bruce johnson

Nope, the real thing. It is just a version of the various marks they used. The round handle was a lower priced version knife than the oval rosewood handle knives they made. Not sure when they switched from the rosewood round handles to the painted handles.

OK, Old news but at this point still somewhat pertinent. What I found out from them before the Dixon meltdown was that the different maker stamps may not mean much. There was a lineage of continual family ownership until the end, but the maker stamps sometimes got recycled. They would use one, dig out another one and use that for a while, then another, and go back to an earlier version and bring that one back for a while. Regarding the closure, It was a family business and things within the recent family fell apart and so went the business. Sad when one of the longest family run businesses in England and at one time best regarded leather tool makers in the world closed shop. The later tools were not the standards or patterns of the earlier ones, but they are sure not the only maker that went that way in this business.

From the picture and what I can see, it looks to be a band knife splitter. If you want some sticker shock just price one. They can be really handy for splitting softer leather, wider leather, etc but they aren't on every street corner. If they run and are priced right usually somebody has already picked them up. Once in a while they do show up though.

Wayne Christensen at Standing Bears in Reseda. He has a leather supply shop, gives classes on several levels, and great guy

The anvils are a friction fit. Drill the stem from the bottom side and you can drive them out out easier.

For what you are doing, the #86, a Chase pattern, or any of the locking handle will do the job. Had a little health hiccup and working on sharp blades with vertigo was not a good plan. Back after it now but I only have about half the splitters done I'd like to and packing for the Prescott show this weekend. I've got a lot in the works of #86s in various widths, Chase splitters in 8 and 10 inch widths, and maybe one locking handle splitter. They will have to be after the show now. Another 2 weeks and I should be good.

Matt, The leather venders will mostly all be there but they only have so much booth space. They can't bring it all. If they have show specials that are decent, you will see people packing out rolls at 9:15 and then come back. If you are looking to compare and order to ship they will have samples and sides. They will usually have stacks of the common leathers like tooling, skirting, and latigo for the duration of the show. A few sellers of exotics and specialty leathers too. The show itself is a great experience.

See you in about a week, mi amigo!

My personal favorite for edgers are the Gomph round bottom edgers, Easy to sharpen because of the design and have a tremendously long life. They cut a rounded profile. The "fine edge" edgers are fairly similar. I also like bisonette edgers but trickier to maintain and shorter life. The key to any edger is a good edge to start with and stropping as needed. I've got a tutorial on my website regarding edge beveler sharpening and maintenance - https://brucejohnsonleather.com/tutorials/ To answer a few questions above. The last couple months have been tied up with family issues and I just haven't had enough time to get as many tools cleaned up and refurbished for the website. I've got a good backstock, just not enough shoptime to get them all ready until recently. We are going to the Southwest Leather Show in Prescott in a couple weeks so the focus has been to get tools ready for that. I'll be "restocked" on the website after we get back. As far as sourcing, some of my tools come from estate sets, shop retirements, or tool auctions and swap meets. A few from Ebay, and some from other leather workers who want to trade.

I have a prototype for the 2 cutter Bluegrass edger. Came in a shop retirement set and he said that he was given it to try at a Harness Makers Get-Together some years before. I had it for sale at the Prescott Show last year. First guy that looked at it asked me why I was selling it - he thought it was a better design than the later versions and no gig needed. As soon as he left I stuck it under the table after Ms Rundi asked me why i WAS selling it anyway. I'll get a picture tomorrow.

My past experiences - The Douglas ones are going to come sharp and most likely to be ready to use. It is tie between Weaver and CS Osborne new ones. Some are going to be good, some are going to have burs and some are going to be dull as a hoe. None are apt to be duds, they just need some attention first with round rods and fine wet-dry sandpaper. Sizes - I liked 1-3/4 and 1-1/2 mostly, with the occasional need for 1-1/4.

That sounds pretty close if not the common size for the older 8" Osborne #84 splitters. The new blades vary a bit vs the old blades. I would contact CS Osborne and see if they can give you the specs on their replacement blades.

I will take this if it isn't already sold. Please contact me for payment information. phone (209) 505-3621 or message me through the PM system here. Thank you, - Bruce

A differing point of view from the flip side. This is coming from a guy who was happy as a clam at high tide with a LTO on a sewing machine. A long time ago in a galaxy far far away new sewing machines used to cost twice as much as they do now. Feet and accessories were not a gimme deal either, and a wise man named Art gave me the advice to buy every foot and plate you think you'll need. At the same time get all the other ones you don't know you need yet when you buy your machine because they don't get cheaper afterwards. I called the friendly folks at Ferdco, who I had bought a used machine from previously and set up a new Pro 2000 with the accessories on a $6300+ LTO through their arranged lease company. Some people know my story, but due to some medical debt then I personally couldn't have qualified to finance a pack of needles. As a business with books showing income, I qualified for LTO easily. Fast forward, for 5 years I got to deduct the full annual cost of the lease against my business income. Two basket stamped belts a month paid for the machine. At the end I paid $1, did the happy dance, and own it. If I had financed it I could have only deducted the interest and first five years of depreciation during that same time with a regular loan. Another factor - insurance. It was also a lot easier and cost less to get specific coverage insurance on the machine through the lease company than a rider on my own insurance. As the tax advisor in a small business development/management program explained to us - businesses generally lease, people generally finance.

I had a bell knife (not a Consew) with a steel feed wheel with milled lines. It was like the feed roller on a crank splitter. It fed a variety of leathers from firm skirting to very soft chrome tans better than the stone wheels. I don't recall ever having the sticking problem with the steel wheel like I did occasionally with the stone wheel.

one of the most complete places for parts is Pilgrim Shoe Machine - http://www.pilgrimshoemachine.com/

Same as MadMax22, I oil the holes and grease the gears. I grease the covered gears pretty good but only lightly grease the gears by the rollers to prevent messing much with the leather. These Landis cranks are a little different than the Americans. The Landis drives off the top roller and the gears connect the top and bottom to synch the rollers. On the Americans the bottom roller has a drive shaft with universal joints within the frame. I grease the heck out of that.

Those are tapered pins on the rollers and indeed larger on one side than the other. Landis liked using them, American did not as much. Most have been peened over on the smaller end. One some the peen on the small end is about the same size as the head on the big end. You will need to carefully grind that peen off first. Then carefully drive out the pin. Here is something to consider. Do you REALLY want to do that??? I do not know the availability of those pins where you are at. Here I have exactly one local hardware that carries any kind of a selection of them. If you are going to be tearing it down to repaint, then that is one thing. If you are looking to clean it up and use it I'd consider a good steam cleaning and hand cleaning the rollers and leaving the pins as is.

Great job! look forward to seeing more work.

Yes they do! They have a bunch of boxes in all sizes and shapes that are not flat rate and available free. Some post offices have them in the back if you ask and others don't. Like craftsman287 wrote, I go to www.usps.com and end up someplace on the site at "free shipping supplies". They have a bunch of boxes and tubes that are free. You order them (no charge) and your mailman delivers them (no charge) or they hold them for pick up at the post office (gas to get there)..

Ordering a right and left is pretty common in the saddlemaking business, and likely moreso in the smaller higher end one man shops than production making. Some of it is cutting for economy. Some of it is cutting a particular part for a particular section of the side to take advantage of the stretch or firmness characterisitcs of that section of the side. Saddles are three dimensional and some parts need to be firm, some need to compress, and some need to stretch. Different sections of a side tend to have different abilities to stretch or compress. Most saddlemakers have a layout pattern on the sides for cutting parts. Stirrup leathers need to be firm with minimal stretch. Some parts of the saddle need to have firmness in one part but moldable in another. The backs of skirts need to be firm to hold shape but the fronts can be a little more moldable to fit up tighter. Fenders need to be firm. These right and left pieces need to have the consistent characteristics. Cutting patterns can be flipped on right vs. left side and be in the same orientation on a side. Realizing that there are large single pieces like seats swell covers that you prefer to be "behave" symmetrically on the right vs. left side of the particular part, Big piece that you want to cut right the first time. A little tidbit. I was in a roundtable several years ago. One elder statesman of saddle making was talking about the old days in the reputation big shops. He had worked in some, and been taught by the generation before. In one of those shops for the really good orders, they cut the paired stirrup leathers from the right side. The reason was that on the living beast the rumen sits to the left. Through the course of the day and good grazing/poor grazing seasons the rumen expands and contracts. The lore of the day stood that the left side would be a little stretchier up high than the right side because of that.

Glue fumes can be nasty, most any dust isn't good. Some people will never have a problem and other will do something for 20 years without a problem, then on day #7305 they do. Masks are cheap, gloves are cheap, ear plugs are cheap, vacuums are cheap, fans are cheap and windows usually open easily. Now that I have switched over from leather work to leather tools, I can also add that leather aprons with leg shields are cheap, leather sleeves are cheap, and eye protection is cheap. My biggest problem used to making myself put it all on. At my other job (and likely yours) there are all these safety posters that take up wall space. I made up a non OSHA approved version for my little home shop. Laminated right there on the door - eye high for me to read every time I walk in. It has sure helped me to safety up. I attached a copy below here.

heat works, but be careful no to get too hot. Getting the cover somewhat damp and "cased" a bit will help too.Work pretty slow and you can likely get all but a crispy worn out cover off. Figure the time involved and decide if it is worth the effort vs. what the customer expects (and expects to pay).

My rock on a scrap of chap leather. The surface is about 1/8 higher than the surround bench top. makes it easier to move big pieces around. The whole thing was built with dimensional lumber and bolted. As the wood shrunk I gave a few cranks with the wrench every so often until it wasn't shrinking anymore. The height is comfortable for standing or using the drafting stool to sit.

I would hope that delivery is already scheduled AND you have a Bevmo gift card waiting for him as a thank you gift! I have a granite inspection plate from Grizzly like that inset into my bench. When you stamp the only sound you hear is the soft "tink" of the maul on the stamp shank.