Making some custom equipment for fun

[Charlie Horse]

Well it has taken FOREVER but I have finished my first pack saddle-- Just the wood. Next comes the pad and leather straps.















It is entirely made out of maple. The hard part was getting the angles to work since I tipped the cross pieces outward. Next time I am going to simulate my angles on the computer and leave reference points to measure from before I go carving anything up. Part of the reason for tipping the cross pieces is that is that this is a slightly smaller saddle than you would use for a full size goat. I have a couple females and my males are young still, so I figured why not make my my first saddle something I can use right away. The carving was done with a dental drill and the rest was hand carved with a chisel. The goal is to make something that looks like it came from Tibet/Mongolia and make it look very old and worn. The design is something I just made up. I am very sorry I did the barb-wire looking detail work around the outside, as that was ten times harder than the goat god. Before staining it I sandblasted it with glass beads to bring out some of the grain in places and smooth off some rough parts. I purposefully gouged it up here and there to add to the hand-made look. The stain is water based "Early American" color with "Mocha" painted in the carving and rubbed on the edges etc, and it also has a whitewash layer to give it a dusty look.

The rigging is going to be interesting and I think you'll like how it works. But that'll have to be an update for another time. Part of the fun is that I'm getting to learn woodworking and leather from scratch on this project. I'm also buying a lot of tools, so no, this is not the cheap way to go!