Split crownpieces

I found out how to make these properly. Or almost... I can't say I know anything really, but this works for me and right now.

I decided I need to have all these finished at the same night. Most are 10 cm long, but there are some longer and shorter ones as well.

It's just a 10 cm long and 3 mm wide piece of leather that I cut split from both ends. Simple!

No it's not. If it was, I could have made those long before this day. Like with everything else, I had to figure out my own way to make these as well. And, after I found out how to make split crownpieces that yet work okay, I definitely can't go back to piling the single lace crowns anymore. These are just much nicer and also help keeping the bridle symmetrically and balanced on the horse... Hah.

How do I make them?

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I begin it with making some 3 mm wide lace; it can be slightly wider too. I know, if a 1:1 bridle has 1 cm wide straps, they should go 1 mm wide in traditional scale, but that just is too narrow to punch holes at. That is why I allow myself to add extra width there. (Anyone else wishing for yet thinner mechanical pencil tips and strong wire which is less than 0.3 mm thick?)

3 mm lace. (Don't ask why I have a blue flower ruler here, it's old... And way more practical than the 30 cm/12 inches long metal ruler!)

Then I cut those into 10 cm long pieces. I try to make sure there are equally thick ends in each piece. (Thickness of the lace affects dramatically to how punchable and flexible the strap is!)

I place the strip on the mat vertically and mark two horizontal dots 1 cm away from the end. (I use a ballpoint pen for this.) Then two similar double marks, all these will have 1 cm distance between each other.  Repeat to the other end of the piece. I also mark one dot 5 mm away from the inner double dot marks.

All marks added.

Those marks get punched through.

Those punched holes sit 5 millimetres away from the inner double marks.

Then I carefully cut the ends split until the holes.

Lovely knife, isn't it. I can't cut with the pointy blades anymore.

Trim the ends...

...and second I punch through the marks on each slice. (By the way, when I punch holes, I use a scrap leather piece on the table and punch the straps against it, not on the cutting mat.)

I punch through the marks first.

After those, I punch yet two holes between each of the marked holes. This way I get 7 holes per strap.

This is a single lace crownpiece, I usually make more holes on them. But the technique is exactly same as with splits as well; two extra holes between the marked ones.

It's done then! And ready to use.

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WHAT HAVE I DONE?!
Examples of my split crownpieces in use. 

A brown therapy bridle. Ages ago (when I was 13 and had riding therapy) I rode a gelding who had rein attachments in his noseband, so I decided to use that idea in my model horse tack (and name the bridle type after it). This is just a plain English bridle with an extra part glued on the noseband.

I put the bit hanger to go over the split crownpiece, simply because it feels easier. Why should it go under it? I know it's usually the noseband hanger which is separate and so on.

After I started to make split crownpieces, I've been playing with the idea of adding some of these to the earlier bridles I have made from the same lace. It could make them much better and more useable, but I also could need to make a whole new set of double buckled throatlatches. Yes, I want to keep these things symmetric, no one says that you can't have two buckles in a throatlatch or that your split crown should have a buckle in it. The single lace crownpieces from the bridles could just find new use in case it's not necessary to have them all in one bridle anymore. Though I am not going to alter all the bridles, since it's just my tackmaking history to have some rougher designs remain there.Yet because those bridles without split crowns are completely useable the way they are.

Another therapy bridle, now in black. (The noseband is really loose there.)

Ludi's bridle. This is a dressage model, but his head seems to be too small for a big bunch of cheekpieces, so I redesigned it a bit. And still, I prefer to keep the split crown under the other straps.

What next? More tutorials? It seems that this blog is going to be filled with those...