jfdavis58

11:44 MDT July 14, 2016 for reference. A check of Leatherburnishers.com shows OUT OF BUSINESS message along with an apology and a promise of refunds for outstanding orders.

Perhaps, instead of a core set, you should spend some time researching knife steels. And then settle on one knife learning to use it for everything. Jumping from tool to tool is an ineffective way to spend your money or improve your skill-set. One mans opinion.

If you mean the round black edge 'thingy', see 'welt'. Some may also call it 'piping' but I think that's essentially the same thing but between sheets not on an edge. 'Welting' in the search brings up considerable material--good luck! .

I have a Youtube account hosting a couple of videos I made. Nothing instructive unless you ... , well nothing instructive. Mostly it was an experiment with some small lights and a recumbent tricycle. Where I live the summer daytime is hot so I often ride pre-dawn. In the dark. Back then with a GoPro on my helmet. What you see on the video is nothing like what you actually see while riding along. Maybe the newer cameras are better in low light. Mostly the camera sees the small circle of light on the ground in front of the trike-sometimes the toes of my feet as the peddle along. That's my story... Some internet is great some is not. I'm trying hard to find a reason to care so I ramble along without much purpose. Be kind, stay safe, keep it real!

I've hesitated to get involved here, but... I have a Tippman Boss; fairly recent vintage. Maybe four years old. I've broken a couple parts; pilot error. I've ordered the parts an installed them myself. Messy on the inside, expect to get dirty hands. I've sewn a bunch of stuff. It purrs along nicely if you take the time to make the proper adjustments and work methodically in the process. Along the way I've talked with several folks at Tippman; business like and friendly. A bit terse. I live in a very real world and the Boss I've got has presented no problem worthy of public discussion or public ridicule. I don't foresee selling the machine. Got a Cobra 4 too. Combined, they have contributed greatly to my knowledge base. Neither company has ever requested a testimonial but I would give a favorable evaluation with very few negatives. I would preface such comments with "a lot depends on the operator" and "one must read the manual".

Had my C4 a couple years; all the bells and whistles package. Most of those tools/toys sit in the accessory drawer and rattle as the machine runs. Mostly cases, holsters, belts ; stuff in two layers of 8-9 oz leather. Holsters seem best done with lots of free space around the needle, similar with all the more intricate corners and details of most cases. Belts need lots of free run space in front and back of the needle-I just use my hands to do the guiding work-spread the fingers out as wide as possible and keep the hand tight against the table or lower arm. All free scrap is repurposed to insure correct settings before I put the project into the machine--a chunk is left attached by the threads so I know here it was when I turned the power off. The manual is close at hand as is the oil. A spare needle and the thread nips are attached to the upper arm with a rare-earth magnet.

I have a cobra 4. Out of the box-or rather right off the shipping pallet it ran like it was charmed. And I've managed to screw it up a couple times; still one thing always works as a fix: Start at the beginning. Pull all the thread out, remove the needle and start over. I usually run the machine very slow but if I start over I run it at a crawl when first starting, so set the servo for it's slowest speed too. This start over exercise seems almost trivial, takes a few moments of intense concentration and one must use/read the manual so send everyone away and just do it. It has never failed me. Pay particular attention to rights and lefts and don't add in any specifics from personal experience -like say changing he kerf angle a bit. I know anecdotally that when it does fail someone and they call Steve, it's where he starts nearly every fix not specific to some broken part(s). Same goes for adjusting the thread tension (a bit of a recurring issue)-start from the neutral point found in the manual and make baby steps. I try to keep in mind that this is a 'production' machine-made for an assembly line. Made to be adjusted to one task and then run until it doesn't. Then cleaned and readjusted first to the beginning point and then to the specific task. And usually this adjustment is done by a specialist. Good luck!

Second part first: until it cracked and falls of (or gets pulled off). I'd like to think that an edge finished as you describe will last until the rest of the piece begins to show some of the owners characteristics. In truth if it's flexed it will crack, if it's struck it will dent and likely crack, if it's subjected to a temperature extreme it will crack. The list may continue for some number of failure modes but you get the ... You can bend edges of items in small steps and re-burnish the corner a little at a time to keep much of the edge work intact. You can often re-burnish/repair an edge to an acceptable degree yourself-so sending a customer home with a piece of canvas and other burnishing materials and instructions can keep an edge indefinitely (some holster-makers do this). Like so many other issues with leather, one hopes that a customer realizes the value in an item long after it's luster is dulled from hard use. Otherwise they should stick to plastics.

Been a customer for almost 3 decades-never heard of anything like this. I doubt I would take it so calmly; rather I would call corporate, better business, attorney general and my lawyer. It's not much money but the principle is the real issue. What the manager did was -in my opinion- illegal and criminal. We all buy items marked or tagged by the seller and never question the pricing unless we have an advertisement or a coupon--not our responsibility to verify. I know I've found mis-marked items and taken advantage of the windfall. I assume that it works the other way more often then I would care to know.

I have three knives sharpened by Paul Zalesak. I bought the DMT stones and one of Paul's strops (see his website) to maintain them. None of those knives have ever been back to the stone/hone-ONLY stropped. They remain spooky/scary sharp. I refuse to allow any access to my shop when they are in use; distraction can be deadly. I've used the aforementioned equipment to bring a variety of pocket, fixed blade and kitchen knives to levels of sharpness that make it a bit frightening to allow the unwarned or beginner user unsupervised access. I have a 'flipper' style pocket knife of the same steel as the Leather Wrangler Round Knives (CPM S35VN). For reasons of personal safety I never 'flip' it open with the thumb stud, rather I use both hands and grasp only from the back edge of the blade when deploying the blade. When showing the knife I require a signed waiver of liability from anyone desiring a hands-on examination. I have since acquired the Workshop system (table top and hand held) to restore and maintain lesser EDCs and kitchen knives. I can also speak well of the Spyderco SharpMaker system especial if augmented with the extra fine ceramic rods.

... a few seconds after you 'bleed-out'.

There is a 1911 style paddle holster pattern in Ghormley's Tac M7 System Pattern Pack: all leather.

I do most of my designing on either ordinary 20# white paper or drafting vellum. I move the design/paper to a light table. If it's a tooling design i lay a piece of tracing plastic from tandy (or similar) and transfer the design with a fine point sharpie marker. If its a cutting pattern I use quilters template plastic and transfer the design with the same sharpie marker. To move a tooling patternto the leather I use a fine point stylus; to move a cutting pattern I first cut the template plastic to shape/size then use either a fabric marking pencil or one of those leather marking pens several places offer. In review: paper to plastic to leather. Pencil, sharpie, stylus or fabric marking device.

I've used the black 'poundo' stuff Tandy sells; white-in fact several colors-of 'poly' cutting boards; a chunk of that reddish board several places claim is the backing surface for clickers and other presses; and (several species of) wood. Truthfully, the best surface I've found is any of those aforementioned covered with a thick piece of scrap saddle skirting (12-14 oz or thicker). There is no doubt as to when the 'surface' is shot/wasted/ruined and needs replacing, it doesn't mark or pattern and I got a bag of it (about 20 pounds) for cheap.

"Why do most Western Style—actually most—Single Action Holsters leave the Trigger and Trigger Guard exposed? Current Modern Technique calls for keeping the Trigger Finger out of the Guard and off the Trigger until the Sights are aligned with the Target and one has reached the decision to Shoot. Questioning a couple friends who teach Combat Pistolcraft and both say that this is best practice even with a Single Action. Leaving aside the Fast-Draw Shooters—do many/most SA Shooters make a practice of Drawing with Finger firmly inserted in Trigger Guard? Why? When making a SA Holster, am I likely to seriously bollix the Design if I choose to run the Leather straight across rather than dipping down to expose Trigger and Guard?" If you watch close you might see the answer to your own question--then again maybe not. Single Action! A single action pistol must be cocked to be fired. Grabbing it from the holster with your finger on the trigger--even depressing the trigger does no harm. To fire it fast you can draw with trigger depressed and fan the hammer. Slight less fast is to draw with finger off trigger, cock the hammer, then depress trigger to fire--possibly more accurately--possibly. Obviously, in this situation you need the finger off the trigger to cock the gun. Using a 1911 in this fashion one either carefully drops the hammer to the half-cock notch and holsters then thumbs it to full cock to fire or carries the gun with chamber empty, cycling the slide as part of the draw to chamber a round and cock the hammer.---hence you might see holster patterns with this trigger notch for the semi-auto single action handgun. These are period guns with matching period holster; note the period is NOT now.