ramrod

the cam would be the toughest part of the whole thing. how about a threaded rod wth a handle to open the jaws? if you can bend the jaws, that would be half of the battle. i really pick up the pace on leatherwork when the weather gets bad. i'd rather stay inside during a storm than be outside.

i bought something from joann fabrics that is very similar to the tandy bag stiffener. i use it merely as a filler to fill out the belt to give it a bit more "body" if you will. i'm not sure it will act as a true stiffener for a belt, though.

bending your own is not totally out of the question. building a steam box wouldn't be too difficult. the biggest problem would be in getting both of them to match exactly. you'd need to build a jig somehow - out of a plank and dowels. it could be done. i wish i had a better solution.

possibly, along with it's age, size and the cam mechanism. it looks like walnut wood. the jaws are about 6 inches wide. most clamps are about 4 inches.

well, winterbear i really HATE to tell you this. and i'm sorry to have raised your hopes. i check the price of that clamp. $125. i almost fell over. i went into the store with such optimism. i want to apologize for not getting the price of that clamp (even if out of curiosity) when i made my initial visit. aaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh! now, i did not get a chance to talk to the owner about a rather large price reduction. the place was crawling with people (on a tuesday afternoon??!!) i still want to do that. the other 2 clamps are $32 and $35 but a bit small in jaw length.

i'd love to pick it up - i just don't have coin right now. someday, i'll stitch with linen. until then, i have miles and miles of polyester to use up.

wow! what a neat machine. after seeing the price, i'm so glad that i'm not in the market anymore.

yes, i'm offering and i'm glad to do it. sorry for the late reply. i just got in not too long ago - family reunion. bear.....something i can't get out east, huh? wow! i love a mystery. LOL yes, i'll price this out for you ASAP. i'm not down by that store every day, but i'll see if i can stop in and get the particulars. then i can maybe pick it up on my way back at the end of the day if you want it. i promise to keep you posted.

i haven't used linen for hand stitching (yet). but i'd imagine that you'd use bees wax - in fact, i'm very sure that's what to use. it stays a bit tacky and preserves the thread. i wouldn't think that parafin wax would be useable in cake form for waxing thread. as far as twist, wasn't there a thread about left or right twist for left or right handed stitching? although, i'm not exactly sure how handedness could be determined as far as stitching goes. when you think about it, you're doing the exact same technique with either hand.

bear - i toyed with buying it, but i have other things on my plate. to be honest, i didn't look closely at the price. i'll be more than happy to price it out for you the next time i'm in the area. i can't imagine it being more than 20 bucks or so (considering that the horses are only 40 bucks!). and postage to send it would be only a few bucks. i did work the cam and it felt pretty substantial - as in, it felt like it had a lot of clamping power.

here are the pics. that one pony is really interesting.

these horses have loads of character. and probably a lot of stories to tell. so, each one is distinctive then? i didn't realize that anyone could tell a manufacturer. any idea on age? there was a very interesting pony there, too. it had a sort of cam used to open the jaws. it worked against the jaws when you pushed down on it. i'll see if i can post that pic, too.

i was delivering on my route last friday afternoon down in the cornell area. i passd by an antiques barn (i must see a thousand of them) and wasn't particularly interested in what they were offering. but, i happened to look over as i was driving and saw what looked like 3 stitching horses. i thought "can't be" but i turned around anyway to take a closer look. sure enough, there were 3 of them sitting there. she wanted 40 bucks each for them (i believe she was selling them on consignment). i said that she probably could get much more for them, but she told me that the farmer who brought them in only wanted that much for them. inside of the place, she had another one that had 3 legs - that was the way it was made. unusual, i know - and i should have gotten a pic of that one. she also had several stitching ponies of unusual design. all of this stuff is quite old and has nice patina to it. i was looking for a stitching horse for a long time and finally had my brother make me a rather nice one. now that i'm no longer in the market, i end up seeing these! if this isn't in the correct forum, please feel free to move it. also, i hope the pic sizing is o.k.

singermania - i called that number out of curiousity but was on hold FOREVER. they have an email address also. it's talktous@singerco.com. i hope that this might help out.

i KNEW i could make use of that tandy 9 hole punch! seriously, nice instructions, bill. i could use this info, also.

i made a small one years ago and left the bottom open. have you considered trying that?

i've seen much the same technique - only measured from the base of the buckle instead of the tip of it. seems like that way would subtract an inch or so.

wow! that is beautiful. i really like the inside with all of the compartments. looks like a top of the line store bought wallet. great job all around - especially with the stitching. now, what size thread did you use? is it linen? i've never seen it sized in mm before.

a really cool place that i've found scroll designs (as well as other design elements) is on our own paper money. there are some really neat designs on some of that paper.

neat thread. i was wondering if boiling some veg tan leather of appropriate thickness to make it harder.it could be installed inside of a vest possibly?

i've always liked the design of the kepi (didn't realize that's what it's called). but what is it's purpose - i mean, why not just make a hat instead of that design? was there a reason that they were made to look like that instead of a typical hat?

chris - when you can buy some more stuff, consider buying some atom wax from tandy. i use it to put a shine on all of my goods (well, the ones that i want a shine on, anyway). i really like this wax. goes on easy and lasts for a long time.

these are beautirul. the tutorial was informative. i had no idea as to just what went into the making of them. inspires me to make a pair of my own. i wasn't sure what the shape of the vamp was in order to get started.

i bought a rather extensive set off of ebay about 10 years ago. the auction said that they were from the WWll era. no way to tell if that is true. but they are very nice. hardly used. no markings on them, though. the walgreen's option looks like it is a good buy.

excellent thread. i've found that i'm averaging about 4x the length of the project as stated a couple of times here. if you use too long of a thread at once, it gets a bit too hard to handle - along with it getting ratty looking.