THE SADDLER AND HARNESS MAKER.
WORKSHOP.
The manufacture of saddles and harness for horses is one requiring very considerable skill and no little patience, since on the ability of the Saddler depends not only the health and comfort of the horse, but the safety of the rider. The beauty and finish of the harness and its appurtenances are so essential to the proper appearance presented by the whole equipage, that a very great deal of attention is now given even to the smallest details, such as buckles, mounts and ornamental sewing on straps and traces.
Spokeshave. Cutting Gauge. Dead Punch. Compasses. Mallet. Hand Iron.
The operations in the trade of the Saddler are so similar to those of the shoemaker, as far as the stitching and cutting of leather are concerned, that they require very little description. The most difficult part of his business is the skilful making of saddles. To fit the pigskin over the iron shape, and skilfully to arrange the padding, is often a very troublesome task, where a horse requires some peculiarity of make before he can be well fitted; and to ensure a perfect smoothness and finish a skilful use of the hand iron and the spokeshave is necessary. Similar care has to be taken in forming the collars to which the harness is attached; and indeed no part of the Saddler’s work can be carelessly performed without serious risk either to the horse or its owner.
Needle and Thread. Clamps. Lead Piece. Hand Knife. Punch. Round Knife. Pricking Iron. Hand Knife. Hammer.
As a great part of the Saddlers’ work consists of sewing, he uses the clamps to hold the leather between his knees, in the same way as they are used by the shoemaker; but although he employs the sewing awl for drilling holes, or, at all events, the pricking iron, the sewing is done with needles and strongly waxed thread. The various kinds of knives are used for cutting and paring the leather; the cutting gauge and compasses for regulating the cutting, the hammer for driving the small nails used in the work, and the mallet for striking the pricking iron or punches. The punch is used for making the holes in the straps to receive the tongue of the buckle, and is therefore a hollow tube with a sharp cutting edge, so that it will cut out a little round piece of the leather. The dead punch is made solid, and is not intended for cutting. The leather, when it has to be cut with the punch, is placed on the lead piece, a small square block of lead, which being soft allows a slight yielding of the leather, and at the same time does not blunt the edge of the punch when it has passed through the hole.