Trying my hand at making a stitching pony

[Rossr]

 

Alright so I've wanted a stitching pony for a long time.  I've gotten by with a small one that I tuck under my legs while sitting in a chair.  Also homemade. It works fine but I still wanted a full size one.   So finally I've gotten around to trying to make one.  With some help from my father he redesigned the clamping method up top to use an eccentric.  We will see how it works out .  

 

Here are some in process pics.  Bench seat is oak legs are maple and clamp is cherry and walnut . 

 

I'll post finished pics when I'm done.

 

 

 

Thoughts welcome as always,  always looking to improve.    

 

 

 

[chuck123wapati]

That's nice work there! Do you have plans you are working from? I was thinking of making one this winter. 

[kiwican]

Geez thats good mate!

[Rossr]

8 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

That's nice work there! Do you have plans you are working from? I was thinking of making one this winter. 

Chuck. Al Stohlmans The art of hand sewing leather has a plan in the back of the book.  I used that as a reference and also had a copy of plans from something called Farm Woodwork.  Starting on page 99. Stitching horse.  Not sure where I got it from.  I also did some you tube looking and looked at posts on here and kinda went from there.

1 hour ago, kiwican said:

Geez thats good mate!

Thanks kiwi

Ok here's the finished stitching horse

 

[Rossr]

I think I may make up a padded seat for the top as well.  I'm also considering some kind of tool holder for the couple tools I use.  I may add a magnet on each side to hold the needles when stitching back and forth.   Saw that on a homemade one and made sense to me for saddle stitching to hold one needle while u use the other. 

 

Ross

[chuck123wapati]

That came out really nice. I like that cam lock system especially. 

[dikman]

That is very nicely done! A bit of advice, though, that bolt sticking out from the eccentric will catch the thread if you're doing long runs and the thread hangs down. Mine has a wooden lever on the side to act as a cam to lock it up and although I made it so the lever sits flat against the side it STILL catches the thread!!!

You just need to knock a few chips off it and darken the wood a bit to make it look old.

[fredk]

I have several magnets on my stitching clam thingy. I have some for the needles and for an awl. Use N50 or N52 grade magnets.

[Bert51]

Just a thought for anyone putting magnets on their stitching clam.

Many years back when I put the magnets on my stitching clam, I sat them flush with the timber,, they looked real nice, now the fingers are not as agile as they where, I wish I would recess them or sat them proud of the timber.

Maybe I could have used weaker magnets?

Bert.

[Alaisiagae]

Wow, that stitching horse looks fantastic!

I wish I knew how to do woodworking, but, alas, I have no room for the tools and no suitable workspace.

[Scoutmom103]

That's a nice looking stitching pony.

 

[AzShooter]

I never realized how much a stitching pony helps until just recently.  Now I don't know how I got along without one for so long.

You're pony and bench is what dreams are made of.  Fantastic work.

[toxo]

Nicely done but along with a few others I have nowhere to store it. I made a very basic one with a flat piece on the bottom that slipped under the thighs when sitting. Worked ok til I broke it. I do favour the camlock type. Dieselpunk.ro uses a simple one wth a small cam on the side. I echo what dikman says about snagging. if there's anything sticking out the thread will find it again and again.

[Rossr]

First off thanks for the kind words folks.   

Yes the handle concerns me but then again I seem to catch stuff regardless some how!  I could unscrew it but that sounds like a hassle to me

 

Good thoughts folks 

 

Ross

Edited July 25, 2020 by Rossr

[dikman]

What's the lever at the front for?

[Rossr]

3 hours ago, dikman said:

What's the lever at the front for?

That's to lock the eccentric.  The pivot is a carriage bolt and the lever is a nut with a piece of metal welded to it.  So you move the eccentric up to tighten vise then you can tighten the bolt so it cant slip.

The jaw on the eccentric side is also not attached if u look close there are 2 dowel rods on each side of it.   You can actually move the rods and make a slightly tighter or wider gap if needed.   I also considered the possibility of making removal inserts on the jaws.  That way u could have longer or shorter jaws if wanted. 

[Rossr]

Here are some.close ups.  The whole head can rotate 360 degrees also due to a bolt down through the  center.  The center bolt has a spring on it so tension can be adjusted to allow a tighter or looser pivot.

[Bert51]

Those pictures show how very well it is made and I guess it would be very easy to use.

Very nice.

Bert.

PS.

Do you have plans available?

[fredk]

19 hours ago, Rossr said:

. . .   I may add a magnet on each side to hold the needles when stitching back and forth.   Saw that on a homemade one and made sense to me for saddle stitching to hold one needle while u use the other. 

In saddle stitching, best practice is to hold a needle in each hand as you stitch, to pull the threads tight. On my stitching thingy I find the magnets handy to hang a needle on whilst rewaxing the thread, or just in between sewing sessions. Another magnet, inside the jaws, low down, holds the sewing awl. handy for opening holes; I pre-punch my sewing holes but sometimes an awl is needed to open up a hole

[Rossr]

8 hours ago, Bert51 said:

Those pictures show how very well it is made and I guess it would be very easy to use.

Very nice.

Bert.

PS.

Do you have plans available?

Hi Bert,  I dont have any plans for it sorry. I kinda build as I go.

 

1 hour ago, fredk said:

In saddle stitching, best practice is to hold a needle in each hand as you stitch, to pull the threads tight. On my stitching thingy I find the magnets handy to hang a needle on whilst rewaxing the thread, or just in between sewing sessions. Another magnet, inside the jaws, low down, holds the sewing awl. handy for opening holes; I pre-punch my sewing holes but sometimes an awl is needed to open up a hole

Fred good point and I do the same but if my holes are too tight i tend to put the one needle down while I get the other through.  That being said I mostly machine stitch these days.  I do lace stuff and sometimes saddle stitch hence the pony.  I lile the inside magnet thought.  How big a magnet around do u find useful?

[fredk]

17 minutes ago, Rossr said:

Fred good point and I do the same but if my holes are too tight i tend to put the one needle down while I get the other through.  That being said I mostly machine stitch these days.  I do lace stuff and sometimes saddle stitch hence the pony.  I lile the inside magnet thought.  How big a magnet around do u find useful?

My stitching clamp is this style.

I have a bar magnet on the outside of each jaw, just down from the sloped part. One magnet each side just about halfway down between the jaw and that long slot, towards an edge. These are N35 magnets, about 20 mm x 10 mm x 2 mm thick. Strong enough to hold needles and thread

Inside the the uprights I have one magnet on each upright, just about near the top of the slot, but to the outside of it. On these I hang the sewing awl, the end of the handle rests on that block of wood in the centre. I also hang a wing-nut spanner. I have another magnet in the centre of one side of that block of wood. These magnets are N52, round, about 12 mm x 2 mm thick. The awl is held at its ferrule. The N52 is strong enough to hold the awl in place when it stands off by about 1 to 1.5mm

You can add magnets to each other to increase their strength. You can go to a thickness equal to or below their surface size. eg, you can add 5 magnets of 12mm x 2mm together on top of each other to get the equivalence of one magnet 12mm x 10mm. Once you go more than that you start to get a reverse and get less power.

[dikman]

Thanks Ross, those additional photos clarify things nicely. Slightly complex overall but a very clever design.

This is mine, a bit agricultural () compared to yours but I needed something in a hurry when I started making holsters. One day (!) I will spend some time on it to make it a bit more refined. The handle can be rotated on the bolt to allow it to be tensioned more, depending on the thickness of the leather, and the pivot in the handle is offset to act as a cam. When sitting it sort of fits between my legs with my feet on the bottom board so it stays put!

Mine is practical whereas yours is also aesthetically pleasing.

[Bert51]

All good Ross, I made mine many year back and found it to hard on my hands, that why I now own sewing machines.

Your pictures are good enough if someone want to build a similar type of Stitching Horse, if I did not have one I would be asking more silly questions so I could build it like yours.

I only hand sew small projects or if I want something hand stitch, you can't beat the look or feel of leather that has been hand stitched.

Bert.

[Rossr]

22 hours ago, dikman said:

Thanks Ross, those additional photos clarify things nicely. Slightly complex overall but a very clever design.

This is mine, a bit agricultural () compared to yours but I needed something in a hurry when I started making holsters. One day (!) I will spend some time on it to make it a bit more refined. The handle can be rotated on the bolt to allow it to be tensioned more, depending on the thickness of the leather, and the pivot in the handle is offset to act as a cam. When sitting it sort of fits between my legs with my feet on the bottom board so it stays put!

Mine is practical whereas yours is also aesthetically pleasing.

Looks like a fine item to me.  Thanks for the compliment.  For what it's worth here is the first one I made.  All function it went under my legs when sitting.  

Edited July 26, 2020 by Rossr

[Rossr]

I decided to add a cushion.  So dug around the shop and came up with this as an add on, much more comfy now.