Mulesaw

In Denmark it used to be that each small town would have its own "gilde" for each profession. Pronounced very similar to the English "guild" (I guess it is actually the same word) Later on another word called "laug" was used. But the basic operating principles were the same. You had to prove that you were capable of doing work that would live up to the standards of the guild, and (probably more important) the guild would set its own rules for how many masters of there could be within the local area of the guild. The latter was so that you had a way of making sure that there was enough work for those who were already established, so they would be able to make a living. Traditionally they would also work as a social security system for e.g widows of diseased members of the guild. So you would pay a fee (monthly or yearly) to the guild, and some of those funds would be used to provide for those in need who were connected in some way with the local guild. I would love to take some pictures of some of the illustrations of the book to back up my endorsement of it, but I couldn't find any descriptions of the policy regarding that on the homepage of the printing house. So I don't want to get in trouble with any copyright here, so you just have to take my word for it. I got the deluxe version of the book, but there's also a paperback version. I just happen to like a nice looking book, and I like to support a business that try to keep small crafts like bookbinding alive in Europe. But I am pretty sure that the content of the books is the same. So far I have started making a halter using a plan from the book. It is a bit different those that I have made before in that there is also a band for the forehead of the horse. Which I have never seen on halters, but only on a headstall. There's also plans for a side saddle which could be fun to make at some point :-)

Good idea, and thanks :-)

After searching for books about saddle making, I tried to do a similar search in German. And I found an impressive book called "Das Sattler Riemer und Täschner Handwerk" The book is from a small printing house called Fines Mundi from Germany. And it is a 100% copy of the original book which was published in Berlin in 1908. The author is Karl Vollmer, who was an old master saddle maker from Mannheim. There are 691 pages from the first edition, and an additional 40 pages that were included in the second edition of the book. Coupled with 1046 illustrations it is an impressive piece of work. It seems as the original book was supplied with some full size plans for a couple of the things, but sadly these are not part of the book anymore, I guess that the printing house haven't found anyone who has actually kept these full size plans. Not surprisingly, a large part of the book is about horse related work, but it is not limited to saddles and headstalls. There are theoretic chapters about the horse and the physiology of the animal, a chapter on making fancy work for parade draft horses, a chapter on everyday working gear for horse. Various plans for specific military gear depending if your were to make a breastplate or a headstall for a Hussar officer or a regular infantry officer. And the list goes on and on. Wagon building is covered too, though it is is noted that it should happen in collaboration with the blacksmith and the regular coach builder. But the upholstery is described in detail, as is the choice and method of painting the wagon. The modern invention automobile is also mentioned as something that can provide a bit of work both on items like leather goggle and again upholstery. It seems as the author really wanted to convey all his years of wisdom to someone who wanted to start out on their own, so the economics of a saddle making business is discussed in a separate chapter, and then an entire chapter is devoted to examples of letters that you might have to write as a business owner. Letters of announcing that you are opening shop, letters to offer your services to prospective buyers. Letters to people who owe you money etc. The only drawback to the book in my opinion is that it is printed in gothic style letters. that makes it a bit hard to read until you become accustomed to them which takes a little while. The book is also written in German which might be a deal breaker to some. When I bought it, the shipping was much slower than anticipated, but I might not be the most patient guy when it comes to waiting on books and stuff that I have ordered. Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Fines Mundi or the author, and I did not receive any discount or special treatment for writing this post. I just figure that in this forum there might be one or two people who could appreciate to learn about the existence of an interesting book from a master saddler.

You make it sound easy :-) I will try to see if I can improve my pictures But after looking at the pictures I think I understand what you mean. Cheers Jonas

@Klara Thanks for the nice comment :-) I also think that the time in quarantine was very well spent making the outfit for the horse, and especially since it now fits the horse like a glove. Thanks for the tip on the photo, though I am pretty sure that I will have forgotten the advice next time I need to take a picture. I have come to the conclusion and understanding that taking pictures is not my strongest suit. :-) Brgds Jonas

Here's a bit of update on the Covid quarantine breastplate: After getting the breastplate home, Gustav tested it on the horse, only to discover that my measurements had been a bit off.. So a few of the individual pieces were too long, so the breastplate sat sluggishly on the horse. Also Gustav said that he had expected me to make a martingale that would match the colour of the leather. Apparently you can't use a black martingale if the breastplate is brown.. This time at home I pulled myself together and shortened up the needed pieces, which included the small padded piece that goes over the neck of the horse. I also made a martingale that was accepted using the same leather as the breastplate. I forgot to take some pictures of the process of making the martingale, but I discovered that it was much more difficult than what I had expected to make one. I simply copied the same basic design as the regular black martingale that was used with the old breastplate. Caj (horse) and Gustav (son) I suck at taking pictures, so Caj look smaller than he is. He measures 172 cm (17 hands)

That was also my first thought, but since they had a bunch of nice looking buckles, rivets karabiners etc. on the picture, I thought that they already had that in their portfolio, but I guess that I am easily fooled I might be a tad negative here, but if you first show a picture of stuff that you boast about selling, and then your own homepage which they supply a link for doesn't show half of what the picture does - well then I have a hard time thinking it is a serious company. Too bad actually, since much of the stuff on the picture looks nice and well made. But I just wonder if they have taken a picture of someone else's products? Brgds Jonas (who is not negative - just a bit puzzled )

I am interested in saddlery parts, but when I looked at your homepage that you link to, I was unable to find a single buckle for a belt. I even tried your search function, but no success. Do you have a link to existing saddlery hardware such as halter rings, brass buckles for headstalls etc? Also on this page you show rivets, I am unable to find them at your homepage, again searching for them does not help. Brgds Jonas

Hi Frodo I would guess that it is a size 3 mm (M3) My guess is purely based on that I not long ago fixed a broken motorcycle side bag which had a similar looking attachment for the buckle, and that was M3. If you measure the outside of the small screws, that should give you an idea too. If it is M3, they will measure very close to 3 mm outside, and the distance between each thread is 0.5 mm, so over a length of 4 mm there should be 8 "tops" Instead of investing in a tap which you might never use again, you could see if you could source a 3 mm steel screw. Then with a triangular needle file, you make a notch so that the screw will resemble a regular cutting tap. you can then use it to clear the threads for coating, but it isn't the best solution. Hope any of this helped.

@Klara Thanks for the nice words, and if you find that you need another piece of furniture in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me :-) As far as I can remember from the top of my head, my stitching horse has approximately 20 cm (8") from the tip of the jaws to where the leather strap passes through the clamp, so technically very large projects can't fit in this one either. But I guess it would work for most projects since it follows those old plans. But I think I'll try to think about how to eventually make a clamp that looks good and will allow use of the full depth. Just to keep my mind occupied. Brgds Jonas

@Rbarleatherworks Thanks for the kind words :-) Like Klara says, the idea behind the angled clamp is that it should make it easier to work on. This particular one is made for right handed people, and if it was canted the other way it would work better for left handed people. I just followed the design as it was given in the old book, but I figured that the old-timers probably knew what they were doing, so I didn't see any reason to try and change something unless I was certain it would be better. :-) Brgds Jonas

@AzShooter Thanks for the very kind words. I almost feel guilty from admitting that for the first two days after building it, I couldn't walk past it without trying to sit on it and playing with the lever mechanism and mounting all sorts of pieces of leather in and out of the clamp :-) Brgds Jonas

@JayEhl Thanks for the nice words, I blame the missing beer can holder on the original drawings. Though I have to admit that I ought to have spotted that obvious mistake :-) Brgds Jonas

"Ditto to what others have been saying, a taller bench is nice in my opinion, especially if you can raise the stool up. I was going to suggest that you put the granite plate above a leg, but then I realized that you wrote a 9' piece !! (I had imagined a 9" piece in my head) That is going to be one "heckuva" tabletop!

No problem at all :-) I was curious as if you had the idea to some other holding system that could be nice to have. Such as a grab-strap that would enable moving the entire stitching horse or something like that. Cheers Jonas

@toxo Thanks for the nice comment. I am not quite sure if I understand what you mean about the grab below the seat. The foot operated lever holds the leather strap, and the lever itself is held in place by the sawtooth shaped retainer and the curved edge piece (for lack of a better word) it is what I tried to capture in picture No 2. So you don't have to keep your foot on it for holding the piece you are working on. You just press the lever down and engage it in one of the saw gullets that will correspond to the desired holding power and thickness of the material. Were you thinking of some other type of holding system ? Brgds Jonas

@laleyendabizzness Thanks, The idea of making one or two for selling has crossed my mind, but I am afraid that shipping from Denmark would be fairly expensive. But I could see at my local leather shop (Laederiet), that they had a deluxe version that was almost 900 $, and honestly it didn't look quite as good I think. @PastorBob Thanks for the very nice words on the stitching horse. The mortise and tenon joints look good and are much stronger than the original suggested screwed connections, the only problem is that it means that all joints will have to come together at the same time! I have to admit that fitting 4 legs in sockets and 8 mortise and tenon joints for the stretchers all at the same time was stressful to me. But challenging yourself once in a while doesn't hurt (hopefully).

@Bawarrior Thanks, I have been very active in woodworking for almost 20 years, so stuff like this is easier for me to do than e.g. do a basket weave :-) @bland Thank you very much :-)

@battlemunky Thanks, I just need to find out where to put it :-) @tsunkasapa Thanks, the plans in that little gem of a book are great, I especially like that the nice shape of the seat.

@YinTx Thanks for the nice words :-) @fredk Thanks, you are much too kind :-) @chuck123wapati Thanks, I can't compete with you in making of nice looking awls, so I had to think of something else :-)

After thinking about building a stitching horse from the old Farm Woodwork book for about half a year, I found the time this home period. I had made the hardware while I was on the ship last time, so there was only the fun woodwork part left. The stitching horse follows the plans according to measurements, but I have made a sturdier frame by substituting the screwed connections for the stretchers with drawbored mortises and tenons. Likewise for the legs which are now taken through the seat and wedged in place. The seat is made out of discoloured beechwood which I think ads a bit character to an otherwise fairly dull wood. The legs and stretchers are made from ash, the clamp is made from elm and the foot operated lever is made from sycamore. Now I just need to come up with a project that will give me an excuse for using the darn thing :-)

@Constabulary Thanks a lot. This is perfect. I can see now that all my previous attempts were wrong :-) Best regards Jonas

@Constabulary Sorry, I forgot to post some pictures in the heat of the battle :-) I was frustrated that I couldn't figure it out. The machine seems to be a bit older than the 7-33 that I was able to find a threading instruction for. There is a regular tension device with two discs at the upper part of the machine, at the bottom of the end there is something that looks like a tension device, but it is just a pulley that is held in place by the spring. The hairpin spring is what puzzles me, I am not quite sure when the thread should go through that one. I messed around a bit and made it sew, but it jumped off the lower pulley after sewing for a bit (It did make a nice stitch with even tension on the upper and lower thread) I also tried another routing of the thread, and that gave a lot of tension on the upper thread compared to the lower thread. I suppose that I could also tighten the lower thread, but I figured that it was best to make sure that I had the other things correct before starting with that. Brgds Jonas

I managed to buy a Singer class 7 machine last week. The machine is a 7H501 built in 1905 according to the serial number. The machine is in good condition, being stored in a heated shop for the last 20 years or so. I have cleaned all the bearing points and the sliding surfaces and given it a good oiling. It runs very smooth and I have made it sew, but the upper thread pulls too hard on the lower thread , and I am not sure that I have threaded it correctly. Does anyone have a manual or a similar machine that they can take a picture of so I can see the routing of the upper thread through the tension devices? Thanks in advance

Great build! And a great use of an old sewing machine too. Brgds Jonas