Eddie Collins

I have a lot of USA Craftool stamps, they are bulletproof. The B200 beveler, I changed to a steeper angle and polished the face with jewelers rouge. I works great, the heel part does not touch the other swivel knife cuts, it is good for deep tooling. The cover of the Leathercrafters and Saddlers Journal 2012, I used this beveler on this cover carving.

Yeah, Barry King makes blades for the Tandy swivel knives also. They work pretty good. I have a LW also, it is really smooth. I found some old swivel knife blades in a pawn shop, look like the ones from the 60's and 70's, they have a ring in the middle of the blade, similar to the Osborne swivel knife blade, so I used a small grinding sanding wheel and grind it to a hollow ground blade, sharpen the blade with a Tandy jig, buffed it with a felt wheel with some green rouge, it works very good. It looks pretty crude, but it sure carves good.

Whatever type of stone you want to use Mike. I got mine from a grave yard supplier. The supplier at the grave yard broke a 3-4 inch thick piece by 18x36, I got 2 pieces free around 18x18 in size, but they are at least 100 lb. each. So I had to built a sturdy table with 4x4 legs and 2x4 cross braces and a plywood top surface, to this day I still use the table, but the granite is outside getting ready for an outside table, so I could tool outside when the weather is nice. I just have a 12x12, I gotten from the Hidecrafter supplier when they where just 20 dollars. It is nice, I can move it around when I tool, remove it when I dye the leather. But use the 12x18 inch rubber mat they sell for punching hole under the marble, it dampens the noice. So when I'm really ready to do my swivel knive work, I just remove the 12x12 in. marble from the table and carve on the rubber mat, this prevents the swivel knife blade from getting in contact with the marble. A nick on the tip of the swivel knife blade sure would make a difference. So you need to bring out the Swivel Knife Sharpening Jig and work out the nick on the blade. I think these are the materials you need to really start. 1. Swivel Knife Sharpening Jig 2. Micro Fine Rouge from the Woodcrafters web site and business cards to rub the green rouge on for stropping your blade. 3. A sharpening stone and sharpening oil. And practice your swivel knive cuts.

I use a belt sander to thin large pieces of leather for purses. Best to do it outside of your shop, because of all the leather dust. I thinned out a Saddle Skirting down to 6-7 oz. I nailed down the leather on a clean piece of plywood and got out the sawhorse and laid some 2 x 6's for support. I used the small belt sander from Sears. Use a coarse grit. Make sure to have some coveralls on and paper face respirator, because it will cover you up with leather dust. I really want to sand some Tioga Oak Leather that I purchased a long time ago. This leather carves good and it burnishes good. It has a golden color. I tried to get in contact with this supplier, but I think they went out of business. I think they are a German. But it is some good leather to carve on. It is heavy in weight compared to other leathers it's size.

I would not want to smoke any crazy weed with anyone. It is not worth the trouble, if a person is caught. I would rather spend my money on a Herman Oak or Wickett and Craig leather side.

I just use a Old Tandy barrel. It has a lot of grip on the barrel for the tight corners and scrolls. Just put a sharp blade on it and strop with a Micro Green Rouge. Save your cash for that big tooling side you want to purchase.