bruce johnson

My general impression is that a single blade and a basic Craftool knife eventually trade hands for around $50. That is perfect with no chips. Sometimes you will find the right buyer who will give $60-$70. It looks like from the pictures one of the straight blades is chipped. If so, that makes it a part of the team but sitting at the end of the bench. Two good blades - I'd think expect $80-$100.

My first call would be to Campbell-Randall. They are on here as a member but you will get faster results calling them.

Part of the process of tanning is adding back oils/fats and one of the treatments is called fat-liquor. From what I read - not a single substance but various sorts of sulfonated oils depending on tannery. I was told years ago that sulfonated neatsfoot oil was one of them - one of the major ingredients in Lexol leather conditioner. The reason that the historic casing mix recipe I was given contains Lexol conditioner.

Yes, Obviously too wet when you are stamping and fluid squeezes out but I have had that milky fluid with some leathers. My thoughts are it is some of the oils and treatment in the leathers. Before we kick the can here, it happened mostly to me with Argentine vegtan leather from the Sadesa Tannery. Sadesa was some of the cleanest and finest leather I have tooled. Not all foreign leather is cheap urine smelling crap contrary to keyboard advice. Sadesa did not get as boardy after casing and tooling like some leathers do. The word was that it had more treatments. Casing is an art, but not rocket science. There are wipe and go/rewet as needed people, drown it and air it for a day people, and a lot of wet it/bag it, and set aside folks. Some good toolers wipe on something like saddle soap or baby shampoo and slick before tooling. My casing mix is milky to start with. Water- Lexol - baby shampoo - Listerine. Herman Oak and some others that tended to be "drier" I used more Lexol in the mix. This mix gave me more working time, better burnish, better molding, and more even oiling and dying afterwards. Everyone else's mileage will vary. If plain old water works - great. The bottom line is stay with a consistent leather tannage and learn what works with that leather. Then you aren't trying to figure out the moisture amount and time for even penetration on every new piece of leather you get.

My thoughts- Bundle leather by types. Veg tan leather/chrome tan/kangaroo separately. Rest of the tools - depends on makers. If these are makers like Barry King, Robert Beard, Gomph-Hackbarth, Ron's Tools, etc. - it is worthwhile to separate to the "each level". They are a whole different deal to sell If these are Craftools - i would bundle. Realistically in my experience - the common handled Craftools bring the same price each whether you are selling one at a time or 10 in a bundle. Stamps - ditto. I would suggest bundling into groups by type and not go further. I am going to politely disagree that you will get more selling them individually. What will probably happen is that a year from now you will have the dregs still on hand. The extra money you made is offset by the per-piece you have looking at you. At the shows I sell stamps for $5.00 each - over the course of the year, half sell and the rest are given to kids or veteran's groups. Handled tools used to be $5.00 as found. Now I sharpen them as much as my other tools, then sell them for $7.00 after shooting pictures, descriptions and loading them on the website. Am I losing money in the time vs return column? You bet but I am clearing totes and getting requests before many ever hit the website now. I am getting to the point where I am probably not going to have a "bargain table" at any shows except Prescott. The bargain table does better there than the rest of the shows together. Here is Option B- I am going to be a vender at the new leather trade show that Illume magazine is putting in Las Vegas in early January (South Point). I am doing a double booth as usual. I will not have a bargain table there. If you want to put your stuff on one of my tables, I should have at least a half table available.

That's a fact! I like playing with some of the old formulas. When I was handsewing a bunch, I made up coad (handsewing thread wax) with pine pitch and beeswax. Cook it all together and knead it underwater when hot and shape into balls. Fun stuff to use. The old timers had summer and winter formulas that varied the ingredients to make a softer wax for winter and harder wax for summer, since those old shop temperatures varied with the season. My leather edge wax for years was 50:50 beeswax/paraffin. Melt it together and pour into muffin wrappers. I cooked down dark brown spirit dye to make a thick concentrated dye-pigment additive for some cakes to color it. My handle treatment for hammers and tool handles is an old time boiled linseed oil/beeswax/mineral spirits mix to make a paste. It is also good for a rust preventative on knife blades that aren't used much or before storage for the season (filet and hunting knives). In the last couple years I have made a turpentine mix that substitutes for the mineral spirits also. That smells amazing while it cooks and good for handles. The big shop smells great for days. I also make a "finishing wax" with BLO/carnauba wax/turpentine for the final treatment on tight grain exotic wood handles. I pour those pastes into 4 oz balm tins to set up and store. The old guy that taught me a bunch about tools had the saying "Beeswax to stick/paraffin to slide". Old men are generally wise and I follow that advice.

Actually there was a post yesterday to this thread from Ahahn about pull the dot dies for a hand press. I quoted and replied to that. I don't see the post now. My fear now is that I my have have deleted that reply accidentally as I quoted it (most likely), or it was deleted by the poster (less likely).

It would take special tooling for the setter and anvil and I haven't seen that as a "stock item" It would take special tooling for the setter and anvil and I haven't seen that as a "stock item

I wax my dies sometimes but with paraffin. Much as I like beeswax for some things, I like paraffin better as a lubricant and also as a rust preventative - especially after clicking a bunch of chrome tan. I do the same with punches that don't see much use. The nice thing about beeswax is that it melts with a little friction but then solidifies and gets sticky and hard again as it cools. That's what makes it great for screws and handled tool treatments. Also why it was and is traditionally used in mixes for handsewing thread wax.

A craft show is a little different than a "theme show" like a leather show, auto swap meet, or Renn fair. The attendees at the theme shows have an interest in most everything offered. They are a slower pace, I'm gonna take my time and not miss a treasure event. They are there for the vibe and will be there as long as it takes. They have time to chat, might ask what else you have. Pick your brain and you pick theirs kind of affairs. Attendees at a craft show or artisan's fair are generally not as deliberate. If they don't have a specific interest, they keep walking. That is where you either get their attention with signs or a spiel. A quick glance tells them a bit about about what they need to know. With three kind of unrelated sections, you need to let them know what you've got and you only have the time it takes for them to walk past to do it. There is an art to displaying stuff and no rules. In my case at shows I have to break some recommendations. I have a double space - 5 to 6 tables. Tools are laid out by type and sorted into trays by sizes. we fill these tables. We never know what is going to sell and take a representative amount of most tools. Some tools I still haven't got the best way to display yet, but we evolve. We lay it all out at the start. It is too hard and we are busy enough usually that we can't lay out a few and restock as some things sell out. I liken craft fairs to antique malls almost. I go to an antique mall and I have tools and KaBar pocket knives on my radar screen. A quick glance as I walk and I can size up most booths. I don't need to stop for stacks of linens, plates, and curio cabinet of figurines. A bucket with hammer handles sticking up and a glass cabinet of knives and I'm drawn in. If I see a really busy display with stuff piled up or mostly touching each other - I usually keep walking. I want to see it spread out a least a little. At a craft show - I probably am not stopping for anything that hangs up - our walls are covered. Jewelry is in my wheelhouse because my wife is well-loved. Handmade knives - I'll stop and chat it up. Not everyone will have an interest in your wares. Some of these booths that don't have much of a sign and I can't see due to people in there or whatever, I appreciate it when someone stands outside and tells me what they have. I can say thank you and go on or go in. The round spool displays sound good in theory. The problem will be space. Limited space on top for displaying. People need to get all the way around them and not interfere with the flow around the booth with other displays. It would depend on booth size.

Good advice so far, and I will throw out a little more. Some based on being a vender (leather shows) and some as a person who visits a lot of antique fairs, shops, and some farmer's market/craft fairs. You have three things going on in one booth - teas/botanicals, crystals, and your leather work. You need separate signage for each. That signage should be readable from at least a 10 foot distance from the front of the booth. You have about the 3 seconds it takes for them to walk by to grab their attention and for them to decide if there is something they are interested in. Sometimes I look at a booth and immediately think - too unrelated and stirred together, not serious. Other times I see a booth with signs for Tupperware and used motorcycle parts and I'm like "That's a hell of a mix! I need to talk to these people, they gotta be fun!" No reason to assume in either scenario but I guess I do. In the later case I am probably leaving with a food storage item, a greasy crescent wrench, and new contacts that I didn't have on my radar screen walking in. Candy dish - wrapped and all that. The 1 pound tub of Red Vines? - I ain't touching that when it's had 27 hands in it already. Mix of chocolate (fun size and not those minute mini's), some kind of soft mints, and something like individual wrapped licorice. The whole world loves Tootsie rolls and again - midgies and not the little rabbit turd size. MY wife has put the "no hard candy rule" in for us, choking risk for kids. Have a garbage can or basket with a little sign by it available for wrappers. That little bit of time when they are opening and tossing the wrapper is an engageable moment. Here is something that became HUGE for us. A separate bowl with signage for sugar-free candy. Several years ago one of our fellow venders asked if we had sugar free, she is diabetic. I told her for sure we would next time. I am still amazed at the response. First show with sugar free a lady with a diabetic kid was all over us thanking us. At the Prescott leather show one guy thanked us and said a lot of the people in Navajo Nation are diabetic. Our booth is now his first stop! At the last several shows now we have expanded to about half regular and half sugar free, and often run out of the sugar free first. Take home stuff - business cards at a minimum. Maybe brochures. Brochures can be printed on your computer probably with a software template you've got pre-installed. After our first show I was looking at giveaway promo stuff besides business cards - pens and stuff like that. My friend suggested 6 inch rulers with my info on them. handy size to go in your pocket, you always need to measure stuff, etc. OK, I'll try some. Let's just say that 13,000 rulers later - it has been a good suggestion. Ditto for stickers. You don't have to give away expensive stuff, but have something that helps to keep people remembering you. Start small and grow. Bags - definitely. You can buy paper bags and a rubber stamp and stamp your logo, apply stickers, something to get started. One I got rolling - my promotional products guy again. I can buy good sized reusable shopping bags with my logo cheaper than most paper bags. Talking to people - some of this is from a seminar I was at eons ago. First and foremost - engage people with what you have to sell. You are there to sell not chat it up like you are in the checkout line at the grocery store. Don't comment on the weather first - you are not a meteorologist and they know if it is hot/cold/humid/raining/nice weather same as you. Don't ask how they are doing if you don't know them personally. Most people are going to say fine or OK and go on. If they stop, you are screwed. You are going to hear about their dental or medical issues, ingrate kids, crummy neighbor, or latest car repair. Start with what you have - We are a little family business. My daughter has beautiful crystals, my wife has some really good teas and botanicals, and I do handmade leather goods and am also the chauffer that lugs the heavy stuff guy. You don't have to be a used-car salesman, but let them know YOU made it and you can do more items than what they see there. I can go to some 'handmade" craft shows and see the exact same items in three or four booths. Unfortunately, that can be the mentality of your buyers that handmade means some village or cottage industry in another country. Not many people wake up and think "I'll go to the craft show because I need a new handmade belt or wallet". Probably more like "Honey, I know I've played a lot of golf this week, how about we do something together - maybe go to the craft show tomorrow and we can get lunch after". It is his get-out-of-jail-free card. Sales on site are nearly all impulse buys - but they plant the seed for the good orders with the right people. Feedback at and after the show - Once you are set up ask someone in show management for suggestions on your booth space for next time. They see it all, and they really want to see you succeed and come back. Same for other venders - ask what they think. Ask customers during the show. You might get the chatty one that you can ask what they think about the layout. For items you have laid out you can ask them what else they might be interested in besides what you've got, either a custom order or suggestion for next time. As the show winds down talk to other venders - maybe everyone had a bad /good/average day. If you like the experience want to try it more, ask them about other shows that might be a fit for what you sell. Debrief with the family on the way home. what could we do different, what worked and didn't.

Don Voss - Cuba, NM Yes dlvtoys is his EBay name

And the problem is - you see more of it all the time!! I get the question at least once weekly at least - "Do you have any stitching punches?". Ummm not often but what I want to say is that I have sharp awl blades and hafts, stitch markers, and harness needles in all sizes available 24/7. Much like the saying that "PVC pipe makes anyone a plumber", stitching punches make anyone a hand stitcher. Large holes for easier passage of needles and perhaps the biblical camel, holes that don't close back up, mismatched needles and small thread sizes, and there is no leather to thread friction to hold stitches. Machine sewing beats that all day long. Good hand stitching with tight holes, even spacing front and back, and that is some kind of pretty! Hand stitching well is an acquired and practiced skill for sure, but once a person has it - you have that skill for life. In reality - there are places you can't machine sew and there are places that hand stitching makes no difference. The best is the person who can both hand stitch well with awl/needles and set up a machine to sew a nice tight stitch. Then decides which is more appropriate and gets it done.

Yes needle type makes a huge difference in the appearance and uniformity of stitches. The only times I used round needles was for nylon. I preferred LR needles for my leather, and then rolled the backside stitches with an appropriate sized overstitcher when appearance mattered like it does here. I have attached a picture of some backside stitching as it came out of the machine with one side left as-is and one side overstitched.

Looking at the picture there is a slit below each bullet loop/pocket. I am sure some bit of leather was removed at the bottom like a "dart" in patterning. The cut edges were then butted up and that allows some of the loop to form and still lay flat around the ends of the bullets. Cool design work and once you work out the patterning for the cuts, it probably falls together much easier than you think. There is going to be some wet forming to make a tight fit, but the design will make that a whole lot easier.