WyomingSlick

Really nice looking work ! When can we expect to see a green wood/leather compilation?

Yes, a big hand for some well deserved recognition to a man who is not only always helpful, but is willing to spend considerable effort in giving very comprehensive guidance to the subject. Congratulations and thanks a bunch !

Hi again, Which ones are you looking for?

Those tools are the metal stamping tools for use on softer materials such as silver, copper, and aluminum that Tandy introduce in the early 60's Of course they could also be used on leather, and several article appeared in the LEATHER CRAFTSMAN magazine featuring them. Also some of the Doodle Pages also showed work done with them on leather. They are plated with a thin zinc coating which doesn't last long on the tips under use. Looks to me like you either have the full set, or nearly so. I counted 41 there, and if there are no doubles, then that is three more than I have collected. There were 39 shown in the original offering, but i know they did add some more later as I have a couple not shown on the original catalog page. Craftool did put out at least one instruction book, and perhaps more, for these tools. I have seen a few of the books come up on ebay, but they went to other buyers with fatter wallets than mine, or at least more desire than I had. A couple of scans that might be of interest below.

Footballs are not made of pigskin, but rather of vegtan cowhide that is embossed with a pebble grain. The name "pigskin" comes from the early days of football when pig bladders were used for the inner bladder which is made out of rubber nowdays.

This wasn't actually last week, but it's one I never forget now. When you are putting a name on an item, or otherwise personalizing it.....make triple darn sure that you have it right! That mistake is real embarassing when the item is for a relative!

I know there is a correction or two to be made here so people will not have misinformation. First of all, the 780, 781, and the 782 ( later ones had a "Z" prefix ) were first introduced by Craftool sometime between 1960 and 1964. They were never called "turnbacks", rather, they were designated as "Alphabet Craftools". They also were only ever offered in a checkered version by Craftool, never in a smooth version. This is also true of the alphabet stamps later offered by The Leather Factory under the MIDAS ( Ivan ) brand name. While there are alphabet stamps out there, they were custom made tools, and never offered on a large commercial scale. The confusion about them being turnbacks may have arisen from the fact that they were used much like turnbacks on some "Doodle Pages" by artists like Al Stohlman, Al Shelton, and others who often showed new ways to use stamping tools other than the usual, or conventional way. I rather suspect that the alphabet stamps were an innovation from the mind of Lou Roth, the same fellow who invented "Craftaids, and also introduced many other new ideas for leatherworking when he was with Tandy in the 60's after they bought the CRAFTOOL company. You might note that this is when Tandy/Craftool also introduced the first full letter stamp sets that are so common today. I have to admit that I was surprised to find that Tandy doesn't offer these tools any more. That they don't, just confirms to me that they have some clowns running the company nowadays!

?? Sorry, I just can't resist this question What is the idea here? Is it that if you lose your wallet out in the forest, nobody can find it?

Oh ! Thanks a lot for making me feel really old by reminding me that "Stairway to Heaven" came out 43 years ago. LOL

I wouldn't feel bad if I were you as the situation simply reflects the fact that some people are neglectful when it comes to training their dogs. The best trained dogs will only eat what their master directs them to.

Perhaps aother leaf, or two, under the middle flower to balence out the background area

Oil and Gas Industry ?? Hmmmm, you do realize that odor you smell there is due to the presence of hydrcarbons in the air around you? And those same molecules in the air will also degrade normal elastics in time? I should think that you would want to use a neoprene elastic, or another type that is oil-resistant, just as the soles of your boots are.

What you are looking for are long thin brass pins commonly called Escutcheon Pins They are used just like a rivet; the end is cut off and peened over the back plate I should think that your lock source would also have sold them

I believe it all boils down to your personal preferance. Best advice I can give is to try both. If you don't know someone whose tools you can test drive, perhaps you can grab some leather scraps, and your punches, and take them to your tool dealer and see if they will let you try both.

NO ! What it means is that Blanchards are made in France and since they are on the metric system, the conversion from metric to "stitches per inch" is only going to be an approximate one Looking at a Blanchard tool site we see the following chart to which I added the approximate total lengths (for their long iron) in red 5 Stitches per Inch Set (6 & 2 Teeth) - Dist. between teeth 5.5 mm = 27,5 mm 6 Stitches per Inch Set (7 & 2 Teeth) - Dist. between teeth 4.5 mm = 27,0 mm 7 Stitches per Inch Set (8 & 2 Teeth) - Dist. between teeth 3.9 mm = 27,3 mm 8 Stitches per Inch Set (9 & 2 Teeth) - Dist. between teeth 3.4 mm = 27,4 mm 9 Stitches per Inch Set (10 & 2 Teeth) - Dist. between teeth 3.0 mm = 27,0 mm 10 Stitches per Inch Set (11 & 2 Teeth) - Dist. between teeth 2.7 mm = 27,0 mm 12 Stitches per Inch Set (13 & 2 Teeth) - Dist. between teeth 2.5 mm = 28,0 mm Now since an inch equal 25,4 mm, you can see that their numbers are only an approximate conversion, which is further demonstrated in the photos above Unless you need to match the stitching, say on a repair item; what does it matter Simply use the appropriate iron for the job and it won't matter whether it is 7 stitches per inch, or 6.8 inches per inch

I believe you should take it as a high compliment that I, and many others, would like to have seen more pictures of this. And, Yes, I think you got it right !

That is a bit condescending on your part to admonish these adults for simply being like the average human; that is - people who are not experts in diplomacy, and so, always conveying their viewpoints with perfect tact, and politeness. I, for one, am still looking to know why the customer did not want the maker's mark on the holsters ? ? ? And the only way to know that is ask the question of the customer. Heck, who knows! You might learn something new, and gain an appreciation of how other people view matters. Furthermore, with such discussion, you have a chance to explain why you want to have, or require, your maker's mark on items that you make. As a consumer, I don't mind that the buttons on my pants says "Wranglers" or "Carhart", or that it says "Nocona" on the inside of my boots. On the other hand, I certainly wouldn't wear pants that have a 6 inch name patch on the front, which would be the equivalent of some of the products I've seen on this forum! I do wear caps that have a large name patch on them that advertise some outfit or another, but, the price was right - FREE ! LOL ! How about this? "Holster for Sale $75 with small maker stamp on backside, $85 with no makers stamp, $60 with prominent maker stamp on front"

It seems to me like you should have been asking the customer this question, and depending on his answer and his reaction ( hem-hawing, shifty eyes, or other cues) - and going from there! Unless you know yourself to be a naive, "babe in the woods" type of individual, you can probably trust your gut feeling on this !

It should be easier to do if you warm the surface with a hairdryer, or hot air gun, being sure not to overheat the leather and draw out the oils in the leather

If you don't need to reuse the nails, then you might consider carefully center punching the heads and using a drill bit of the right size to drill the head off I should think that the sellers of saddle trim would also have silver pated nails for sale

Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf

Did you ever see the movie "Cadilac Records" ? It is based somewhat on the story of Chess Records and features excellent portrayals of Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Chuck Berry, and Beyonce is great as Etta James

There is a reason why a straight-edge ruler and a compass should be in every leather craftsman's toolbox. With them and a knowledge of geometry, a person can very accurately layout almost any thing needed in leatherwork. For those of you who don't remember their geometry; here is an excellent website with animated, step by step, procedures for performing geometric constructions: http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/constructions.html For very accurate work, I prefer to use drafting compasses because their very fine points are extremely accurate. Very good drafting sets can be picked up on eBay for a fraction of their original cost since computers have replaced them in the engineering/drafting profession.

Forgot to add a thank you for drawing my attention to Clay Miller and his tools I spent quite some time on his facebook page looking at the innovative things he is coming up with I urge everyone to take a look https://www.facebook.com/leatherstampsbyclaymiller