Building a large stitching pony for leather work with out spending a dime on material
Building a beautiful large stitching pony for leather work is not as hard as one would think and there is a good chance that the material needed is somewhere right in front of you.
Now I do not recommend that you start chopping up your furniture like I have done previously, but a chair is the solution just like before.
The other day when I ripped apart a dining room chair to do a leather Camera bag I used scrap material from the chair to make me a small tabletop stitching pony. That pice was not only half useful but it was also ugly as hell. I guess I can use it for small work and it fits nicely on a table but I wanted a real one, some thing more practical and it had to be a fair bit more beautiful. At least presentable if some one dropped by.
I had been thinking about this for a while what would be the best way to go about building it and give it some nice curves that would make working with larger thing easy. And once again the answer was right in front of me in a dumpster. So again I plunged head first into the dumpster that is in front of the hospital, here beside my home, because in it was the best and simplest solution. Chairs with curved lines made from layers of plywood. Just what I needed. I unscrewed the arms from the chair (actually 2 just in case ) and brought them home.
Now even though this stitching pony is ready to be used on some nice leather work there are two things missing. First of all as the size of it is so nice that it can be used clamped between your legs or you could use it on a table while standing. If you are going to stand while stitching, you need a way of fastening the clamps. Thats why I am going to buy some wing nuts and bolt so I can use it with out having to sit on it and hold it tight with my thighs. That is the only thing I will buy to make this pony.
The other thing is I need to sand it down and apply some finish on it. Don think I will add any color but at least a coating of clear wood paint or maybe two.
This is the process and how I did it. Now go for it your self, take a dumpster dive and then make your own stitching pony. Good luck.
Beside screws and leather all material came from two arms of one chair.
1. Arms from old chair
2. The ugly little stitching pony
3. Finding the right way to form the stitching pony.
4. This was simplest but takes to much space.
5. Cutting the arms of the chair to fit nicely.
6. Making the bits for lower half.
7. Straighten out the bottom line.
8. Fitting leather on top of arm.
9. Top of the stitching pony ready for work.
10. Screwing one arm and middle plate to the bottom of stitching pony
11. Adding leather hinge on the other site fastened with furniture spikes.
12. Voila. The finished ready to be used stitching pony.
Few books to learn from for your next project
Previous
Next
