Personal museum addition.

[formariz 11,987]

New addition today to local museum.

 

 

[Handy Don 12,216]

On 7/27/2022 at 3:33 PM, formariz said:

New addition today to local museum

Clever with the foot-actuated clamp for quick re-positioning of the workpiece.

My eye is drawn to the miniature furniture in the the second image. Some real craft there.

[formariz 11,987]

2 hours ago, Handy Don said:

My eye is drawn to the miniature furniture in the the second image. Some real craft there.

Thank you Don. My wife collects miniature Windsor chairs. Yes they are really well made and true to the full size ones.

[SylvanLakeWH 25,547]

So what is the actual use of the piece? I see holding leather but, for what exactly??? 

[formariz 11,987]

2 hours ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

So what is the actual use of the piece? I see holding leather but, for what exactly??? 

Sorry. I assumed it’s function was known. 
 It is a stitching horse used by saddle and harnesss makers. One would sit on it and stitch two pieces of leather together while they were held by the vise. It made a difficult and tedious task easier by providing a seat and a vise to hold pieces together at a comfortable height. Vise is foot operated using a leather belt. The little tool tray held the few tools needed at hand.

  This one is pretty old. It was in bad shape so I repaired it and made it whole again. The two nails shown on photo were removed from it. They were part of a haphazard attempt at repairing it by one of the former users. They are important . Type of nails used on something are a good indication of piece’s age. These nails are from the 1820s. 
 This was actually my  birthday gift from my wife. We seem to feed each other’s interests all the time. 

 

 

[Handy Don 12,216]

My Dad said at least 100 times...Nails are for building houses not for furniture!

[8ntruck 6,998]

That is what I thought it was.  I think I saw one in use somewhere, but I could not really remember where or when, or what exactly was being worked on.

[formariz 11,987]

4 hours ago, Handy Don said:

My Dad said at least 100 times...Nails are for building houses not for furniture!

It’s pretty interesting that in the rush and in the process of using tools such as this , when something breaks the immediate instinct is to drive a nail into it. These are big 10d nails. Inevitably the nail always aggravates or creates more damage. 
  I have family tools such as planes made by my grandfather who was a master at making them . Yet, when damage occurred such as in a dropped plane breaking the handle , he quickly would drive a nail into it making it worse.  I guess that unlike me or most of us who treasure these things, these items were purely utilitarian with no regard for their artistic or intrinsic value.