LIGNITE LEATHER & BELLS.

If we would not use it ourselves we will not sell it to our customers!

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QUALITY
WHAT GOES INTO OUR CUSTOM BELL SETS.


CRAFTSMANSHIP

Each of our Sleigh Bell sets is carefully handcrafted by us in our own shop. We use traditional methods and patterns whenever possible. We can custom make any style of strap that you desire from simple to very complex!

MATERIALS

Our Sleigh bells are made using only the best materials available to do the job.

BELLS: Our bells are traditionally sand cast with a petal design deeply engraved into the brass. These are not the cheap stamped steel bells with a flash coating of brass. They are solid cast Bell Brass! Made the same way they were made in grandpa's day! You can not match the sound of these Brass sleigh bells on a cold winters morning dashing through the snow in a one horse sleigh!

LEATHER: We use only the finest Domestic Vegetable Tanned leather curried (finished) in traditional English Briddle fashion. This leather has an exceptionally soft feel to it without being "wimpy" and is comparable to the finest Contintental "English Briddle" leather. We exclusively use leather tanned by either the HERMAN OAK Leather Co, or Wickett & Craig, the two top leather tanners in the USA. This leather is produced by traditional Vegetable Tanning processes and "hot stuffed" with tallows and waxes that have been used for centuries to produce the finest leathers. Then it is Drum dyed for exceptional weather resistance, wearability, thickness, and durability in the field This traditional harness leather is just like your grandfather used.


FINDINGS: Traditionally hardware on harness is brass. In high stress areas Brass buckles may have Stainless Steel tongues for additional strength. All our rivets are SOLID BRASS. We use traditional POST & BURR type rivets where ever strength is required. In non critical areas, such as to attach keepers to straps, we use solid brass Rose Head Rivets. We never use brass plated steel rivets which just rust and look ugly!

STITCHING: Where ever appropriate, such as in high stress areas, we hand saddle stitch our leather using the traditional Awl and two needle saddle stitch. This is the best and strongest way to stitch leather! Long runs and decorative stitching is done on a heavy duty Free Arm Harness Lock stitching machine in order to keep the cost down.

KEEPERS:Our keepers are either hand stitched, with a "figure 8" stitch that reinforces the keepers, or secured with special solid brass Loop Staples. We never use narrow brass or Nickle plated steel staples that eventually rust and fall apart.

Jim hand saddle stitching a billet
and ring to the end of a large door hanger

Jim stitching a graduated set
of bells on the big sewing machinee


DISPLAYING BELLS



The most frequent question we get is, "How many bells do we need and what size?" Well, the answer to that one is perfectly illustrated in the above picture.

You can never have to many bells!

Seriously though, bell size and selection of the quantity of bells is a very personal matter. While all our bells sound great everyone likes a different sound, and depending on what sizes you put together on a string, and how many of each size, the final sound will vary considerably. In general the smaller the bell the quieter it is and the higher pitched the sound is, and the larger the bell the louder the sound and deeper the pitch. Personally we like a combination of sizes and have found, at least to our ears, that #1's combined with #2 bells give a very pleasing higher pitched classic "Jingle Bells" sound, but it takes a lot of them to make much noise. Another favorite is #2's, #4,s and #6's which make a very good combination on body straps. If you are after maximum impact, both visually and volume, the large bells can not be beat! We have made several strings of Draft horse size body bells with #15, #13, #11 and #9 bells that sound awesome, but be prepared to be heard for miles!

Another question we get is, "What kind of bells do I need?" Again, the choice is endless! However the #1 recommended set, and the one we sell the most of is the classic single strand of bells mounted on a long leather belt. They may be all one size, or a combination of sizes or even graduated from #15 to #1. This is what most people think of when they think of sleigh bells.
Beyond the classic set of body bells the sky, and your immagination, is the limit! From Shaft Bells, that mount on the shafts or pole of a sleigh, to fancy Russian Saddle Chimes the selection is endless. We can make bell straps to hand around the neck, or pole straps with bells. Rump bells, Hip bells, and fancy spotted parade sets are also an option.


"What is the proper way to display body bells on my horse? Do the bells go on top of the horse or hang under the horses chest?"
It is a popular misconception that body bells are meant to be mounted with the bells on the top of the horse. This is not true, most single strap strings of bells (and most sleigh bell sets, new or antique, fall in this category) are made to be mounted with the bells hanging free on the bottom side, not on the top of the horse and do not roll around the horse because all the weight is at the bottom of the string. The easy way to determine if they are meant to hang "up" or "down" is whether the strap has an even number of bells or an odd number of bells. A strap with an even number of bells is meant to sit with the bells on top of the horse, with an even number of bells on either side of the backstrap. A strap with a odd number of bells is meant to hang under the horse. If you put them on top then you would have more bells on one side of the back strap than the other and the bells would roll. Graduated straps are always "odds" and always mounted bells down, otherwise the large center bell will pull the entire string to one side.

Another commonly asked question is about the tendency of lug mounted bells to pull or break hairs when in use. When you mount this type of single strap bell correctly with the bells down they do not usually pull hairs because the bells go around the outside of the shafts and drape under the horse and do not normally make contact with the horse except occasionally when they bounce or the top couple of bells that may touch the horses back and they do not move much anyway. That is also why most single strap bells are odd numbered, reinforcing the idea that they are meant to be under the horse and not on top of the horse.
Personally I also think the underhung bells sound better because they move more thus making more noise and the bells that are sitting on the horses back are "muffled" by the horses body. I can by the way make them either way, with odd or even number of bells, to suite your personal preference.

How are bells mounted on a single horse? Traditionally an a single horse, driven between shafts, the bells are run around the body of the horse and over the outside of the shafts. The bells can be mounted either in front of the saddle, as shown in the picture above, or preferably just behind the saddle. If the bells tend to slide back on the horse they can be secured to the saddle with a leather keeper strap made for this purpose or a shoe lace also works just fine. There should only be a couple of inches clearance between the horse belly and the bells, see picture above. Any more and you run the risk of catching a hind foot in the strap. If you chose to mount the bells in front of the saddle check to make sure that they do not interfere with the horses elbows as he moves, they can rub raw spots pretty quickly! Also note the use of single hame bells attached to the neck strap terrets on the horse pictured above.

How are bells mounted on a pair of horses? On a pair of horses the body bells are normally mounted closer to the body. Pair bells should always be "lined" with a protective strap to keep the mounting lugs from catching and breaking hairs. The best way to line a pairs strap is to double the strap and stitch the two straps together. This way the horse only has a smooth layer of leather against his body and there is no way for snow and other debrie to get between the layers of leather as commonly happens with the straps that are held togeather with leather keepers between the bells. Also, if keepers are used, the keepers tend to catch and pull hairs if they are not fitted very tightly to the straps.


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LIGNITE LEATHER & BELLS
 N7047 Oriole Lane - Fredonia, Wisconsin - 53021
262-689-2366

Jim & Katie Dingman
E-Mail Us
bellelf@santassleighbells.com

(We do check our E-mail regularly and if you do not hear back from us within 24 hours your E-mail probably got trapped in our Spam Filter. Please feel free to give us a call).

This site updated November 08, 2010


Notice: Lignite Carriage & Bell Co. does not and will not at any time assume or accept any liabililty for any injury or accident involving any equipment sold or manufactured by Lignite Carriage & Bell Co. The purchaser(s) and/or user(s) of such equipment is presumed to be aware of the inherit risk involved in any Equine activities and as such assumes all risk in such activities as defined in section 895.481 (1)(e) of the Wisconsin Statutes.

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