Crease those edges

Even though I'm not making a lot of tack these days, I am always interested in the tack making process. As I was scrolling Facebook yesterday, I saw this picture by Elaine Lindelef. She writes: I am making some new reins/lines for a harness. The top and bottom are skived and then wet and given a creased edge. The middle shows the raw lace. Creasing significantly improves the visual of the reins and makes them feel much more polished in scale and finish/texture IMHO. The lace is Tandy 1/8” (3mm) premium calf in tan.

In the comments section, someone asked how, she produced that nice straight line. This is where things got really interesting. Instead of a knife or similar tool, Elaine produced a photo of her smooth tracing wheel.

She explains: I've had this wheel was in my toolbox for twenty years doing pretty much nothing. Then one day when I came back to tackmaking, I took it out and suddenly it's my favorite tool! It's pretty easy to control and more forgiving than I would expect. Since it isn't making a cut, even if I wobble or go off the edge, I can usually just go over that area again and it works out. Even with wobbles, in my opinion. it still looks better than not having the crease. I run this tool on pretty much all my strap goods, including small items like keepers. 

Here are some examples of Elaine's work.

Look at those beautiful creased edges!

Even though I'm not making a lot of tack these days, I do make some, and it's clear this is a tool I need for my own collection. Mine should arrive some time next week. Thanks, Elaine, for the wonderful tip!

Bent wood stirrup tutorial

Even though I'm not participating in Anna Helt's International Model Tack Month, I've really enjoyed the group's Facebook page. I may be semi-retired, but I'm still fascinated by the process of making model horse tack. Also, sometimes someone posts a tutorial that absolutely needs to be shared. This guest post by Meg Walker is a prime example. Thank you so much, Meg, for letting us look over your shoulder while you work. These stirrups are fabulous!

Bent Wood Stirrup Tutorial

by Meg Walker

I use wood veneer to make wooden stirrups. The veneer is for making and repairing real furniture. Amazon and eBay both have it. Look for veneer sheets, not the sticky backed kind. A mixed pack costs less than twenty dollars. 

The first step is to draw a template for your stirrups. This should be the exact size you want them to be. Then cut the veneer into strips that are longer and and slightly wider than your template.

Boil the veneer strips for thirty minutes or longer. Then glue them together with wood glue. Attach your stirrup template to a piece of wood with double stick tape. Starting at the bottom, drive three nails into the template. Gently bend the veneer strips around the nails and continue working your way, driving in more nails as you go. This will be a soggy mess of wood and glue but keep going. Allow everything to dry completely.

Once dry, remove them from the pattern and use a Dremel and cut off wheel to remove the tops and a sander to shape the pieces. Sand the sides on a flat surface until all the wood strips are flush.

These are ready for satin polyurethane. Then they will get their leather tread laced on and hardware.

The next step is to add the stirrup leather bar. For this, you will need lightweight sheet metal, a hole punch and small hand drills. In this case I'm using metal from a tea light. My drill came from Micro Mark.

Punch four circles in a piece of sheet metal. Then use a needle tool to punch tiny holes in the circles.

The bar is a tube bead. I wish these were silver in color, but all I had was gold. It doesn't really matter. They will be covered with leather anyway.

Drill holes in the stirrups just small enough for straight pins. Cut two pins the length of the tube bead and put a metal circle on each pin. Thread the pins partway through the stirrup with pliers. Fill the tube bead with super glue and put some glue on the pin wires. Place the bead between the pins and push the pins into the bead.

I use Loctite superglue gel. It gives me time to align everything and is not runny. 

Here are the finished stirrups.

Thanks again, Meg, for allowing me to share your tutorial here. I can't wait to see your finished project!

Making a punch from a Micron pen

One of the many highlights of this year's BreyerWest was finally getting to meet Anna Helt in person. In addition to being the best mini scale tack maker in the hobby, Anna runs International Model Tack Month, which is happening right now. Today's post was written for that event and originally published on Anna's blog. I am delighted to share it here as well. Thank you, Anna. I am already looking forward to our next visit!

Making a Punch from a Micron Pen

by Anna Helt

Microns are archival quality ink pens that come in a variety of shapes and sizes from brush and chisel tips to the fine tips they’re most known for, which are available from 005 (0.20 mm) through 08 (0.5 mm). These pens make great punches because they’re easy to disassemble AND they have a one piece nib and collar (I don’t know the correct terminology here - if someone does fill me in!). Trying to make a punch from something that isn’t one piece will be an exercise in frustration when the nib slips back into the collar under pressure.

I posted a comparison between the holes made by a tiny drill bit, a Micron, and a Craftool #0000 punch recently and a lot of people had questions about how to make the Micron punch, so here we are!

But why not use a needle or awl? 

Because those don’t remove material, they just push it aside. Over time they will always close back up. A puncture is hard to find from the back of a strap and significant leather fatigue and stress can result from trying to jab the tongue through it. Holes are where it’s at for both function and form.

You’ll need a micron pen in your choice of size - I’m using an 005 (0.20 mm) here because it’s the most useful for me - and a file, pliers, and x-acto knife. I am using a flat needle file from my set but a nail file or Dremel with a sanding drum would work, too. Use caution with the Dremel; it’s easy to take too much off.

Push your xacto blade between the plastic and metal parts of the pen and apply gentle pressure away from the plastic body. It might take a minute but eventually…

…the metal nib will separate from the plastic body of the pen.

Grip the long end of the ink chamber and PULL!

It takes some pressure, but it will pop right out.

Reseat the nib…

…and push it home. Technically, this is useable as is, but for best results you’ll want to keep reading.

Grab your file and hold it against the nib at a slight angle. The goal is to taper the tip from the end towards the body; this retains as much structural integrity as possible. I move both the file (back and forth) and the pen (rolling between my fingers) as I file to maintain an even surface.

Here’s my final product. You can stop here, or if you prefer a little superfine sandpaper (find in the model car section) and a few swipes on a strop will really clean things up. That’s mostly cosmetic, though swiping on your strop occasionally may help keep it sharp.

Just look at how tiny this hole is! And would you believe it’s still too big for Stablemates scale strap goods? It does work well for halters and even some curio/Venti/Paddock Pals strap goods, though.

For best results and the longevity of your punch, back your leather with something that has some give but not too much. Chipboard (often used to support calendars, notepads, etc) makes a great backing. A self-healing cutting mat works, too, but the punch will leave a hole. I prefer the recyclable chipboard. To use your new punch, apply downward pressure until you feel the leather give and you’re through to the backing - you want to go all the way through the leather for the cleanest cut! Try to keep the punch upright; too much pressure from an angle can weaken the nib. This punch didn’t require anything more than downward pressure, but…

Sometimes you need a little more oomph. If simple pressure isn’t working, I use my left palm to provide the downward force and my right hand to twist the pen. This does the trick! Try your best to keep the pen perpendicular to the leather. You can also hold the pen and use a jewelers or craft hammer to tap the butt of the pen. I struggled to keep the pen upright and broke a few nibs this way, so it’s not my preference.

The results! There’s a line of tiny 0.20mm (ish) holes roughly center screen. To the right you can see a slot I’ve made by connecting two holes as well as a hole punched by a 08 (0.5mm) micron.

I hope this tutorial helped! I have a wide assortment of Micron punches now and they’re an important part of my tack making toolbox.

1:9 scale tooling basics with Erin Corbett

Saturday at BreyerWest is workshop day. I signed up for two classes, the first of which was 1:9 Scale Leather Tooling with Erin Corbett.

I shared a table with Anna Helt of Dreamflite Designs. It was my first time meeting her, and she was every bit as nice as I expected.

Here's a look at the supplies that came with the workshop: water, a tooling template, tracing film, tooling leather, cutting mat and various tools including a mechanical pencil, X-acto knife with a #11 blade, paintbrush, seeder and ball stylus.

I brought my visor because I am blind. Tara decorated it for me with washi tape.

Stylish!

photo by Lindsay Diamond

Here's a quick overview of the tooling process. The first step is to trace the tooling pattern onto the tracing film.

Wet the leather with the paintbrush.

Then place the tracing film onto the leather, and using the stylus, trace over the pattern so that it imprints onto the leather. 

Rewet the leather often. This is called "casing" and is essential part of the tooling process.

Next, lightly cut into the impressions with the X-acto knife. 

Finally, press the stylus along one side of the cuts to push down the background and lift up the tooling design.

The not-so-unexpected star of the class was Jennifer Scott.

This was her first time doing any kind of leather craft and look! Is there anything Jenn can't do?

Next up: Hair Sculpting with Amanda Brock.

Making bits for model horses

The early stages of my tack making career were marked by a distinct lack of funds, so I made everything myself, including hardware. I made buckles out of paper clips and straight pins and bits out of jump rings and silver beads. Later, I fashioned a few more complicated bits with wire and solder. I wish I had kept some of those! Eventually, I became a little less broke and tack making supplies became a lot more abundant. Aside from the loose ring snaffles, I haven't made a bit in years. The same can not be said for tack maker, Katherine Bone of Barefoot Appaloosa Studios. Katherine hand makes all sorts of nifty competition bits and hackamores, and in today's guest post, she shares some of her secrets. Thank you so much, Katherine. Because of you, I am actually considering making a whole new batch of Little S hackamores!

Making Bits for Model Horses

By Katherine Bone

Thanks to the rise of technology in manufacturing, more small scale hardware than ever is available for model hobbyists through sites like Rio Rondo, The World of Model Horse Collecting, and Blue Duck Saddlery—to name a few. But if you’ve been making tack long enough, then you’ve likely noticed the limited styles available for etched and cast bits. Rio Rondo and other sites are adding new inventory each year, but when the bit you need isn’t sold anywhere, what can you do? My answer to this problem was to learn to make my own bits, and I will be sharing my method in this tutorial. 

I would like to preface this tutorial by saying that soldering would likely be an even more durable alternative to glue or epoxy, but as I have not experimented with a soldering iron YET, I can’t give any tips.

For this method, you will need:

• Drawing paper and pencil, with a model for size comparison
• Jewelry Gauge Wire in sizes 18, 20, 24, etc.
• Jewelry pliers, I use needle nose and round tip
• 2 mm crimp beads, 8 mm jump rings
• Wire cutters, I use a very fine tip pair
• A small pair of scissors
• Loctite super glue with precision tip (epoxy would work here as well)
• Clear nail topcoat or other clear lacquer

Optional: Silver Sharpie

The simplest style of bit to make is an o-ring bit. This is a good starting point for newer tackmakers, as these bits can be found across multiple disciplines and styles and learning to make them yourself is a useful skill. I prefer to use 8 mm premade jump rings for my o-ring bits, but of course you can make your own with 18 gauge jewelry wire and round nose pliers. 

I add the “mouthpiece” of the bit by modifying a 2mm crimp bead. Using scissors or the fine-tipped wire cutters, I cut a slit down the bead before trimming back the sides. This makes the bead sit tighter to the jump ring. 

With a dab of super glue on the inside of the crimp bead, I then lay the jump ring in place and after waiting a moment for the glue to grab hold, pinch the crimp bead closed with needle nose pliers. And that’s it!

Making more complicated bits requires a little more proficiency and practice than the standard o-ring, however.

To start, I like to create a draft of what the finished bit will look like, using a tracing of the model’s head to sketch on top of. Afterwards, I keep these sketches as a pattern to use again in the future. Here, I’ll be making a ‘combination’ hackamore bit.

Once you have a guide to work from, the next step is more about practice than skill, although a little skill is required to get the best results! With my sketch of the bit as a guide, I start bending wire to create the different pieces. As a general rule, 20 or 18 gauge wire tends to work well for the main shafts (shanks) of the bit, and 24 gauge works best for any extra pieces. I tend to experiment with new styles and select a combination that suits my fancy.

I make the main body of the shanks first in order to build off of them. The majority of my time fine tuning is spent here; it is crucial that the pieces are as similar as possible, as they are the biggest component of the bit and any asymmetry will be more noticeable. Working from the end of the wire, I make an initial teardrop shape using the round nose pliers. 

This is where the sketch becomes a huge help, as I begin to shape each bit shank by anchoring the wire against the paper with pliers (or my finger) before bending the wire. I match the drawing as closely as I am able to while keeping the curve of the wire smooth. I also compare the wire piece to my guide often as I work. This bit style has a loop for a hackamore noseband, which I add with the round nose pliers. 

I finish the bit shank off with a final small loop for the curb chain. 

When both bit shanks are finished, I make the additional pieces I need. The double-sided loop is made with a smaller gauge of wire than the bit shanks; I prefer to make the accompanying jump rings out of the same size gauge. (As a side note, I also use pliers to pinch and flatten the ends of the wire that will be glued directly to the bit shanks.)

From here, I just add the pieces I’ve made to the shanks. Dabbing a bit of superglue to both flattened ends of the trapezoidal piece I attach it to the body of the shank and apply gentle pressure until dry. The double-sided loop has one end pinch tightly closed around the wire bit shank, and fixed in place with superglue. These two steps are repeated for the other matching shank; before I move on to the next step, I like to have at least two layers of superglue around points of attachment. Once the superglue is fully dry I go over with a silver sharpie to blend the joint more seamlessly with the wire.

At this point, I also add the bit mouthpiece by pinching a modified crimp bead (please see instructions from the o-ring bit for a more detailed explanation) closed around the bit shank. Then with the clear nail topcoat or similar lacquer, I dab a moderate amount over the joints of the bit shank where I previously glued pieces down. (For strength, I may add more over top of this initial coat once fully dry.) I add jump rings before setting the piece aside to fully cure.

Lastly, I bend two small s-hooks to use for the curb chain later. 

Now with all pieces firmly attached and secured, the combination bit is basically complete!

Before using the combination bit with a bridle it will need a rope noseband and curb chain, but I’m afraid this tutorial is getting a bit too lengthy already. I have been very pleased with the bits I have made using similar techniques, and the realism and durability that is possible with this method. Like all model things, however, homemade bits are not indestructible. Excessive use or rough handling can certainly lead to breaks and bends, but with the proper care and storage, I have successfully kept similar bits in my tack collection for years of use!

Hope this helps!