In my first post, I shared the process of tearing apart the saddle as well as detailed construction notes. Upon inspection of the wooden tree, I decided it was better to order a new one, rather than go through all the work of rebuilding on a questionable foundation. A new wooden tree was ordered.
Modification of new tree:
The new tree arrived in the mail and I was able to compare it to the old one. The modern arch had a wide, almost upright seat. The antique tree, had a very elegant swept back look. I removed the old seat, installed new wooden dowels and tapped and glued it into place on the modern arch.
I cleaned up the metal piece by removing rust and applying a couple of coats of primer and metal paint. After that was installed, I glued on the old leather fill piece. It was in fine condition and it gets covered over anyways.
Old and new arches/ trees. You can see the tree on the right has very old fiberglass repairs.
Modified tree; still have to install terret wing nuts( not shown)
Crupper dee on the new tree that has been covered in patent leather. The patent gets glued on and then the seam saddle stitched.
The old pieces of leather were used as rough patterns. I had to redraw the shapes on thick cardstock and straighten edges.
New pad points, flaps, skirts/ seat and hardware.
Pad points stitched on, pads glued up. Still need to stuff them.
Rough 1st fitting of flaps and seat. I wanted to double check the fit of everything. The seat looks a little short, but I think once it's glued and slightly stretched over everything it'll work. I need to cut a piece of patent leather for the back of the seat as well as binding for the seam.
That's all for now. I'll be posting part 3 of this project soon. Thank you for you reading. Please feel free to " like" this post and ask questions or leave comments.
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