Mudruck

Now, there is a HUGE difference in the stamps marked in a manner such as Z-...., such as a Z-V451 or a Z-C211 and the regular V451 or C211. If you look at the photo from the auction, you can see the Z- prefix on the stamps. The Z- stamps are much lower quality metal than the standard craftool stamps. They are usually used on the cheap 'starter set' stamps and have even lower quality plating than the normal craftool stamps. All basketweave stamps from tandy are an X series. When I get home tonight I can take some pics and show you the differences in the finishes and stamps of the ones that I have.

The thing that would make me really, really nervous is that the tools all have the Z- prefix to the standard CT numbers. I have a couple of those exact stamps that have the Z- prefix, the wiggly backgrounder and the scalloped veiner, and they are for sure not stainless steel and are a very poorly chromed low grade steel stamp. From what I have seen, I believe they are possibly factory seconds from one of the tandy factories that may not pass QC for some reason or another or make it out of the factory for some other reason. The actual impression the stamps make I would rate at a poor grade. Ive thought about selling the stamps on Ebay just to free up room, but I woudnt feel right about charging more for shipping then the stamps are really worth.

Exactly Camano, Once I have appiled the USMC Black and let it dry overnight, I apply a nice heavy application of neatsfoot and let that sit overnight and then buff the everlovin' heck out of it and it looks great. A lot of more of surface dye will come off with the buffing after the oil, but the color remains nice and black.

This is the same method I use as well. Be sure to get a good application of the dye as well. It may take multiple coats to get full penetration of the dye.

Yup, pretty quiet here lately as well. In a strange way though, that can be considered a good thing for me because I just had a new arrival to the family and would much rather be spending time with my new little boy than working on a leather project. The black plastic 'tactical' fad will fade though soon enough right?

For holding my projects while stamping, I have a 2lb lead ingot that I've wrapped in 2-3oz leather. The weight really helps keep the project stable and keeps it from moving around as I work. To keep smaller, thinner leather from stretching, I cement the item to a piece of transparency film with plain rubber cement. It peels off the backing easily and does a great job at keeping the item from stretching during the stamping process.

I would agree with the others on the weight when you are starting out. 16oz or so would be about perfect for general tooling and such. As you start to tool more, depending on what kind of tooling you are doing, you may want to move up or down in weight and that is where the custom mauls can really come in handy. The one I got from Bearman is a 21oz maul, mainly because i do tooling on larger items such as tank bibs and such and you may be tooling for a couple hours at a pop. I found that the heavier maul allowed me to work longer due to the fact that I didnt have to really hit the stamp, but just let the maul fall onto the stamp.

Yea, that thing looks old and very dangerous. I will do ya a favor and give you a crisp new $20 for it!

I just use leather dye as well and let it soak for a while before stripping pff the excess dye and letting it dry. Never had a problem with the dye not taking to good linen thread.

One thing that I use when I have to use the Tandy thread is a piece of scrap leather with 4 awl holes punched through it in a line. You feed the thread through the holes, one hole threaded up, the next threaded down kind of thing and quickly pull the thread through the leather. It will remove the excess thread and helps to flatten the thread a bit as well.

Just finished up a buckle project and was wondering if anyone knows of anything that offers a bit more protection that our standard finishes. The buckle has a design painted with our standard acrylic paints, but I can see parts of the buckle that may wear uneven if it gets rubbed up against stuff. does anyone have anything that would provide a thicker layer of protection than our standard Neatlac and Resoline type finishes. I think I would be looking for almost something like a clear epoxy or something similar that would completely seal off the design.

Personally, I have used a mallet in the past and it was okay. I picked up a 21oz maul from Bearman and it is awesome and I would never go back. The balance is much better and it makes longer tooling sessions easier on the arms and wrist. Bearman makes some amazingly beautiful mauls as well!

I would say put a stitch up and around the back just to be sure it doesnt pull away. You may be able to use the 3M 90 spray adhesive and get away with it though. I use it on projects such as attaching felt to tank and fender bibs and you arent getting that stuff to pull apart easily in any way, shape or form. It is some serious, yet flexable, adhesive. Just be very careful about the overspray and your finshes. Don't ask me how I know that the 3M stuff will cut right through cured Resoline...

Hehe, now that is going to be a STURDY belt. 12 - 14 oz? Wouldnt worry about that thing stretching very much if at all. It may not be a very comfortable belt to wear due to the 1/4"+ thick band of leather that will be around him though. Just be sure to put the bend into the belt before gluing or you may have issues with the inner belt wrinkling a bit. I would actually suggest getting a good blank from SLC or one of the suppliers on the board and tell your friend that pretty much any leather belt that is going to be comforatble to wear is going to have SOME degree of stretch in it.

I will second that the BK tools are top shelf and very reasonably priced as well. I say try any of the top shelf makers and you will not be disappointed.

Thanks for the heads up! I try to stay as lead free as posssible. Had a buddy that was reselling used brass from the shooting range and for a while he couldn't figure out why he felt like crap all the time. He went in for tests and when the doc ran blood tests he literally got the 'OMG What the hell are you exposing yourself to?! Your Pb levels are literally off the charts!' He had to end up having his entire basement professionally cleaned as the lead levels from the used firearm brass had contaminated everything down there to levels that were completely unsafe. It took months and months for the Pb levels in him to even reach 'acceptable' levels.

I have a couple raw beaver tails coming to me in the next few days. Any advice on tanning the tails for used on projects? I have tanned deer, coyote and elk hides using braintanning methods and that tanning solution that comes in the flo-orange bottle, but nothing for use such as these. Do you think it would be acceptable to dliute the self tan solution down a bit and after cleaning and scraping the tails, letting them soak in the solution for a week or two? Has anyone else has experience doing something similar? Thanks!

Thanks a lot. Looks like a great template that will come in handy.

Wyoming Slick speaks the truth. Do it just like that and you will have no issues with doing the backgrounding on designs.

The punch is a horn & Ellis. The tube almost looks like a press fit, but I haven't tried to remove it yet. Yea, I can see how changing the tube length could make for more issues too. Really though, thanks Bruce.

After reading about using antique and vintage tools on Bruce's website and catching the bug, I have some questions for our old tool gurus. Where would one get a replacement tube for a single hole punch that is almost a century and a half old? Are those out there that could create a new tube or sharpen the existing tube? The tube currently has a small chip in it as well and I that was removed, it would work a lot easier.

I went with the 9/16ths size for a little larger fit and the thin blade. I absolutely love it.

Wait, wait wait.... is that a typo? $38,000.00 for a handbag? And Cynthia, I think your bag looks great!