New stitching horse

[JamesR]

I think I posted this thread in the wrong forum, I hope it belongs here.

My stitching horse is completed at last.

It is made of white ash and oak with maple lined jaws.

I used a clamping mechanism from an old woodworking clamp.

It uses an acme threaded screw and produces more clamping pressure than I need.

The whole assembly is mounted on a mini workbench/seat with an inlaid cutting surface on top.

It was purposely mounted off center so I could stab my holes easier ( I am lefthanded).

If can be reversed for a righthander.

The bench is quite heavy (2.5 inch top and bottom), has a low center of gravity and is not the least bit tippy.

I wanted something I could use in my living room so I glued hard felt pads to the bottom to protect the floors. It slides around quite easily. The cutting strip is for an occasional cut or two. I only need to make a seat pad for the top.

I angled the side blocks upward and set the clamp handle off to the side to prevent the thread from snagging while stitching.

I put the pivot point for the jaws below the seat top so as to increase the throat depth. It is 12 inches from the clamp screw to the top of the jaws. I thought it might be useful?

I also used hard felt to line the jaws. It has a rough surface but is soft and does not damage the work. It holds the work quite well with moderate clamping pressure.

Please critique and let me know if I should have done things differently. Feel free to let me know what you think.

Thank You

Jim

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[JohnD]

Nice job. I need to get around to making one of those myself. Thanks for posting the pics, I always like to see the tools people make for themselves.

John

[Pharmguy]

Hey I like the design. I'm procrastinating making one still. I like the felt idea and using the old wood clamp is pretty clever.