Originally Posted by
greyfenris
thanks Big Block and Tugadude i think it must be an early swallow like you say .. looking at the brooks site the only difference is a line of stitching along the edges that loops the leather over a wire on each side from front to back .. some great resources in here looking at what i have (i got 12 assorted saddles in an ebay auction from near my hometown in uk birmingham home of brooks . it looks to be 4 brooks at least and 4 other leather saddles with 2 dunlop rubber saddles that look like i could swop out for a leather saddle too ) .. loving the work you did on your saddle Big Block it looks mint .. with the saddles i have i think i may try one with a vac form one with a leather form .. and in the process of building a book press which i use for stamping leather and thinking there might be a way to incorporate I have been using sendcutsend for projects and may get a layered template made (i model stuff in software called fusion360 ) ..its great to see your saddle ,rhm s saddles and an artist called obsidianmonarch who also restores old brooks .. appreciate
Sounds like a great find!
Brooks made the 'Swallow' saddle in at least three quality levels (price points).
The cheapest was either Lycett or Wrights, with a U-shaped steel thing riveted under the narrow part (I don't know Lycett and Wrights were made in the Brooks factory or if the Lycett and Wrights factories still existed at the time; either way, by 1960 they used the same frame, rivets, and nose hardware as Brooks, and were under the same ownership as Brooks).
The middle grade one, which is the most common one in my experience, was the Brooks B15 Swallow. It has plain cut edges, flaps folded underneath and riveted to a small steel plate.
The expensive one was the B17, which has the cut edges folded under and stitched, holding a stiff wire in the hem. The flaps are also folded underneath and riveted to a small steel plate like the B 15. Sounds like that's what you have. They stopped making this model about 60 years ago, not long after yours was made.
You don't need special tools (vacuum forming, etc) to recover a Swallow; no serious stretching of the leather is required. Wider saddles are more difficult.
One of these days I'll put a video on Youtube showing how I shape the leather using home-made tools (no vacuum forming for me), but I've been pretty busy lately.