Cantle Binding stitching helper

[bruce johnson]

Some of you on another leather list have no doubt read about this. A guy was using a jerk needle and ran it through into his waiting finger on the bottom side. He had to call some friends to get him unhooked from the saddle, and then to emergency to have the jerk needle removed from his finger. I had sent this guy one of my cantle binding helper things a few years ago. He usually used it, but didn't here.

I am attaching pics of this deal. I never really liked beating up a tickler pushing a binding up, broke the awl tip occasionally on the small hammer handle, and tacks caught thread and were a pain. I made this deal up out of scrap LDPE cutting board. I cut it with a jig saw and shaped it and rounded over edges with a benchtop belt sander and a Dremel. The bottom is angled to really push up into the crease. The slot gives a place for the awl to come through without embedding into something. They really don't take long to make - 10 minutes maybe. I've done about a dozen and mostly given them away to guys who asked what "that" was on the wall. One guy has added a wrist loop to just drop it to pull thread, and flip it up into his hand to use it. Saves time picking it up.

[Don101]

Now that is a neat idea, Don

[TrooperChuck]

Wow! I never stopped to think about what would happen if one of those things went through my finger. Ouch!

Thanks for the safety tip. I'm gonna make one of those things right away.

[StolpSaddles]

I like it. Better than the wine cork I have been useing

[bruce johnson]

Yeah, I like them. I have since made a narrow "single toe" model to get down into the cantle corners. I still laugh thinking about him sewing a cantle and burying the jerk needle barb through it and into his finger on the bottom. That had to be some good watching, and he seemed to have sense of humor about it. You know those stories that always start out, "You'll never believe what happened to ol'........". I ought to get him to join here, he even had the foresight to have pictures taken.

[MT3Geiger]

My dad did this exact thing while hand stitching a sole to a welt on a pecos workboot. Wasn't paying attention to where his fingers were, as he was stitching a tricky section of toe.

His method of extraction was to use the side of the workbench as a backstop while he leaned on the awl handle to push the needle through the rest of his finger & then cut the tip/barb off to pull it back out the way it came.

Pretty impressive as he only had a few grunts as a response while he did it & it went through pretty much the middle of the finger. I don't know that I would have had the fortitude to do that. This stitching helper seems like a much better solution. :-)

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

In all the years that I have been stitching cantle bindings, I have been lucky enough not to stick myself, (not to say that I have haven't stuck my self other ways!), but: I decided to try your helper tool when it came up here before, and it really works well. I made mine with a piece of hickory handle and added a thong to keep it on my wrist. That way after the needle is through, I can drop it and concentrate on the stitch. The key is that it is a real help getting the stitches the same angle and making the over all apearence uniform and straight from stitch to stitch. I hate to see nicely made saddles where the maker took a short cut to stitching the cantle. It just kills the look of a good saddle.

Bondo Bob

[SecondChances]

The photos no longer work. I am looking to repair the stitching on the cantle of an older model Western saddle where it has come undone. I am assuming this tool would be helpful for this particular task? If not, is there someone knowledgable in this subject matter who would be so kind as provide me with guidance?

[oldtimer]

What an excellent tool. I´m gonna make me one tomorrow! Thank´s Bruce

[SecondChances]

Am I the only one who is having problems getting the photos to pull up?

[oltoot]

I too have a stitch story, happened in Alpine, TX over 50 yrs ago. The forerunner of Big Bend Saddlery was Alpine Saddlery. We used a Landis 16 which had a reputation for locking a tight stitch under a variety of conditions. The then owner was having to learn everything from scratch and when the most senior saddlemaker said he was ready to sew things on the machine, he bounded gleefully to the little semi private alcove where the machine was to see if there was anything waiting there to be sewn. sure enough there was a flank cinch there so he picked up a billet to start with and waded in. Pretty quick he came back out into the common area heading for his mentor. He said "I think we need to work on stopping and turning a little more as he had been unable to get stopped for the turn at the point and run off the end, locking three stitches up the web between thumb and index finger perfectly before he could stop and get loose. He handled most of the hosp emergency visit stoicly but was quite vocal when the dr began cutting the stitches so he could work on him. Worst machine mishap I have ever heard of though I'd wager that most are kept secret.

Edited July 19, 2013 by oltoot

[Tex Shooter]

Fish hooks catch people quite often also. I have helped several get unhooked. -- Tex