TSII #458: Breastcollar Finished

 

On the last day of IMTM, April 30, my breastcollar was finished.  Yes I detest deadlines, but sometimes they are useful!  I scrambled to get pictures, choose one, process it and upload it before midnight (actually, before dinnertime).  The total hours for this part of the saddle (which includes the test cheek-piece), came out at an astounding 77, all within the month of April.  Not something to confess when I've been turning down tack wish-orders!

I owe a debt of gratitude to International Model Tack Month, for they gave me the impetus to complete this significant portion of the saddle.  While I feel I barely contributed to their overall group, I did try to show 'how I did it' with the blog posts.  This post will give closer views and also show a variety of horses wearing the finished breastcollar.  

When I told my sister about it she charmingly referred to the piece as a 'breastplate.'  Given all that metal, she's not so far off.  

This next shot may make things look crooked, but recall the extreme flexion of the near fore.  Look closely at the alignment of the top and bottom of the chest shield:  It is centered on the horse.  I lined up two flame pieces so that the bend of the near shoulder would fall upon leather not metal, a trick also seen in the above pic. 

 The last part of the breastcollar's design process was to fall in love with the idea of shading the red garnets through oranges and darker yellows to the lightest citrines, which were almost white, creating a stream of color within the silver flames.  Naturally then I had to redress some of the near side work!  In the below shot you can see some good closeups of the resulting gradations.  Usually they went red-to-yellow from bottom-to-top, as flames really do;  but in some cases I went yellow-to-red, just for contrariness.

 The halves do not match.  That would've been impossible with my assortment of gemstones and my laissez-faire method of apportioning them -- I'm making this up on the spot and I still have a whole saddle to do.  I also submit I was changing my mind almost up to the very end.  Organized?!?  What I was organized about was giving myself the freedom to attend to smaller details later for several of the steps.  The pattern of the engraving and the choosing and setting of the stones was where I did nearly all the work right at the moment of creation.

This may change as I move on to other parts of the saddle and the process becomes more fixed.  But we'll just see how it goes. 

Let's look at other horses trying out this beauty.  The obvious first choice is Kotinga.  I tilted my camera so he was 'uphill' and used macro zoom so he wasn't big-headed.

This is Spirit of Cinnamon, my Stone 'Moonstruck' ASB.  This horse was my only one of this mold for the longest time,... and was the hardest to find, as is typical of specific older Stones (and newer ones, hah).  What surprised me was how the red-gold glow of the breastcollar picked up on this color of mulberry gray.

 Like so many insights, this one seems obvious in hindsight!

This Year of the Flame Horse breastcollar, in its design and with the saddle that will go with it, has an epigram, one of those little paragraphs at the beginning of the chapter which purports to reflect what is to come.  An epigram also provides inspiration, and I'm pretty sure this one did that.  I don't know how to expand the margins (to central-set a block of text) with blogger! so we'll fall back on italics. 

"... It was in his palm, warm to the touch, one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.  Gold of several different colors had been beaten together with great craftsmanship to make its crossed-circle shape, and on all sides it was set with tiny gems, rubies and emeralds and sapphires and diamonds, in strange runic patterns that looked oddly familiar to Will.  It glittered and gleamed in his hand like all kinds of fire that ever were ... ... Merriman said softly, "The Light ordered that I should be made."... ... from every light in the hall the circle of worked gold caught brilliance, flickering as if it were made of flame."

--- The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper  (1973)

And here's Kotinga wearing #458's breastcollar along with the so-called Russian Parade saddle, a piece made by Cary Nelson.

 Although the clash between the two artists' tastes is plain, there yet is an overall congruence.  Each of these halves is a brown-colored silver parade saddle with rows of spots.  The gold accents on the breastcollar go very well with the golden horse, while the black notes on the so-called Russian lend pop and weight, leaning towards the more traditional interpretation of a parade set.  I was surprised at how well these two disparate parts looked together.  They both have curly stuff --- !

 Let's consider this fair warning of my (hopefully!) next blog subject.

TSII #458: Breastcollar Halfway

A lot has happened since the last post on the fabulous Year of the Fire Horse parade saddle breastcollar.  Two technological advances, that of i-pinning (pinning with i-kandis) and the setting of the gemstones, have been invented and/or refreshed.  With these new techniques secured and practiced, the last major questions about making this saddle are answered.  Research and development is over, now comes the work.  There might be design questions in other parts of the set later, but for the breastcollar it's now just a race against time.

Below is a shot that shows a great deal.  The gray lumps are the Thermo-Loc with the next three flame pieces to be engraved, moving from right to left (or near shoulder to the center of the chest) of the breastcollar.  The pocket or seat of the third and largest piece (light color) has had its grain cut, but hasn't been Leather Glow'd yet.  I prefer this coating to give the glue something to grab onto;  Ambroid is not a porous-surface glue.

We also can see the next three pieces after them, destined for the chest shield.  The top two are filed smooth while the lowest, a 2-headed shape, is still 'rough cut' (has raw edges). 

Something that's happened during the halfway stage is that I made all the drops.  Not gonna lie, I was influenced by the fringe on the shoulder epaulets of Mira, the character from Kpop Demon Hunters!  Again, these drops remind me this is a parade saddle, echoing the border strips with their little gold spots. 

Below we can see some of the chest flames more closely.   This is the sequence of their making:  To the right is the raw silver sheet and the paper pattern.  The chisel, hammered into the woodfibre surface, plus wire cutters, does the cutting out.  (It is a single thonging chisel from Tandy's.)  The result is the rough cut piece, in the middle here.  The flame piece to its left has been filed much smoother.  You can see it fits in the top center of the chest.  Leftmost is a piece set in Thermo-Loc, before engraving;  it fits in the puzzle pattern between the chest and near shoulder.

 I said my challenge would be how to hold these flame pieces in place.  I didn't want to use pins.  Nearly all pins contain brass and that corrodes green against leather.  Silver pins were much too expensive and I hadn't found Aluminum pins (okay I haven't looked hard).  One might suspect I'd use Argentium itself, but again the cost would be too high (and the labor prohibitive).  Instead, I'd spent months turning over in my mind using the i-kandis metal.  It was very soft, easily cut and molded, and I had lots of it.

Before I got there, I needed to drill holes for my homemade pins.  This is where I went down a rabbithole I eventually had to back out of.  Oh those rabbits!  They are so tempting!  Below is my trustworthy pin vise (top) and its blue plastic case of teeny drill bits.  I'd already found out the smallest bits would not stay in the vise under the pressure of drilling metal.  (More accurately, they wouldn't cut.)  I needed, or thought I needed, something smaller.  Imagine my delight when I unearthed a half-size pin vise.  It had been buried with my spare tools and unused for more than 2 decades.  This cutie was inherited from Ross Young, my father-in-law, who loved odd little tools and collected eye-glass-repair kits compulsively.

 Here's what it looked like after some polishing:  The smallest pin vise I'd ever seen.

 

You would think this would do perfectly!  But that copper barrel was hollow.  There was nothing to stop the drill bit from backing into space under pressure;  and that's just what they did.  I tried blocking them with some wire, but once again, they wouldn't cut.  My hand pressure was not enough to effect a real drilling cut -- not into metal.  I risked breaking them, as too much pressure breaks all such eensy-weensy drill bits.  When they start bending you gotta quit!

Back to a more primitive, blunt-force approach for my pin holes. 

 This shot shows both how I made my i-pins (for lack of a better name) and the tools I used to make holes.  The X-Acto easily cut little slivers from the 7mm gloss silver square i-kandis (iron ons)(left).  The lower two-inch needle had had its eye broken off long ago and I'd used it for years to hammer starting holes.  The upper two-inch was a slightly smaller gauge and neatly pierced and opened my holes, again by hammering (gently of course!).  The dental pick was the final arbiter and pierced leather beautifully.

Yes, I'm hammering holes in my lovely engraved pieces,...!  No, I didn't take photos of the insertion stage.  But this is what the back side looks like.  The finished saddle parts will be lined with very thin leather so nothing gets snagged.

 The trick worked.  The i-kandi metal was amazingly soft and could be mashed around with pliers.  It was so shiny it blended perfectly with the engraving:  No one could find it.  I had to keep notes on where I'd put the i-pins before I put in the jewels!  Even more amazing, I didn't have to heat up the i-kandi iron and melt the tiny pins,... a huge labor saving, I must confess.

So we come to the jewels.

 My next task was to devise a system to keep track of the gems themselves and where they were to go.  Fortunately, the TSII had already figured this one out:  Tape down a piece of packing tape sticky side up.  This trick was first evolved during the 2013 Goehring saddle.  Goehring Breastcollar Rough Cut

 It was not easy drilling pits into my precious flames.  But the cheekpiece test and the first garnet on the near shoulder showed it could be done.  Eventually a sequence of 4 tools would be used.  Here they are from bottom to top:  The broken-eyed needle, my pin vise with its largest mini-bit, a 1/16" bit with the regular drill, and a homemade tool I call the 'starter.'  This cone-shaped-tip starter was made from hardened iron bar by William D. Bensema, my dad, long before I was born.

 Here's the result.  Some jewels were re-assigned when their holes got either too big or too small;  one hole came close to breaking its piece, so I picked a smaller gem for it.

And here's the real result, after all the stones were set.  I used Triple Thick Glaze as an adhesive.  (I know, I know!  But this stuff was used for the Fountain Art Deco and seems to work.)  Remarkably, all the holes were made and all the stones set in a single day, April 22.  One of the gold i-kandi spots popped off under all the handling and pounding.  That told me it'd been poorly set, so such a test was just as well!  I'll replace it later,...

Can't resist holding it against Spiro!

I am at the halfway point.  But there's still so far to go.  I don't know if I'll make the 30th, but I'm glad to have gotten to this stage and conquered all these challenges.

Cheers for all the entrants of IMTM!  You can do it! 

TSII #458: Breastcollar Mid-stride

 

Mid-stride is a good word for this post.  At least it's shorter than S. Lessard's word 'mid-metamorphosis.'   I'm deep in the middle of transitioning from the design stage -- which at this point has only one major decision to go -- to the execution stage, where everything is actually built.

Yesterday (Friday April 17) this pic was posted on my FB: 

It showed considerable progress since the last time we'd seen this breastcollar.  Yet in fact only 2 steps have happened, the addition of the gold border spots and the third silver flame piece.  It's at this point you can grasp what the whole breastcollar will look like.  Here's another version of the above, giving a little more contrast between paper and silver (for the 4th flame), and showing the fifth flame piece, lying above the near shoulder.

 Both of the above pix were taken before the surface grain-removal process.  Below is a shot that shows that:  the leather beneath appears lighter after its grain has been cut away.  This shot also shows the first glimpse of the drops.  Yes, I chose to pursue drops, even though it might seem like gilding the lily.  My reasoning is that, once again, they enhance the fact this is a parade saddle rather than a fantasy costume.

The shot also shows all the tools!  from the micro-ball engraver's vise's round plastic base in the upper left, to the graver blade right next to it (looks like pure white metal), to the 3 files, the scissors, the edge-slicker and the dull awl.  Hiding under the files in the upper right is the honing stone, which I was using to (try to) sharpen the gravers.  Alas, this is a difficult and on-going process.

This quick little snap shows the paper pattern for the drops as well as a closer view of flame pieces four and five, counting from the left, and their 'beds' or grain-cut-off pockets.

Our last shot shows the drops well on their way.  Why am I not put off by the contrast (one might almost say clash) between the quick cheap ikandi iron-ons and the extraordinary high-class, jewelry-grade materials like Argentium, garnet and citrines?  Because this is who I am.  These beautiful TSII parade saddles perfectly reflect my balancing on sword-edges like this all the time.  Power and beauty is in that hybridization.  This is why I love model tack as an artistic field:  There is so much to draw from, and you get to use what best supplies the look you want.

 I am saving the gemstone setting for later.

Note from the future:  I found my czs [cubic zirconias]!!  Their little box had fallen into my bottles and jars and hidden under the honing oil.  How ironic that now that I have lots of them, I don't think the diamond color is needed for the design,...

On another subject:  I mentioned 'one major design decision' still to go.  It is that of fastening the flame pieces firmly down.  My experiments are succeeding, my ideas are working.  Nails (pins) made from ikandis can do the job.  But my tiny drill bits are not behaving (not staying in their vise) and I need to solve that engineering problem.  It's a story for another post.

TSII #458: Starting the Breastcollar

As we saw in the last post, I've bitten off an enormous jawbreaker of a mouthful with this saddle.  After the test piece (a cheekstrap), the breastcollar is now my focus.  I'm breaking it up into stages.  After drawing the tooling pattern and executing it in leather, the next stage is cutting and filing the silver flame pieces.  Then engraving, gluing on the pieces, and thirdly the gemstones are set.  The last step would be some kind of finish, like Leather Glow for the leather, and a liner if needed on the underside.

Tuesday afternoon [April 14]:  Somewhat naturally, these posts are behind where progress actually is.  But I'm letting things dry and trying to get my temper back after knocking over the rinse-water jar.  Can't believe I did that,...  Here is where we last saw this breastcollar:  The paper pattern progression shows the addition of borders to the shoulder and chest panels (or shields).  These lighter-colored shield border strips will eventually sport little stamped gold spots.

The breascollar has been tooled and a first wash of dye color and Leather Glow finish brushed on.  The tiny paper pattern shows the start of making the silver flames.

 To get an idea of what it really looks like, I'm laying the first 2 flame pieces, unengraved, in their place.  An hour has gone into each one, cutting and filing by hand.  Yes those are the files that are doing the work.

Below is a scary photo, because it reveals ANOTHER layer of hard work:  That of cutting off the grain of the leather beneath the pieces, trying to set them deeper.  "Sinking" silver into leather has always been one of my greatest tackmaking challenges.  Why should this be any different?  ...  I've really struggled with this.  It takes dang near another hour to carefully carve off the grain without destroying anything else;  and the result is not perfect, but with maybe only an 85- or 90% success feel.  But it helps.

Below we also see the third flame piece.  I made 3 before switching to engraving, preferring to stick to one stage long enough to make notable progress.  "Managing the artist." 

 Here we have a close up of the first 2 engraved flame pieces glued in.  I'm using Ambroid [a model airplane glue].  There will be further fastening steps during the gemstone setting stage;  and who knows, there may be further developments.  My Muse has been blue-skying hard in this arena but I haven't been brave enough to try them out yet,...

 Here's a glimpse of my next stage:  Engraving!  Yes, this is about two-thirds through... you can tell from the many places still not fully cut.

 I may not make the end of the month, but this is progress.

TSII #458 Design and Test Piece

 

The design process of a new saddle is always interesting, because each one is different.  TSII #458's process has been more interesting than most.  The piece started out as a copy of an existing saddle, but changed its mind radically, and is now based on the Year of the Fire Horse.  It incorporates bleeding-edge technology for me, and to beat all -- who's surprised?! -- it's taking a good 7 months to get off the ground.  Yet how wonderful it is to be making tack again --!  This post will cover those months and the all-important test piece, which hopefully will become part of the new saddle... the first I've made in 6 years.

No. 458's story starts with the so-called Russian Parade Saddle.  Yes, I will eventually (!) blog about that one, but meanwhile enjoy a seldom-seen view of it, the front (above).  Ever since my road-to-Damascus moment about it (November 4, 2024), I'd been meaning to build a copy.  That resolution held until October 18 of 2025:  nearly a year.  Those 11+ months bred in me a determination to make another supreme silver Parade saddle for myself.  I had last made one in 1997, twenty-nine years ago (#400, Rainbow Brilliance).

But the mystery is how hard it was to even start that.

 Ever since my second book was published, in August of 2025, I've been trying to get back to tackmaking.  A couple of bridle sets for customers and one pair of reins is all we have to show for over 7 months [August 30 to April 8].  I suppose I should add my NaMoPaiMo pony!  But the reins, above, just did not feel right.  They were an odd attempt at combining two fields of endeavor -- braiding and silverwork -- that don't always mix well.  Sometimes they do, true;  but not here.  As artists say, I'd lost my Muse.  I was also insanely distracted by other factors and just plain growing older, but this is not the place for that,...

In a Florida hotel, Feb 27 in the middle of the night, I asked myself what would happen if I just let it go.  If I suspended the requirement to make "a perfect Sue saddle" and instead went after "a good interesting saddle."   If I turned what was left of the Muse loose.  To my surprise (why are these things always a surprise?), with the additional inspiration of "Year of the Fire Horse," an amazing saddle design came out.

Of this first drawing, I can say I liked the breastcollar best.   This pass shows the combination of the silver engraved plates and the strip of tiny gold spots, balancing the 2 metallic colors.  The circles within the silver "flames" represented jewels:  rubies, citrines, czs [cubic zirconias].  

I had made tack with jewels before, so this was not unknown territory.

  

Our only illustration of the pinkness of the rubies

The jewels themselves came from the Tucson Gem Show, some of them acquired so long ago that that company (Gems-4-Less) no longer carries them.  The costs are buried in the past but have always been astoundingly affordable for me:  A packet of dozens of little bitty grade C emeralds, say, would cost around $30.  Rubies, sapphires, citrines:  I've got them all, except that my memory in FL gave me a large number of big czs.  When I got home, that turned out to be eight little ones.  The re-design process is always a whole new evolution.  The current design sheet looks like this:

  Of course it is a work in progress and will change as time and work passes over it.  

Now we come to IMTM (International Model Tackmaker's Month) (or Tack Month).  Knowing I could not possibly finish a whole saddle in so short a time, I signed up for just the breastcollar.  Even that needed a test piece.  I had so many things to test!  -- leather color, gem color, shape of flame pieces, re-learning engraving and how to stick things together.  Above all, how to stick things together:  With so many pieces, soldering on back loops like I did with the Goehring  Goehring Breastcollar Engraved  was unthinkable.  As readers may know, this tackshop is famous for hating adhesives.  And yet there was no clear answer.  The solution to this dilemma will play out with the making of this saddle.

I started with the Near Cheekstrap.  It only needed two flame pieces, made from 24 ga. Argentium.

 All went well.  

 The intended horse is Kotinga, but I don't trust his coat on the tack bench.  Too easily scratched,... Spiro, with his scuffed gloss, is perfect for the job.  

A critical design decision was to use only garnets and citrines.  My rubies just did not match; they were a pink color with blue tones in it.  In the event the garnets came out a deep glowing red which I liked very much.
 

Although making decisions like hardware choices had been too overwhelming for the 'greatest ever' perfect Sue saddle, on this one simple questions like "what kind of poll buckle" were easily answered.  Twisted wire, of course.  Never mind if it is not formal enough for the flames;  it's my fav.

 The bit blank, seen here unfinished, is the only part of the "original perfect" saddle to exist besides the reins.  I knew I wanted to make a miniature copy of my full-scale Santa Paula bit, obtained in Nogales Mexico in 2002, the last time I was south of the border.

 It is amazing what one accumulates in a lifetime of loving tack.

Not that I'll be able to duplicate the tiny blue-and-silver edge-barring.  But maybe you can understand why that is not important now.  Yeah, I have a collection of full scale tack, which could make a cool blog post,... some day,...  No saddles, but headgear and horse brasses,...    

I will end this post with a sneak peek of the breastcollar as it sits right now, before tooling.  You will agree with me I've bitten off a mighty lot to chew.  Sometimes that's the path the Muse follows.  The only obstructions/commitments in the way are a couple of customer orders promised unrealistically and a lack of funds.  I can sell horses but I'm not sure about the customers.

 Wish me luck, and thank you for your patience.