bruce johnson

The price of the latex has not come back down to the same extent as nitrile for me. I use latex at work (veterinarian) for a finer touch. I do NOT use latex at home and wouldn't if they were free. The nitrile stands up to chemicals much better and much more puncture and abrasion resistant. Longer shelf life too. I've had some dyes penetrate latex. Mostly I am working with metal and wood finishes, glues, and solvents now. Depending on what I use either the 5 mil or 9 mil. 9 mil for the nasty stuff. Gloves are pretty stocked up again here and prices are almost back to preCovid on nitrile on specials at Harbor Freight, latex is still about $8 a box higher than before from our medical suppliers. Not sure how the restocking and supplying is going in the UK. I get mine at Harbor Freight again. I use the weekly coupons or Inside Track discounts and if I don't need anything else, I can always apply it to another box of gloves.

Yes it will. Skive the flesh side even though it’s exposed.

I’d call Weaver directly and ask if they still resharpen their own punches. They have cut back on some things with the ownership changes. I don’t get catalogs from them anymore so have nothing recent .

I've got the Weaver 4 ton Mighty Wonder and still have the Weaver bench top modified shop press with the plates (previously swapped the jack for air/hydraulic). The Mighty Wonder needs to bolted down to a sturdy bench. The arm creates a lot of leverage on the base and it takes a good bench to hold it and keep from tipping. Setting it further back from the edge makes it more stable too. It works well for smaller and simple dies. I can do bigger complex dies on it, my wife not as easily. If she has many of those she goes to the benchtop air/hydraulic jacked shop press. Easier for her to put-put-put through them pressing a button. .

Super nice guy and he makes good knives. He's been at the last few leather shows and would be a good choice.

When I talked to him a couple months ago he wasn't. What ever is on the website is probably going to be it. I got one from him the first morning of the Sheridan show several years ago and It has been worth every penny and more.

Seems to be a few threads going on rounding. The Stohlman books are pretty good for some versions but a little scant on some information. One of the first tutorials I did on my website several years ago was about rounds and using a rein rounder. I've also got tutorials on other aspects of tools and bench machines on that page - https://brucejohnsonleather.com/tutorials/ I've attached a PDF of the rounding tutorial here. BruceJohnsonLeatherTutorialReinRounderUse.pdf

Not many people justify a rounder to start with. When you find you are making a few rounded handles, gag bit cheek headstalls, and braided or round leashes then think about it more. When you find rolling between two boards is not consistent enough - then time to step up. I can save you time and wasted effort on making one - There have been maybe 2 handmade hinged or pinned wooden rounders through here that have ever been better than the worst worn shop made, most are not that good. The holes need to be precisely drilled so the cut line exactly bisects each hole. The hinges need to be so tight that the holes close exactly. The top and bottom have align exactly. There can be no front to back or side to side play between sections that would make a stair step in the hole and score the leather. A little wear and the screws loosen and it gets worse. The holes need to flared to allow the leather to feed in and smoothly compress. Cant just drill a straight hole, needs to be lightly chamfered. My experience after tossing about 40 of them. Drawing plates for rounds work if the whole piece is round and not just a section- hinged home made rounders do not work very well.

I can't speak for BuckleGuy because I haven't had any through here. I can say that Richard Brooks, Wayne Jueschke, and Bob Douglas (made by Herb French) are all handmade in their shops. I'm not sure how available the Douglas ones are from Herb or if Sara has some sets on hand. I've got Wayne Jueschke and Richard Brooks stocked in all three major sizes. Wayne has a radiating ridge design in the domer of his sets that makes a little petal effect on the head. I've sold around 30 sets from Wayne since we started carrying them here 4-5 months or so ago. The Jueschke sets are really nice and $135/set. I've sold at least 100 sets (probably more if added up invoices) from Richard Brooks. For $55 a set, they are as a big a bargain as his stamps. Only complaint was a bit of mushrooming from one guy using a metal hammer. I seriously recommend rawhide or heavy plastic mauls or mallets but one of my late heroes had a set of Douglas riveters about half length from using a ball peen hammer to drive them.

Looks like you have it laid out correctly. As I wrote above, I had better results with this stamp with a good case on the leather (12-24 hours) and then letting it come back to original color. It gives more tool burnish. For higher end work I really wanted to pop and was getting paid for it, I used a vertical lined beveler to reinforce the bevel marks and add more depth and dimension.

pictures?

As a tip to avoid the “forgot to flip impressions”. Stair step the stamping routine like laying bricks. Every diagonal line will be stamped in the same direction - do one diagonal, rotate for the next diagonal. It is easier to keep track of that than stamping horizontal rows and having to rotate each impression.

Pretty much I’m the lone worker bee of the business. Unpacker, Cleaner, sharpener, photographer, describer, web dude, order taker, packer, labeler. My wife does the house and upkeep stuff so I can do all that after work and weekends. Her contributions are stamping off the website impressions and being the post office runner. It’s a pretty good system! If she keeps a stamp, she’s earned it.

You may find this stamp leaves a little more tool burnish if you case well and let it come back to a little drier than most other geo/basket stamps and use a little heavier maul. Thats how I used them. Had a similar Gore stamp that really popped like that too. My wife intercepted one of these lattices from Barry when she was stamping some off for sale on the website.

I think this stamp looks great with antique. It will hold antique or HiLiter down in the “squares” and almost look background dyed.

Interesting set up. When I bought my bell knife I got it from a seller who had a ton of machines and experience. I took my own leather down there and we sat down. He’s the first guy who mentioned the milled feed wheel. Then he grabbed me two or three roller presser feet. Both of them make a bottom feed much more reliable for heavier leather. You talk to some sellers and they’ve never heard of that feed wheel or roller feet.

This is a tool that you will use a bunch. Some of the lower price versions have a really slippery head material and you will fight it. When you figure how many times you will strike tools vs cost, after a few thousand hits that price per hit is a nonfactor. Buy a good one. I've had several of Barry's especially early on, I've used every size of Wayne Jueschke's. Wayne's feel more comfortable in my hand and I like the slightly head heavy balance. That said, I can pick up either and get the job done. Barry sells straight and tapered mauls in a good size range, Wayne only makes tapered mauls in a size range. Personal preference and experience on straight vs taper. Less fatigue with taper.

It really depends on your budget and anticipated usage. Speaking to this style and sourcing in general - variable quality from essentially unusable to pretty good. If the roller is level with the blade edge that's good. The blade needs a slot for the hold down bolts to move the edge forward over the top center of the roller as you sharpen the edge back. Some come with an ample slot, some come with a little slot for "some" adjustment, and some come with a round hole for no adjustment. Blade quality is generally OK, not great/usually not bad. If you get a good one, you're a winner, if not - you kept their lights on. There is a reason some new 6 inch splitters are $600 and some shovel blade skin machines are $160.

I got several 5,000 piece boxes that are compatible I found on-line. The 1/4" are in plain brown boxes just marked "Made in Germany". I have B-3/8 by Staplex that are 5/16".

I've used the foot press dies with good results. I also like the old school Neva-Clog B-100 hand staplers.

The waxes will not penetrate and stick on the synthetic threads like they do on natural fibers. The slick surface and added lubes won’t bond to the wax and pitch. As far as knots - square knot is probably as small and secure as any.

I get these once in a while - 2 to 3 a year on average. This one would not make make my "no way list" for that price. If it has a good blade and all the mechanism on the back side for sure I'd be on it. It will take some time and penetrant to get it broken down. I suspect more than Evaporust but that's where I would start. Once you get most of the rust off, I like PB Blaster or ATF/Acetone mix to penetrate and free it up to get apart.

My thoughts - The thing to realize is that handsewing has been around a few thousand years and synthetics threads about 60-70. It developed into a method the most durable thread for most work was hand twisted linen and then treated with a sticky wax/pinepitch combination (coad) for most handsewing projects. Coad recipes varied and everyone had a favorite. The casting an overhand into each stitch, the fibers themselves and the wax/pitch locked the threads down pretty well. On things with linear (Bag flaps) or three side sewing (pockets and sheaths) the beginnings and ends were often the higher stress areas of the stitch line, backstitching filled those same size awl made the holes even tighter and resisted pulling through. Function over perceived aesthetics. The old needle and awl machines with their lockstitch and hot waxed threads were the mechanical alternative. Break one stitch in the line and the wax and thread in the adjacent stitches was often enough to hold the rest of the line in use. Offer to pick stitches on an old saddle skirt and see how locked things are. It has all changed with slick synthetic threads designed to run through high speed closed needle machines. These threads are often prelubricated and lock security dropped a lot, especially when used for handsewing. Now with more punched or chiseled stitch holes and fewer appropriate-sized awl holes, handsewing is even less secure in the last 10 years. These are not the same threads and methods Stohlman dealt with in the books. New construction or repairs, I backstitch way more than 3. With full perimeter sewing and I oversew at least 3. I burn ends on everything synthetic. If a fine tip soldering iron is out of reach, You can make a pretty precise burned end with a small scratch awl tip tip heated with a lighter.

Everyone has a different definition of "high quality" and since that was part of the criteria, here's my 2 cents opinion. I don't have a strong issue with any of them but the quality control on the newer low end versions can be sketchy. The ability to make different size grooves is nice. The one Will showed above is really good and the tips seem to be pretty good quality, consistent, and cut well. I got a dozen or more in a shop closing deal and like this particular one. It comes with all three sizes instead of picking one size from a menu. Only down side I can see with my trials on it is the handle is a little small and can roll in your hand. A little tape buildup and you're fine if that becomes an issue. High quality US made - Barry King makes one and offers three tip size choices. Some people and especially ones working heavier leather or intricate shapes prefer the compass style groovers. Horse Shoe Brand Tools has a good compass groover and a few tip choices. CS Osborne also makes one.

AS Brand and the Stohlman are the same. Tandy came out with these several years ago and long after Al Stohlman passed away. I can see the chip out of the edge of one of the round punches. Yeah, you can flatten it to an even contact edge, then go through a series of grits to reestablish the outside bevel and then clean up the inside edge. Slack belt knife grinders are good for this but out of most peoples reach. Worth it to even try? Not to me and I have the equipment to do it. When I get these through the year I put them in the "specials box" and they sell as-is at the trade shows on the bargain table. If they are broken or chipped they never make past the garbage can next to my unpacking area. Just being honest.