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 or shine... ya still gotta make rawhide... But that doesn't mean you can't have fun doing it!! Rain... 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… 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?" 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... After making the calf hide into rawhide and rinsing and soaking well for a couple of days, the hide is ready to stretch to dry Rod starts by making some small holes around… 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. Since the hides have been soaking in barrels of water, they are totally soaked through and dripping wet. To help them get a little drier prior to working with them, they… 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 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/
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. 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. 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/
