Scrapheap Stitching Horse

[Bob Hensley]

What a great looking stitching horse! I am in the "finding out how i want to do it" phase of building one of these, and I have a question - how does this locking/clamping mechanism work???

I am generally pretty good at working out machinery, but something about this has me stumped. I have looked at the photos, back and forth, over and over, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how pulling the bottom edge of the jaw you want to clamp in the direction you want the top to go is going to close it! At least that is what appears to me to be happening when you press the foot bar - the belt over the roller pulls that harness mechanism to the right, which should OPEN the jaw the way it is hinged, right?

Please help me understand this - I know I am missing something, but I will have to ask, I cannot seem to picture this in my head.

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

[MUKE]

this chair seating must be very comfortanble

[impulse]

What a great looking stitching horse! I am in the "finding out how i want to do it" phase of building one of these, and I have a question - how does this locking/clamping mechanism work???

I am generally pretty good at working out machinery, but something about this has me stumped. I have looked at the photos, back and forth, over and over, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how pulling the bottom edge of the jaw you want to clamp in the direction you want the top to go is going to close it! At least that is what appears to me to be happening when you press the foot bar - the belt over the roller pulls that harness mechanism to the right, which should OPEN the jaw the way it is hinged, right?

Please help me understand this - I know I am missing something, but I will have to ask, I cannot seem to picture this in my head.

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

Sorry for the delayed reply Bob. I have added more detail of the closing mechanism. One side of the jaws is fixed, whilst the other is hinged. A spring across the bottoms of the jaws holds it open when the foot bar is released. The leather strap is fixed to the left leg, then over the roller and down to the foot bar. The bracket holding the roller acts as a fulcrum, thus downward pressure on the foot bar pulls the roller downwards and firmly shuts the jaws together and locks in the "teeth" on the right leg. I just used some angle iron and my trusty angle grinder to make the teeth.

Hope this is clear.

Lois

[Bob Hensley]

Thanks for the added photos, now I can see it. I couldn't tell that the spring was a spring in the earlier pics, and couldn't tell the roller was part of a fulcrum, altho I sure hoped it was! A very ingenious mechanism, thanks again!

[impulse]

Thanks for the added photos, now I can see it. I couldn't tell that the spring was a spring in the earlier pics, and couldn't tell the roller was part of a fulcrum, altho I sure hoped it was! A very ingenious mechanism, thanks again!

That's fine, Bob - have fun building!

My idea behind this mechanism was to allow for bigger items to be stitched. The familiar strap-thru-the-jaws closure limits the depth of the work being held.

Lois

[prc77ro]

Thats an incredible design, and looks VERY sturdy.

[Doc Reaper]

100 years from now folks will be on here asking who made this art piece, which is really awesome! Sign your work and date it!

[AndyH]

Very nice job! Mine is of plywood scraps given to me by my cabinet-maker friend- it cost about the same but nowhere near as ingenious as yours! A beautiful piece of work.