I have ordered a set of Abbey England Saddlers Clam and wanted to get some feedback about customizing. I would like to add leather to the ends of the clams. What is the best way to do it.
1. What type & weight leather?
2. Is is OK to dye the leather or leave natural?
3. How much of the clam should I cover?
4. Anything else that I have missed?
Thanks and hope you all are doing well.
Hello,
1- I personally wrap mine with goat skin with the flesh side out because it gives an excellent grip to the leather i am stitching.
Weight between 1 and 1.6mm, and a mid to soft temper. I had a problem once with a firm leather actually marking my stitched leather on the edges
2- For me, either natural or a leather that was dyed at the factory. Never a leather you died yourself, because if there is a 0.1% chance that you did not seal the surface to perfection, then at some point you are going to have some rub off on the project you are stitching.
3- There is not rule, as long as the part that grips the leather is covered, the rest is pure aesthetic. Whatever looks good for you is what you should go for :)
4- Phil has an excellent tutorial on how to level up these bad boys :)
I’m new to this site, good morning! I have just received my saddle clam. I need advise as to how to fix them on to my work bench or onto a woodcutters block. Any suggestions? 🙏🏽 Thank you
Ellen
Phillip made a hole movie in it. Can really recommend it ! Think I covers all the points to mentioned
That's crap and they would have known that before they sent them. It will probably be a pain to return them if you have to pay the postage, you should give them a chance to rectify the issue first and hopefully they will. If not you may have to re-drill the holes that don't line up. It's not the end of the world but it shouldn't happen. Fingers crossed.
Doug
So I received my clams and I am little concerned with the fit and finish. There is about a 8 to 9 mm difference between the two arms. I have tried adding and removing tension using the top bolt with no improvement. Both arms have the letter “R” printed on the bottom. I have taken them apart and the top two holes don’t match up exactly perfect. I am thinking that is where the problem is coming from. I just sent a message to Abbey but it is currently 01:00 Tuesday morming in England so I hope to have reply from them in the morning.
Thanks Doug, I am new to the site and had not watched the video yet on clams. But now I have and the great idea of the magnet is on the list.
What Fadi said.
The only thing I would suggest is embedding a magnet in the leather on the outer curve of the leg (on the top side when you are using it).
Thanks Fadi for your great suggestions.