Trying my hand at making a stitching pony

[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?