stitching pony design questions

[Spyros]

With the opening of the jaw, I would say the same thing: the bigger you make the opening, the higher the chances that when it closes it will not land exactly straight and flat against the other jaw.  Like Fred said, no need for very wide openings anyway.

[dans79]

7 minutes ago, fredk said:

Depends on what you will be making; small items such as wallets, or even larger items such as shoulder bags, no more than about 2.5 to 3 inches will suffice

Sorry, I was referring to the distance you would expect the distance when closed. If I can get away  with it, i wasn't going to use a hinge, just the natural flex of the wood. Thus the total range of motion will be less.

Edited February 14, 2022 by dans79

[fredk]

Distance between jaws when closed, not holding anything = 0, a big fat zero, nada, nowt

Open to accept a small item such as a wallet, about 1 inch

For bigger items max = about 3 inches, 2.5 inches will do

[dans79]

11 minutes ago, fredk said:

Distance between jaws when closed, not holding anything = 0, a big fat zero, nada, nowt

that part i assumed.  :-)


ok, 2-1/2" or so will for sure require a hinge.

[Spyros]

Unless you find a really good hinge with tight tolerances, even better is to put a brass or steel rod through base of the opening jaw and let it pivot on it.

[tsunkasapa]

Here is one that I used to have, liked it a lot. But I can't seem to find a replacement. The picture should give you some ideas though.

[Klara]

10 hours ago, dans79 said:

.... If I can get away  with it, i wasn't going to use a hinge, just the natural flex of the wood. ....

That sounds to me more like a traditional English saddler's clam than a modern "everybody can make one" stitching pony. There's at least one video on YouTube on making one and plenty more on using them.

As you can see, the jaws are not wide at all and I'm sure there's a good reason for it.

 

 

[Klara]

10 hours ago, Spyros said:

Unless you find a really good hinge with tight tolerances, even better is to put a brass or steel rod through base of the opening jaw and let it pivot on it.

For the basic, easy-to-make stitching pony that doesn't matter. Because the wingnut on the bolt will clamp the workpiece, as long as the jaws are parallel. 

https://www.instructables.com/Simple-and-Cheap-Stitching-Pony/

For a French saddler's clam it seems more important, but I looked at one in a shop with a wooden hinge - and there was as much play between the jaws as with my cheap metal hinges. I guess it's my thigh that holds things together. 

The thing is, people seem to get carried away with tool quality, wanting only the best. Imho, a stitching pony needs to hold your workpiece securely without damaging it and it needs to be comfortable to use. That's all. It needn't be pretty, it needn't be impressive.

Unless of course, you want to make it so. Or if an ugly one will put you off leatherwork.  I, when I made mine, wanted to make the perfect dog collar, not the perfect stitching pony...

 

[mdawson]

On 2/15/2022 at 5:29 AM, dans79 said:

Even though the raw materials for my maul have arrived , it's still far too cold in the shop to even think about machining it.  Thus, I've been learning about stitching ponies as I know I will need one, and i have a few questions.

1.  how wide should the jaws be?  I've seen them as narrow as 2 inches and as wide as 8. Is it just personal preference?
2. what's with the 360 degree rotating base?  I understand being able to tilt forward & back for ergonomic reasons, but I don't get the rotation, nor have I seen someone actually using this feature.

Here's how I 'got around' the question of what size jaws, I simply made rotating / removable jaws. By backing off the screw they can be angled or rotated 90 to use the longer side or turned 180 to use a different jaw configuration. The basic jaw is 90mm wide, it's what I had in my shop.

At the moment I haven't 'configured' the bottom jaw as I haven't yet had a need for a different configuration jaw but the last photo shows a jaw from the prototype which has a notch cut in it to fit around a previously fitted snap etc or to set down very soft material within the notch for support while it is being stitched.

In the unlikely event I need something else I can always make up a new pair of jaws.

 

[Klara]

Good idea! Would you mind showing us the other side of the stitching pony?  I don't see how it is held together for clamping the workpiece...