Finally Made My Own Stitching Pony

[Horrrk]

lwn803 really like your pony. Was wonder if you could tell me what you used for the "clamp or what some use a bolt". Looks like you have a lever style handle to clamp the jaws.

The clamp lwm used is this one..

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10602

Hope that helps..

Regards

Phil

[lwm803]

lwn803 really like your pony. Was wonder if you could tell me what you used for the "clamp or what some use a bolt". Looks like you have a lever style handle to clamp the jaws.

Thanks, based on the limited use so far the pony seems to work very well. The clamp nut, as Phil replied, is from Rockler.com, other than that I just used a 5/16" carriage bolt. It is a cam action lever nut that I already had laying around the shop, I use two of the same clamp nuts to position/hold the fence on my drill press.

[RedFlag]

New member to this forum. Had a go at leatherworking a few years ago when a shoemaker friend gave some scraps. I didn't have a stiching pony then, and found I needed more hands than I had available. Finally got round to re-starting this hobby and knew the main tool I needed was a stiching pony. Started work on one today based on the tips in this thread. I've managed to finish most of the construction and hope to finish it off tomorrow. When it is done I will try to upload a photo.

Thanks for all the tips and advice.

Edited July 6, 2013 by RedFlag

[Renoir]

I recently made my own pony too

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56285539@N06/sets/72157635258004549/

Adding a couple of foam blocks (I grabbed some of my wife's cosmetic foam wedges) gives a really handy place to shove the needles when pausing. I also drilled a 4mm hole and padded with foam to put the awl somewhere.

I had the 'catching' problem with the thread loop - a large spare needle shoved in at an angle fixed it.

Interesting to see all the variations!

[kellysomer]

This is my first post on this site, so hello from Hampshire, England. I couldn't resist replying to say thanks so much for this tutorial, this is the first thing i have made in wood since school, and that was 16 years ago! It turned out lovely, not quite as tidy as the original one posted but it works and its not bad for a girl!!

Thanks again.

Edited September 8, 2013 by kellysomer

[Macca]

nice job everyone ! (esp. for a girl )

I've got a growing collection of pony's (mostly very old), will have to post them up, might give people some more ideas

[Sona]

Actually there seem to be a lot (!) of people building their own clamps. i like that ^^.

And like Macca said: Nice job! (Does it matter if it´s a boy(man or a girl/woman?)

@Macca: I´d be very interested in such a collection as I build my own clamp some weeks ago and thought about some other forms to fit other needs while stitching. I´ll look forward to such a thread ^^.

[Macca]

finally back home long enough to take some pictures

first off, a very old French one (use between the legs type)

has seen a lot of use !

Next up, a German one

mounts to a bench, using a ball joint allows you to angle this any way you like

Uses a kind of leaf spring (tension can be adjusted) to clamp, works very, very well this one

Next the one I use, another German one, very comfortable to use (another between the legs type)

Finally, another German one, picked this up recently for next to nothing, rock solid, large clamp set at a nice angle, can already tell this will be my most used, very comfortable using it

I have some more, but would need to dig them out

I notice almost all of you use clamps at 90 degrees, have you tried angled ones ? I find it much easier to keep the awl angle consistent working at an angle, 90 degree just annoys me !

[Fowlingpiece]

Hi Macca,

Some nice pieces.

I personally use mine straight up in the English manner as it was how I was taught and what I am used to. I think the angled style to be more continental in origin and use.

[Sona]

Thx a lot for sharing Macca,

you got some really nice clamps for sure. I thought about such a stitching horse (the one to sit on), but actually most you can get on ebay and similar sites are still in the range of 200 and more (in addition, I got no space for it at home ^^). But I believe they might be very comfortable to use. It looks like it´s made out of pine (at least the part to sit on. the clamp isn´t that clear). Do you know how old it is? I would have thought of a different material to use...

The spring leaf on the german one looks really nice. I didn´t think of such a solution at all, but it won´t affect the space between the jaws which was kind of a downgrade of other clamps using this springs right between the jaws, because sometimes you might want to stitch quite large stuff where this litle piece is just annoying...

I found a new (to me) kind of a clamp used by shoemakers. It´s quite small and hold between your legs, too but it has also a 90° angle while working. Therefore it´s really handy and nice for traveling I think.

http://www.ckuit.de/bilder/gross/05.jpg (the thing above the shoe)

Personally I like to work in the angled way, but I think it depends on what you are stitching. The 90°-way might be more interesting for other reasons... I don´t know, but I want to figure it out (and therefore I need more ponies *laugh*).