Hair Blades (Again)

[FlHobbyist]

Greetings All,

I just had the misfortune of attempting to practice making hair with a Craptool Hair Blade tool that I purchased a few weeks ago. To paraphrase a line I saw in a movie recently: Every time I think Tandy cant get crappier, they get even worse than the time before.

The primary problem with the tool is that both ends are very, very dull and in order to make an impression on the leather, one has to really bear down, so much in fact that the leather is dented. The wetness of the leather was about the dampness I would use for carving or using background stamps (i.e. cased but on the drier side). Shaking my head.

Now that the whining is out of the way; I did a pretty through search here and it looks like there are 2 viable options:

1) Contact Bob Beard, put in an order and late next summer an excellent hair blade will be on the way.

2) Make my own with xacto blades and a wooden dowel, which is sort of an ugly option for me as I don't own a drill, nor do I have much confidence that even if I did, that I could drill a straight hole. Though, I could go beg one of my brothers to do it, and with a little luck and a six pack of beer, they could do it if they remember to drill first and then enjoy beer rather than the other way around.

Has anyone else started selling hair blades in the last couple of years? Were the old hair blades put out by Tandy any good? Money is no real hindrance, however waiting a year for a tool exceeds my current patience level.

Thank you

[Mjolnir131]

I have the same and to fix it one i took them apart and use them on a swivel knife and two then dressed their face with a micro file works pretty well.

Edited August 16, 2013 by Mjolnir131

[shtoink]

Wasn't there a special holder that was meant to clasp on to multiple X-Acto blades that was designed to fit a standard swivel knife?

I thought that I have seen pictures of one before, but no clue where, if it was something homemade, or a product that never really caught on. I also recall seeing a swivel knife that had been modified to hold several X-Acto blades, too.

The one thing that always had me confused was how one is supposed to (re)sharpen a hair blade. It seems such a waste to be stuck with a dull one that performs poorly and no easy way to rectify it.

[FlHobbyist]

I have the same and to fix it one i took them apart and use them on a swivel knife and two then dressed their face with a micro file works pretty well.

Thanks for the advice. I was lucky and had some micro files lying around from my prior hobby. Once the black covering material was removed they behaved better, not great, but well enough for Paul Burnett's leather lessons.

This isn't a great solution, and I'll keep my eyes peeled for someone entering the market, or I may bite the bullet and make my own, though that is an absolute last resort. In any event, I'll update in this thread if I find something better.

[MaryBrady]

I got my hair knife from Tandy.  It has course hair on one end and fine hair on the other.  Don't remember how much it cost, but it's an excellent tool.

 

[JLSleather]

A lined beveler makes a pretty good "hair tool"....

 

[Colt W Knight]

I must have gotten lucky, because my Crafttool double sided hair tool is actually made really well, and the machining on the tip are crisp and make nice impressions. However, when I am doing animals, I find myself wishing I had a hair blade on a swivel knife to make following contour and such easier.

[Colt W Knight]

My hair tool works great to make wood grain, but I wish I had the swivel for the critters

[billybopp]

I have the Craftool double-ended hair tool too.  The blades on mine are removable standard size, and I bought a few really cheap swivel knives on ebay that they fit perfectly.

 

Bill

[chriscraft]

I was lucky that my grandfather had a set of swivel knife fine and course hair blades in the figure carving tools I inherited from him. I don't know how old these are but most of his tools were from the late 50's to mid 60's. I would be lost without these two swivel knife hair blades. My fly fishing lures wouldn't look the same without them.

I also would like to try and make my own blades with some fine jewelers files.