cutting up rawhide again this morning, and this was one of the sides of a cow hide we got. (We use primarily bull hides but do use a… 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 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 and… 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 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/
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?" I spared you a picture of a black garbage bag. Why would I want to show you that? Because that is the next step in making lace after the dry rawhide has been cut into usable… 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 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/
Just another day at the Nikkels... Subscribe to RSS Feed What I did today. Mine smelled better... We are no longer building saddle trees. We have two saddle fit videos… 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. Subscribe to RSS Feed So, how many pictures of Rod sitting rawhiding a tree can I post before people get totally bored? But this is how he spends about a third of his… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/rawhiding-again/
Subscribe to RSS Feed It's home made!!! Yes, Rod had another fun day this week making rawhide. Tomorrow, we return to normal, non-gross programming... We are no… 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. 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/
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. To start with, the hide, warm water… 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 Rod is finishing rawhiding the trees he had built before we went to Edmonton to the Artisans Show at the Heritage Ranch Rodeo. Here he is… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/today-in-the-shop/
