Hand Sewing Leather - Part Four - Stitching Pony

In the last post, I told you that I would try to get photos or plans for a stitching pony posted sometime soon. Well, I went to one of the local home supply stores here in the area this morning and picked up one eight-foot long board, a three-inch carriage bolt, and a package of two wing nuts because they did not have them singly. I also used thirteen torx head decking screws that I had on hand. If you are not familiar with that type of screw, the head is more like a star and they are a lot easier to put into the wood. I like to use those screws because I do not have as many problems with the heads stripping out like the Philips head do.

In all, I probably did not spend much over two hours total in purchasing the materials and putting the pony together. This project is pretty quick and easy, even if you do not have a saw or drill. I did not go to any great lengths to show you what the finished stitching pony would look like but I will try to describe what will be needed to finish yours if you decide to make your own. Considering the relative ease with which this piece of equipment can be made and the low cost it would be too bad if you had to spend the almost thirty dollars that it can be purchased for at retail price.

My plan was to purchase a 1x4 to make the stitching pony from but the ones that were available were not what I was looking for quality wise. The board that I purchased was a 1x3, which is actually only 2 ½ inches wide and thinner than the normal ¾ inch that our one by boards are normally set at. I was able to put this very basic stitching pony together for under five dollars. I did not take the time to sand down the boards or round off the edges. I can complete that part of the project at another time when I might decide I will need to use it.

As I mentioned, I purchased one eight-foot board to make the stitching pony. I cut three pieces fifteen inches long, trying to keep the ends cut square. I cut one more piece three inches long to serve as the divider between the two vertical pieces. The photo below shows the pieces that were cut to make this project.

Four wood pieces cut to make a stitching pony

The two pieces of wood in the center have saw kerfs cut at a forty-five degree angle. This makes it easier to make the boards bend without them breaking. I used my circular saw to make these two cuts but they can be made with a handsaw with relative ease as well. It is not a requirement that the angle cuts be made across the boards you will be happier if you make them. 

The angle cuts across the two vertical boards can be more easily seen in the photo below. These cuts are made approximately half way through the boards to allow bending at that point. You can also see that holes have been drilled through the boards to accommodate the carriage bolt that will be used to tighten or loosen the vice. Make sure that when assembling the three vertical pieces that the saw kerfs are turned to the inside. The boards might be more likely to split out if turned to the outside.

Two long-vertical boards with holes drilled for carriage bolt

The next thing that I did was apply carpenter’s glue to the three center pieces of wood. I applied it liberally to both sides of the center piece and to the inside edges of the two longer pieces. Please note: the glue is applied to the side of the wood that shows the saw kerfs. More glue can be applied to the surfaces than what is shown here but in this instance it is not absolutely necessary because of the manner in which I put them together. You will be able to see this in another photo.

The three vertical pieces of wood with carpenter's glue applied to all surfaces to be glued.

The photo shown below shows a closeup of the center vertical piece with the glue applied. This smaller piece has been placed on top of one of the longer vertical pieces. You will notice that the bottom edges of the boards do not line up perfectly. At this point it is not something that matters a whole lot because the other longer piece will be placed on top of the smaller piece and clamped in place. If you like, when placing one piece on top of the other you might want to swivel the boards a little to spread the glue a little more.

Center and first long vertical pieces glued together

The photo below shows the third piece of wood clamped to the first two. Although this photo does not show it well, the clamp that was used is a c-clamp. It is not mandatory that this type of clamp be used. Less expensive and just as usable clamps can be purchased on sale and at some specialty stores. Also, it is a good idea to make sure that the outer edges of the boards are fairly even. 

Three vertical pieces of wood glued and clamped together

Although it pains me to say this, it is not absolutely necessary with this project to have the boards perfectly lined up on the bottom. You are not building pianos and you are not building watches. Unless you have a miter saw to resaw the boards after the glue has dried, it will be very difficult to get everything lined up perfectly. I might look better if the bottom end of the boards were sawed after the glue has dried but I do not have a decent quality miter saw. I would not spend the money for one unless you were going to be using it a lot!

I was not able to take a photo of the process of installing the screws because of not having enough hands. The photo below shows one set of four screws that I put through one of the two outside vertical pieces. I added the screws while the glue was still wet to add more security to the glued pieces. Notice that I offset them a little to help prevent the wood from splitting. If you have the screws or nails in line with each other in the wood grain the wood will be more apt to split along the grain of the wood. Something that you will want to do when gluing these pieces together is to make sure that you have something under the wood to catch any excess glue that might be forced out with clampling and tightening the screws down.

Lower end of verticals showing four screws in place

I put four screws on each vertical side of the stitching pony to add more stability to the joints. I was concerned that the glue joints might not be sufficient to hold the pieces together for three reasons. First, I was not able to clamp the boards as tightly together as I had hoped to get them. Second, the wood that I purchased was a soft wood and I was concerned that the wood might split easier where the saw kerfs were made. Third, I would not want one of the boards coming loose when I was using the pony to lace or stitch a project. With the boards being bend while tight one of them popping loose could bruise the inside of your leg pretty good.

The photo below shows how the project looks after the three vertical pieces have been glued together. At this point the screws have been driven in on both sides. If you look betyween the boards you can see some of the glue that had not dried at the time of this photo. Notice here again, the saw kerfs have been placed to the inside of what would be the jaws of the lacing pony.

Lower end of jaws after clamping and adding screws

Once the vertical pieces have all been glued together it is time to attach the bottom board to the vertical pieces. Although all of the screws that I used to put this project together are made to drill as applied, I like to pre-drill all of the holes in this type of application. Pre-drilling the holes will assure that the bottom board will be more securely attached to the verticals. If found the center of the bottom board and marked lines on each side to which the vertical pieces would line up with.  I drilled two holes for each of the outside boards and one for the center board. These holes should be centered as close on each board as possible.

Bottom board with holes drilled - showing the splinters created by the drill bit passing through

Looking at the photo above you will see places where the wood splintered when the holes were drilled. Simply break off the splinters to remove them. My advice at this point would be to put this side of board against the verticals. Before putting the screws through the bottom board it is a good idea to apply glue to both surfaces. Gluing the joint will give it added strength that is necessary due to the stress it will have.

The photo below shows the carriage bolt installed through the holes in the boards. A flat washer was put on the bolt before the wingnut was added. If you are not sure what a carriage bolt is, it is a bolt with a rounded off head and that has a square section at the top of the threaded portion of the bolt. The squared off section helps to keep the bolt from spinning as the wingnut is tightened.

Stitching pony with carriage bolt installed with flat washer and wingnut

There are some things that I could have done to make this project look a little more finished before I put these photos online. I should have rounded off the rough edges of the long vertical boards to make them smooth. That can be accomplished with sandpaper or a router if you have one. I do not have one so I will use the armstrong method with sandpaper. The center edges of the jaws of the vice should have been smoothed down a little so that grooves will not be pressed into your leather when tightened. It might also be a good idea to glue leather on those edges to prevent this possibility as well. One could glue the sticks from ice cream bars could be glued on them to narrow up the gap.

The bottom board could have the upper edges rounded with sandpaper or carefullycut off with a  knife to eliminate the edges that might cut into the back of your legs when you are sitting down with the lacing pony between and under both of your legs.

I will freely admit that this project is not fine furniture quality nor top-notch either. My idea behind this project was to show you an easy way to make a lacing/stitching pony without spending a lot of money. I will work the edges of my new pony to so that it will be less likely to mar my leather and I will use it from time to time to stitch my projects.

Let me know if you have any questions of comments about this post. I will be glad to help you if I can.

Have fun!