All the Gear, some idea.

Another week's gone by in a blur.

I've finished a few more projects and I'm gaining real confidence in my leatherwork now. But like any tool obsessive, there's a gap in my workshop kit that would make a real difference - not least my first stitching pony, which gave up the ghost after three months of faithful service.

With that gone, I was back on Etsy, eBay, and the usual sites hunting for a replacement, and quickly worked out that anything better than the entry-level version I'd settled for before was going to cost more than I wanted to spend. So I got thinking - why not just make my own?

So I did.

Three lengths of pallet wood, some hinges, a spring, and a few M12 threaded bolts later:

--Stitching Pony V2 was born!--

Once that worked, I realised I could retrofit other bits of kit around the workshop the same way. Here's what came out of it:

i) A 1-tonne arbor press, modified into a leather die-cutting press.
ii) A corded Dremel, mounted on a stand to double as a burnishing machine.
iii) A hinged stitching pony bolted to the workbench that folds away in seconds.

And to finish it off, I laser-cut a few little tool racks to keep everything in order.

Another win for the workshop.