bruce johnson

Agree on the planer for thickness reduction as the best option. but those places with the capacity for 2 feet wide seem to be getting fewer all the time in some areas. I have successfully resurfaced mine by hand. I did light pressure with a fairly coarse paper on a palm sander to take down the high spots. I think I started in the low 100s for grit. You want to almost float it over the surface. The paper cleans easy enough with a crepe belt cleaner every so often, no different than wood as long as it doesn't melt.. Then follow up with a couple progression of finer grits until you are satisfied. The key is keep moving with light pressure. Excess pressure or staying in one spot can melt the plastic and that gums up the paper and makes a divot. You don't have to take out the cut lines as much as just take down the high ridges next to those cut lines. A belt sander is probably going to run too fast and "hot".

The most popular weight depends on the job at hand. The right size makes the job easier and more enjoyable. Otherwise you can wear yourself out trying to hold up a heavy maul for easy stuff or wear yourself out beating a light maul repeatedly on heavy stuff. Stamping Tools - everyone needs a 1# maul. With most stamps that weight gives a good deadfall effect. For larger face stamps like 1/2 inch or more geometrics - 1.5# or 2# depending on how intricate the design is. For tiny faced or sharper stamps like seeders and bargrounders, consider stepping down to a 12 ounce maul. Hardware setting, smaller round punches, and most strap end punches - 1#. If you fall to the side of "I don't want to my punches to be really sharp" then 2# for the strap ends and rounds. I don't follow that theory but some do. Large round (2 inches and up) and Rosette punches - 2.5# or 3#. I sell 4.5# mauls for the heavy hitters on big punches. I don't mean to dissuade you from rawhide, but a few things to consider. The industrial handle rawhide mauls new are about twice the cost of a good leather handle maul ike the Wayne Jueschke mauls I sell or Barry King mauls. Rawhide can wear a little faster and can flake off onto your work. There are definite fans of rawhide and I do like them, just not as affordable new and the good used ones are few and far between.

There are a few Champions that got traded around this area for years. The old deal with Champions and American straight needles was that most shops had two. One to sew and another to scavenge parts off when they wore totally out on the main machine. The problem was that those same parts were likely worn on the scavenge machine as well. The parts availability is not necessarily what they are for the Landis, Campbell, and Randall machines. The last Champion I know of around here that sewed pretty well sold for $1200. A friend had a Champion deep throat that sort of sewed and he stored it here when he was between places. Once in a while he'd come over and we'd BS for the afternoon, get it going somewhat, and then have some Crown Royal and a steak. When we finally got through the bucket of scavenged parts and it wasn't much better, we called it some quality buddy time and scrapped it. On the stand it weighed around 600#.

That tool is for setting "bar snaps". Bar snaps are used on the edge of wide flaps like on the coin pocket in a wallet. It was a wide piece of brass with the snap stead molded in. This tool was used to crimp the bar on the edge of the flap.

If you want to go natural, one of the best wood surfaces I cut on was a 20 year old plank of clear sugar pine. occasionally resurfaced with a sander. What do I have in my shop and recommend for a cutting surface? Hint - it isn't wood. - https://brucejohnsonleather.com/links-resources/tool-talk/cutting-surfaces-knives-and-blades

There is zero reason for you to stay neutral, you are in Conroe and not Switzerland. I was happy to see your name pop up here when you first joined. There is a real lack of understanding about these big old machines and parts sourcing. The guys that knew them inside and out (like my late friends Sam Huey and Keith Pommer) are thinning out. Please feel free to promote away and any information threads or history you want to post will be welcome. I have had nothing but positive experiences with Campbell-Randall. If I was still a maker and not a tool seller, you can bet my supplies would still come from C-R. When I transitioned to refurbishing tools and bench machines I appreciated the support and referrals from Dan early on a lot!

Campbell-randall.com @mbnaegle

The heaviest rawhide comes from slaughter bulls. Percentage-wise, packer bulls are a very small number versus the total number of cattle slaughtered everyday, and not done by a lot of major packing plants. The hides are big and heavy from English breed bulls and especially northern cattle. Commercially, you may run across sourcing those in a smaller plant. Denise and Rod Nikkell used to build saddle trees. They drove to a small processor when they got a call there would be bulls. They picked up the wet hides and fleshed and dehaired themselves. I'm not going to say impossible to find processed bull rawhide but harder than straight run rawhide.

Call your saddle maker and tell them what happened. My guess is that at a minimum you will be told to move the screws and not use the same holes.

No dog in the fight either but here's my experience. Tippmann originally made the Boss with a cast iron frame. I am not sure exactly when Dwight bought his but I bought mine in early to mid 2000 and it was cast iron. Cost was around $1600 then. Everybody and their uncle was a Tippmann dealer and I'm sure that the profit margin dealer pricing agreements made them $1600 list. Anything else that sewed leather then was $5000 or more. No Artisans, Cobras, or clones then so it was the first somewhat affordable option. I think the aluminum frame Boss came a few years later but not sure on that. I don't recall a lifetime warranty, only one year. I know that a few parts were upgraded and sent out at no charge. I got a few replacement parts that broke later on - rack and cable over time. I don't think they were free but can't say 100%. The lifetime deal on mine was that you send the machine in to them, they'd go through it for something like $100 0r $150 and they would rewarranty it again then. Obviously living close and driving it over, they might do repairs or adjustments as a favor in that business relationship. When I sold mine, I sent it to them, they went through it for the fee and sent it on to the buyer with the warranty. In use, I sewed some 415 but mostly 277 or 346 on top, one size smaller in bobbin. The short throat was really limiting for some of my work. Still for belt and edge sewing it was good. My late wife and a 14 year old son could sew on it. My current wife sewed a bunch of production belts on it when we were dating. The Boss likely ran $200,000 or more through it. If I was buying today - Outlaw if I was to buy a hand crank. You may not think you need more throat space but its enough of a plus that the cost would have been worth it for me. If you want to add another $1000 then the Cobra 26 is a solid choice unless you are sewing saddle skirts. Reach for Rundi Johnson's #26 and you will pull back a bloody stump.

Not much to add but talked with a guy who knew a little more. He thinks that he learned from Chuck Stormes. He worked a stretch at Hamley's and then was off on his own.

All glues are not the same and all edge paints aren't either. As said, most contact cements on the surface can be removed with a crepe block or eraser. Realize that the solvent in them makes them penetrate the leather a bit and that won't wipe off. It will block stains and dyes depending on how deep it goes. If you have to rub much to remove cements then the surface of leather will abrade. From there on will not take dyes and finishes the same as the leather around it. Edge paints - not all the same - I used the Fiebings a fair amount on smaller stuff. It was OK, kind of the standard then. Most of my larger projects had a dyed and burnished edge. My wife is now making a lot of smaller projects from chrome tan leathers. You would be hard pressed to make her switch from the Giardini edge coat system. Jerry Van Amburg spent about an hour with her at Pendleton last fall showing her the steps and tips/tricks for Giardini. Those edges are nice! She orders it from Buckleguy and they have a YouTube on it.

Don Potter had a reputation as a pretty good maker. I don't know much but there are people in that area who do. One lady we know told me her mother learned to do leatherwork from him in the Livermore/Pleasanton area of California at one time. I don't know when he ended up in Pendleton. At one time he had a fire in his shop and a guy put together a donation deal that several of us sent stuff to get him going again. I think I heard he was working out of the back of an antique store at one time also. I got some of his tools second hand from a guy at the Pendleton Leather Show a few years ago.

Jonathon, You have used a Cobra 4 and comfortable with it, you live in Oregon. Want to save shipping and get a few hundred dollar discount? Leather Machine Co will be at the Pendleton Leather show at the end of October. If you can wait that long. There ya go. Show discount and no shipping. They will tag one for you, bring it to the show, sit you down, and take time to show you whatever you need to know for as long as it takes. They will then take the head off the table, shuttle it all out, and securely pack it into your vehicle. Probably give you free stuff too. If you have never been to a show, Pendleton is a good one to get your feet wet. It is not one of the bigger shows with a feeding frenzy of leather workers. It is a steady easier pace for us vendors. The Leather Machine Co guys are not over run like some shows and have time to spend. If you go, I am usually across the way from them and have free candy, rulers, and stickers - along with some other stuff like tools.

It has been mentioned on the forum a few times but not as a stand alone discussion topic I can find. A friend and I were talking about this a few days ago. There was a somewhat standard back in the day shared with us by older guys who stamped production work for large shops. After looking a bunch of the older work from saddles to wallets, it generally runs true. It makes for a pleasing visual outcome. Basket stamping - The width of the border stamp should be the width of the end of the basket stamp. Geometric stamping - The width of the border stamp should be half the length of one side of the stamp impression. Two impressions per side. Larger border impressions overpower the stamp pattern and smaller borders lose effect. Whatcha think?