TLP

The dagger you made is currently very hard, but also very brittle. If you drop it on a concrete floor it may shatter. to make the blade less brittle you need to draw back the temper by heating your knife to 400 deg F. the blade will show a light straw color at which time you will requench to prevent overheating. The knife forums and sites will go into greater detail on the heat treating process. and you would be prudent to do a bunch of research before you draw back the temper. On a leather stamp I would heat the tool to red hot heat at which the steel becomes nonmagnetic, quench, then polish off all of the scale and oxidization. I would then heat the stamp from the end which is struck with the hammer/mallett. the color will start at straw and then go to the darker colors. you will then watch as the straw color travels down the length of the tool when the straw color reaches the head of the stamp cease heating and quench. you do not want to overheat the struck end and it will end up a purple color, definatly do not heat to red hot at this stage. You will end up with a differentially heat treated tool, the head will be hard with the shaft being softer. ALSO YOU NEVER STRIKE YOUR TOOLS WITH A STEEL HAMMER, IT WILL MUCHROOM THE SHAFT ENDS.

The threading on the tubes for the 155 1-6 Osborn rotary punch turned out to be M7x1 metric threads. my tap arrived yesterday and it took very little effort to run the tap in and out, after which all but one of the punch tubes went in, on the stubborn tube I ran the tap in and out a couple more times and it to threaded in and went to full depth.

When you say you want to have a stamp cast are you thinking of the molten metal kind of casting? the stamps I have made have all been filed and sawed out of Stainless steel bolts. I did do a makers mark for a friend out of bronze using the lost wax casting method, (make a wax pattern, bed it in investment compound (hi tech plaster) heat the mold to remove the wax and pour in the molten bronze. I would think that if your stamp has to be cast you would be looking at bronze, something that any person doing lost wax casting would be capable of, would give you the best detail, high strength and probably the simplest. Casting iron and steel are something I am not familiar with, and uses a sand mold which would not have as much detail. There is a ceramic shell casting method for steel, but it is used by the very large commercial foundries and beyond the capabilities of us hobby metal workers...

Thanks for the hdwe store suggestion had not thought of that.

I had already tried to thread the other tudes in place before you ever suggested it, and they do not go, need to clean up the threads, but do not know the tap size to use, it is not a 27 or 28 tpi thread, but somewhere in between. If anyone out there knows the tap size I would appreciate the information

The tubes a Osborn made tubes into an Osborn rotary punch, everything should be compatiable

Am replacing the punch tubes on a Osborn 155 rotary punch. two of the tubes threaded in properly, the rest will almost start to thread in but will not go any further then the first revolution. I need to clean up the threads, and would like to know what tap is needed for the job Thanks for the help T

The cross hatching is called checkering, and is done with a special file, a checkering file. available from places like Brownell's, Indian Jewelers Supply, Rio Grande Jewelers supply and some of the larger machine shop supply companies.

What are the proportions on a basketweave stamp, length to height, and how much of the width (%) should be devoted to the center section vs the two sides?

What should I use for a liner on a knife sheath? will be using a chicago screw for part of the sheath and do not want to scratch the knife blade.

How do I size a belt blank from the waist size of blue jeans. How much to add for the overlap at the buckle atachment and how much to add on the other end.

If It was me I would trim the post on the back to slightly longer then the width of the leather and the thickness of a suitable copper washer, (washer inside diameter should be a very snug fit) then rivet the whole works together, you will be peening the post down so that it mushrooms and will no longer fit through the rivet. The conchos you bought appear to have been cast and the person doing the casting extended the post on the back of the concho during the casting process to provide a channel for the metal to be poured into the mold.

Get a copy of the book "INDIAN JEWELRY MAKING" by Oscar T. Branson, gives a lot of information on conchos, and stamping. does not get much into soldering or using the piercing saw, but other books cover that information Good luck with your project Terry

I am waiting for plans for a Morris Chair, and need to start researching the cushions, will this be something I can do myself, with the use of a friends sewing machine? What kind of foam should I be looking for along with sources of upholstery leather. Thanks TP

Could you be a little more specific about what is involved in the machining, might be interested. Terry

I'm new to leatherworking, but wouldn't oiling the leather and putting it out in the sun cause the leather to get darker? T

There is a book "harness Repairing" by Louis M Rohel that has been digitized on Google books for free download. Has 6 or 7 pages on laying up thread http://books.google.com/books?id=VCVDAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq="harness+repairing"&cd=1#v=onepage&q&f=false Found the link to google books here at Leatherworker, but can not find the thread today. This book also has the same stitching horse plans as the Farm Woodworking book quoted so often in the handsewing forum (same author) hope this helps T

I share my work space with my S/O, one of us is left handed and the other right handed, anyone thought about how to adapt the plans to be reversable for left hand or right hand operation?