Art

I still use the Sharpie/Marks-a-Lot/Dykem to tell me what's going on. Even on machines I use it. Even with jigs I use it, because if the setup is wrong, the whole thing is wrong; and if you get your profile wrong by not grinding enough, it just won't cut right. If you grind too much, you're just wasting metal, so those guide lines are important. If I'm just putting an edge on a tool I will get away without marker, but for something critical, or a customer tool, always. Art

I recommend that your first diamond stone should be a DMT diasharp 1000. You can use it to true-up your other stones. I also recommend something that is easy like a tri-hone. Baby oil (mineral oil) works just fine on these things and you can get things pretty sharp if you go up through the grits. The the finest stone on the two tri-hones I have is around 600 grit one is an original Smith 6" and the other is a big 10" monster sold by Tandy in the late '70s or early '80s. Both bought off of eBay for $20 or so. The 600 leaves the edge sharp with enough tooth to make cutting easier. A strop with green compound will refine that a little and make an acceptable using edge. One of the big errors I see a lot is getting the edge too smooth by going to extremely fine grits. The other thing is edge angle. I often use a 20° edge for a head knife, 10° each side, and it goes through leather wickedly, but I am maintaining it all the time, I have the tools to do it, and when I roll the edge, the knife flat stops cutting and I fix it. If I do it for someone else, a 30° to 40° angle is more appropriate for someone who doesn't sharpen a lot but knows how to strop. I can't say I use the tri-hones a lot, but if I am packing light, it goes in the bag. I use DMT diamond stones a lot. I have 120 micron (about 150 grit) up to 3 micron (about 8000 grit). I DO NOT use them dry, I use 50/50 simple green and water, it lubricates and cleans the stone. Right out of the box, these stones grade 3 to 5 microns rougher than they marked, which means a 9 micron (1000 grit) will be more like a 600 grit and eventually (it takes some use) work it's way up to a 9 micron (1000 grit). Edges on DMT stones can be brutal and I break the edges with a diamond lap. These things should NEVER be your first stones unless you use it to lap your other stones. Shapton makes very good stones, they call them ceramic whetstones, and I buy the stones they sell into the Japanese market as they are the same stones at a better price. They come in 120 grit to 30,000 grit. I don't go much higher than 8000 as it is hard to tell the difference between 5000 and 8000, much less 8000 and 12000. 30,000, I guess they just had to because they could. The 1000 is a good finish stone except for something like a luthier's chisel, but no luthier would let anyone touch his chisels, much less sharpen them. The number on the Shapton 1000 (Japanese) Ha No Kuromaku is #K0702, and I think it is around $40, great stone, great price. Remember, too sharp and too polished are real conditions. You need to sharpen based on the tool's use. Art

Ah yes, but they built the Forth Rail Bridge using Imperial measurements. Then again, they also built the Tay bridge (prior Forth Rail Bridge) using Imperial Measurements too, and we know how THAT turned out. Art

EVERYBODY uses Lille White oil. It is a 50/50 mix of light and heavy mineral oil, and here is the kicker, no detergents. In the "old" days (Wiz and I will remember this) hydraulic oil was just mineral oil. Nowadays it has detergents and additives, a ton of them to extend the life of the oil and give it better performance characteristics for automatic transmissions and all other hydraulic systems. By the way, ISO 22, the number 22 is just the viscosity of the oil usually in centistrokes (cSt or mm²/s); it is actually ISO 3448 - ISO VG 22. Any wonder why they use just ISO 22? Defrix No.2 oil is just mineral oil blended to Juki's 169 specification, which just happens to be very close to ISO VG 22 AND drum roll, you guessed it SAE No. 2. So as the machinery gets more complex, the specifications must get more precise, but lets face it folks, it is just No. 2 mineral oil. Art And THAT is more than you ever wanted to know.

Don't read this, it is just a midnight xenophobic rant: I guess the old farts like me are hoping that SAE and Imperial measure and sizes will be "What Makes America Great Again". While I have my wish list out, There should be a law that anything exported from or imported into the U.S. should not have any metric measures, fasteners, or doodads in it, and that all packaging can only have English on the boxes and directions. Malt Whiskey from the Spey or the Island (or any of it for that matter) may have whatever the hell they want to put on it, spelled whatever way they desire, with the requirement that I can tell what it is and that they keep making it. While I'm at it, if you want to immigrate, legal, illegal, refugee, or otherwise, you will be speaking fluent English in a year or you are on the next boat outta here. Maybe enough for now. Now folks, that is what I call Hope and Change! Art

People don't want to sell you wood by the cord over here (well at least in Maryland) because it must be stacked at delivery, measure 4' x 4' x 8', and be stacked tight enough that a chipmunk cannot get through it (it's the law). All they want to do is dump it, sometimes where you want it, and charge you for a "truckload". Art

No darling, That would be fell off a truck, which means -- stolen while the truck was unattended. Art

Well, I'm quite proud of yourself too. If you can sharpen a head knife to that degree, to the point that it satisfies you, you have arrived. Art

Not a problem at all, get one from Bob (Toledo) or Gregg (Keystone). Go for more power and a reducer won't be necessary. Ask Bob or Gregg.

When originally produced, these machines were designed for tailors. They are not a heavy duty, or even a medium duty leather machine. They are primarily used today to decorate boot tops. That means they sew a 3-4 oz and sometimes a little more veg tan to a 3-4 oz calf liner. They sew 33 to 46 thread really well and occasionally 69. They are the heavy duty version of the standard sewing machine. This machine would work for bags and wallets given that you keep things on the light side. There is no reverse, you just have to do it "old school". These puppies can run the gamut from tight like new to having clearances you can measure by sound. For close-in and delicate leatherwork, a roller foot is a plus. The modern day equivalent would be something like the Juki 5550. Art

I prefer the Sam Brown studs with the rivet back as they have a profile that I like. An old sharpeners trick is to put a tiny drop of superglue a couple of threads up from the tip of the screw and LET IT DRY. After dry, screw it in and it will hold very well, but can be backed out with some effort. Of course, if you don't care about disassembly, superglue is some great stuff. I mean Loctite Professional Super Glue. Art

The Iwata I have is a good airbrush, but a bit of overkill for spraying dyes. I use it more for Liquitex Ink. For spirit dyes I use the Veda airbrushes from http://www.pecoglobal.com I have the 180s because I like gravity feed, but the 182 is good and about the same but is suction (bottom) feed. If you want to go the trigger route, the 116 is ok, but I have pretty much stuck with the 180. It is really amazing that these are rather good at this price point. Like I said, they are also on eBay and the parts are there too. Ok, I'm going to say it, my Iwata is collecting dust, but I use the Iwata compressor I have all the time and it powers my power engraving equipment too. I went through a bunch of compressors (all on warranty thank ghod) before I got the Iwata but this one is probably overkill for my application. Art

I've had a couple of bottle jack type press/clickers, one hand pump and one air driven bottle jack. The air drive one has been setting for 5 or so years since I got the 10 ton hydraulic. The 10-ton does everything, and does it quick. Really large dies can be done in sections with either type. The 10-ton definitely holds down the garage, neither it or the garage has moved since it got here. I left it on the metal shipping pallet, and if I have to move it, the pallet jack comes in handy. To keep cost down, look to a used one from a reputable dealer, like Campbell-Randall or someone they recommend. The Chinese machines work ok, at least mine does, a used Atom would be good too. Check Craigs List. Art

Someone needs it more than me. Art

I've been with LW since Caesar was a Corporal, and the way we used to do it was send someone in need something and tell them to pay it forward. Never any strings attached. Hell, a couple of times I sent someone down on their luck a C-note and never even got a thank you, but then I didn't need one, it was not the spirit in which it was given. I guess when someone says they need something, they really need it. Yes, there are all sorts of avenues for abuse, but what goes around comes around. Art

Bonded Whiskey is generally a good thing; Bonded Leather, not so much. Real leather comes in hides and sides, Bonded Leather comes on rolls. Leather Seats are now "Standard" in even some of the least expensive cars, a leather sofa made from real skins costs as much as my first new car; I'm Old. Art

The hollow grind on the flat (well not after you hollow grind it) portion of the blade is not only to reduce drag, but to be easier to attain the flat geometry along the full length of the cutting edges. This is necessary because the edges meet, and any high points in the flat would cause the edges to pull apart. The joint area or ride is where the geometry is established and this is carried all along the ride line. The ride line (along the edge) can be anywhere from 1/32 inch to approaching almost the full blade (to the halfway point on both sides). The more the blade is sharpened, the more the ride lines will approach the middle aka a flat ground blade. At this point there is little metal left to re-establish another hollow. This can be 15 or more years for good scissors with good steel, getting 5 years from a cheap pair may be a little harder to attain. Cheap scissors are made of cheap steel, usually 420, but quite often really south of that. Heat treating at the best with this grade of steel usually is only on the less than HRc 55 and often below HRc 50. Usually when sharpening these, if there are dings that have to be removed, they are usually quite pronounced, and a lot of metal has to be removed to get a smooth edge; add to that they have to be sharpened more often, typically twice as often as a quality shear. My Bader and Burr-King have interchangeable contact wheels. I have a 14" that gives a pretty gentle hollow, but the 10" on the Tormek works pretty good also. Nice thing about the belt grinders is the belts, they're available in just about any grit. You can also flat grind and convex grind on the belt grinders, no so much with the Tormek. Art

I have a S-2000 Tormek, which is an older version of the T-7. Got it as a gift around 2001, so I've had it a while and probably know it as well as anyone. It is a great machine although even in 2001 it was quite expensive. The S-2000 and T-7 are made of steel, the T-8 appears to be zinc; ok for a casting, but I'll take real steel anyday. Still good machines. Mine has been updated whenever an update was available so I guess it is really a T-7, though most of the updates were insignificant but of some value. The Tormek is, like all vertical wheels, a hollow grinder. The good thing is that the wheel has a 5 " radius (10" diameter sounds more significant) and doesn't have the pronounced grind of a 2.5 or 3 inch wheel. That being said, the hollow grind (despite the prevalence of the Wolff Twice as Sharp or TAS) is not the grind for stylist/barber and dressmaker shears and scissors. The concave or hollow grind takes a lot of metal from behind the edge, making it less durable but a lot easier to sharpen. The hollow grind is great for hunting knives where sharpening in the field is a pretty distinct possibility. With technical scissors and shears, the flat of each blade is mostly not flat. The blades are hollow ground to eliminate as much drag as possible. Remember mostly? There is an area called the ride back toward the pivot point (screw or ghod forbid rivet) and the ride line along the edge and usually around the back of the blade most of the time meeting up with the ride back at the pivot point. The two blades ride on the ride and the ride line to do the cutting. It is necessary for the sharpener to re-establish the ride lines if the shear is to cut properly. I usually dress the ride with a 5000 grit stone and sometimes follow that with an 8000 depending what the shear is used for and how it will be used to cut. The sharpener has to determine what the stylist cuts (hair texture, wet or dry, and clean/dirty), how they cut, and what they expect from the shear. It is not uncommon for a stylist to have 5 or 6 pairs of shears for different cutting methods. You might use a 35° angle for a pair to do slide cutting, but 45° for a pair that will be blunt cutting most of the time. You will be successful if you can solve problems. As far as training goes, you need to get the training for whatever equipment you will be using. The most expensive machine is not necessarily the best, neither is the cheapest. If the sales spiel for a machine sounds like hype, it is hype. Call some folks who have the machine and check it out. There are a lot of DVDs out there, but most are not free, and please, believe NOTHING you see on youtube. There is some good stuff out there, but there is also some really wrong stuff, and there is NO peer review. Art

The Parkman video is primarily a advertisement piece. Their prospective customers have little desire to sit through the entire shoe making process. All of the nails that are put through the sole and into the last are removed. The nails around the periphery are removed when the welt is sewn to the foundation or insole and upper, the nails are there to hold the tightened upper for sewing. Makers remove the nails in a variety of ways and orders depending solely on their preference. There are usually only two or three nails holding the insole to the last in the middle of the insole. It makes it a whole lot easier to take the last out of the shoe if you remove these, and a whole lot easier to remove these if you haven't sewn on the outsole. Art

I have used the Tritium (it has a pistol grip and trigger but is still just an airbrush). Good solid airbrush, will shoot any water or solvent based paint. It shoots dye fine, but you might want to cut it back pretty far for better color control. That being said, darned near any airbrush will do a pretty good job with dyes, just make sure it has teflon seals, the rubber ones get gooey and stop working quickly with alcohol based dyes (spirit dyes). I have an expensive (by anyone's standard) IWATA, but I mostly use a bunch of VEDA airbrushes that I bought direct from pecoglobal.com about 4 years ago. No problems with the VEDAs at all. They are also available on eBay now, not the case when I bought mine. Art

Hi Ray, Send it, let me know how much with the shipping or I can send $125 now and you let me know what the shipping is. Art

Let's be fair here. It has been quite a few years since this guy was an apprentice and had to sharpen anything. Also, this video is a demo at a shoe show and he didn't have anything that looked like a stone on his workbench. If that was an abrasive coated steel, then I imagine the knife was a little duller than when he started. That, or for some reason, he was trying to cut the end off the steel. Art

On mine it would just be a matter of finding a clutch that would work with that shaft. If you want to go with two motors, it is a bit easier, just install another motor and hook to the other shaft. I haven't tackled it as it is not high on my list. If Consew (Chinese these days) and Fortuna (German) can engineer it, it won't be a problem, they don't use any secret parts that I know of. Art

Call Barry King, get one of the 96oz mallets. I love mine, it don't bounce, but don't use it on a flimsy table. When I got it from BK years ago it looked big and heavy but now it just does great whacking things. Art