Les No6

Wash with soap and water use plain white soap or glycerin soap wash the whole saddle if the stain comes out some then you could use oxalic acid solution if not it's an iron oxide stain which is really bad for leather and the acid will damage the leather more. for adding colour use a tanning tea when dry wipe with a damp cloth and dress with bees wax and lanolin leave to dry then buff with a cloth

It decicates the leather, rots the fibres, increases oxidation and causes embrittlement it also stinks! NOT TO BE USED ON HORSE TACK!!!

When hand stitching with a right hand ply yarn proper basic method which you will find in Master Stohlmans book which is not his method he just wrote the idiots guide. Poke a hole pass the left hand thread through first then pass the right thread on top of the left thread cast over, ie right over left overhand half hitch which sits at / /, in the sewing machine it will sew for a few inch’s and then snap the thread, why? Sit at your machine hold the top and bottom thread turn the fly wheel one revolution and you will note the machine has formed a underhand half hitch which sits at \ \, LR underhand.

As with most sewing machines you can use right hand S thread in the shuttle only, left hand Z on top always, when using S in the shuttle use RL (right over left, overhand) needle or awl position / / /, I don’t recommend it use left hand top and bottom with LR (left over right, underhand) \ \ \.

This is a coach pad the work of a black saddler

This is an old timey bridle stitched 18 to the inch with box keepers.

Well I’m a Yorkshire man we call a spade a spade, don’t have opinions it is what it is this is a saddle and this is a Master Saddler

Yes you are right bad leather, they’re no natural oils in skin the only thing oil does is increase oxidation and cause embrittlement by no means does it hydrate your leather, on a scorching summers day in Death Valley if you where to rub hoof oil into your skin you’ll burn to a crisp and so will leather.

Yes oxidation caused by iron oxide from the steel seat pan tell, Black staining in the cracks at the pressure points. Tannic acid is an antioxidant preservative which has a high affinity for iron oxide so it strips all the tanning from the leather and the leather oxidises and as water rots the steel inside the saddle it will rot from the inside out. So don’t listen to bs (see above) and stop questioning what is true.

No advantage to waxed linen at all there are many advantages to unwaxed, the main failure mechanism of stitch seems is loose stitching, Linen thread non-elastic zero extension holds the tightest knot, on the right-hand side of the solution box on the Pearson is two plates that nip together which is a thread break all machines with a thread break require a non-elastic zero extension thread to operate correctly, polyester elastic high extension won’t hold a knot, nylon highest elasticity highest extension will hold a knot but abrasive, service life, linen 2 centuries, polyester ten-year, nylon unfit for purpose. Comparing Linen to polyester and nylon is akin to comparing tool steel to knicker elastic and cheese strings. the first thread sewn into leather over thirty thousand years ago is Linen still the best by far.

It’s a pilot light harness machine the sister to the Pearson No6 heavy harness machine sews up to 7/16”. Where is it and how much?

It should be equal both sides a little finer than a round knife, that's the correct profile.

Single strap is strongest the strength is in the coarse fibres as referenced in the Hasluck books, not the grain that’s just a brain fart or marketing BS as is over 90% of the internet including this website these days.

The bobbin is in the shuttle which is the thing that goes back and forth you will find the manual here http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=33348 and the correct name is Pearson No6 heavy harness machine, where abouts are you?