Harness Straps: Cut Along the Hide With Compass and Round Knife (or Plough), Edges Finished With Bone (Hasluck, 1904)

"Straps are always cut along the hide and not across it, the hide being much stronger lengthways."

Lay the side on the bench with the back toward you. Mark straight lines with a blunt-pointed awl or seat-awl against a straightedge at least 8 ft long, without cutting the grain. Do not cut lower into the hide than the strap's width; cut shaped pieces from patterns.

With the round knife: set the compass to the width, run one point along the edge and draw it toward you to leave a line, then cut from the right-hand end on a cutting-board, holding the leather steady with the left hand. With the plough: set the knife on the gauge (1/2 to 5-1/2 in) with the thumb-screw, hold the leather flat and press it forward with the guard tight to the edge. Cut reins first, then traces, back-bands and the rest; linings from the belly.

Knock the edges along to consolidate them, trim them round and level with the spokeshave, run a glass scraper over them and sandpaper. For brown work, wipe with a thin solution of gum and water and rub with brown paper and a smooth bone to a polish. For black, dye, rub dry with a rag, and polish with brown paper and bone.

From Paul N. Hasluck, **Harness Making** (1904) (checked on the archive.org scan harnessmaking00hasl, pp. 12, 42-44). Using broken glass (cullet) as the glass scraper, the tools and the metric figures are ours.