bruce johnson

Randall strap creaser. What do you want to know?

Ventilation can be as simple or tricky as you want it to be. Drill a few holes and it will ventilate some. Too many and you lose your heat. Install a fan - too little exit volume and you fan will struggle. Too much and there goes the heat again. On my bulb heated box I had a twisting exit vent like on a Weber grill. The thermometer ran through a cork and the bulb was in the box. I adjusted the heat level by allowing more or less air to escape. Shop temperature, humidity level, how much I had in there - it was never the same ride twice.

Here's something I stumbled across a while back....I fiddle-farted around with drying boxes with bulbs, a cooler with a light bulb, and the open-door low-heat in the kitchen oven when I was making a bunch of sheaths and molded stuff. They all worked and all required some level of baby-sitting. Fast forwarding to the full time tool restoration period of my shop life. I was having trouble with my rattle cans not spraying as well in the cold temps and then the paint being slow to cure. Several on-line tips - set the cans in a bucket of warm water an hour before, incubator, old smoker, etc. It worked. One restorer suggested the Dr DryBooth paint drying cabinet from MicroMark. Intended for hobby model painters for drying but he was using it to heat cans and preheat tools to accept treatments and then keep warm for penetration and drying. I started with the XL size for drying splitter frames and set my cans to one side. I eventually got the other size vertical one on a special. I had a guy come by and saw them. He wondered how they would work for drying sheaths and holsters and bought one. His feedback a couple years ago to me was that is was really nice. Basically stack them in there, turn it on, and no babysitting. Controlled heat with airflow, no scorching risk, no babysitting and likely safer than his EasyBake oven set up in a flammable wooden box.

It depends on what the backing is. X, J, and Y belts all have different backing and their resistance to abrasion even from leather - you might end up with a 48 inch whip slapping you when half the belts strips off and lets go. Been there from the abrasive side. I tried to make my own leather belts, variable tracking and even with good skives - got the "bump" on some. My pals at Red Label Abrasives make a 2x48 leather belt. I have had no problems with the tracking on their leather belts. Here is their link - https://www.redlabelabrasives.com/products/2-x-48-inch-leather-honing-stropping-belt?srsltid=AfmBOoos-c_rllMfxZQM7LMYYmUfVkzVp6k9ViIUrL8olz0wv456cNM1 I swear between different grit diamond paste belts and polishing compound belts I have about as many dedicated leather belts as I do abrasive belts. Life was simpler when I didn't watch as many knifemakers and edge gurus on YouTube. LOL

Interesting timing, I ordered one this morning. Even with two 2x72 belt grinders and a 2x48 belt grinder, I still drag out my trusty 1x30 Harbor Freight pretty often. The HF has paid for itself many times over, but on it's last lap. I was going to replace it with another HF until I saw the variable speed option on the Vevor. I do like my variable speeds.... BTW for belts - Combat Abrasives, Red Label, and TruGrit all have a ton of options for 1x30 belts in grits ranging from iron munching flesh eaters to insanely fine grits. I get abrasive, conditioning, and leather stropping belts from a mix of all these folks.

There is a first year leather show coming up in Las Vegas January 7-10. Single location - classes, trade show, competition, and social events all at the South Point. general information here - https://illumeconnect.com/pages/event-las-vegas I will be leading a class on the morning of January 7th on purchasing second hand tools. Buying second hand tools can be a good way to expand your tool set and elevate your work. It can also be time consuming and intimidating. I intend to break it down for you and give the confidence and information to be comfortable with purchasing used tools. Some discussion points will be: - Why to buy secondhand tools - Where to look for and buy secondhand tools - How to identify leather tools - Evaluate the condition – what is acceptable/what is not - How to establish a value to YOU first then proceed with making an offer or accepting a seller's price - Discussion on restoration of common tools - techniques and how far to go - How to use and maintain some commonly found tools - When NOT to buy – seller price versus your value, just not the right deal, and tips to avoid getting scammed - A final event for the class with a guest instructor (Guarantee - You will have fun and get your money's worth just from this!) You will leave with a full book of my notes plus it will include a list of resources, and some printed resources as well. Here is a link to the class - https://illumeconnect.com/products/secondhand-leather-tools

Yessir, I took an embossing class several years ago and we used sawdust and rubber cement to make the paste. People post about Bondo, clay, wood filler, and other hardware store preps. Since it won't be seen - whatever you've got that works.

Coffee grinder jumped to mind when I read this. I remember some posts from the early days here. As I recall - "old coffee grinder" or "cheap coffee grinder" were the key recommendations.

The old time template trick... Take a strip of leather same width as the strap. Nip off the end to line up with the ends of your strap blank. For the billet template punch #3 holes in your desired hole spacing and centered on the template. Put in copper rivets, set the bur, nip the point in two directions to leave a "pyramid shape", and peen the excess shank lightly - leave the point a little higher and "pointier" than you normally would. To use just line it up on the strap with the rivet points down and tap the rivet heads with a small hammer. The dents are your punch marks and it doesn't matter what size punch you use after that. For the buckle end template you can space the rivets for the four snap or Chicago screw holes and rivet points at the ends of the slot to align the slot punch. I made these templates for belts, headstalls, stirrup leathers, and pretty much anything else that needed repeatability. It takes about 5 minutes to make them and a lifetime won't wear them out.

Thanks Chuck! These leather shows are a lot of work but a real blast. Aaron does the walk-around video tours at each trade show and he's done a real service to people that wonder what a trade show vender area is all about. That is just a portion of these shows, the classes are outstanding and top notch instructors. Socializing with other leather workers, meeting the superstars and worker bees, these people are my tribe.

Yes I have compared them for years. Barry's are a good quality maul as well and we have both in the shop. It comes down to personal preference and feel. Wayne Jueschke's mauls are weighted a little more to head end - I can get more force with less effort. The head material on Wayne's mauls are a little grippier on the stamp but not rubbery. Wayne's handles fit my hand better, especially when I am rocking the maul with a rotating wrist action and not hammering. The tapered head from Wayne and Barry both allow you to keep your elbow lower or at your side. If you have had some shoulder or elbow issues then a tapered maul should be mandatory. I was doing a lot of contract and semi-custom orders at one time. My shoulder became a real problem because of previous injuries and added in repetitive motion at that time. The PT did not go well the first month and they told me, whatever you used to do or are doing - you need to change it. The PT and tapered maul was my ticket. My first encounter with Wayne Jueschke was totally accidental. I had just paid off some serious medical debt and had money to go to "Leather Paradise". We went to Sheridan with $1000 earmarked for tools, that should be enough right? They had a hard opening time of 9:00 am. I had one of Barry King's mauls and wanted another size. Barry King's booth was going to be first stop - it was a mosh pit at 9:01. I wandered around to kill time and go back. I found this large gentleman from Elko NV with mauls and stamps. I had heard the name and seen magazine ads. Nobody was looking there. I sat down and tried some mauls and a few stamps. By 9:10 I had bought two mauls and maybe 8 stamps - the tool fund was broke again. Circle of Life - for the past few years I sell Wayne's tools on my website and at leather shows.

Tooling - Wayne Jueschke stamps and mauls, the mauls are ergonomic for me and the stamps are about as fine of an impression as you will find. Knives - I still go back to my Dozier knife. I have had knives from about everyone and I still will never part with the first Dozier. Bob Dozier no longer makes knives. Tooling bench - I have a granite inspection plate inlet into a bench I made. Solid support underneath. No bounce and the only noise is the soft "tink" of the maul striking the stamp.

In a word - yes. With a splitter you can split down the heavier leather to have keepers that are the same tannage and color of the strap. When I was doing production belts I made loop stock from the piece I cut off straightening the side at the top. I cut all my belts down to the "break" in the side. On the remainder of the side I made one or two passes with a strap cutter in the mid area between the top of the flanks for more loop stock. My loop stock from the top was usually firm and good. From the lower hide i cased it heavy and used a slicker to run some stretch out of it before I cut the stock to final width down there. Stitch the ends (didn't have a loop stapler then) and slide them on a loop stick and tapped them to square them up and then leave them to dry in the rectangular shape.

Nick - Great idea. I am not sure what the official "Leather Show Socials" schedule is right now. There is an Friday night event for sure. Thursday might be a good night.

Illume magazine (the leather trade magazine) has been a sponsor of the Pendleton Leather Show for several years. I just got home from Pendleton last night and it was another great show. They are now adding a new show in Las Vegas Jan 7-10, 2026. The lineup for classes looks to be really good with some fresh faces and topics. The entire event is held at the South Point. Special room rates, good place to stay. Here is a link to the event - https://illumeconnect.com/pages/event-las-vegas As a shameless plug, I am going to break out as an instructor there. I will be leading my first class on Second Hand Tools. I will be discussing why to buy them and places to look. We will cover historic tools as well as common and more modern users. Next will be evaluating condition, things to look for and the problems to avoid. We will plug all this together and come up with a number value for you and your individual needs and budget. We will discuss closing the deal by making an offer or accepting the seller's price. Class will close with a special guest and a really fun event to pull it all together. By the end you should be comfortable buying anywhere from a yard sale to a trade show to a fast paced auction.