bruce johnson

Nice even work!

Paul, thank you for the compliment. It means a lot coming from you and I am humbled. Some people are quiet legends on this forum and you are definitely one. - Bruce

Good Info Ben thanks!

I was thinking a pig snouter (livestock tool) with the curved cut out for a blade but can’t find any pictures exactly like this one.

List as a manual leather clicker die cutting press. That should cover all the key search words. That is great there is a local market for that many dies. I'd bet if you have a local market for the dies, the presses should be an easy sale. That big press is a beast and works well. About one pull for a buyer to test it and it should sell itself.

Auctioneers are common. Auctioneers are few and far between that know leather tools or have a good second man who does, can promote that auction right and get the right buyers there. Maybe 5-10 in the US , not sure about Canada. As far as that press. Is the platen about 12 inches across? Seems like it weight around 150 pounds? Handle about 2-1/2 feet? If so - I used one for a while and really liked it. Other makers and designs have kind of taken over the market since that rolled out but that is still a good one. Biggest draw back is getting it shipped or moved. If I had it and a direct buyer with no shipping involved, I'd have $700 on it and no backing up. Where to sell the press? I would try to sell here, Facebook marketplace, some of the Facebook tools for sale groups, approach local saddle or leather shops. Unless you have access to palletizing capabilities and shipping at a reasonable cost, Pick up only. Selling dies is tough, especially thousands in one whack. Unless they are figure designs or project parts that are labeled and in complete sets (like all components for a wallet, spur straps, something like that) they are almost scrap at most local auctions. At a dedicated leather tool auction a little better but unless they are special - not big movers.

it is a variable speed edge burnishing machine from Campbell-Randall - https://www.campbell-randall.com/product/model-vsb-burnishing-machine Off the top of my head I believe they run about $800-900 new. I know one person who has one and loves it.

I am just going to put this out. I am restocked as of last night on most stamps for the moment. Wayne has had some health issues and slower than he used to be and trying to catch up. I have 2# mauls. Lighter Mauls are in progress but will be way least a few weeks.

Specifically, I price them based on “what would this have been worth to me as a user?” When I was making a lot and “what is the market for this stamp currrently?” Some stamps get popular and then not as much - like barbwire stamps are not as common now as 10 years ago. Some stamps are timeless. The cluster/sunflower flower centers are popular now but the ring seed centers have always been used and will continue. On McMillen baskets, I am mostly $65 and up on them. That is the price point they sell at for me. I sell new Wayne Jueschke stamps for the same price. Why? Some people like one more than the other. Some people are recreating a work from the past and need it to match. Some like the look. A lot of times past work was done with a McMillen. I have loaned out a few harder to find McMillens from my set to some top makers needing to replace a part and wanting the exact match. The McMillens have stood up over time and are durable good stamps. There are no standard prices for McMillens, original Ray Hackbarths, Gore, Chuck Smith, and other stamp makers no longer in business. I base pricing on experience and watching trends. Some collectibility factor but mostly on those I am looking at “user pricing”. If i don’t have a particular stamp I like, I am probably personally going to pay more than a more common rope center basket, but at the end of the day - it’s a user too. Don King stamps are little different deal for me. They are collectible and we look at them as users too. I price them to honor them. I have a flower center I had never seen before, another guy with a bunch had never seen it. When I was getting a few together for the Prescott show last month my wife stamped off about 8 Don Kings for the examples to go in the showcase. She told me that she didn’t know what I was pricing them at but she was bidding $499 on that flower center. It would take $500 to buy it. I sold some other Don Kings and had a few people look at that flower center “I can’t buy it but I’d just like to hold it”. In the end, it’s now in Rundi’s tool rack and getting used. Auction bidding can be fickle. Something will sell for $100 this week and $50 next week, takes a lot of following auction trends to get an idea of value. My auction bidding is usually “figure what I’d pay” and stick to it. They generally made more than that one and another will or won’t come along. I’m not a get in at $10 and ride it $5 at a time to $75. I am not afraid to jump a bid to a fair value and go from there.

The 245 and 246 are good for straight borders, you can angle them across 90 degree corners and go right on also. That list looks good. I’d suggest a 84 or 87 for the 3/16 basket and lean towards the 87.

I am coming at this from two angles for feedback. As a user - we have a mix of off the rack and custom dies. Most all are steel rule dies with a few wooden backed dies. Height from 3/4 from Kaspar to 1-1/4 from most other makers. no real preference there other than some of the presses need adjusting for height. We have an air/hydraulic jack press with plates top and bottom - no adjustment and the workhorse. We have a 4 ton Weaver hand press - needs adjusting for die height changes but works good. I just got a WUTA large size hand press. My wife likes the small footprint on her bench and easy to use for even some complicated smaller dies like purse or saddle charms. She has a running horse die with a lot of cutting edge length and it goes right through. I also deal in tools and get quite a few dies in used. I don't care for the stitching holes - bent and broken tines are common. On some of the ones with slot or round punches the punches can be chipped. Some screw out or press out easily and some don't. Screw in tubes are better for me to replace. I do like the punches and slots in them, but ease of replacement is a consideration

Here are some rope borders. The rope cans have a larger size. The little pad holder has a smaller size rope stamp

That looks great. He has not missed a step. One of the great toolers and a top tier stamp maker! I have a bunch of his stamps and always a delight to find more and pass them on.

The “rule” is more for the cam or flat side border stamps. On the rope borders, I’d pick a rope size according to the project size. I did a bunch of rope borders and used a larger one for rope cans and bags and smaller size for checkbooks and most wallets. Interesting side note. Several years ago I started off using the Craftool rope stamps and bent the ends on several - still cost effective to toss them but not ideal. I had Barry make me some and eventually they got to be a stock item for him. I still have those originals

Just to help with sizing. Years ago the “golden rule” I was given for sizing. On basket stamps the width of the border stamp should be the width of the end of the basket stamp. On square geometric stamps the border stamp should be 1/2 the width of the geometric stamp. As far as each of these stamps on work, I can pull up an example of the wagon wheel pretty quick here. Julie Baugher uses the 246 and 248 stamps a lot. I’ve sold a lot of the 218 to 221 stamps also. They are a half flower stamp and make a nice border - more dimensional than many others.

Sea turtle or print depending on how old it is. Think the ban went in during the late 70s??

Mark, there are no standards with colors as it sounds like you have found out. Here are my #1 picks from coarse to fine for metals. I use them on buffing wheels, grinder stropping belts, and manual strops Formax Black Magic - I get it from Tru Grit - This will take grit marks out and leave a particularly fine finish too. It is some voodoo stuff and not like any other black compounds I have used as far as taking out marks to leaving a pretty shiny final finish. Others leave a matte finish, this goes noticeably past that. Green from Maverick Abrasives - finer than black and more of a mirror polish Purple from Maverick Abrasives - super mirror finish and removes residual grit marks left by green. Downside is that these are sold in 3# sticks. Remind me the next time you order tools and I can break you off some chunks of each to try. From local hardware and home improvement stores - Dico black (E5) Dico white - kind of got to skipping it and I don't miss it much Dico Green

we can add slit braid and snake braid to the list of names I have heard it called also.

Not to totally change gears but did you say it doesn’t smell? It may not be mildew or mold at all and could be spew. Those usually smell, spew doesn’t. Spew is waxes and oils in the leather that migrates to the surface and makes a whitish film. A quick and easy test is to hit it a heat gun or hair dryer. Spew liquifies and may resorb somewhat into the leather. Mildew doesn’t melt. Some leathers are prone to spew to begin with. Some of the latigo leathers especially. I loved Fox Valley Tannery latigo but it came with a variable coat of spew right out of the roll. Lay the sides in the sun and it absorbed enough to soak in. Cut it and edge when it wasn’t as messy, then the spew would eventually come back when it got cool . Made great long lasting latigos and straps. Sometimes the treatment after making something will contribute to excessive spew. Conditioners and saddle soap add even more waxes and oils and makes more spew. I’d check this out with some heat first.

This is a quick and dirty demo I did for bleeding ties on zipper tabs. Normally I would saddle soap and slick the leather first. I tap the braid after finished to set and flatten it a bit. Did a lot of these ties on zippers for motorcycle jackets and pockets on jackets. Easy to grab with gloves and the ties don’t turn on the tabs. I did them after that on most everything with a zipper to dress them up. Sometimes matching, sometimes contrasting

The braid is called a bleed knot

Here is another - https://www.jbldleatherschool.com/

Your dad is making stamps again too or just hand tools?

It is for cutting “kilties” on shoes. They go under the laces and extend over the arch and top of the foot.

A few things that will help with softer leather. Your comment that the leather is bunching in the throat tells me you are pulling the cutter and not the leather. Tension and pull the tag end of the leather through, don't pull the cutter into the leather. Doesn't matter if it is a draw gauge, plough gauge, wooden cutter, or Aussie strander - the cut piece should be tensioned for best results on all but really firm leather. Second thing is to rotate the brass cylinder around to allow just the thickness of the leather to pass. Too much gap and it can ride up and down more with uneven cuts. Final thing is to cut wider than you want on the first pass. Then stretch your lace to straighten it some and go back to cut your final width. One some really floppy or spongy leathers I have applied a layer of masking tape to the back of the original piece to give it some body. Then peel off when you are done cutting.