Andrew Chee

Sold.

I have a Tandy High-Tech splitter for sale. I bought it new about 4 months ago and it's in like-new condition. Please see the pics. Price is $150 plus shipping. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks. Andrew

I Bob, I have a Tandy High-Tech Skiver. It's about 4 months old and is in excellent shape. The price is $150 plus shipping. Please let me know if you're interested. Andrew

Don't remember exactly. Something like $20-30? Andrew

Thanks, I called both Bob and Greg. Bob has one just like the one pictured. Greg says he can make me one (of course it will be more expensive). Bob mentioned that the roller guide is only attached to the swing arm by one screw so if the screw is not tightened enough, the roller can move out of position while sewing. The one Greg can make won't do that (but of course is more expensive). I'm considering the options right now. Either way I go though will require that I drill and tap a hole for the mounting screw. The Cobra Class 17 type machines don't have a mounting hole where you mount your swing arm, only the two holes much closer to the feed dogs. Andrew

Wickett & Craig is good. If you want US steer and US tanned, I think the only options you have are Hermann Oak and Wickett & Craig (although I think W&C steers may be Canadian. Not sure how much that matters to you). As far as I know, these are the only two tanneries left in the US that does vegetable tanned leather in the "bridle" type formulation. Hermann Oak has a great reputation but they have large minimum orders so it's hard for us little guys to buy direct. You can buy from a distributor (Weaver and others listed above) but they only have certain thicknesses and colors. The nice thing about buying from W&C is that you can get all their colors and (for a fee) they will split the side down to the thickness you want and refinish the flesh side if desired. There's also no minimums buying from them. If you are not completely married to the idea of "english bridle" leather, you can check out Horween. Not sure what you are planning on using the leather for. They do some 100% US processed veg tan leathers that are pretty interesting. They have something called the Tannery Row now that sells their stuff to small guys as well. Might be work considering. Andrew

Hello all, I recently bought a Cobra Class 17 from Steve. I like the machine a lot but it only came with a magnetic edge guide which doesn't really stay put all that well and can't be swung away when needed. I've looked around on eBay and stuff and I cannot find a decent swing away roller or straight edge guide for that type of machine. Does anyone know where I can find something like that? Thanks. Andrew

I was emailing the guy with the Landis as well and he told me that someone offered him $550. Must've been you. I guess the circle of people interested in crank splitters isn't terribly big. Hope you get a good deal on one. I didn't want to get into a bidding war either but I figured I'd try my luck on the American since there was only one bidder at the original price. Glade it didn't go too high. Assuming e condition turns out to be good, I think I got a decent deal on it. I'll let you know how it goes. From what I've read on this forum, they seem very comparable in function. Andrew

Sometimes they cut after sewing. That way you can have the foot outside the raised edge you could consider that. Sme places even have special attachments that cut as they sew. Andrew

Funny, I've been looking at the same two machines. The Landis ended up going for $711 and the American for $482 (I bought it). I wonder why people were willing to pay $230+ more for the Landis? I would've preferred the Landis cause it's more well known but I couldn't justify the price. Andrew

Thanks, I guess I'll try with a wire brush on a handheld drill to get the rust off with some WD-40. I have a 18"x3" belt sander that I flip upside down for sanding down edges prior to finishing but I don't have any 400 grit paper for it (hard to get something that fine for this type of sander) so I might have to just use regular sandpaper and do it by hand. I think I'll mostly just try to clean up the rollers since that's what the leather comes into contact with. I'll use some WD-40 and try to wipe down some of the other parts but as long as the other parts don't affect function, I guess I can leave them be. Thanks. Andrew

I've been talking with Eric over the last two weeks about ordering a shell and some other stuff. He's very good to deal with; responds promptly to enquiries and is very helpful. He is a busy guy though and I guess this arm of the business is still pretty small time so it does take some time to find out what's available and such. All in all he's been a good guy to deal with. Andrew

Are these blades supposed to be flat ground? It looks like someone might have tried to resharpen the bald and changed the blade angle cause the first 1/4" or so of the blade is a different angle from the rest of the blade. Andrew

Hello all, I just purchsed this chase pattern 8"splitter on eBay. I think it's a W.H.Horn chase pattern splitter cause it says "W.H.Horn" on the blade. The splitter is in decent condition. There's some pitting and surface rust but everything turns and all the screws seem to be working. The blade is gonna need to be resharpened. I'm going to look into a local woodworking place near me to see if they can professionally sharpen the blade. I've attached some pics of the splitter. Based on the condition of this splitter, should I try to restore it? I basically bought this splitter to use and not to collect so I just want it to work well. Do you guys think it's necessary or worthwhile to clean it up even more? If so, how would you go about cleaning it up? I'm not familiar with cleaning up old machinery so any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Andrew

I just placed an order with them. They originally told me that they have a $50 minimum order but as it turned out they let me order whatever quantity I wanted. I suggest you call them (Tel: (603) 796-2463)) so we don't need to split any orders or anything. Stuff isn't terribly cheap but the quality of what I've seen so far has been very good. I spoke to one of their guys there (Mark I think his name was) about their process and they seem pretty old school. They get their leather veg tanned and then they curry and process the leather themselves in the US. They suggest a light coat of Neatsfoot oil for protecting the leather and that's about it. Anyways, good luck with what you're looking for. Andrew

I found a place called Page Belting. They do different size leather round belting. The belting is made in the US. I got a sample of their 1/4" and 3/8" belting. The quality very good based on the samples I got. I will be ordering some 1/4" cord from them. They do have a minimum order of $50 though so that's gonns be quite a lot of cord. We can split an order if. You want. the 1/4" cord is round but the 3/8" is not. It's kinda oval which is understandable since 3/8" is like 24oz or something rediculous like that. Anyways, just FYI. Andrew

Hm.... Then is it even possible to sew something like this? Andrew

Hello all, I came across this type of case and I was wondering how the gusset for something like this is done. Do they use some tiny post bed machine to make this or some other piece of specialized machinery? Is it possible to sew a gusset like this (or something this small) with a regular industrial flat bed or cylinder machine? Thanks. Andrew

I spoke to a local guy about this and he charged $100/hour. He said that he had a 100 watt laser that could cut up to about 1/4" acrylic of a maximum 18"x36". If you fit all your patterns within this space it should take less than and hour for them to finalize the files and cut all the patterns out. Andrew

Considering the limited tools you have, that's really nice work on the knife. The shape is really clean. Andrew

My wife got an automatic paper cutter for Christmas. The thing is great. I now design my patterns in google sketchup, export it out to the cutter's program, and then it will automatically the pattern out in whatever paper I want. I use super heavy 140lb card stock and it makes nice patterns. This is good for quick prototyping work. The patterns are easy to design and they come out perfect. There's a few places in the SF Bay area called the tech shop that has industrial machines that you can get a membership to and use their stuff. They have laser cutters there. I have a friend who has a membership. I'm thinking that when I finalize on a few patterns, I can just give him the file and he can cut them out on 1/4" acrylic and I can then use that as my cutting pattern. Hope this helps. Andrew

FWIW, I was at the Hidehouse in Napa, CA recently. As many of you know, they closed their LA warehouse and moved everything up to their Napa warehouse. I saw boxes and boxes of Linhanyl thread there. If you guys are interested you might try giving them a call. Not sure what sizes and colors they have available though. Andrew

What's the ballpark price range for a single piece of shell cordovan direct from Horween these days? Also, do they only sell it to you in a single thickness or can you ask for specific thicknesses? I'm looking to get some myself. Thanks. Andrew

Hello all. I am looking for some really good quality 6mm round leather cord (not braided but whole leather). I bought some from leathecordusa.com but the quality of the stuff is not that great. It's not very smooth, the dye is not even, and it has a lot of fuzz on it. I have a wallet leash that I purchased from Japan that is of this cord type and the quality is much much better. I tried eBay looking for leather sewing machine leather treadle and that was ok in quality but most places only have smaller sizes. Anyone with a lead on where I can find good cord? Thanks. Andrew

This might be a dumb question but do you apply the glue to both sides that you are gluing together? Basically you have to apply glue to all sides that touch, let the glue dry a few minutes until it is tacky to the touch but no longer wet. Then when you stick the pieces together, do it as precisely as possible because it'll stick like crazy right away. Leathercraft cement (the white stuff) can be applied to only one surface, stuck together while wet, repositioned while glue is still wet, and left to dry. Contact cement doesn't work that way. If you have been doing that and it still doesn't work then I have no idea. That would just be weird. Hope this helps. Andrew