bruce johnson

I just answered your email and came here to see this. I can expand a bit on what I didn't cover in my reply there. Straight edgers - generally flat bottom and cut a flat profile. I mostly sell them to makers of English horse tack. Round edgers - several styles that cut a rounded profile, concave bottom surface, some have a convex shape to the top edge and some are flat on top. usually a longer life with they are a blade style edger and easiest to maintain. My favorites. Cowboy edgers? - may be referring to Western edgers aka bent-toe edger - fairly easy to maintain, curved profile from the side. As they sharpen back the cutting edge goes back further and further around that corner and the angle you hold them at lowers. Bisonette edgers - hole in a flat blade and can theoretically cut on a push or pull stroke. How often do most people need to pull? Pretty rare. Harder to maintain and sharpen without widening the cutting edge. My wife likes them a lot. I sort of do but never saw any huge advantage. Finest edger, fine edger, Gomph Common edger - these have a V shaped fork in the tip. rounded profile, fairly easy to maintain, can trim linings close to a stitch line, sharp tips and are sometimes called "finger stabber edgers". Common edgers - lots of versions and several edgers get lumped as common edgers. Some of the vintage unmarked ones from Osborne were referred to as common edgers. rounded profile, easy to maintain, easy to widen out sharpening unless you are careful. Gomph called their "fine edgers" as "common edgers". French edgers - flat profile, can be used for edging, skiving edges, and if they have the right profile will gouge channels too. You asked in your email about tight inside curves - the turnback edgers will do that - short lifespan and tricky to sharpen. A round edger with short toes and narrow sides will do inside curves too.

I sell refurbished ones from a few makers and styles, and new ones from CS Osborne https://brucejohnsonleather.com/products/punching-tools/bagslot-punches

Have only see one or two in pictures before. Not very common.

white tape

I’ve done both. Straps loosely rolled in a jumbo zip lock. Flat pieces left flat. I left enough air to keep the plastic off the leather surface. Initial case in the morning or evening, 12 hours to even out, then tool. If I didn’t finish then back in the bag. I didn’t see much difference in the refrigerator or not.

That is how they are supposed to look. They are designed mainly for floral carving and especially beveling tight stem work with close lines. You can bevel a line without mashing down the adjacent cutc. Also to bevel a crossing element without mashing and leaving a large halo on the part below lie a flower over a stem or leaf. I liked steep bevelers for lightly breaking over the outside of a cut line for beadlines too. just lightly break that square edge.

And here I just make them out of old screwdrivers...you guys are fancy!

This right here. I am not picking on you but if I have to do anything more than once, every pass is a chance for error. It doesn't matter what. Two coats of dye on an edge, multiple hits on a stamp, whatever. Two or three passes with something with no steering like a wing divider - I am not that consistent either. Saddle divider with a wide flat inside surface to follow an edge then yes. Now the crabby old guy perspective and not pointed at anyone, just how i learned and was taught. I get this question a lot and here is my answer. The only place I did not groove was stitching into crease lines on wallet interiors with #69 thread. The purpose of a stitch groove is to recess the thread to prevent thread wear and/or add comfort to user in contact areas. They make different styles of groovers and different size grooving tips. You can match the groove width and depth to the thread size. even the amount of pressure you use can control depth and width with some groovers. You don't have to dig a 3x3 ditch for #92 thread and a scratch line for #346 is just a target line for straight stitching and not functional. For the people who say that you weaken the leather, I hear that a lot. The "strength of leather is all in the grain". OK, take that little spindle of leather you grooved off and pull it apart between a two finger grip. If that is the strength you need to keep your work together you have bigger problems. There is essentially no added strength in that little hair of leather. If there was then there would be instructions on how to make projects with it (actually you can make decorative miniature bird nests with it). The strength of the leather is all in the density of the dermis, thickness, and what part of the hide it comes from. That little sliver of epidermis is inconsequential. I have stickers made up (see below) on all the sewing machines in the shop for my wife and anyone who comes over and borrows some machine time.

Keep a straight stitch line and remember to watch the groover next time. I would rub out the errant groove line as best I could and regroove it before I stitch.

The narrow bars just means that the bars are not as wide through the middle (waist) as other trees - theoretically for closer contact. We could get into a big discussion of whether that is true in real life, but that is another rabbit hole. The narrow bars should mean less contact surface and again - theoretically less weight bearing surface. The front and rear of the tree bear weight and the area overall is what controls pressure. A narrow waist on a tree is a minor factor fit. Bar angles, bar length, twist, rock in the bars, gullet/ handhole width, and relief at the bar edges are all bigger factors for fit than that narrow waist.

Super nice clean work - tooling, stitching, and finish are all top notch1

Mine had the oval hole. I raised it all the way up when I was sewing wear leathers on saddle blankets. otherwise - the teeth barely clearing the slot.

I had one. Sewed at least 30 new saddles on it, plus a ton of repair work. A couple miles of double latigo reins. production belts, wallets, everything. If it had 4 more inches of throat clearance it never would have left. If this one sews - $500 and I would not be asking, I would be robbing the ATM and gassing up the truck.

Check with a local steel yard if you have one close by. Sometimes you can get off cuts from the scrap.

Lots of rivets have been knocked out and set on this by the [previous owner and me. This particular one measures 5x3x1. I have had 5x3s and 6x4s fairly often in old sets. I have had two I can think of with the USA mark. That mark is US Army and listed as standard equipment in some leather repair kits (The "battery wagon box").

Yessir, and rabbit tears pretty. I liked to use a carpet knife with the double sided razor blades. Cut through the hide and don't try to cut through the hair. The hair pulls apart and the edge hair won't look ragged.

not marking your leather or prone to rust - Stainless. The late Phil LeDuc used stainless as a tooling surface instead of granite. Thickness depends on what you are going to do with it and if it need to be flush in the gap between benches. My flat bench plates/anvils are 1" thick, but not stainless. good solid weight for light riveting and knocking out rivets.

Interesting idea and concept! Is there a picture of the finished bag anywhere?

Randall strap creaser. What do you want to know?

Ventilation can be as simple or tricky as you want it to be. Drill a few holes and it will ventilate some. Too many and you lose your heat. Install a fan - too little exit volume and you fan will struggle. Too much and there goes the heat again. On my bulb heated box I had a twisting exit vent like on a Weber grill. The thermometer ran through a cork and the bulb was in the box. I adjusted the heat level by allowing more or less air to escape. Shop temperature, humidity level, how much I had in there - it was never the same ride twice.

Here's something I stumbled across a while back....I fiddle-farted around with drying boxes with bulbs, a cooler with a light bulb, and the open-door low-heat in the kitchen oven when I was making a bunch of sheaths and molded stuff. They all worked and all required some level of baby-sitting. Fast forwarding to the full time tool restoration period of my shop life. I was having trouble with my rattle cans not spraying as well in the cold temps and then the paint being slow to cure. Several on-line tips - set the cans in a bucket of warm water an hour before, incubator, old smoker, etc. It worked. One restorer suggested the Dr DryBooth paint drying cabinet from MicroMark. Intended for hobby model painters for drying but he was using it to heat cans and preheat tools to accept treatments and then keep warm for penetration and drying. I started with the XL size for drying splitter frames and set my cans to one side. I eventually got the other size vertical one on a special. I had a guy come by and saw them. He wondered how they would work for drying sheaths and holsters and bought one. His feedback a couple years ago to me was that is was really nice. Basically stack them in there, turn it on, and no babysitting. Controlled heat with airflow, no scorching risk, no babysitting and likely safer than his EasyBake oven set up in a flammable wooden box.

It depends on what the backing is. X, J, and Y belts all have different backing and their resistance to abrasion even from leather - you might end up with a 48 inch whip slapping you when half the belts strips off and lets go. Been there from the abrasive side. I tried to make my own leather belts, variable tracking and even with good skives - got the "bump" on some. My pals at Red Label Abrasives make a 2x48 leather belt. I have had no problems with the tracking on their leather belts. Here is their link - https://www.redlabelabrasives.com/products/2-x-48-inch-leather-honing-stropping-belt?srsltid=AfmBOoos-c_rllMfxZQM7LMYYmUfVkzVp6k9ViIUrL8olz0wv456cNM1 I swear between different grit diamond paste belts and polishing compound belts I have about as many dedicated leather belts as I do abrasive belts. Life was simpler when I didn't watch as many knifemakers and edge gurus on YouTube. LOL

Interesting timing, I ordered one this morning. Even with two 2x72 belt grinders and a 2x48 belt grinder, I still drag out my trusty 1x30 Harbor Freight pretty often. The HF has paid for itself many times over, but on it's last lap. I was going to replace it with another HF until I saw the variable speed option on the Vevor. I do like my variable speeds.... BTW for belts - Combat Abrasives, Red Label, and TruGrit all have a ton of options for 1x30 belts in grits ranging from iron munching flesh eaters to insanely fine grits. I get abrasive, conditioning, and leather stropping belts from a mix of all these folks.

There is a first year leather show coming up in Las Vegas January 7-10. Single location - classes, trade show, competition, and social events all at the South Point. general information here - https://illumeconnect.com/pages/event-las-vegas I will be leading a class on the morning of January 7th on purchasing second hand tools. Buying second hand tools can be a good way to expand your tool set and elevate your work. It can also be time consuming and intimidating. I intend to break it down for you and give the confidence and information to be comfortable with purchasing used tools. Some discussion points will be: - Why to buy secondhand tools - Where to look for and buy secondhand tools - How to identify leather tools - Evaluate the condition – what is acceptable/what is not - How to establish a value to YOU first then proceed with making an offer or accepting a seller's price - Discussion on restoration of common tools - techniques and how far to go - How to use and maintain some commonly found tools - When NOT to buy – seller price versus your value, just not the right deal, and tips to avoid getting scammed - A final event for the class with a guest instructor (Guarantee - You will have fun and get your money's worth just from this!) You will leave with a full book of my notes plus it will include a list of resources, and some printed resources as well. Here is a link to the class - https://illumeconnect.com/products/secondhand-leather-tools

Yessir, I took an embossing class several years ago and we used sawdust and rubber cement to make the paste. People post about Bondo, clay, wood filler, and other hardware store preps. Since it won't be seen - whatever you've got that works.