The harness makers' illustrated manual

The harness makers' illustrated manual by William N. Fitz-Gerald is a practical trade manual written in the late 19th century. It explains how to select, cut, prepare, and finish leather; how to make and fit many styles of harness and related gear; and how to repair and care for finished work, with ample illustrations, tables, and workshop recipes aimed at professional makers and informed horse owners.

The opening of the manual states its purpose as a concise, methodical guide for workshop, office, and stable, then sketches the scale of the American saddlery industry and argues for sound pricing and systematic shop practices. Early chapters teach how to judge leather quality and tannage, warning against acid-burned grains, impure oils that cause gumming, and short or limy tannages, while comparing oak, hemlock, and union leathers and advising on suitable hides and strap weights by harness type. They cover russet (rein) leather selection, achieving uniform stains and hand-part pliancy, simple in-shop graining, the use of buff and loop leather, and practical buying cautions about rough-weight branding, backs versus trimmed stock, and hidden costs. A chapter on patent leather explains splits, enamel finishes, over-stretched hides, proper storage, and why cool-season manufacture lasts better. Cutting guidance shows how to map a side to minimize waste and reserve the right sections for strength-critical straps, followed by instructions on soaking, tallowing, and slicking (recurrying) to densify and finish stock before fitting. It then stresses measuring the horse and key strap runs for fit, and begins the tabulated lengths and widths for multiple harness configurations. (This is an automatically generated summary.)