A Saddlers Stitching Horse

[antiquecowboy]

I'm brand new around here. Just now in the process of restarting my Leather Shop after a few years of what most folks consider being "semi-retired"... though... I never truly quit working. I just found, I'd thought, a way I could work less hard... Economics and a desire to eat has pushed me to take on the more common labors required to keep beans in the pantry.

I ran my own custom leather shop for a numer of years primarily building gun leather for the cowboy action shooting market.

So... as I work at gearing up a fresh shop I was needful of building a new stitching horse... since I'd given the last one I built away...

I've been publishing mostly Western Fiction on Amazon and such the last few years... and that gave me an idea. I've seen folks hunting around for "Plans" and such for Stitching Horses. I'm curious if an Ebook for the building of this particular design might find a bit of popularity? I was thinking a price of $2.99 or so would be fair? with full list of tools, parts list and a goodly number of photographs and descriptions/directions showing how to put it together?

I'm hoping this is the right forum to place this post, as it is only an enquiry... I appologize to the administrators if it is not.

Your comments about the need or desire for such a publication is most appreciated.

[Hi Im Joe]

That is awesome.

[King's X]

Welcome to the forum. Bring it on....I believe that your idea and price would be of interest to many on this forum and elsewhere. It looks like a solidly built horse. I know that the extended jaw would help quite a few folks. Good luck!

[LTC]

there are plenty of free plans and videos out there so i wouldn't pay anything for it. i'm sure people that don't know about all the free plans and instructions will pay though. just not me. i'm not cheap i'm just a disabled vet with very little income.

[JAM]

Sounds terrific - and my KindleFire is chock full of eBooks that are $2.99. That's the perfect (and standard) price, and I'd pay that in a heartbeat to add another useful eBook to my bookaholic's eLibrary.

I'm curious, though - does it rely on just spring pressure to keep is closed? Because I've got a similar one that ratchets closed, and I find that I have to lock those jaws together pretty tightly to hold a skirt in place, especially when it's not centered and its weight pulls it over.

Edited April 10, 2014 by JAM

[Trox]

I have seen many different saddler horse designs, and I like parts of your design. However, the spring as the only locking device.... it will not work for heavy stuff. If you added another wheeled lever on the opposite side; that locked the jaws. Then you would have something that might work well.

Tor

[antiquecowboy]

hmmmm... the springs won't work? Not my first rodeo...

I didin't have any skirts laying about... Did have my old shop album full of pictures of what I'd built... seems to hold it up ok... so then... I got curious... and picked up an unused plank I built the horse out of... now that pine was slick so I had to put a couple pieces of leather alongside it for the jaws to get traction...

... but... if your skirts are heavier than that?... Having rode a lot of leather off a tree chasin' cows... I'd suggest for the horses sake... build those suckers a mite lighter... and I didn't use the strongest springs available...

Truth be known, I changed the hinge on the jaw... That's the one place I've had trouble... finding a hinge that wasn't so sloppy.

[WyomingSlick]

LOL I don't think Leatherworker realized that there were TWO springs !

[keplerts]

I'd buy it. In fact I love the design. The deep throat would be awesome when sewing saddle skirts. Let me know when your plans are available.

Thanks,

Tom

[Mike 257]

I would be interested in buying one of these . Would be great if you could break one down and sell it as a kit .

[Trox]

Take your awl and push true that pine Wood without supporting the jaws. If the Woods still do not move it would work. Its not the matter of holding the weight alone. Do some real time testing and you will soon see what we are talking about. Good luck

Tor

[antiquecowboy]

The movable jaw is the right hand jaw. The awl is held in your right hand pushing against the left hand - FIXED - jaw. That jaw ain't movin'. I could see if the thing was MIS-built and the movable jaw was the left hand. Then, even a leather strap does a poor job. You would be pushing against the movable jaw. This horse is NOT that way.

Take Time testing? I'm coming 62... lost count of the hours I've spent sitting on a stitching horse, sewing on skirts, fenders, heavy belts, heavy albums, heavy halters... I've got a fairly solid grasp of what works and what doesn't.

You don't believe this is a good design. That's ok. No worries.

[Trox]

If you read my post, I like your design part from the spring. It would not work for me. Sometimes i need the jaws to press hard, other times not. I thought you wanted some inputs? If you want sell it, you can add it to the " for sale" section.

Thanks

Tor

[WyomingSlick]

I, too. was wondering about the feasibility of the spring.

And, I was thinking that using shorter springs, and having a wingnut adjustment for spring tension would be a good modification that would allow one to adjust the holding pressure at the jaws.

Overall, I think your design is a good one. A very good feature is that it could be built with only hand tools and a fair amount of woodworking skills, using readily available materials from any decent lumber yard, or Home Depot type store. Your plans would be worth the money just in the amount of time they would save in compiling a bill of materials.

Speaking of money, the price you are thinking may be too low. I am assuming that you will be marketing this as a e-book ( PDF file ? ) since it would certainly not be a feasible to print and mail hard copy at such a low price. If you would like to send me a copy, I would be glad to look it over and make suggestions from a "fresh eye" regarding any improvements, or need for clarity.

[highnoonhunter]

I love this design, and I think it would work fine. There's a lot of leverage there in my opinion to have plenty holding power.

I want the plans!!!! PLEASE! Where do I send the money?????????

[antiquecowboy]

I've been getting sidetracked to unrelated tasks... In response to a couple of comments I made a minor adjustment to the design... I changed out the outboard eyebolts holding the springs to an easily set up mechanism using modified thumbscrews and wing nuts. The tension can now be adjusted from near zero pressure to more than should ever be required.

I'm working on putting the whole deal into an e-published document... which when finished will be available online and I'll likely put a notice in the proper forum on this board...

[Steve75]

I like the design of your stitching horse. Have been able to get the plans published as an e-document? If you have could please let us know, as I would like to get a copy of the plans.