Art

Not sure about the pliers, but the knife is a well used rand or welt knife. Art

I have two Class 18 machines. I would gladly trade one of them for a CowBoy 227R cylinder arm machine. I would have to keep one 18 as the wife loves it, whereas I prefer the cylinder arm. Art

Hi JudgeBC, Welcome to Leatherworker.net. Moderators and Administrators are generally concerned with the everyday "running" of the site. We move stuff around, read (but don't necessarily answer) all posts, settle arguments, and just try to make sure everything is "cool". We are the sheriff and her deputies, and also can do dog catching and trash collection if called upon, waste management can be another function. Ambassadors are generally (and might be selected because they are) amiable, helpful folks. Usually a moderator won't respond unless specifically called upon or we see a post withering on the vine, or it is just something in our sphere of interest. That being said, some days a mod might be on his or her maniac side and read and also answer a lot of posts, of just feel happy and helpful. Most of the time, reading and moderating traffic is our job. Contributing Members are those who have donated to LW (short for Leatherworker.net). They get a couple of extra perks, but few have donated just for that. It take a pile of cold hard cash to keep LW functioning, and Contributing Members help far more than they realize. This site is so big now that the Software and Hosting costs are astronomical, and every Contributing Member (no matter of the level) helps, a LOT. I don't mean to sound like a PBS pledge drive, and LW doesn't get a cent from the Government, but it is what it is, all this ain't free. So enjoy LW, contribute if you can, the staff is here for you anytime. Art

i have quite a few Cobra Machines, and except for some bolts, they are, in a very large part metric. As to the problem of the spacers not being right or having enough of them; I have seldom, almost never, seen a strap that was cut EXACTLY to the dimension as it was described. Same goes for most other things in leatherwork. As far as attaining extra or special size parts for the strap cutter; develop some friendships with folks that have lathes. Even the most rudimentary lathe can handle cutting down a collar, and once you find the right sized ID pipe to fit your machine (the rod the cutters and collars fit onto), you can make any size collar you want. You will also want to make a mandrel (same size as the rod the cutters and collars fit onto) that will allow you to run the mandrel in a lathe with the cutters and a few collars mounted and use a simple stone to sharpen them. In my experience, it takes literally miles (kilometers?) of leather going through an AK-20 to even start thinking about the cutters needing sharpening. Really, you just need to monitor the cuts, you'll know when it needs sharpening. Art

Hi Harvey, Up Minnesota way, you might try The Leather Guy. You should call Red Wing direct and ask for a favor. I just know that Elephant is as tough as they come. As far as domestic animals, horse is pretty tough especially if hard jacked. You can cut very well with a well stropped utility knife (box cutter). Art

Design, especially older designs, is a form follows function kind of thing; additionally economy of materials and/or manufacturing energy, and of course in today's world, labor can play a part. Sometimes, with the passage of time, we tend to forget why we did something a particular way. Art

After you fill with cement, put Vaseline on the threads to keep it from cementing closed. Art

Depending on who made it, the plane blade should make a good skiving type knife. When grinding (we call it profiling) do not get the steel hotter than you can hold it (if you see any color other than straw, you have went too far, and grinding the color out will not make it hard again). If you do, you will draw the hardness back too far and you will have to heat treat it. Put the bevel (if you are using a single bevel) on the side that goes toward the leather (on a skiving knife). Art.

Hi Johanna, I just glad it wasn't HIS plane he had to jump out of. Art

No. You don't "roll" a burr, you "roll" an edge. You bring up a burr. The burr is "brought up" because you have exceeded the intersection of the two bevels or planes and the excess has to go somewhere so it sort of stacks up at the intersection of the planes. The burr does get pushed over a bit, that is why it is easy to feel (and see with a 10x loupe). If you keep grinding past the point of intersection, the burr will get bigger and bigger until it finally will start to break apart, or in power applications possibly weld itself to the edge. So STOP when you have brought up some burr along the whole edge. Flip the knife and attack that edge with a finer grit which will grind away the burr and start polishing or grinding the edge to bring up a burr on the other side. Wash, Rinse, and repeat till at the finest grit there will only be a miniscule burr. This can be stropped off away from the edge at a 45 degree angle, or even a sewn buff charged with .50 micron green or even white compound. Now, when you put a very thin and very sharp edge on a blade, like a straight razor, but I've done it with leather knives that I have got over zealous with, and you try to cut something that is beyond the scope of that edge, it could just be a piece of harder leather, the edge will roll over back onto itself and the knife will attain the cutting dynamics of a butter knife. This is life in the quest for the ultimate edge. Art

It would be 1/16 to 1/8 inch you need to build up. I'd just hammer jack a piece of the right thickness sole bend and do a buildup with contact cement like you would on any other part of the last. A coat of polyurethane on the bottom might help to waterproof it a bit. Of course, cementing on a piece of HDPE instead of the sole bend would work also. Confucius say, "Cat can be skinned many ways......still taste like cat". Art

Ok Ray, I'll take this lot too. That's three lots. Figure out how to pack it all and ship it all and tell me how much I owe and how to pay. Art

Hi Ray, Put it all in a big priority mail box with whatever else I buy. Let me know how to pay, and of course how much. Art

Ok Ray, Let me know how to pay you. Art

Do you palm the knife or sort of motorcycle/bicycle grip it? Art

Bill Buchman made knives with small handles on request; he got a lot of requests. Buchman knives don't come up for sale often but are excellent if you can find them. You could buy an Osborne 70 or 71 knife and have a knifemaker cut the handle down for you, usually it is just a matter of taking up to and inch off the butt of the handle. If you palm the knife, make sure the handle is long enough to keep the tips of your fingers in back of the edge. Art

If you can get a head knife made by Bob Dozier, it is one of the best made. Skiving knives by Bob Beard and Terry Knipschield are at the top of their class. I have several of Terry's small leather knives and they are very sharp and very good. That being said, old shoe knives can be very useful and inexpensive, most can be made wickedly sharp. I still know a LOT of leatherworkers who get by pretty well with just a utility knife and a strop. Art

Brian, Even if it was the correct foot control, you CANNOT use the EMX-1 and ANY foot control together other than the FCGX On/Off Foot Switch which is just a switch (press down power on, let up power off). Art

Hi Brian, The fuse on the speed control is between the cords. Maybe you can get Foredom to take it back as a DOA. Trade for this or something similar. Art

Well, here what is on the Foredom Website: Foredoms permanent magnet motors require the use of a TXR-1, SXR-1, or EMX-1 speed control. Damage will result if the motor is connected to any other speed control. C.TXR-1 Speed Control Description: This foot operated speed control is made of heavy duty plastic with durable solid state electronics. The ergonomics allow precise and reliable speed control with your foot. For use with 115 Volt M.TX, M.TXB, M.TXH, M.LX, M.LXB, M.LXH and M.LXBH motors. It is interchangeable with Foredom's C.SXR-1 and C.EMX-1 controls. 7" long, 4-12" wide, 2-38" high, ship wt 2 lbs./1 kg. I have some experience with these tools (Foredom). The LX motors are DC. The SXR-1 and EMX-1 have rectifiers in them that change the AC from the mains to DC. You can use one or the other speed control, but not both. The FCT-1 foot control that you have is for use with an AC motor, and that isn't what you have. The method of varying the speed in the FCT-1 is totally different than the SXR or EMS controls. Hopefully the fuse in the EMX-1 blew before you cooked the board as I expect you had a good deal of current going there. Check the fuse and get that damned foot pedal (FCT-1) out of the equation. Hopefully you didn't toast the motor in the LX or the board in the EMX. Art

Okiee Dokie, The green light isn't on because you have the Foredom variable control in the OFF position, it only comes on when in the START or greater position. This is how you vary the RPMs. Also with setup, you cannot use a foot pedal to vary speed, plug the motor directly into the Foredom variable speed control. If you have an on/off (but not variable speed) foot pedal, you can put that between the converter and the Foredom variable speed control and vary your speed with the knob on the variable speed control. Remember speed control and variable foot pedal will give you problems. Art

If you can't get them to understand, talk to Kevin. Just get a piece of horse or cow the size you need to make a strop. Any relatively thin piece of hide will do, they can find it for you in the scrap bin. You can also get it at Sheridan Leather. Art

It really totally depends on what you are doing. You can spend a LOT on money on abrasives. I sharpened a lot of knives and other stuff with Carborundum stones and Tri-hone stones dill I got heavily into Diamond Stones. You can also use a sheet of glass and sandpaper to keep cost down and still have a bunch of grits available. Wit 3M Feathering Adhesive and General Purpose cleaner, you can get by with sandpaper forever. You should buy a few slip stones (either diamond, natural, or synthetic) for hard to get into places and punches. Get the really good (and expensive) stuff when you need it. Art

Bob makes anything he and you want (He wants to make and you want to pay for). He makes edgers and Skiving knives (the best I've had). Of course, he makes stamping tools and swivel knives and swivel knife blades. About 10 BK tools in there, the rest are BB. Art

Floyd, The 900 B (or Bull) was a jump foot with the foot running off groves in the balance wheel. I think the head was a big Seiko. Art