bruce johnson

Welt knife used in shoe and boot making. Horn made a lot of leather tools back in the day.

Sure looks good from here. Heck of a project for a first one and you pulled it off well.

Another good source are the Weaver round punches.

Oil really doesn't dry all that fast. Sometimes you can wick it out some or try to remove excess with something like Dawn. If you go the wicking route - cornmeal, clay cat litter, garage floor oilsorb have all been used. liberal dusting, leave it sit a few days, brush off and reapply as needed.

It is a Billy Cook. It was a pretty good production saddle at that time but still manufactured to a price point. 35 years later it is still together, that is not too bad. I wore out the better part of two of them in 5 years back then. Yours has the grain slipping in places - could be from sweat and drying, a finish used on it, a conditioner used on it, wet saddle blankets thrown over it, and who knows what leather to start with. The pressure washer just blew off what was already loose and going to come off someday anyway. I'd worry a whole lot more about what's underneath an old saddle than what's on top. As long as the riggings are sound and the tree isn't broken, ride it and enjoy it. I also would be sparing with more oil for a few days at least. It is pretty easy to see the oil soak right in and think "That leather is dry and needs more!". It is easier to over do it in one day than when you stretch out the time and give the oil a chance to spread and even up some before the next coat. Doubly so on one that is roughout or loose grained like yours.

Bob, In my defense this thread is almost 8 years old, and I've got a few new "bests". Gages was over the top good in Guthrie, OK. On the same trip I had a whiskey marinated steak at The Drovers in Omaha. That was something pretty spectacular too. On my old list - still like Prime Rib Loft at the Orleans in Las Vegas. haven't been upstairs in Binions the last trip. A fresh addition and right in Oakdale - Café Bravo has consistently high end New York with chimichurri sauce. That rocks my world about once a week.

Anne, Speechless. Jaw dropping mind numbing gorgeous work. For everybody else - You ever look at something and think "with a little practice I could do that". These reins aren't one of those things.

Don't know about the monkey but Schoellkopf used a logo with a saddled elephant. Google "Schoellkopf saddle" and you'll come up with quite a bit.

I'd be mildly interested, but shipping would be the deal breaker for me.

Handy deal, ain't it?

Tor, I have never seen them before. They definitely have the look of continental European patterns but I haven't run across any that I recognized. They look pretty good in the pictures. - Bruce

If it is going to be heated I like the Dixon or other European made adjustable creasers. The shanks are usually longer and the jaws tend to open up wider while not splaying as much. It is not going to be heated I like the checkering type creasers better. The tips stay parallel as the jaws are opened and they track a more true line. The added bonus is the tips are pretty narrow and can make a nice fine line. They aren't cheap, but they are good.

KingsX - Yes it is! The past coming back in a post from Oct 2006. Life has changed a lot since then for me, but I am still an oil user....

I've got a few tutorials done with a bunch more to go. There is one on edge beveler sharpening - www.brucejohnsonleather.com/tutorials/

Barb Sorenson at Y-Knot Lace, always a pleasure to talk to - www.y-knotlace.com

DavidL, Thank you for the link to that French edger video! I keep forgetting about those clips. There were several little video clips we did for a display of saddle making tools for the local cowboy museum. The videos were done on the fly. The videographer came to my shop one night. We made some hasty scripts, shot the short clips, and did most of them in one shot in a few hours. The actual tools mentioned were all ready for display so I grabbed the closest stand-ins and used them in the videos.

Missed the post earlier. I'd price it around $350-400. Crank skivers always sell pretty well. The upside of that one is that it has a cutter and some people like that. If you are cutting sole leather it is nice. The downside is that it has a cutter and if you don't need it - it takes up more bench space. The more common ones have a deeper throat for the cutter and some need and like that, some don't.

The larger ones in your link are French edgers. As far as the old makers, when these were made 100-140 years ago they were used in harness and saddlery work. There are some #1/2 sizes around but pretty rare. The smaller sizes came in when the craft movement got to be the market share and tools were starting to be made for a different user market. Osborne is one of the hardest to figure now. Even between different styles of edgers the size numbers don't correlate even though it is the same company. Some of their tool patterns have drifted for more economical manufacture as well. If you are looking for good quality narrow edgers, I would suggest Toby at Ron's Tools or Barry King. They both have a small edger that would fit your needs well.

I do for some skiving. they are handy for crowning saddle strings by hand, and fine skiving thin leathers. For the heavier leathers, I like a round knife.

I generally like the HF Osborne knives as well. It all comes down to condition for value. I sell the better ones up to $180. I'd like to see a picture too!

I can't speak for some makers but the rule of thumb on the old makers edge bevelers and French edgers was each size number = 1/16 inch of cut. They were all pretty consistant between makers unlike now. It looks like that black handled edger is based on the western or bent toe edger pattern so it might run larger, but doesn't look 3/16 to me. If you are ordering from someone who can read a ruler, I'd ask them the width of the cutting edge. Across the board that tells me more than try to compare sizes with the newer patterns and sizing.

Here's another choice. I'd get a fair amount of the old flat handle paring/skiving blades in and they never stayed a day on my website. I sent Terry Knipshield one to duplicate in a right and left. He got these right and pretty handle scales to boot. I'd sure ask him about these. Terry is a really good guy. He patterned the Texas Rose after a 100 year old Rose knife pattern I sent him, and I told him that some people like a smaller knife too - hence the "Rosebud". He has also duplicated English and French pattern plough gauge blades for me too. They all have been dead on good users.

Commonly found - if I don't see one in half the antique shops I am not looking hard enough. They set tubular rivets and were used to rivet in brake bands on old cars and tractors too.

I had a set of Watt's round bottom edgers several years ago. At that time the only other one making the better quality edgers was Ron Edmonds (Ron's Tools). They were both a huge step up from the new Osbornes and others at the time. Now Barry King is making good edgers also. I have a bit of an iron in the fire hereby dealing in a lot of old Gomph tools. I will say that any of these current makers or the old Gomphs will be an improvement over what you may currently be using.

I think the LCSJ tried a show in Georgia several years ago, also one in Pennsylvania maybe. Other than the annual IFOLG shows that rotate around to different guilds who host them, pretty much the major shows are Sheridan, WY in May and the Southwest Show in Prescott AZ in February.