bruce johnson

I've used a vibratory tumbler with pretty good success for cleaning. Can do a bunch at a time if you are talking volume. Put them in and walk away for 4-12 hours depending. If you are looking for a high polish then the buffing wheel and compound. A benchtop drill press was the handiest thing in my shop and you can chuck a 4 or 6 inch buffing wheel in it. Move the belts around to the lowest RPM. I did all my saddle rivets on a set up like that. They can heat up pretty quick though or catch and fly. I used a vise grip to hold the shank with better results than burned fingers and flying copper shrapnel

The chart I posted above shows the size for each number on the #169 setter. For copper rivets the #8 setter sets a #14 copper rivet. These are tinners rivet setters for iron or copper rivets and probably some reason they are size numbered like they are. It may have been some trade standard at the time. 150 years ago they probably found a #169-8 tinner rivet setter will do a #14 copper rivet for leather too. The #169-4 will do a #9 rivet and the #169-6 will do a #12 rivet. To further confuse things, the #170 setters looks similar to the #169 but not described as hardened at the working end or intended for iron rivets . They are listed in sizes for 8, 9 and 10 rivets and they do correspond to the size of the rivets.

I guess I should have gone to the source a few days ago. Here is the catalog page and explanation. Cleanout for anything that gets stuck in the setting hole.

The hole on the bottom is for setting the bur. Most of the answers I've been told the hole on the side is to hang it up. Don't know for sure. One ironworker told me if a piece off the shank breaks off in the setting hole with a hot rivet then you can drive the scrap up and out that larger hole. That sounds more real.

Might not be what you want to hear, but I'm going to be straight up. I'm not sure from what I see I'd trust it to rope a goat in a pen, let alone something big in a pasture. I'd pull everything off and start over. Breast collar dee is pretty low, The skive on the top edge of the rigging is coarse. Skive on the swell cover edges same. I covered dally horns before I put on the swell cover, wood post horns are a toss up as far as covering before or after the swell cover on a new build. That depends on who you learned from and a bit regional too. Doesn't appear the front edge of the swell cover was skived and there is a ridge there where it was folded under. The strainer liner looks thick under the back of the plate and that needs to be covered and blended. The ground seat end at least on this side is thick and not skived at the cantle corner. I doubt a seat leather is going to be enough without leaving a ridge over the ground seat or strainer and would likely take another piece of ground seat anyway. I cant see the screws holding the front rigging and with everything else, I'd be leery there. If it was me, Id take a day and a half to start it over and make it right.

I agree with using two if you use Chicago screws. My personal preference is to use the Chicago screws with the hole through the head. You can use a longer screw and have more threads to hold. Being around horses for 50 plus years, I've seen several tricks for securing them - drop of iodine to corrode the threads together, clear nail polish, acrylic paint, Loctite, Elmers glue, and more if I thought harder. If you choose Loctite go with the one that will release at low heat. Nothing worse than trying to get a screw loose without damaging the leather or concho head if it is a screw back concho. The low heat loctite will soften and loosen with a soldering iron held on the screw to heat it. Your customers are going to want to change these out to another rifle at some point or some other reason so make it somewhat easy. If you want semi-permanent to permanent then use rivets. I did some of those too. A tool that I personal REALLY like is the JP Tack Tool for Chicago screws. Tighten or loosen, they all get the JP tool used on them I got one of the early ones and still use it and have bought quite a few for gifts for gifts. This version is made from a polymer and has some flex. Some makers copied it with a visegrip or metal frame and that works. I havent seen those available recently but they can get enough force to punch the Chicago screw through the leather, the polymer frame ones won't. Here is a link to the JP - https://www.jptacktool.com/product-page/chicago-screw-tack-tool

kind of an idea though Fred. Actually I used to have a few clicker dies for scalloped belts and breast collars. Headstall dies were a one hit deal but the others were open ended. They did a section at time by just overlapping the ends. Pretty versatile - you could make the straps whatever length you needed but starting in the middle, doing as many scallops as you needed and then the billet lengths could vary by size length needed.

I skived mine back past the fold at least 1 to 1-1/2 inches past the fold so the trophy style buckles would have clearance for the tip to easily pass through the loop. My standard work kind of tooled belts were 8/9 with a 3/4 liner and even those could get tight on some buckles.

Normally I put them head side up on most pieces and for saddle riggings (keeps the peened post from wearing on stirrup leathers). Like Tom wrote, generally bur side up if it is contact with skin.

Looks really good, nice ground seat shape!

I’ve got some 3 piece sets in stock right now in #9 and #12 sizes along with pictures of what each piece does. I’ve got #14 sizes coming and other makers in the pipeline as well. Here’s a link - https://brucejohnsonleather.com/leather-tools-sale/rivet-setters/

Not weird, some people just don't need one or have somebody show them how to use one. I cut a lot of stuff with a grape picking knife early on. Still use the original in the tool shop here as a box opener and general cutter. There is a bit of a learning curve to using any cutting tool and then edge maintenance is major. I worked in a meat packing plant and a boning knife became as useful as my index finger. You get to a point where you don't even think about anything, it just flows. Same with a round knife but it took a few rope cans and saddles to have the feel. An old man changed my grip on a round knife and that made a ton of difference too. Having one tool to cut three layers of skirting and then turn around and skive a half inch radius curve to a feather edge is pretty handy.

Yes, you could make one. Here's the problems I see. Plane blades tend to be thicker and would be a lot of metal to remove to make a decent kind of knife. Two inches wide is really narrow. When a round knife gets down to 3-1/2 to 3 inches it looses a lot of function in my hands - too little finger clearance., limited rolling cut length before you get close to vertical with the handle for a couple quick things against them. I used a 3" knife for a while and finally just garbaged it. It wasn't as safe or effective for me as a larger blade. There was no advantage to it.

I had one and used it for a few years. I’d think about buying one again if I was doing much work. They are heavy and solid. The round platen was a bit limiting but wasn’t bad

Some saddles are finished with a pigmented topcoat. If water hits it potentially could make it run and show patchy discoloration. It is odd that sprinkler water made the spots but then water didn't change the surrounding area when you applied it. You could try contacting the maker and see what they use for a finish. If they will tell you, you've got more to go on. Otherwise option B - experiment with stuff and option C - ride it and you probably won't know it happened in a year. Sun, oil, and sweat cover a lot of finish blemishes over time.

Doc. Second question first. I got mine from the friendly folks at sharpeningsupplies.com - just plain good people to do business with and know their stuff. Why would someone have a sharpness tester? Average guy probably doesn't need one. Refurbishing and dealing in leather tools is my business. I blast, buff polish and sharpen a bunch of old tools. Every new Osborne tool I sell gets cleaned up and sharpened. In my tool shop I've got a 2x72 VSR knife grinder, VSR flat platen grinder, Brodbeck 1x42 VS sharpener, 1x30 HF belt grinder, buffing and scotchbrite wheels for the drill presses, five variable speed buffers with dedicated wheels for greaseless and buffing compounds, Dremels, Foredom handpiece systems, Foredom bench lathe with a bunch of interchangeable media, Diamond stones and sticks for hand work. With all that stuff, I want to make sure I am doing OK. Sharpness tester just made sense. I buy crappy sides of leather to test some blades and tools. I do the paper slicing test sometimes too, but in the end - I like to see numbers. It saves my left arm from being bald.

Chuck, Basically this edge tester uses a pressure plate to determine the force needed to cut a standardized media (looks like monofilament). I can shave with about anything less than 160-175 or so on the scale. There are a little chart that came with it but I cant find that right now. Basically 500 is butter knife. I just did a couple more. One is a single edge razor blade that went 80. I did the back side of the draw gauge blade just for kicks - over 2000.

Fred, yes it is pretty OK sharp. These Irwin blades are my personal favorite for good edge retention. I cant speak to others right now, no other brands to test. Two problems with utility blades for draw gauges though that I see. 1). Sometimes the utility knife blades are wider than the slots on some older versions of CS Osborne and nearly every HF Osborne. You have to grind the back off some to make them fit. 2). The pointed top end is no advantage except for the people who sell band aids or work in the emergency room. People get cut mostly two ways on draw gauges. First is trying to push the leather into the blade to get it started. Common with a dull blade and just poor user technique. Second way is reaching over the top either from setting it on the bench blade up or reaching over the top in use to tension the strap. You catch the point sticking up. I used to wonder why a lot of the old draw gauges I'd get in from estate sets had a rounded blade on them. At first I figured it was because they used whatever they had on hand to make a blade. After the second or third cut the light came on. It was rounded for safety. That is why I round the off and dull the tip on the blades I sell. That kind of affirmed to me a few years ago. I bought a large estate set that was dated to a harness maker who died in the 1930s. There were 5 unused blades in petrified paper that had been ground over at the tip. Four HF Osborne draw gauges and every one had a rounded blade. He might have been dead but his tools told me what I needed to know.

You all got me curious today. I pulled out 4 common blades that have been mentioned and compared them on my edge tester. The Irwin utility knife blade, NEW CS OSborne, and supplied blade commonly seen on other website draw gauges are all stock - new and untouched. The sharped blade is just a random I pulled from my drawer of "ready to go" CS Osborne blades that I reprofiled and sharpened. The lower the numbers the better. Kind of interesting results and realistically, I was a little surprised on both ends of the spectrum.

Thanks Bruce and Billy! I sharpen pretty much everything I sell so they are ready to go. I’m adding to the lineup of new tools pretty regularly from Osborne, Wayne Jueschke, and Richard Brooks. As I get calls for something i don’t carry yet I order extras for the website most of the time.

That is a common thing with superglues on cotton swabs and I’ve had it happen on cloth scraps and paper towels too. The cyanoacrylate curing can be hastened by moisture (breathing on it even) and it is exothermic. I’ve had swabs and strips of cloth or paper towels scorch but not flame up. The smell is like cyanide. A second coating on top of some that hasn’t cured can really off gas. I use it in cross ventilation.

You mentioned Palosanto. I've had some through here. They come sharp, that's not a problem. They are also sharpened on the bottom like the Barry King although to a lower angle bevel. The top sides can be pretty rough. I am attaching pictures of one I have left I got in this spring. It came like this to him (new) and he traded for another maker's set from me. He bought a few of them in a size range - this was the worst of the bunch but none were really smooth. They were bargain table tools for me at the Sheridan show. They aren't all like this but I would check. In use they can be brittle. For soft leathers and skiving I haven't heard of many problems. My wife gets along good with one for wallets and bags, it goes a long time. For saddlery and doing bigger skives a few have had the blade just chunk out. Granted they are scooping on some of the saddle fit up skives and not doing a straight flat work, but it happens. Blade edges are thin with a low bevel and that is a trade off of really fine edge geometry vs durability.

Yes, I use stock Osborne blades. I take the shoulders down some to a lower angle bevel and sharpen them. My final step is rounding the pointed tip at the top end.

Here you are https://peccaryleather.com/ https://www.etsy.com/market/javelina_leather

My blast cabinet gun took a dive today so I switched gears from splitters and did the next tray in the lineup, happened to be knives. I cleaned and sharpened these three knives today. The Rose on the left has about 5 hours on it and turned out well. The right side is an older CS Osborne. The old Newark marked Osbornes are one of my favorites as well. I got a little surprise with the other Osborne in the center. The handle is stamped ORD DEPT USA. It is an Army issue knife and I don't come across them very often. It is always fun to find one. Its a good day in my playpen!