Nails are extensively used both in putting materials together for working and as ornaments. The nails used in putting work together are generally cut tacks, ranging in length from ⅝ in. to 1 in. Neat wire nails can now be had, however, much cheaper than the tacks, and are to be preferred, as they are of uniform size and leave a much smaller hole when withdrawn. Clumsy nails spoil good work, as the holes made by them are larger than the awl used in stitching. Very fine nails do not spoil the work, and can be obtained in sizes suitable for heavier and clumsier work; and they may be used over and over again if care is taken in pulling them out with the nail-claw. Cut tacks are used in putting gig saddles together, in nailing the leather to the tree, in adjusting panels in the gullet and behind, between the two prongs of the crupper staples, for nailing seats in riding saddles, etc. Cut tacks can be obtained as small as ⅜ in. in length.
Saddlers’ tacks of different sizes from ½ in. to ¾ in. long are used in putting in cart-saddle and riding-saddle panels and flaps, and for many other purposes. Clout nails are used now and then in putting houses on cart saddles, and for nailing on straps and girths, etc. Clout nails and saddlers’ tacks are made of wrought iron. Round-headed and japanned nails may be used for nailing cart-saddle housings, and have a neater appearance than common iron clouts. Tough nails are used in making all kinds of saddles; they sometimes have heads covered with black patent leather, and sometimes japanned heads only. Others have heads of silver, nickel, or brass. They are used partly as ornaments and partly to hold the work together, and are in two sizes, cab and gig. There are usually four in a gig or cab saddle, one in each corner of the skirt in front and one on each side behind, holding down the binding that comes over the cantle of the saddle. The front ones are driven through, bent, and beaten close to the tree backwards, whilst the hind ones are cut to taper for about half their lengths to a point; they are driven into the tree.
In a riding saddle there is one nail in the front, one in each of the sides, one in the corner of the skirts driven through and bent, and one on each side just at the thin end of the skirt, driven inwards so as to catch the tree and be flattened close to it. There is also one in each flap under the skirt in a line with the stirrup fastener, driven through the tree on the outside of the plate running along the points from the gullet; these are bent and flattened underneath. Sometimes brass nails are used as ornaments, but brass beading has done away with their use to a great extent. Formerly country cart saddles were ornamented by nailing the housing to the tree with brass nails; the covers of van saddles, as well as the opening over the boards, were also fastened down with these nails.
Such pieces as loop leather, the edges of black straps, etc., often have to be dyed. The dye or stain is made by boiling together for half an hour 1 lb. logwood chips, 4 oz. crushed nutgalls, ½ lb. copperas, a little gum arabic, and 5 qt. of water. Keep a little in an old bottle hung in a handy position near the bench. The dye is applied by a stick having a piece of felt attached to its end. The ink can be thinned by the addition of water. In dyeing brown leather, it must first be coated with soda solution to kill the grease. The solution is made by dissolving a piece of washing soda the size of a pigeon’s egg in a quart of hot water. The black dye may then be applied. If it does not strike well, rub over it a coarse brush and again coat with dye. Rub it well and dry with a rag, afterwards well rubbing in a little tallow with either a rag or the bare hand. The tallow gives a finish and counteracts any injury the dye might do the hand, there being in the copperas a tendency to burn.
Flocks, both white and coloured, are extensively used in the trade, and can be bought at from 20s. to 50s. per hundredweight; the material can also be had in small quantities—even as low as a pound. Best white flock should be free from cotton, and should be tested by putting a small quantity in a candle flame; if cotton is present, it burns fiercely and with a big flame, but fine wool burns slowly and smoulders. The best flock is used for stuffing riding-saddle panels, etc., and the best drummed flock is used for collars, being put near the horse’s breast under the lining to make the collars easy for the shoulder.
The drummed flocks are in large sheets, and these are cut to the size and shape required, and, being of even thickness, will not be lumpy, an important consideration in making a collar. Coarser flock of a white, brown, or any dark colour will do for stuffing and restuffing gig-saddle panels. Curled horsehair is sometimes used for stuffing panels, and is found very cool for an animal with a tender back or shoulder; goat hair is very suitable for stuffing. Neither this nor horsehair is so liable to be clogged by sweating as sheep’s wool, though the latter, when dry, containing but very little oil and being well carded, is used extensively in country places.
All these materials before use should be put through the flock machine once or twice to loosen the fibre, and care should be taken when stuffing with a rod that the flock or wool is not put in lumpy or uneven. After stuffing, the work should be levelled with the seat-awl until it is as smooth as a board. The drummed flock, of course, is already level and even; it is not stuffed in, but laid on the inside of the collar lining before stuffing the collar with straw.
Thick felt is a good substitute for pads to ease collars and saddles, and can be bought in various thicknesses by the pound. Large cuttings and waste pieces can also be bought very cheaply, and two thicknesses can be put together if necessary, a strap and a buckle being on one side with a strap on the other to fasten to a saddle or collar. Felt is useful to put under cruppers and to line breechings when chafing, or under any strappings that chafe the horse’s skin. They can be fastened to the above by stitching them with a spot stitch, thus - - - - -, about ¾ in. apart, and slanting the awl underneath to make the stitch small there as well as on the top; or nails may be used when the felt is sufficiently thick. False collars, pads to be used like saddle cloths under gig or cab saddles and under cart-saddle panels, riding-saddle cloths, and many other articles are made of felt.
The harness maker and saddler uses many different kinds of leather, and, unless the worker possesses some knowledge of the particular purpose of each variety, much waste is likely to result. Stuff too light or too heavy, too thick or too thin, spoils a job, and of course entails loss.
In Fig. 63, which is a diagram showing a cut hide, A A show the sides of a harness hide with belly on; C C, backs of harness hide with belly off; B B B B, bellies of hide; D D, middlings; E, shoulder; and F, uncut middling.