barra

G'day Rockinghorserun. This is a fairly simple job and yet complex at the same time. If the stuffing/flocking is not added correctly you will form lumps and bumps or form a pressure point (or both). What is supposed to happen with a stock saddle panel is after the panel has packed down hard and conformed to the shape of the horses back, a completely new lining and fresh stuffing is added over the old, This is called counterlining. When a stock saddle is new, the fresh stuffing is clean and fluffy and can be Awled into position for fine tuning the shape. This is done with a seat awl which is like what gets called a scratch awl in some circles. (see link 1) When new there are a couple of ways to add flock. 1 is thru a slit in the base panel. This is the top layer of the panel that is against the tree (the lining is against the horse) This slit is stitched closed when done. Or a gap is made in the lining along the sweat flap (second flap against the horse) Again the flock is added and then the gap is closed. (go to last link for a diagram) http://www.josephdixon.co.uk/products/Saddlers_Tooling/Seat_Awel_haft.html The seat awl is jabbed thru the serge lining and the stuffing can be moved about. A passable seat awl can be made from an old screw driver by grinding the tip to a point and then polishing it smooth. The serge is a coarse weaved fabric so jabbing the awl thru does no harm. The second link is of stuffing/flock being added to an English saddle. also I have added a link to a Berney Bros saddlery clip on youtube There are 2 clips on youtube this is just one of them. About 2.43 into the clip you can see flock being added. Again this is an English saddle but the principal is similar. http://www.horobin.com.au/services/repair.jpg The last link is a pic from Ron Edward booklet called counterlining stock saddles. See on the pic 2 angled lines at the front and 2 at the back, both with dots along side. What this is representing is folds in the new counterlinging to allow for fullness. The dots are pins jabbed into the old flock to temp hold it in place. Half way along the flap you might notice a dark shaded gap. This is where the new flock is added. The gap is stitched closed when the job is done. http://www.shoemakingbook.com/Images/otherbooks/10-counterling.jpg The new serge fabric is cut to the shape of the panel and blind/invisible stitched by hand to the old serge. If you can't find serge then kersey wool will do. This fabric is commonly used to make civil war reenactors uniforms. I think unicornwoman (LW member) sells the Ron Edwards books http://www.unicornwoman.com/cat/uw_catbooks.htm Barra

G'day Bevan, welcome aboard from a fellow crow eater. I'll be passing thru Renmark in a few weeks on my way to Wagga via the dreaded Hay plains. I think the call of the Renmark hotel might be too great. Again welcome to LW Barra

Sitting down to cut up strap goods or using a head knife to skive a buckle end would work but for cutting out large components standing will give you more power and control. I'm with Jim, why would you want to? Barra

# Leatherwork Specialty:Rodeo Chaps, chinks, belts, and someday hopefully saddles Change your profile Elton. Barra

Ray. Ultimately I would like to have a dedicated dye bench but space at the moment does not allow. A coulpe of things I do or have done. 1. I use an old plastic shower screen and lay it on the bench and lay my paper or similar on top of this. 2. I dye on a sheet of glass as it cleans up easily (presently using perspex) made a dye/spray booth out of an old box and screwed bulldog clips around the tops on the inside. I then clip my sheets of paper to the bulldogs. I decanter my dyes into small jars and only pour in small amounts at a time. If I do have a spill it is not a gallon of dye or so I have knocked over. http://www.trojanhorseantiques.com/CoffeeMugPartners.jpg The small jars I put inside a travel mug like the pic as the wide base makes it very stable. Barra

# Leatherwork Specialty:Rodeo Chaps, chinks, belts, and someday hopefully saddles Change your profile Elton. Barra

On some applications, an office stapler works fine to temporarily hold items together. Pick them out as you go. Barra

For those who know of Skippy the bush kangaroo. TTT TTT TTT. What's that Skip, Sonny fell over the cliff. I need you to race back to ranger headquaters, ring 000 (911)and then hop back here and fly the chopper to the hospital. Sorry I could not resist. Barra

http://www.ranch2arena.com/hsbtwheelbvler.html I have a HSBT wheel beveller from Jeremiah Watt. Works great. He also makes a standard push beveller. Barra

The 7-33 is used to stitch heavy webbing and is used in Military's around the world to manufacture harnesses, parachute harnesses, safety straps and lifting strops, tents and tarps etc. Think of the harness used to hold in an FA/18 pilot pulling multiple G's and you want the harness stitched with a grand daddy of heavy stitchers and you have one in the 7-33 Barra

My plough is a Dixon. I'll take a close up photo soon. I would assume a new blade would fit fine. I too sharpen like Bruce and test the blade with a sheet of paper. When it cuts the paper by just touching it then it is sharp enough for me. As soon as it does not glide thru effortlessly then it gets a strop. Barra

Hi Chris and welcome to Leatherworker.net, great to have a representative of you company here. Joseph Dixon Tool Co Limited is a family owned and run business, Manufacturing the finest English leather working tools and Saddlers toolssince 1843 and has the larges range of tooling in the world they are all madein house in Walsall which is the leather capital of theworld and steeped in history. We take great pride in our product quality andservice. This I can attest to. Most of my tools are Joseph Dixon (some Thomas). They lasted the entire working life of a Saddler and Harness Maker who started somewhere around 1900 - 05 and they will outlast me. A lot gets mentioned about modern anything not being as good a quality as the old but even the odd Dixon tool I have had to replace over the years due to my stupidity will outlast me and more than likely the next guy. You know you live in saddlery mecca when the local football team in called the Saddlers. P.S. can you give us a brief history lesson on the Dixon company. I'm mainly interested in the Thomas Dixon timeline. Barra

I would like to have a series of racks so that I can lay out a side flat but space does not allow. I too roll up my sides but I always ensure that when rolled the grain is on the inside for protection from marring and sunlight degredation.. I then stand up the rolled sides in large plastic garbage cans. I can roll up and store a few sides in the one garbage can by rolling them tighter or looser so they store one inside the other. In the very middle I have chap weight leathers rolled up on broomsticks. I then always cover up the cans with an old bedsheet or some similar cover to protect from dust and other crap and corruption. Barra

A bench is going to depend on what you are making. Of course the space you have available will to a certain extent dictate what you can do. I make my benches the height from the floor to my elbow/forearm when perpendicular to the floor. Others use the rule of thumb - floor to hip and add an inch. This works out about the same. Some make their work bench and stamp bench extend into each other all the same height. This comes in handy if you are cutting out long strap goods as the strapping does not hang over a sharp bench edge and risk being marred. Barra

On top of what has been mentioned. In our workshop we service our machines once a week, usually this is a Friday last thing type job. For many years we would use the compressed airline and give the machine a good blow out under the bed. I am now of the opinion that this is not such a good practice as I believe all you are doing is blowing crap and corruption deeper into little nooks and cranny's. I now teach to use a stiff bristled paint brush or fitch brush to get in there. Foot control is the essence and to a certain extent is an individual thing. Try all these and find what YOU as the individual is comfortable with. Most of this is applicable to clutch machines as that is all we use. 1. Both feet on the pedal. One foot on the forward edge and one on the trailing edge. The forward foot gives you the go juice and the heel of the trailing foot can hit the brake in an instant. 2. Left or right foot only. Same principal applies to go and break. In trying to find that sweet spot where the machine will run nice and slow while you learn and get comfortable with speed. Slowly push down on the pedal until you here the motor hiss. Pushing down a hairs breath after this point and it is gonna go. When you find this spot, give the balance wheel a little flick and off you should go at a slow speed. For those who are struggling I allow them to jam a tennis ball under the pedal so that they can not depress further. I want this tennis ball gone ASAP tho. Make sewing cards on the computer with dotted straight lines and curvy lines. You can then makes some with gradually tighter radius's. Then make one with an ever decreasing circle (pin wheel). Laminate these cards in and office type laminator or print on heavy ish card. Now practice following these line with no thread over and over and over. Then do the same with thread. With thread the heavy card or laminated sheet is importand to give it some bulk or you will perforate the card like a postage stamp. Seam allowance and lineage. I use the edge of the foot of my machine as a guide and aim to maintain the same distance from the edge. Don't get focused on the needle it is fixed into the machine and will track true. If you are following a marked out line (or a stitch groove) then drop the needle into the work and again do not focus on the needle as such. Instead focus on the job just ahead of the needle. An analogy can be applied to driving a car. When you drive you do not stare at the road just ahead of the bonnet/hood. Instead you are scanning the road ahead. Always complete a full stitch and especially when turning. To do this you make sure the needle has completely bottomed out and is in it's upward movement. To make completely sure I have the tip of the needle just still in the job and then and only then do I go for the foot/knee lifter. If not mentioned Correct needle system for your machine as well as correct insertion into your machine and then correct thread size in relation to needle size Search on the net for a trouble shooting guide. This will give you the cause and remedy for most hassles, skip stitches, thread breaking tension problems etc. Most sites are for domestic machine sewing but the principal is the same. http://sewandserge.com/tshoot.asp PERFECT practice makes perfect. Don't waste good and expensive leather on practice. Get scrap lino, canvas, vinyl or make use of your worn out heavy denim jeans and practice away to your hearts content before wasting leather. I save scrap leather for a final test peice. Make sure your test piece is the same weight as your job to ensure the machine is stitching smooth and the tensions are correct. http://home.howstuffworks.com/sewing-machine1.htm On the second animation, see where the green thread and red thread "lock" (in the centre of the job) Barra

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1775341824/nm0450494 Photo of San Fernando Valley saddlery Matt. PM Ketchum who is a member on LW. I think he is Cliff Ketchum's son. Barra

Steve. Your comment about it being US made has me intrigued. Bob has lived in the US for many years so this is highly possible. Barra

Curbstrap. Bob Berg is mainly associated with silversmithing these days I think http://www.bobbergdesigns.com/contact.php# Anyhoo, back to the saddle. That is an example of a fender Australian stock saddle or hybrid. It uses a basically western saddle style tree but the swell incorporates the knee/poley pads that are associated with Australian stock saddles. The pic is just added as an example.

Rmr. tack ties are merely made using a normal hand stitching needle and thread. Push your awl thru both layers of leather. Push your needle and thread thru and then tie off over the edge with any ol knot like a reef/square knot (just like you would if stitching something where you are about to finish with one thread and about to start with a new fresh thread). As you come to the knot you snip the tack tie and pick it out. They are just to help hold things in place as you stitch. Barra

Rmr. Another method you can use to hold the gusset in place is to use a few strategically placed tacks and pull them out as you come to them or you can use a few tack ties. Place one (of either) dead centre of your base. This will assist you to stitch it in square and avoid a lop sided twist. Barra

Great reference RDB. The section on rolling a thread sure brought back memories. It was not uncommon for apprentices to do not much else but roll threads for the first 6 months or so. I remember using a thread apron which was a piece of leather (flesh outermost)attached to a belt. The threads were rolled against this apron. The ol boss said that in the days when all threads were rolled by hand that unless a thread apron was used you would rub through your pants in no time and then suffer the wrath of the wife. I still roll the odd thread and still use a thread apron out of old time sake. No chance of wearing out the pants but I still like the traditionalist approach. I also like the plans for a stitching horse. Link saved for a later read. Barra

I can't watch youtubes on the computer I am using. When the needle is at the bottom of it's stroke, where is the hook on the bobbin race? Barra

I'm Airforce and the youngins say I've been in since Pontious was our Pilot (Buggers). I have a retort for their comment since some were not even a twinkle in their ol mans eye when I joined but it is not G rated. Barra