Vintage Tools Still on the Cutting Edge
By Rhonda Shephard
Photos by Kay Plummer
A hundred years ago, the saddle maker and cobbler held a special place in rural communities. Farmers and ranchers operating on tight budgets had worn reins, harnesses, boots and saddles repaired, rather than replaced. In Butler, Okla., Ralph Teeter continues this honored profession at the dawn of a new century, using tools from the last century.
An avid leather worker, Ralph uses and collects leatherworking tools; some were used by his great-grandfather.
The oldest tool in Ralph's tool box is a leather creaser patented in 1887. The creaser puts a decorative edge on leather pieces. Originally hand-cranked, the creaser is now powered by an electric motor. It is, he says, his rarest and most valuable tool.
Another vintage tool still doing the job is a reins rounder patented in 1889. Strips of leather are dipped in water and then pulled through the rounder. The rounder features 11 sizing holes.
A 1910 Champion narrow throat awl is used to punch holes in leather. In a shoe sole or the outer skirt of a saddle, it forms a lock stitch.
"Hot wax would be added to the thread when the machine was used originally," Ralph said. "That increased the ease of thread passing through the leather."
The most modern piece of equipment in Ralph's workshop is a 1940s-vintage Sherman Schwab 639 mechanical clicker. The clicker is used to cut leather patterns for all of Ralph's projects. Modern clickers are powered with hydraulics.
For decorative touches, Ralph relies on a hand-cranked 1902 F.K. Russell embossing wheel. He owns several of the original brass dies used to stamp designs into leather.