bruce johnson

Less is more and reapply as needed. Think of leather like that dry stiff kitchen sponge. Like a sponge, there are little gaps between the fibers. A dry sponge is stiff. Add a little moisture and it absorbs - some swelling of fibers and some remaining in those gaps. The sponge is now soft and flexible. This is the place with oiling leather to usually stop. Yes you can add more and it will take it - just like the sponge. And just like the sponge - add too much and it drips back out. The sponge actually loses a little "body" and gets floppy - just like over-oiled leather. Oil is not a waterproofer. If you are worried about weather effects then you need something else. One brand is SnowSeal. My granddad and uncle fought over grandma's goose grease, Mink Oil paste, there's a bunch.

Going off my experience. I couldn't tell you who made trees for them - several commercial tree companies in business at the time. That rope roll and steel laced EVERYTHING was popular in the late 70s. Laced cantles only were popular for a long time. Tooling patterns on TexTans were always pretty simple and easy for a carving crew and I suspect some were press plate designs - not much of a way to date by that tooling for me. I bought a show saddle a little higher up the food chain in 1976 for $1280 and as I recall the better TexTan/Herefords were about $300-$400 less. In 1981 I bought one new and one lightly used Billy Cooks together for $2000.

Overall, looks really good. If you want fine tuning suggestions, read on. I'm not sure what is going on with your sewing but the back side wanders but the front side looks good. Round needle? Maybe shorten up that stitch length some too. My preference for "fine work" like yours is a little shorter stitch length. Finally, the thing pounded into me by one of my resellers early on - the oversew to lock stitches. You want to put it in the least conspicuous place. Never on the front and your eyes are also drawn to the top and side of the back. Bottom of the back is the best place to "hide it". With tooled work you see the overall pattern of the tooling and borders first. With plain leather like this, the first thing eyes are drawn to is the stitching and an obvious overlap breaks the "flow". Also, I would lightly round or "chip" the 90 degree corners and ends of your pockets and liners. 90 degree corners will eventually curl or lift.

I'm going to be the odd man out here and say most likely it is not compounded NF oil. The oils most are compounded with will not solidify as easily as what is recognized as pure NF oil today. I can't speak for other countries but here is the thumbnail sketch of NF oil as I understand it in the US. Traditionally yes - the recognized standard pure NF oil was made by boiling leg bones of cattle. During one of the world wars ( I am thinking it was WW2) the military need for neetsfoot oil out stripped the supplies. The military standards were relaxed to allow any animal based oils that fit similar characteristics of NF oil. I don't have exact details but pressed hog lard was one of them and available. Since there were few consumer standards but a military standard, depending on manufacturer other animal oils besides cattle make up some percentage of pure NF oils since then. I would suspect that some name suppliers have a standard and source and some of the lower end suppliers use price-point sources with less standards. I have used several and some did consistently smell different than others, all solidified at some temperature but melted easily with a little heat.

Good job getting it apart. Those lower studs can be tough to get out on a rusted up one. Here's a tip, instead of packing the holes you don't want paint in, get some rubber or silicon corks from the hardware store. Natural corks will wick the paint a bit.

Here are the dimensions of the new CS Osborne #151 bag/slot/oblong punches.

Chrome tan - I wanted something with at least a 5 in the weight like 5/6. My overall favorite was anything with a shrunken grain since that tends to be heavier. Customers with no cost constraints - shrunken grain bison. I can't remember the exact cutting size. I gave all my templates and patterns for purses, bags, home decor, etc. to an up and comer years ago. Tooling leather - something with an 8 - 7/8 or 8/9 weights cut from lower side or mid belly-between the flanks remnants from those weights or split to 8 oz from skirting leftovers. They were 2 inch strips as I recall. Pretty sure I rarely cut many strips from a whole fresh side, just remnants mostly.

No help with the little Consew. I am not usually a Tandy basher but I would seriously like to see anyone at Tandy do even half of what they say that machine can do. The Janome - run away fast. That is a fabric machine. If they tell you it is what you need, that tells me all I need to know about their knowledge of sewing leather and/or business integrity. For what it costs you can buy the heaviest duty leather machine out there. Look up Bob Kovar or Leather Machine Co - people that sell real leather sewing machines. @Wizcrafts to customer service please

I would knock as much rust off as you can with a wheel or brush. Then soak in EvapoRust or Metal Rescue - WD-40 makes a similar product I have not tried. Wire wheel off the residue, use what ever abrasives are indicated to work out deep pitting, oil dip and work the hinges some, oil again until it comes out clear. Might end up OK. Here are a few I have had through here with the cast bells. The #10005 is a Barnsley.

After a rocky start to retirement I finally have most of that past me. I am nearly full time in the leather tool shop now. With that, my goal of being able to open up the leather tool sharpening service has come about. I still have the same 15 year old policy free resharpening for tools purchased from me. If you have other tools were not purchased from me or have not been a previous customer, I can take those tools for resharpening now. I have a new page on my website describing the services and cost estimates, plus a brochure/pricelist for downloading at https://brucejohnsonleather.com/sharpening-services . Thank you! - Bruce

I made a couple hundred probably. Some stock and some custom. My favorites (and most popular) were made from heavy chrome tan and then tooled side panels. The veg tan were harder to clean and tended to roll a bit over time. These chrome tan could roll up in a drawer for storage and lay right out flat. Handy for the folks with living quarter horse trailers. Heavy chrome tan and tooled strips. I treated them with at least three coats of acrylic finish and they wiped off well with minimal staining. I treated vegtan coasters the same.

A bit different but - First tip I EVER learned on the internet was from the old IILG group and Verlane Desgrange. (fun factoid - this group morphed out of the IILG - courtesy of a leather artist from Africa and a pizza baking momma from Ohio @Johanna). Verlane posted about chucking your mini or maxi punches in the drill press and turn it on. I literally read that, walked straight out to the shop and tried it. You want to make punching holes easy and no effort to remove? Even on damp sticky skirting with a big tube punch? This is it. That single tip was worth my annual dues right there. If you have visited the shop, I expect Rundi has demonstrated punching round holes with a drill press and using a rein trimmer to cut pieces. NOTE - As the punch tubes fill up the punchings will will fly out the ejection port in random directions. Eye protection is recommended.

Rodney, I sure don't know of any off the rack patterns for modern riggings. I can only think of three rigging makers now and I don't think there is anybody wants to sell their patterns there either.

Did you buy this from a reseller or direct from the tannery? Is this supposed to be normal vegtan tooling leather - not milled, dyed, jacked, rolled or otherwise treated? Does it look way different in color or feel than the other sides? It just appears a little glossy in the picture. The three evenly spaced vertical crease lines looks like it was almost folded or flattened. How long did you have it before you found this side was subpar? What do you use to measure thickness and where on the side?

That kind of thickness stacked - a plough gauge slight maybe but eat a good breakfast, a draw gauge - better have a grip on the strap and the gauge and a sharp a*s blade. I'm not sure how far you are from any draft or pulling harness makers because I don't think we have any on the forum. I would get with one of those guys and ask how they do it. I'm betting one piece at a time and then stack them though.

Sometimes I have noticed my own topics that I start do not show up in the side bar topic list right away even though they are in the forum and visible in that side bar for other viewers. I think I have noticed it more on my phone and iPad than on the computer but haven't really checked it further.

Size - far and away I sell more 1-3/4 inch to makers than any other size for pancakes. The standard 1-1/2 inch belt and the cant of the slots. The guys who wear a 1-3/4" duty or heavy concealed carry belt - then we go to 2". Some makers have patterns with less or more cant and they call for 1-5/8 inch or 1-7/8 inch punches. The big thing is for the belt to fill the slot and no up-and-down play.

Now for the stranger thing. I bought one in a set a few months ago- the first I had actually seen. I asked a guy at the Sheridan leather show if he'd seen them or used one before. He bought it. There is a glimmer of hope more than one made it to the US. However, there are other versions made here in the US that are available.

Yes you will need to take the skirts off and separate them to reline them. These nails help to seal up that top edge and keep stuff from getting down in between that skirt pocket and tree. The strength is in the screws. Lift the nails out, don't punch around them. The idea of fasteners is to have the shank fill the hole in the leather so it doesnt work around as much. If you punch the leather you will have a hard time finding nails to fill that hole without being so big you risk splitting the tree. Start at the back nail and get under the leather around the nail with your puller, pry it up until the nail lifts a bit. Go to the top side and remove the nail with the puller. Work your way forward a nail at a time. Since they are smooth nails you should not have much of a problem.

Yes You can clean and condition a saddle without totally taking it apart. If that is the purpose then you are as far was you need to go in the front end. If you are taking apart totally, then to get these rigging nails off then first remove the screws. I always have better luck lifting the nails from under the leather with a heavy tack puller. Once you get them lifted a little then you can go on top of the leather to pull them the rest of the way out. Otherwise you can chew up the leather around them trying to get that first bite. Here are the two I like and now carry for sale. If they are ring shank nails, be ready to say bad words and all bets are off.

If you have room then yes another table. Besides making your own, you can check around. The cutouts for a lot of these tables are standard. I have been in a couple industrial sewing machine shops with tables in a give-away section. The heads in some industrial settings give out before the tables. FaceBook marketplace sometimes has a "machine doesn't work - $50" listing with a good motor and table under the boat anchor.

Ridgeback, I like that rack and the fact it tips! Mine has been a work in progress for about 35 years. I have used rolls, cans or cups, and blocks over time, and now it is all three. This is the bench as it sits today after my wife took up the leather tooling. My set up was a bit different when I was building a lot. I see a few weights on the bench. Mauls to the right - easy grab for the right size maul for a particular stamp. Swivel knives in a sleeve (glad to see that!). If I laid one down, it was on a piece of scrap sheepskin so it wouldn't roll and hit an edge. I don't know what Rundi does, I just sharpen them now. The handiest thing is the little block sitting at the back of the stamping block. It holds the tools in use for that particular project. Set it up and go - then put them away when done. The bigger racks behind the bench are mostly sorted by maker then type of tool are grouped within those loose knit sections. Barry King, Robert Beard, Gore, Clay Miller, Brooks, Gomph-Hackbarth, Horse Shoe Brand Tools, CLT, Craftools, etc. When I was making a lot I did not have the rolls to the left, they were standing up in a drawer. I had that bench area open for longer projects. She does some belts but mostly smaller work and wants the rolls within reach. Just leather rolls with pockets. Those rolls hold the "good stuff" sorted by makers - Ray Hackbarth originals, Wayne Jueschke, Don Butler, Elton Joorisity, Walt Fay, Don King, Bill Woodruff, some of the McMillens she uses fairly often. The drawer has pill vials holding those stamps that get some use, but not often for her - mostly McMillen and Beards, some Don Kings, swivel knives from Robert Beard and Don King, and mauls from both.

I made a hard seat smooth-out saddle with just some basket stamped corners several years ago. Took me about four hours more time being careful to not make marks and then rubbing out the ones I did with antler tines and bones. The guy picks it up and carried it out. He threw it on its side on the diamond plate flatbed of his ranch pickup and bounced down the road. I was thinking then what a waste of my time being careful. Here's a picture of it a couple years later. Smile says it all. Yeah, don't sweat it, it will be fine!

Personal experience - Texas Custom Dies - some years ago - quite fast, reasonable cost compared to other die makers that were on the leather worker radar screen at the time, and they followed up to make sure I was happy. Those were the only new dies I have ordered that I can think of. Realistically there are several more die makers that have been in business for a while, but now marketing more to leatherworkers. Milwaukee Steel Rule Dies, Ohio Clicker Dies, and others. I'd think between these and the ones mentioned, you'll find somebody you are happy with. I get a fair bit of used dies and really can't say anyone consistently makes a "bad die". Some that come from the industrial or production companies are pretty beat up but that is understandable. 4 ton press - Weaver Mighty Wonder is good. I have had a few through here. I have used a 20 ton shop press with plates, bench top 12 ton shop press with plates (Weaver) with the hydraulic jack replaced with an air over hydraulic jack, Weaver 4 ton Mighty Wonder, Weaver 8 ton Mighty Wonder that was parked here for a few days, Lucris M3, Import 2 post table top, WUTA 4 post table top. That is what I can think of off the top of my head. Least expensive and realistically good for non-production work is a shop press with plates. Right now we have the benchtop shop press for heavy leather and larger dies and a WUTA 4 post for smaller work. My wife really likes them both and between them she can do everything she needs.

My thoughts and experience. 1 - You can’t change the overall blade angle much with stropping compounds even if you use black emery. If You can do that, you have my respect for perserverence. 2. You can however round over a blade edge very easily using mild compound on a strop and either a) - not keeping a constant angle or rolling that angle b) keeping the angle too high or c) using a soft strop 3. Use a mild compound on a firm surface like card stock, file folder, or hard roll horsebutt for stropping a swivel knife. And don’t do it a ton. A few strokes to clean but much more than will violate point #2 above. I like purple compound but green or white is OK. Whatever you’ve got that isn’t black or red. Round and cutting knives can use a “softer” strop like vegan leather because a little convexing of the edge can make a “Moran edge” that is durable. On the other hand Swivel knives I feel need a flat edge all the way out for easier and cleaner cutting. That means a harder strop and less aggressive compound. I’ve had a bunch of swivel knife blades through here in all tiers of quality and use. I probably have 75 blades right now. When I sharpen one I set the blade up in a jig and mark the facets with fluid. . I can guarantee that more than 95% of them will not scratch the marking fluid off the very edge intially because the edges have been rounded from in inconsistent angle on an abrasive maybe but mostly due to over stropping. I go back up the grits to something coarser to flatten the facets and bring back the angle and then run through my grits to 5000. Then I strop with the jig at 1 to 1.5 degrees higher with purple compound to take off the burr edge. It’s literally almost just a touch on each side for the bur. By hand, there are a few jigs I like and the Big Red you mentioned is sure one of them. I think hitting a blade on 2000 if needed and then 5000 wet/dry with a jig and a light strop as above to maintain is better to maintain than stropping the crap out of them like has been recommended by a lot of people the last 50 years. My thoughts for what it’s worth.