William Bloke

Wow, thats a cool wee thing. We don't really have stitching horses like that over here, but I can see how you get very attached to yours. After a while anything else must feel really wrong. I just use a clam, and am really finnicky about the hight of my stool.

That is a lovely thing, I have a Dixit one od probably a similar vintage. That I didn't choose it as a favourite probably says more about my feelings about rolled work than it does about the tool. My square doesn't have quite the same romantic story, but it is from the famous old English maker "Wickes"

I know what you mean. I've got a big seat awl that I do the same with.

I was wondering about your favourite tools. Not really your most used, and certainly not necessarily you most expensive. Just that one tool that you really like, and has that little Je ne sais quoi that you'd miss if you had to replace it. As an example, here are two of mine. First is an ancient No2 edge strip. It was given to me by a retiring friend after I had a load of my tools stolen. I use it every day, it stays sharp and feels nice In my hand. But more than that, it reminds me of a man who knew me 25 years ago and the bloke who bought the tool 100 before that. All three of us doing the same job and probably saying the same bad words at the same irritations. The other tool is this little stubby knife. I don't know where it came from, don't think I bought it, but it's wicked sharp and whenever I have to cut stitches on a repair, or the tape on a delivery, its what I reach for. It's not fancy or desirable, but it's just the knife I reach for when I want a knife.

Yes ritza 44. Used on a singer 45k and in the past I think I've used it on an Adler 205. It's quite slick, so I found you need the tensions set quite high for the machine to get enough grip, but it's not hard to get it working nicely. It's very consistent, so goes through very smoothly.

Sorry this is late, but I've got a practically unused 1km spool of 0.4mm in colour 21 that I'd be willing to part with. I sews quite nicely in my machine, but I don't tend to use it. Primarily because it's on a spool and I'm set up for cones, so it can be irritating in comparison to my bonded poly on cones. It also doesn't match the ritza 25 colour 21 (it's quite a bit lighter.) Which is irritating.

They're really good for English stuff, I buy almost all my lorinery from them, but not really anything for a smart Western show bridle.

I'm struggling to find nice fancy Western bridle/headstall buckles in the UK. Does anyone have any suggestions? Otherwise, it's no a problem to import the from the US. So where do you guys buy yours from? I'm looking for high quality, nicely finished buckles that will actually be used on a horse. Thanks

Not sure if you mean finest as in thinest, or finest as in best. However, here's an old picture (On the left.) of the awl I use for the fiddly stuff, anything over a no.10 iron really. It is also my favourite kind of sewing awl (with bigger blades) up to about 6 to the inch. It's a John James blade in a small Blanchard handle. I real like the small size, narrow ferrule, flats and bare wood of the Blanchard handles. John James blades are just pretty much standard around here. I'd use these handles for everything, by really big blades won't fit in them. The posh, handmade, polished, fancy wood handles look beautiful, but don't appeal to me. Unvarnished wood is more comfortable and grippy when using it all day. Also, I was taught to push a sticky needle through with the awl handle, rather that reaching for pliers or wax. Saves a lot of time but you wouldn't want to do that with a $20 handle. (Check the needle marks on these awls.)

Looks like they make a nice consistent patten, and the steel looks chunky enough to hold up to a lot of use. Good job!

I was going to say that it doesn't take long to make one and it's useful if you don't have the right sized "proper" iron. And those ones in the photo have been languishing at the bottom of a box marked "Misc." For a long time. (As evidenced by the rust!) But I have just realised that my 1/2 no 8 that I use quite a lot is one that I made when my original one went walkies with a work experience girl.

Measured and marked the spacing I was after, sawed the slots and hand filed the angled with a three square file. It helps if you take the teeth off one flat of the file so it can run along the one tine as a guide while you file the angle on the next one. I'm pretty sure that this is how the Blanchard irons are still made. (Prob with machine cut slots?) And I know that Dixon hand filed their irons right to the bitter end.

I've made pricking irons in the past, mainly for restoration work with weird stitch lengths. I think these are from a piece of gauge plate which works well because it's easily hardenable.

Oh sorry, you biting satire was clearly too clever for me.

EPA?

My favourite handles are the small Blanchard ones, they are cheap, have a narrow ferrule to get into fiddly spots, and I like the way the flats sit consistently in my hand. Personally, I don't understand why handles with chucks are so popular. I'd rather have my tools set up and ready to go than spend more on something I have to keep fiddling with. Also beautiful as some of the handles I've seen are, when I did my apprenticeship we were taught to push a sticky needle through with the wood rather than pick up pliers. Over the course of a day it saves so much time if you're not constantly switching tools over. Here's a photo of a Blanchard handle with a Saddler's handle from Abbey. (You can see where I use the wood to push needle in a way I wouldn't want to if it was made of something precious and cost 20X more!)

No it's not. 3mm is just under 8 1/2 to the inch, 4mm is about 6 1/3, and 5mm is close enough to 5 to the Inch that it makes no difference.

I'm sure the plough gauge is Dixon's. I have an absolutely identical one of a similar vintage marked Dixon. No idea on the punch though.

Is it just me who really enjoys opening a delivery from Blanchard? I know it's just a few punches and a present for a girl who's been doing some work-experience, but always look forward to a big brown box arriving from France.