Tex Shooter

I had not seen a pony configuration like this, so I just threw together this pony with scrap to try it out. It is not finished and I will either tear it down and re-do it or tweak it quite a bit. It was meant as a concept prototype. The idea behind it is to clamp it to a table and then slide up to it to stitch. The pony as it sits works, but it could use some tweaking. A bolted on 2 inch by 1/8 aluminum angle Is what holds the clamp to the table clamping board. The tips have Barge glued vegetable tip inserts. It is strong and does not flex around. I will put more gap at the bottom for clearance and about make 2 or 3 inches shorter overall. The angle is mounted upside down to give more throat. I used a hinge at the bottom and found out that was a mistake. This is my first attempt at making a stitching pony and I have learned a lot. -- Tex

I hope that they are wrong, but things are changing in a big way. I used to get leather by the side, but now I have to buy a bundle from the same company. -- Tex

I have had that happen a couple of times weeks later and after I produced a PO receipt. to PayPal the customer said he got it two days later. These were on eBay And there feed back indicated that they had done this before. I have been in the wholesale/retail business for 22 years and Only know of 3 packages that were mot received in that period of time. There are a few scammers out there however. There MO is usually wait a period of time and claim they never got a package, but if you show a postal receipt or tracking number they usually all of a sudden say they got it. A scammers more likely MO is to say that there is something wrong with a item and want there money back without returning the merchandise. For the far and away most people are very honest and I would try to work with them. There is however a very slight few that are just down right crooks. By the way I never had a wholesale order customer say once he never got his merchandise and that was thousands and thousands of sales. -- Tex

I have two Lucris presses and for what I do they are hard to beat. If you do small item clicks, there is nothing faster. Here is a link to there web site. I have one of mine for sale, but will not ship it! Diecutting Press

When I have a class with newbies on hand stitching, I do it with very basic tools. The picture shows what I take with me and I tell the students that these items can be found as follows. 25 Yard waxed thread kit with 2 harness needles for about $5. A poly cutting board for about $5. A diamond awl blade for about $5 (make your own handle). A pair of pliers for about $1 at a garage sale (I cut the tip off of mine and ground the teeth off for stitching). A pocket knife for about $2 dollars at a garage sale. A pen and a piece of plastic from a whipped cream container lid. For the demonstration I make a line to keep the stitches straight, but don’t measure the distance between awl holes, but just guess at them. I do this so the students can see how little is required to get started and with a little practice they can make a good looking stitch. Then I show them how to mark the plastic for stitch spacing.

I like a awl with flats on the sides of the handle. It helps me keep the right angle. -- Tex

I have carried a oil tanned Knife sheath on my hip for months with no apparent bleed out on my clothes or light tan belt. I also have several customers that reorder oil tanned sheaths, so I assume that there is no problem. You can wrap the leather in a paper towel and press it and see some bleed out. It does bleed out when I press a makers mark in it. Hope this helps. -- Tex

Not yet, but it is starting to and that is scary at age 77. I am not for sure I want it to! -- Tex

The hemp that I have used gave me a problem with the fibers coming apart at the most un-opportune times, Like when I was almost done. -- Tex

Most hobby stores carry 1/32 thick poly template material. It cuts and sands nice. It also holds up well. -- Tex

I have a good friend at Archie MO. Welcome! -- Tex

I have made about 20 sheaths with these tools since I modified them and they are staying sharp and strong. Aaron is right though and I did not take too much off of the points for that reason. Here is a picture of the smallest sheath that I make using the largest tool only. It is for a 3 1/2 to 3 5/8 stock knife. I can cut and hand stitch 4 of these in about one hour. -- Tex

I have always heard that "One man can't count another mans money". I think that also applies to talent. My wife is in a "Nursing Home" and I see what some there make. There items might look crude until you know there disability, then you wonder how they did it. Also I recently went to a "tourist trap town" and noticed that crude things were out selling the finely made items and for a good price. Go figger! -- Tex

Very good advice! I was a wholesaler working on the road for years in my own business. There is one sales technique that I have not seen here on the forum (it may be here though). It is called a lost leader. That is where you sell a item very cheap in a broad market to find a narrow market for your product. Ebay is excellent for doing this, although it takes a little research savvy or sneakyness. -- Tex

Jeremy I like Linen also. The main reason I use Poly is it is cheap and I sell these little sheathes cheap. Although I have made these sheathes for years I did not till recently have a stitching clamp. It has made a real difference in my speed and my quality of stitch. -- Tex

I have always used Linen or poly thread for the simple sheathes that I make, but recently I got a spool of Nylex. Its size is the same as close as I can tell and stitched it looks about the same, but it is much harder to pull through the leather. So much harder in fact I have to use stitching pliers on every stitch. I added extra wax, but that did not help either. When I use poly I can pull all the stitches except the back stitches with my fingers. I did notice that the Nylex does not lay flat against the needle like the poly does when pulling. Here are two sheaths stitched with Nylex and it looks OK. Has anyone else experienced this?

I have several stitching Awls, but this very old one is my favorite one. The tip has a slight bend that that I find makes it easy to use and it has a perfect diamond shape set at a good angle for me. It goes through the oil tan and chrome tanned leather that I use like butter. I know, it is ugly and was probably a cheaper one when bought, but it has made its way into my heart! -- Tex

I understand that a lot of leather workers already know this, but for those newcomers that don't here goes. In pocket/hunting knife sharpening the edge burr is is usually called a wire. If the sharpening is done fine enough stropping on leather will bend this wire back and forth and break it off leaving the sharp durable edge. A little rubbing compound on the the leather strop will also polish the edge as you strop it. -- Tex

Sometimes blades are sharpened incorrectly and the temper at the edge is lost. This will cause the blade to get dull quickly. Usually if the blade is sharpened correctly a few times this problem goes away. -- Tex

Grinding wheel, but you need to do it very slowly and wet the tips very often. Then I used some wet/dry sandpaper, a thin fine diamond stone and finally rubbing compound. -- Tex

Forgive me for the poor picture! The shape of the tips are much more precise that they look in the picture. I recently bought these two Tandy diamond stitching chisels and because of the crude machine work I could not pull them out of the leather even when I just barely put the points through. They had a lot of burrs and very steep tip angles. I got a saucer of water to keep them cool and re-shaped the tips and took off the burrs. Now they slide out of the leather nicely. I did not destroy the angle and the stitches look good. I use a stitching chisel like a pricking iron and just barely break the opposite surface I then use a diamond awl to open the diamond hole up. Even crude tools can be made to do a nice job. -- Tex

For me, I get a feeling of pride when I see a nice row of my hand stitching and I just enjoy doing it. I don't have anything against machine stitching. -- Tex

I have used two threads. Tandys waxed linen and Dasew handsewing waxed Polyester R.T. in V-462M. The reason I have used these is I got a bunch at a garage sale several years ago. I am now running out and need to buy something in a similar size. I use Osborn "O" needles. Any suggestions?

Here is a terrible video of me using my $2 clamp. -- Tex

I have been through Millstadt IL. A couple years back. Welcome to the forum! -- Tex