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Sanch

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Everything posted by Sanch

  1. I want to say Goods Japan has dyed trag. Never tried it though please let us know how it comes out.
  2. troy what type of strop are you talking about? for headknives or swivel knives leather? card stock? newsprint ? wood??
  3. print on reg paper then cover with clear cabinet vinyl unless design is very large then free hand draw and clean up art then cover with vinyl....
  4. Thenry I love it you have a place to stash all your needles, awls, thread, and beeswax etcetc!
  5. Sanch

    Head Knives

    Rawcustom, you said it customer products always get ALL the attention to detail and maybe my next round knife will get more I have a blank cut for the next one Black and Red.
  6. Monica, that is very nice, you should consider putting a ferrule/collar around the end just in case, if I may suggest a piece of 1/2 id copper tubing. .
  7. Sanch

    Head Knives

    thanks monica they work that's all that matters!
  8. the only constructive criticism I have is get better materials, art work is very subjective. Practice makes better not perfect but better I love the plain look to the carving very sketchy and raw you could put more time into your lay out on holes, what antiquing process did you use?
  9. digging it
  10. here are my head knives. the cherry wood handled one is my first try it was made 3 years ago out of 304 SS plate not properly heat treated and not properly pinned. I was my 1st try at a head knife and I still use it, it needs a good stropping at every use but I still get use out of it! the second one (purple/blue) is 1/4" thick (yea way thick!) A2 that was ground to shape even though it was hardened and tempered (never again whew!) it stays scary sharp! and the third is currently my go to knife it is SMS (saw mill steel) either L6, or 15N20 very high nickel content and scalpel sharp and stays that way! it is triple heat treated and triple tempered in a comfortable medium for the L6 and 15N20 steels they are vey similar. The thickness is 1/8" and the handle material is hand layered duck canvas micarta (wife made!) as you can see I didn't spend a lot of time on finish work as these knives were needed to be used "like right away" enjoy and comments are welcomed!
  11. Sanch

    Awls

    thanks Bill!
  12. Sanch

    Awls

    ok so I said I would post a pic of my latest awl it is HSS made out of a 6mm tap and an antler shed. It fits my hand perfectly the haft has a perfect curve to it as well as having a wide base to allow for a firm push. The awl blade has a width of 3.4mm and a thickness of 1.2mm-1.4mm as you can see in the photos the 1st two on the left are commercially purchased blades and the hafts were repurposed bed knobs from an antique bed. the one with a ferrule is 1/2'' copper tubing. I decided not to use the same on my antler haft in stead I used a wood bead to complete the haft along with a SS washer it works and looks ok to me. the 1st photo shows a comparative of the holes the 1st 2 are the commercially purchased blades the 3rd is my hand made one. comments are welcomed!
  13. So far the awl blade is coming along nicely it's a little on the wide side at 3.4mm but thickness at the diamond is spot on at 1.3mm for the haft I am using an antler shed and a copper ferrule it should be done today! I will post pix in a new thread sorry for jacking this one.
  14. Jay the canvas will hold but fade they look outstanding incidentally what are the dimensions! !?!
  15. The next time I fire my forge I plan on annealing the other taps I have I may even forge them down to a smaller square stock then stick them red hot in vermiculite to anneal overnight.
  16. after reading your post I decided to give AWL making another try, my first few attempts (3years ago) were failures as stitching awls I tried to use a SS nail, and a motorcycle spoke. my tools were very simple a 4'' angle grinder and some jewelers files. since then I have been making KNIVES. so now I have more user friendly tools a 2"x72" grinder that I built with wheels that range from 1" to 8" I am currently grinding an awl blade out of a 6mm TAP (excess from work that have reached their tool life as taps) I have accomplished getting a good profile (diamond of course) as of now I have spent 2 hours on the grinder just on the size and profile. When a person complains about how expensive a good quality awl costs I would like to suggest making or attempting to make one cause until you can profile and heat treat and temper one properly bite yer tongue! LOL! any way the taps I have are of course HSS (high speed steel) and very hard hence the long time on the grinder also having to quench after every couple of passes does account for the time. as some may know and say the HSS is very hard/brittle this I believe I can fix with a couple of tempering cycles if not its part of a learning curve that I'm on! Next on the menu 5160 Spring steel as I know it and successfully can heat treat and temper it! any way good luck to you with your endeavor!
  17. seems like tandy and ZW waxed poly are both the same kinda stuff although I prefer the ZW (less wax) I use the same technique very successfully BUT I use a piece of painters canvas drop cloth or a piece of scrap leather both work great.
  18. TexasJack, thank you for your response! As you can see by my vote I have always made my holes with a diamond awl as I stitch. I have however used a drill press and 1/16" bit one time in attempt to get better results from White thread to no avail, bleeding of dye still occurred. Dye was set for 24 hours and sealed then set for 24 more.
  19. tired of the quality of things purchased I made my own. its made of sawmill end cut blade (most likely L6 or 15N20 steel) it heat treated fine (triple heat treatment and temper) the handle is a micarta that was made for me by my wife. woah!!! the third pic is huge sorry! and the finish on the handle suits me the glass finish it had was to slick!!
  20. Monica and JohnD thanks for your responses, and insight JohnD I would like to see some of your seats sir! monica thanks for the link I will be hitting Len up for some Tiger and needles soon!
  21. I agree on using which ever technique works best for an individual but that once again is subjective to the "product" im just looking for opinions and different views Thank you for sharing yours it is valuable and a professional insight that is shared with everyone is even more so! Tiger thread may be in my future but I cant justify spending so much on a spool and am still looking for a place that doesn't have a $50.00 minimum order! thanks again!
  22. ok so I know this probably has been discussed before but I gotta know how many of you hand stitchers make your ALL of your holes before you actually stitch the "product" I would also like to know what kind of professional insight you can share about doing this? do you use an awl to make your holes? why? do you make your stitching holes as you go? do you use a drill press and a very small drill bit? if so why? what scenarios do you use these techniques? ok so here are the questions now for my answers, I have been hand sewing (saddle stitching) since I first started leatherworking and I have done nothing but make my holes as I stitch I use a diamond shaped awl to do so, also I have stitched leather form 2oz all the way up to 6 layers of 12oz (ouch! just to see if I could!) in this manner. I of course have read stitching guides of all types and watched videos etc, etc. I know! I know! if its not broke don't fix it that's not what this is about for me its about sharing professional insight (knowledge)! so again who what when where why, if you would like to include your specific tool types, suggestions and preferences please do so. also include your thread preference! for me I have had good and bad experience with waxed twisted poly cord, from Tandy, and most recently ZW leather. also I know this may be redundant but I feel that when you stop learning and sharing you have limited our art. Ladies and Gentlemen respectfully thank you for your time and participation.
  23. I've got a burnisher exactly like the holstermakers special made out of 304 SS attached to a 1/3HP 1750 rpm motor it was a gift from a machinist buddy who over heard me talking to some one about the tool. it works fabulous but I still find my self using my cherry wood hand made burnisher and delrin Tandy stlye burnisher
  24. personally, I dye then burnish, use a piece of heavy felt to apply dye then moisten with distilled water and saddle soap concoction after the dye has dried that is. hand burnish or mechanical burnish either way just make sure you go in one direction after you are nice and glassy slick run a piece of paraffin wax on the edge and polish with burlap or canvas or denim...
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