Softening Herman Oak Skirting

[Silverd]

Oops!  I've cut a bunch of blanks but have only finished two straps so far...quite the disaster they both are!  The folded throat strap was almost impossible to sew.  What''s the secret with that one???  Do you still put a wire inside like Steinke instructs?  The lead strap didn't lay flat on the needle plate and the back side stitch line came out almost off the edge in one section. Back stiches are laying on top back side so some tension adjustment needed.   Terrible work!  But I learned a lot.  And the Herman Oak is really nice.  I'm buying ebay used halters with good hardware to canabolize and have an order in with Weaver for 6 sets of new brass fittings. .photos to follow...you'll have a good chuckle!

 

 

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

3 hours ago, Silverd said:

Oops!  I've cut a bunch of blanks but have only finished two straps so far...quite the disaster they both are!  The folded throat strap was almost impossible to sew.  What''s the secret with that one???  Do you still put a wire inside like Steinke instructs?  The lead strap didn't lay flat on the needle plate and the back side stitch line came out almost off the edge in one section. Back stiches are laying on top back side so some tension adjustment needed.   Terrible work!  But I learned a lot.  And the Herman Oak is really nice.  I'm buying ebay used halters with good hardware to canabolize and have an order in with Weaver for 6 sets of new brass fittings. .photos to follow...you'll have a good chuckle!

 

 

Well I am laughing, but only because these are CLASSIC pitfalls for the new leatherworker, and the same mistakes that we all made starting out. The folded throat strap, or rounded, as it is more correctly referred to within the trade, is a bit more advanced work.  I personally do not normally put wire in any of my rounds, but I do use a filler.  Do a search for "rounds" or "rolled work" and you'll find quite a few hits that will keep you busy reading for awhile.  I think Bruce Johnson might have a tutorial on it at his website.  The hardest part of making rounds is knowing how much to skive, and blending the turnback back into the round.  What I see nowadays that passes for rounds is atrocious.  The old time harness makers are turning over in their graves. 

I would bet that the reason you nearly sewed through the edge of your lead strap, is because you edged it first.  If you had learned how to sew on an old Landis One or similar, you'd REALLY learn how to prep your work to avoid this.  A 441 is a pretty forgiving machine, but the needle coming out the edge can still happen, especially when sewing several layers of really narrow straps, like a half inch cheek on a driving bridle. The layers have to be flat and square, no rounded edges.

While your first work might look pretty terrible, I guarantee you learned more than if I had just said "Make sure to do this, and don't do that". Telling you now what to do and not do will make more sense.

 Another word about rounds:  it takes a LOT of practice to do a good job.  I was already years and years in business, and years of hobby work before that, before I could make a round I wasn't ashamed of.  I remember being a young child and studying the round side checks on old work horse harness, wondering how in the heck they were made.  Even after I got all the necessary tools and equipment to make them, they still didn't look good.  Finally one day I decided I was gong to do nothing but make rounds, and not quit until I had it figured out, even if it took all the next day.  That was the day I learned to make rounds, but it is still a slow and painstaking process to do a good job, and I'll ruin an occasional one.

[Silverd]

I'm following you on this topic, completely.  I started another one this evening and have a few hours into it.  Im waiting for the dye to dry and leather to harden before attempting the sew.  Now I think I have the skive part very close.  I'e been able to use my 5 in 1 to skive the strap full length on both sides and just the last 7/8" of each end.  I'm attempting to fold the return to the inside.  Same as Steinke teaches.  If I were hand stiching I'd be done...but my objective is to machine it. Silly me huh!   Again I appreciate your guidance and letting me tough it through.  I will get this cause failure is not an option for me...know what I mean?  Sounds like you do.  This really is the fun part after all!

Edited June 26, 2018 by Silverd
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[Silverd]

26 minutes ago, Silverd said:

I'm following you on this topic, completely.  I started another one this evening and have a few hours into it.  Im waiting for the dye to dry and leather to harden before attempting the sew.  Now I think I have the skive part very close.  I'e been able to use my 5 in 1 to skive the strap full length on both sides and just the last 7/8" of each end.  I'm attempting to fold the return to the inside.  Same as Steinke teaches.  If I were hand stiching I'd be done...but my objective is to machine it. Silly me huh!   Again I appreciate your guidance and letting me tough it through.  I will get this cause failure is not an option for me...know what I mean?  Sounds like you do.  This really is the fun part after all!

First attempt.  The "good" side!

[Silverd]

2 minutes ago, Silverd said:

First attempt.  The "good" side!

The "Truth" side

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I've certainly seen worst first attempts.  I would recommend lots of practice just sewing.  Sewing to a point on a return takes practice to make it look like it should.  The places your machine is wanting to wander off the bottom edge is pretty typical.  Make sure nothing is edged on that underside before you sew, and most of the time, a creaser is going to roll that edge enough to cause trouble also.  There are times you can sneak by with it, but most of the time not.  Just practice handling your material as you sew,, and paying attention to what happens as you make the slightest change. 

[Silverd]

Good advise.  The issue for me is dying the fresh beveled edges after sewing without staining the stitching.  But it can be done.

This is Throat strap I did last night...not without issues.  I started out with a 1.5" wide blank which gave me enough web width to place under the zipper foot.  Then I trimmed the edge back, beveled, dyed, oiled, waxed.  I don' like the hand stitching over the outside since it' susceptible to abrasion.  

[Silverd]

Thank you BTW.  If you look closely at the first sampe you can see presser foot scares all over the place.  The latest attempt was sewn after drying over night.  Still having tension issues.  

Silverd 

Edited June 26, 2018 by Silverd
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[Big Sioux Saddlery]

9 hours ago, Silverd said:

Thank you BTW.  If you look closely at the first sampe you can see presser foot scares all over the place.  The latest attempt was sewn after drying over night.  Still having tension issues.  

Silverd 

You're welcome.  Presser foot marks are something that you will probably not eliminate with a 441 type machine.  If you are using a zipper foot, if puts even more pressure on a smaller area, which means possibly deeper marks.  What are your tension issues exactly?  I can't see the picture well enough to determine what you might need to do.  What needle size and type and what thread size are you using?  Incidentally, a 441 would not be my choice of machines to sew rounds on, due to the foot design/feed system. 

[Silverd]

I can see why you say the 441 is not idealy suited for this work.   277 bonded nylon with a #25 needle.  I don't have a 26 but I'm placing an order.  Thank you for your time again.  I certainly appreciate it very much. 

I should be able to get the tension issues under control. I understand the princples of matching top and bottom etc.  Bottom tension was high and to match it top tension was causing thread to abraid.  Im working several projects all with different threads and sometimes takes short cuts when changing thread sizes.  The 277 problem was most notable when back stitching.  The stitches have been laying on the bottom surface of the leather straps.  I've since reduced lower tension and top to match.  So it's much better.  

Allowing the leather round strap to dry before sewing certainly helped with reducing presser foot marks on sample 2.  I've given some thought to this and think that by starting out with a strap that is very ; possibly 1.75" in the roled section will provide enough width for the right side zipper foot to make full contact whIle the needle foot is pushed hard against the raised roll edge.  Hope this makes sense.  I' m using a holster plate.  See sketch.  I'll then trim off the excessively wide seam allowance then edge finish being careful not to stain tge stitches.

Edited June 27, 2018 by Silverd
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