RustyMarlin Report post Posted April 28, 2016 Hi, I'm new here and fairly new to leather working too. I have made a number of holsters and knife sheaths over the years, but more out of necessity than desire for bettering myself and my skills. I have come to the realisation that I need a stiching clamp. I don't have room for a full size stiching horse (wish I did, it would make life easier), So I need to make a knee supported version and I have a couple of questions. 1) does the spring tension for clamping come from the bent wood or from your knees or some ratio of the two? 2) I haven't seen one with a cam lock system, any thoughts as to why... too much force would mark the work, perhaps? 3) should there be some sort of foot board that allows one to pin it to the floor? thanks Rusty Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northmount Report post Posted April 28, 2016 There are lots of threads here about stitching clams, and horses. Including clams with cam lock. Try a search and I'm sure you'll find all you want to know very quickly. Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
R SFraser Sr Report post Posted April 28, 2016 Hi Rusty in Calgary, Bob in Regina here I made up a couple of ponies for my daughter and me. The pressure comes from the bolt system, your knees/thighs just "hold the pony down" as you are seated. Just to save you a bit of time - I bought a couple of cam-locks from Lee Valley, but they do not allow the jaws to open enough to allow your leather to be inserted for sewing. You might have better luck finding a different cam system, if you do please let me know. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boriqua Report post Posted April 28, 2016 Floor Vs Knee is a personal preference thing. I used the Tandy knee held stitching pony for a good many years and was fine with it for the most part. If you are doing smaller items and space is an issue it worked out great and would be all you need. Lately as the years wore on and my eyesight is getting weird and my belly gets larger I decided a floor model would be better and made this one about a year ago. LOVE IT! I too would like a sit down stitching horse but my place cant support another piece of furniture so this being only 3.5 inches deep I just put it off to the side when I am done. Cool thing is I can work with it under my grapefruit trees, out on the porch or in front of the tv. Anyplace I can stick a chair I can work and its very comfortable to use and it is stable enough that I can leave my work in it and walk away and not worry about it falling over. However if you are in a small apartment its hard to beat something you can stick in a closet or under the bed so the knee pony might be a better choice. Hey Bob the spring hinge was a great idea! I used an old gun spring for tension. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RustyMarlin Report post Posted April 28, 2016 thank you, those are great. Gives me lots of ideas. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martyn Report post Posted April 29, 2016 (edited) 14 hours ago, RustyMarlin said: Hi, 1) does the spring tension for clamping come from the bent wood or from your knees or some ratio of the two? 2) I haven't seen one with a cam lock system, any thoughts as to why... too much force would mark the work, perhaps? 3) should there be some sort of foot board that allows one to pin it to the floor? There are al sorts of ways to get the job done. The simplest is probably two planks of wood held together with a leather strap acting as a hinge and clamped with the force of your knees. How you do it I think depends on your budget and what you are going to use it for. I bought a Tandy pony and put my own cam lock on it and a die compression spring working against each other. The spring opens the clamp, the cam closes it down. It works great, but is limited to clamping about an inch thickness - plenty for me but YMMV. You just spin the cam lever to adjust and set to the required spacing and the clamping force. Then it's just a question of opening and closing the cam lever when you want to move your project in the clamp. Edited April 29, 2016 by Martyn Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silverwingit Report post Posted April 29, 2016 +1 on the cam clamp. It not only makes for a super easy way to clamp/release your work piece but it also goes a long way towards removing frustrating thread tangles with bolts, knobs, etc. Rockler's are very affordable, too. Get one! (Or two. Rockler's come in pairs.) Michelle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MY63 Report post Posted April 29, 2016 Here is my home made effort I started off with two barrel staves from a cooper, The spring is sullied by the two strips of oak screwed to the bottom. I added the strap to secure smaller projects. If I were to make another I would angle the top to thin it down to make it easier to sew small items. I have pictures and a how to on my blog if anyone would like to see more pictures Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boriqua Report post Posted April 29, 2016 Hey Martyn where did you get your cams? I have vacillated about the cams .. mostly didnt want to spend the money but yours seem to have a higher lift than the rockler ones might offer just judging by the cam shape. Still ... If I cant get those in the states I think I will pick up the rocklers. http://www.rockler.com/cam-clamp Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martyn Report post Posted April 29, 2016 (edited) 38 minutes ago, Boriqua said: Hey Martyn where did you get your cams? I have vacillated about the cams .. mostly didnt want to spend the money but yours seem to have a higher lift than the rockler ones might offer just judging by the cam shape. Still ... If I cant get those in the states I think I will pick up the rocklers. http://www.rockler.com/cam-clamp You wont have any problem getting em mate, they're a US brand. It's the 'Cam Action Hold Down Clamp' from Wood River. They do 2 versions, a 1/4" version and a 5/16" version. Get the 5/16" version. I think it's $7.99 on Amazon (it was about £10 in the UK but I cant remember where from). The clamp comes with a 3 1/2" bolt with a 'tee' head. It wasn't not long enough for the Tandy clamp so I had to replace with a 4 1/4" long x 5/16" dia bolt with a UNC thread (18 tpi) - make sure to get the right thread type. I wish they made the cam with a metric thread, I had to pay silly money for a bolt with that thread in the UK, but you should have no problem in the US. Just get one with whatever length you need to span the gap in your clamp. Edited April 29, 2016 by Martyn Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boriqua Report post Posted April 29, 2016 Ordered! Thanks Martyn! The bolt I already have in my stitching pony is a 5/16 so I am good to go. Alex Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martyn Report post Posted April 29, 2016 (edited) You're welcome Alex. Looking at your clamp, it should work perfectly, but I'd like to hear what you think? It transformed mine. Edited April 29, 2016 by Martyn Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
R SFraser Sr Report post Posted April 29, 2016 (edited) Looking good Martyn, Hello again, Rusty (OP) Those Rockler Clamps look nice, but seem similar in size to the Lee Valley types. Beware of Rockler's fine print on the checkout page. "Rockler has partnered with UPS i-parcel to handle their international payment collection and shipping." This may well mean you would pay Brokerage as well as the 14 dollars shipping to ship 12 dollars worth of product. Big difference from USPS, with whom you do not pay brokerage or customs. Edited April 29, 2016 by R SFraser Sr Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boriqua Report post Posted May 11, 2016 (edited) On 4/29/2016 at 0:40 PM, Martyn said: You're welcome Alex. Looking at your clamp, it should work perfectly, but I'd like to hear what you think? It transformed mine. I wanted to spend some time with it before I commented but... Martyn ... that made my clamp amazing! As I am going around a holster it has to be moved in the clamp a fair amount. So its so nice to just flip the cam, adjust the piece and flip it back. The large knob I had was an improvement over the wing nut I had been using but the cam clamp has made it a pure pleasure. I bought this one which has the same cam profile as yours but was a buck cheaper and it came with a 5/16 bolt which isnt long enough to use on my set up but I have more chance of using a 5/16 bolt in my future than the t bolt so at least its not a throw away piece. Of course I did have to give up the cool gold color though! http://www.amazon.com/CAM-ACTION-HOLD-DOWN-CLAMP/dp/B000KUVQOE?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00 Alex Edited May 11, 2016 by Boriqua Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martyn Report post Posted May 12, 2016 18 hours ago, Boriqua said: I wanted to spend some time with it before I commented but... Martyn ... that made my clamp amazing! As I am going around a holster it has to be moved in the clamp a fair amount. So its so nice to just flip the cam, adjust the piece and flip it back. The large knob I had was an improvement over the wing nut I had been using but the cam clamp has made it a pure pleasure. Alex Good isn't it? Worth seven bucks of anybody's money. It doesnt sound like it'd make such a big difference but it really transforms your stitching experience and improves workflow. I went straight from a wingnut to the clamp, so you can imagine the difference it made for me. Also, if you are familiar with the Tandy pony, you'll know that the legs are fixed not hinged and to open the clamp you need to force it open with a provided block of wood. Horrible design. I made a quick video showing the operation of mine... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EfrainBG Report post Posted May 24, 2016 Here's my take on the stitching pony. I was going to be sewing on very large pieces, so the tightening screw in the middle was not an option. This is what I came up with. The fastener was made of a cut out from a screw clamp. It works wonders! The fastener put so close to the fulcrum lets the clamps open/close with very few turns of the screw. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
