Art

A Head knife is usually an oval if you extend the blade all the way around. A round knife would look more like a circle if it was extended. That being said, this is for the US only. Words have different meanings everywhere, even in the same country, much less the same language. In the current US vernacular, the terms seem to be used interchangeably. Art

If that's the seat I am thinking of, there are four or five panels to it, you better hope you can get the cover off to make a pattern. The old lady part (if I remember correctly) you can just do a one piece cover on. The other thing you might think of doing is taking the seat off and building a seat pan (it will give you a lower ride if you can take that). It isn't as hard as it sounds and if you have a little skill, you can spring it or even put a shock in because there will probably be plenty of room where the old seat lived. Then you will always have the old seat if your first attempt comes up short. I don't know what kind of riding you do, but if you like to do long rides, a chopper style seat mount (like right to the frame) will have you pissing blood by the time you get there. Art

My first processor was a Zilog, Z-80 I think. Mainframes 15 years before that. Built many a server and PC. Then things started getting complicated, there were all these extra cages and stuff in the cases. After damned near disassembling the cases to be able to get the gear inside, it hit me, this was NOT a cottage industry anymore, I had to think like assembly line and some of the build labs I had seen at manufacturers, and low and behold, there are hinges and wop, you push this and the whole cage or motherboard base rotates out, they never thought of that before......well the mainframes were built that way...hmmmmmm. We've come full circle; that Cisco mega-router is just a mainframe, and with liquid cooling on some of the hot PCs, we're back in the old country. You would think with all the money they put into computerized die cutting machines, they could make one that finished up the edges and corners, or just for the love of god and their fellow human beings, PUT PAINT ON THE EDGES. When I was a kid and cut meat, we had chainmail gloves, they worked! Art

Hi Chief, Go to a Vet or ER Doctor and have them show you how to use superglue. I bought one of the Leather Wranglers knives when they first came out and it had a little sharpened back edge on it for pull cutting. I never got used to that sharpened edge and used to nick myself till I finally blunted it. Cut myself so many times over the years that I have generally learned what NOT to do. Still happens though, usually at a leather or knife show where everyone can see it. Art

Snaps are a device to hold two of something together temporarily as a finished product. Snaps usually come in four sizes. Ligne 24, Line 24, Durable Dot, or 15mm Snaps are about 19/32 or 5/8 inch. They come in many makeup and finishes and platings and are made by a lot of different onshore and offshore companies for different applications. They can be obtained in various cost configurations to suit the quality and purpose of the end product. These come with various names usually incorporating the company name, like DOT or SK to name a couple, but generally answer to the name snap fasteners. Sometimes the trademark Durable Dot is applied to Ligne 24 by the trade. These are most common in the Boat and Marine trade and can have really tight tolerances, making them difficult to apply and remove (and they are made to be that way). Ligne 24 four part (sometimes called ring snaps) also are available with short, medium, and sometimes long posts. This is very important as the thickness of the material and proper setting of the snap depend on using the proper length post. These also come with a variety of options including "lift the dot" one way snap caps that are good for holster and other applications. Ligne 20, Line 20, Baby Dot, or 12.5mm Snaps are about 1/2 inch. These are more for the apparel industry but are also used a lot in leatherwork. These are just smaller versions of the Ligne 24 above. Ligne 16, Line 16, Belt, Glove, Segma, or 10mm Snaps are about 3/8 inch. This is a light duty closure used a lot in the garment industry and also for thinner straps in the shoe and leather. The caps for these can be had in just about any color. They are different in construction from ligne 24 and 20. Scovill Ligne 14, 15, 16 Gripper Snaps are the little snaps with a wire in them to secure the closure. You don't see these much in the leatherwork trade, but a lot in garments leather or otherwise. Quality I have found the quality of snaps varies in the myriad of brands out there. Some brands take better (or often only) to machine setting, some work ok for hand setting. Snaps from TLF (Tandy), Weaver, Springfield Leather, Ohio Travel Bag, Zack White, Rochford Supply, Sailrite, Sheridan Leather Outfitters, Standing Bear's, and a lot of little leather shops along the road, will work adequately if not really well when properly set. Note that the marine places will have stainless snaps in ligne 24 only and they will snap and unsnap with extreme prejudice, if not it will seem like you will rip the leather apart, which you may; they actually make tools to get these things apart, and half the time you have to tap them with a hammer to get them to go together. Setting I can't count the number of hand setting tools I have for snaps. Most of these purchased at a Tandy or other store to do one job one time. This generally means that if I go in the toolbox, I now have about a 50% chance of emerging with the right impact tool to set a particular snap. That being said, if I am in the shop or know I am going out to do a snap job, I use a press. Which one oh god of leather? A Snap N Press from Hoover or the Little Wonder from Weaver Leather. Snap N Press even in the shop if I don't have a billion to do because it is already set-up for Ligne 24 all the time, and I have two of them so one is set-up for one side and one is set-up for the other. Ok if you get up enough nerve to take on a canvas job, and your Snap N Press goes on the road with you, put a lanyard on it and tie it to your belt; just finding the thing, even with SCUBA gear, is a ain't going to happen often situation when it goes overboard. If you have a lot of them to do, the Little Wonder wins hands down, especially because I have two (again one for each side). Setting snaps correctly, no matter what you use is no easy task. If you use the wrong length post, it will never be right, and this is just something you have to experiment with and learn. I recommend using a scrap piece of leather of the same thickness to practice and adjust if necessary. If you have a post that is too long, you can file it back a bit; if it is too short, well you are snapped (or screwed as the case may be), however, once you set, there ain't no unsetting it except with the Dremel. No matter what you use to set the snap, press or impact, do not set too deeply; this will pull the ring or post in on itself and the snap connection (when you snap them together) will be weak at best. Just use firm taps, you can always set it a little more but not a little less, just till it doesn't spin, and getting a mis-set snap out is...well I hope you have a Dremel (have I ever told you that you need to get a Dremel or even a cheap Black and Decker or Wen or something, I have one, it was a bargain on Amazon). Suppliers Ohio Travel Bag DOT or Scoville Weaver Leather TLF (Tandy) Springfield Leather (SLC) Zack White Rochford Supply Sailrite Standing Bear's Trading Post Black and Decker Dremel like gizmo Wen Dremel like tool, half the Black and Decker Art

This is my first blog. I am doing this on request, so I hope I like it. Let me say first and very important that opinions, evaluations, methods, procedures, and anything else in this blog are merely opinions, my humble opinions. I am not responsible for information contained in these ramblings and claim no responsibility for anything in this blog, however accurate or inaccurate it may be. You pay nothing for this blog, and you may assume that nothing is what you are getting. This is a legal disclaimer. Now that I have disclaimed, we won't hear any more of that. I will review products and purveyors of products and other tangible and intangible things giving my honest opinions on same. I will tell the reader where I got the product, if I paid for it or it was donated or presented for evaluation. If you are giving me a product to evaluate, realize that it may be tested to destruction, or it may be given longer normal treatment. The decision is mine and you won't get it back. The evaluations written here will be honest and truthful to the extreme; if I buy it or you give it to me, I am going to tell it like it is. This is kind of another legal disclaimer, and hopefully this stuff is done and you won't have to read it every time. Why am I doing this? I am a moderator on leatherworker.net and believe me, people post a LOT to this site, I mean a LOT. There are a handful of us that read everything, well almost and as much as we can. We hope that the things that fall through the cracks are picked-up by one of our cohorts. Doing that takes up a lot of time we could use replying to posts. There are a lot of posts that could use or derive benefit from much of the experience the mods have (literally decades), but we only reply where we see the need, maybe to someone who is not getting any response because maybe his question is a little complicated or maybe too simple. This is my opportunity to give back a little. I am now retired (not from leatherwork) and have some time. As I read through the posts, I will write down topics that may need some pontification, and blow a little hot air over it in this blog. I am not planning to ramble on and will categorize blog posts as much as possible. If you want to see something here, let me know in a PM (personal message) on leatherworker.net. Art

Alright Dwight, break down and tell us how you really feel about it. That is about the worst I have heard from Dwight in ...Forever. Art

@Tonners, If your Craftools are older, without letters, they a probably pretty good tools depending on how much they were used or abused. Tandy stuff is cheap, but that is a good thing. You can definitely afford to buy one and take it home and see if you like it. If you start using it a lot, you can call-up Barry King and give him the number and he probably has something alike or at least similar for you. If you liked the Tandy tool, you'll love the custom tool. That way you don't have to buy a bunch of high dollar tools all at once. Bob Beard ditto although his wait time is longer, but the tools are really excellent and guaranteed forever. Art

Weaver Leather makes a Stiffener. It is a liquid you apply to the unfinished leather. Art

I have a lot of stuff by O'Brien Consolidated Industries in Maine. They have performed well (as good or better than my set of Osbornes). I get them from Brettuns Village and recommend them. I have Weaver punches and have occasionally broken one (how the hell did he do that?) in normal use, but where do you find an oval punch otherwise. Tools are tools and you occasionally break them, the Weaver failure isn't a common thing. McMaster-Carr and Maine Thread and Machine also carry some of the O'Brien tool line. Art

Ok, I understand cost. If I had to set 100 rivets or spots, I think the screw press might be a little slow. On a budget (or not, this is a pretty good idea), this Ian Atkinson video might be handy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVyV3ZTVpqY Art

I would say minimum 5 cord thread only because that is what I use in the machines. Needles and awls would depend on SPI. For needles, it is traditional to use hog bristles, but fishing line (40 lb monofiliment) would work. You might want to drop Lisa Sorrell a note and see what she would use. Her It's a Boot Life Videos can give you a lot of help. Art

More power to you buddy. I hand sew welt and upper to the insole, but I use a Landis 12 for sewing the welt to the outsole. To sew by hand, you will need to open a channel in the bottom of the outsole to sink the stitchline and then use an awl thinner than a pegging awl but with the same type of handle (so you can strike with a mallet if necessary) to put the holes through the outsole and the welt. Then just harness stitch with waxed linen thread. Close the channel back up when finished. Or you could alternatively peg the whole sole on; I've pegged heels and insteps, but not the sole. There are probably a lot of way to accomplish the task. Good luck with it. Art

Like the man said, Texas Custom Dies. Draw EXACTLY what you want it to punch and send it to them telling what you want. I think it's around $125. Art

I've told what the old school does, Now there is me. I don't do a ton of this so it is easy for me to just use the Burny from Optimus. It works. Art

I have bazillions of knives I have collected over the years, but for all but heavy leather, a clicker or detail knife is what I use the most. Surgical and post mortem scalpels are are second if not first. I use skiving knives (shoemaker type, just the blade wrapped with tape) and probably more often a scalpel. Look in the Weaver catalog for a blue handled clicker knife, under $20 or so. For scalpels, I like Swann-Morton (English company) handles and blades. If you want something special, Terry Knipschield, in addition to traditional head knives, makes a beautiful curved detail knife that I use a lot in place of the clicker knife. It is more robust in the blade area. His skiving knife is also very very good. His knives all take a bleeding sharp edge and stay that way for a long time. If you have to start somewhere, a knife by a good custom maker should be a choice fairly near the top of your list. If you get a good maker, you will use the knife forever and won't be on this constant quest for the perfect knife. Art

Dritz stainless oil, when JoAnn's has it on one of those 50% off sales. Mineral oil will work in a pinch, and you can mix a little hydraulic fluid with the mineral oil if you want to be exotic. Dritz or mineral oil because they don't stain the work. For those machines with automatic oilers, manually oil them anyway, they are made to work at high speed and don't pump squat at slow speeds. If there is any adage you should follow, it is to keep your wick wet. Art

Latigo. Call Springfield Leather to get the size you need so you can try it out. Art

Or you could just go "old school" like many bespoke shoemakers; put a candle on a board and bang some nails in to hold the tool. Keep the wick trimmed so you don't get too much soot. Art

When I played, we were using wooden racquets with fiberglass just starting. Grips were leather. If you want to tool the leather then you want 4oz tooling leather. So you don't have to buy a whole side, call Kevin or any of his clan at Springfield Leather and he can set you up with a smaller piece (they do this for customers, few places do) of good Hermann Oak leather. For cutting, a sharp box cutter works with a straight edge, and on 4oz even a rotary cutter might do. Kevin can also set you up with glue. When you get everything together, you can take off the old cover and use it as a template (I assume they still spiral wrap the handle on a bias). Kevin and clan have also done some videos that it would be good to watch for some leatherworking background and to get some ideas of what can be done. When I was into it, decoration was pretty much limited to what they did on wingtip shoes. That would still look good today. You have to be patient with this forum and a 2 or 3 day turnaround is not out of the ordinary. Leatherworkers are not ones to pee on your leg and tell you it's raining. If they don't have the knowledge you need they won't just make something up, that's why this is such a great place. Art

They don't tell you the tricks on the bottle. Dye with blue first, let dry, buff off the residual dye, dye again in black. Make sure you buff off any residual dye (more than once) before applying a finish. Art

Lucky, You did marvelous work. If you are using the MacNamara-Dilar stuff from Canada (Leathertouchupdye I think), you have to dab it on over the filler to get a heavy enough coat, once you get it to cover, then you can rub it on. The restoration stuff is really a paint sort of thing, not like true leather dye. You can't mix the two disciplines. For the restoration filler/paint, I like the stuff from Superior better, but the one time I used the MacNamara on a car seat, it worked for me. If you get a natural or sun colored 6oz tooled seat to fix, it a whole different ball of wax, the restoration products don't work as well. You might want to make a "shower cap" for the seat if it is going to be outside a lot. Vinyl with elastic around the bottom is all you need. Art

Over the years, I have used a lot of different things. What I use now is the Weaver Little Wonder. This is the best thing for the price I have found so far. In an active shop, you will end up with more than one, we did. They are small enough that you don't mind changing dies although if you use a lot of something, say splash rivets, you usually end up just leaving one set up for that. You will know when you reach that point. For snaps, I still use the hand presses I used in my boat canvas days. Snaps require a little more setup and it is just easier to leave them set-up for 24s. As with any press, it doesn't take long for the cost of dies to be more than the press. Art

It is a bleeder and is used for tying bleed knots for holding conchos on saddles. I have one from Ron's tools that is a sharpened set of long nose pliers. Yours is the more traditional variety. Art

Many times, it is out in the boonies. Big operation especially the manufacturing end of it. Good showroom, you should enjoy it. Art