Klara

Just wanted to say that if you are able to calculate angles and saw them correctly, then a French style stitching clam is easy enough to make. Just "steal" the shape from a picture and create it out of straight oieces of wood. Then all you need is wood glue, some screws and a hinge. (If, like me, you have problems with geometry and precision sawing, it will take a bit of fiddling with saw and file, but you will still get a useable clamp, just spend mire time.)

I think whether one will be happy with second-hand tools depends on ones sharpening skills. And whereas I'm capable of keeping the edge on a new tool, at least for a while, I've found out with a handful of scissors from a thrift shop that a ruined edge is a very different thing. Ian Atkinson, linked above, goes so far as to recommend tools with disposable blades for beginners. (Doesn't mention a stitching pony either, in his list of 25 indispensable tools, but a battery-powered thingy for zapping threads...)

It's not in my profile, but I've been passionate about horses for something like 50 years, an active rider for most of that (English and Western) and my horse is almost 31. And honestly, the very last thing I want to see is rusty hardware on my saddles and tack! Or even hardware that is at risk of rusting (solid brass and stainless steel are the way to go). Even for my dog leashes and collars I use stainless steel whenever possible. The way I see it there is strictly no point in spending time and effort on cleaning up rusty buckles, unless you want to fill a museum. fredk's idea of taking everything and sorting through at your leasure is a good one if you think you'll actually do it (l'm speaking as somebody who spent most of last summer sorting through her farm and throwing things out. After 20 years...)

Really nice! Now I think I need one, too...

I agree with the saddle soap. With regards to keeping the old tack: Do you think you will ever want to make something like this? AND do you have the storage space to easily keep it? Because I think that traditional harness making is still alive; people all over the world are still working with horses. Meaning there is also a lot of material around to copy and there is probably no need for this heap of stuff (unless there's something really unusual in there, but we don't know...)

Great work! How did you get the stirrups to hang that way? I'm not even thinking about saddle making but I'm hoping it's something that can be done to bought saddles...

Nobody has mentioned a stitching pony, which I consider essential. It's easy and cheap to make, if one has a workshop with the necessary bits and pieces lying around. Living on the road probably less so, and it'll take a lot of storage space...

I have a similar problem and an idea: Would a magnetic knife holder (the things normally on kitchen walls) work for the cutting tools?

And another one. I took the first one apart, kept the leather with the rings sewn on, changed its shape to that from the second, and glued some lamb nappa(?) on the outside and thin leather from my stock on the inside, with the edges folded over and glued. Then I sewed the edges together around the middle layer. The stitching is spotty because I plied and cabled some metallic goldeb thread with the red one. I wanted a golden seam around the edge, but the thread as is is far from solid enough. Oh well, if the red leather stands up to wear, I'll try something else next time...

I hope this response finds you for I think I've just seen the answer to your problem: As for the general topic: I'm working with wool semi-professionally. When I started out I went tool-crazy - always looking for a better spindle, a better spinning wheel... Then I learnt that my brain and hands are the most important thing and now I mostly agree with the OP. The problem is just how to recognise the difference between cheap-but-serviceable tools and useless crap. johnv474 mentioned guitars - there's low cost functioning guitars, and there's vaguely guitar-shaped objects that are impossible to play because the frets are too high or too low or the tuning won't hold or they have other technical defects. My first leather tools I bought from Amazon. 4 chisels (or pricking irons? By the time the description is translated into French it is incomprehensible) at half the price of a very similar-looking product in the local leather shop, a handle for groover and 3 edge bevelers and a burnisher. My logic was "What can go wrong with making chisels?" and they were what I wanted most. That the groover works - and pretty decently, after I honed it following JH Hall's video - was a nice surprise. I haven't had much luck with the edge bevelers so far, but I don't use veg tanned leather at the moment, I believe. The Vergez Blanchard awl blade, however, I bought in the shop and it's a world of difference with the old one (ouch!) AND a lot cheaper than a complete no-name awl from elsewhere (had the handle). The same shop also sold me a cheap knife - I'll see whether I'll be able to keep it sharp. If not then I prefer to ruin a 20-Euro knife rather than an expensive one... (strop is already made). And I figure that's what I need for the moment (plus leather, thread, glue, needles... of course) By the way, does anybody know why saddler's needles are sold in packs of 25?

I believe I have seen them, I looked through most of the dog collar threads. But most tooling doesn't really appeal to me. Fortunately, as that means that for the moment I can concentrate on cutting and sewing and possibly riveting (That said, I am already beginning to wonder how to get a borzoi motiv on a collar, so who knows what will happen...)

I'm not sure whether there is anything rubber that can hold a borzoi that wants to get away. And quick release is not the main point. But still, we might be getting somewhere... Let's imagine the (end of the) lead was a solid strip of leather. With a slit at it at the very end and a toggle sown to the leather a bit higher up. Then I could pull the slit through the ring on the collar and "button" it to the toggle. And then probably the slit would tear when the dog pulls really hard? Maybe a button (or a knot?) at the very end of the strip of leather and a leather strip/ring around both parts of the loop (pretty much like the pelican hook)??? Thanks, toxo, you've given me ideas to think about. I'll experiment (lots of time over the next month or two, we have another lockdown) and let you know the result!

Thanks, but that's still metal. And probably too heavy for my purposes, if it's used on boats... I'm thinking about knots, loops, toggles (just thought of them right now, might that lead somewhere?)...

Thanks to a mention here in the forums I've already found lure coursing collars. I think they are a brilliant idea and I just ordered the D rings to make some. But they are not for taking the dog on a walk. Well, I suppose one could, but then one would have to take off the collar to release the dog and I've learned the hard way that it's easier to grab a dog if it is wearing a collar (or harness). I have a short lead that has simply a loop at one end and I pull the other end through to attach the lead to the collar, but that is a short lead. I'm looking for a brilliant idea for leads of 3 m and more... But I think there is just no way guess the various snap hooks have been invented for a reason.

Might be true for dogs, sighthounds are more difficult. Rika does complain about collars with things hanging from them - no way she would happily wear one with tassels (which I think beautiful); she doesn't even like snap hooks. Does anybody have an idea for an alternative? The quick release and attaching of a snaphook, without the hook? I've thought about knots, but I'm very doubtful whether I'll be able to hold on to a straining 70 pounds with one hand while I tie a knot with the other...

And a second collar. Found (and sharpened) an awl, made a stitching pony, bought some cheap pricking irons/chisels and groover, and 3/4 around after 3 broken threads I realised I really had to ply it. On the dog it looks okay, but I guess I need to invest in a decent tool for skiving. And I'd really like to try a French-style clam (which of course I need to make first...)

I have watched a few of JHHall's videos and she makes padded dog collars on a flat surface and it works. Whereas when I hold two pieces of leather together while lying flat and then bend them into a cylinder, the inner piece is too long, which I find perfectly logical. So I wonder whether it would be better to glue the pieces together while bent and punch the holes (still missing an awl for true saddle stitch) while the collar is resting on half of a piece of round wood. Does anybody do it that way?

Here's the first leather collar. Made with household tools (but I hadn't yet heard about using a fork to mark stitches). As I said, ugly, but Rika doesn't care... And the leather is nice and soft.

Hi, I feel I should apologise for intruding I don't know whether I even want to be a leatherworker (I'll certainly never reach the skill level of some of you), I do know that my Borzoi needs collars! Collars that I can't buy locally... So far I have woven them (I'm a spinner, weaver, dyer with my own sheep) but I want to branch out into leather. The first collar turned out ugly, but it is functional and the dog likes it. And the total cost was zero, as I have some leather lying around that I bought ages ago for making soles for indoor slippers before I realised nobody here wanted to buy knitted slippers. The leather is probably garment leather (got scraps from a wholesaler) and I've realised that it's not what is generally used for dog collars and video tutorials don't really apply, but as the French say: "On fait ce qu'on peut avec ce qu'on a" (you do what you can with what you have). I have an idea for the second collar (and a curve ruler, which makes all the difference) but also a question, which I will ask in the dog collar forum.