Horsewright
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2011
- Messages
- 13,058
I was working on a couple of Martingales/Breast Collars.
These pieces of saddlery help stabilize the saddle on a horse's back and are particularly useful in rough mountainous country or while roping. There are two "tugs" that attach the martingale to the saddle. I still need to build the tugs and I wanted to share a way of punching holes, a lot of holes that I came upon some time ago.
So these are the tugs ready to be punched. One martingale has stainless hardware the other brass and this is an option that we offer.
If ya don't have one of these handy dandy grid cutting mats on your bench top, ya might consider getting one. I don't really cut on it, except for fringe or something like that but they are very useful. So four tugs and lots of holes marked at an inch and a half:
I've kept a couple of bars of parrafin wax in the shop for years. I use it sometimes on my lathe when I rubbing edges. After a decade or so it's not very pristine. But the part you rub on your drive punch is and thats what matters.
After marking the holes on the tugs I place them lined up on my Hydroma cutting block and hold them in place with a sandbag. If the hole punch doesn't slip right out its time for a little more wax. This is so much better than wrestling your drive punch out of the leather each time you use it. Give it a try waxing up your drive punch. That ol chunk of paraffin lives right next to the chopping block along with the maul these days and I use it often on any punch that I need to use over and over in a project.
Got em done and shipped. Tugs are now mounted on the upper D rings:
Give this little trick a try if ya got to punch some holes.
These pieces of saddlery help stabilize the saddle on a horse's back and are particularly useful in rough mountainous country or while roping. There are two "tugs" that attach the martingale to the saddle. I still need to build the tugs and I wanted to share a way of punching holes, a lot of holes that I came upon some time ago.
So these are the tugs ready to be punched. One martingale has stainless hardware the other brass and this is an option that we offer.
If ya don't have one of these handy dandy grid cutting mats on your bench top, ya might consider getting one. I don't really cut on it, except for fringe or something like that but they are very useful. So four tugs and lots of holes marked at an inch and a half:
I've kept a couple of bars of parrafin wax in the shop for years. I use it sometimes on my lathe when I rubbing edges. After a decade or so it's not very pristine. But the part you rub on your drive punch is and thats what matters.
After marking the holes on the tugs I place them lined up on my Hydroma cutting block and hold them in place with a sandbag. If the hole punch doesn't slip right out its time for a little more wax. This is so much better than wrestling your drive punch out of the leather each time you use it. Give it a try waxing up your drive punch. That ol chunk of paraffin lives right next to the chopping block along with the maul these days and I use it often on any punch that I need to use over and over in a project.
Got em done and shipped. Tugs are now mounted on the upper D rings:
Give this little trick a try if ya got to punch some holes.
