bruce johnson

Ken, I've had a few. I did get one with instructions and it was made by JHE Enterprises or something like that in UT. I think Timberline used to carry them too. They do show up every now and again, but I don't think they've been made for a while. And in one of those "you shoulda been here yesterday" deals - one sold on Ebay yesterday. - Bruce

I just got in an unused Hansen as well. The blade will need a lot of sharpening for sure. I expect yours is the same.

Thank you! I have had the 2x36 for a few years. It gets used daily and a great tool. There are times where a 4" wide would be good to have. I will check with the US supplier. I like the shroud and dust collector you have on yours - I'd still be masking up but shop cleanup would be a lot simpler. Several good ideas in your post and I sure want to thank you! - Bruce

Is that a MultiTool attachment that you are using for the sanding? If so, where did you get the wider width model at? Thanks! - Bruce

One thing I am seeing in your pictures is the blade is sitting a little back. On the black yoke that holds the feed roller the outside has a "stop" to slide the blade up against. On yours I can see a gap of maybe 1/16" between the blade edge and stop. What I do is slide by blade up to touching the stop. adjust my back screw to hold it there. Then I back off that screw maybe 1/4 turn so the blade edge is very close but not binding against the stop.The closer to the stop the blade edge is then the better they will feed directly into the blade. Sometimes you may have a blade that the bevel is uneven and not centered in the thickness of the blade. the thinner leather wants to ride over or under the blade. Try flipping the blade and see if that makes a difference.

I got my big one from Grizzly a few years ago. They had/have a freight agreement with FedEx and it was surprisingly cheap to ship. I just picked a smaller one up at WoodCraft last week for a sharpening surface in the tool shop. It is a pretty good bang for the buck I thought.

Sure should be able to, the adjustment screw on the back goes from the frame up through the yoke that holds the bottom feedroller. Loosen that adjustment to raise the bottom roller so it will engage the thinner leather. You might need to take a turn or so on the spring tensioning screw to add a but more pressure, might not need to depending on how tight the spring is adjusted now.

This brief clip shows the grip I use on a draw gauge. Middle finger on the trigger, index finger pointing down the right side and pushing back against the front. This counteracts any torque from blade drag and gives me a solid grip. My thumb naturally falls into place to hold the leather down. -

I haven't seen one like that, any patent or marking info on it? I have attached pictures of one of mine. It is a Doering patent and sold by Randall at one point.

Some people think it was a quality grade - umm, no. In the old catalogs it was a size mark for the #70 round knives. I work from a 1897 copy mostly. The "small" was 5", the "usual" was 6", "X" was 6-1/2", "XX" was 6-3/4", The "XXX" was 7". They also list extra large knives to order.They do list a 2nd quality knife but only in 6".

I am thinking Robert Jolley - Montana

Bob, IN a word "yes". The crank splitters have a feedwheel and the leverage of the handle and gearing to allow more force than a simple pull by hand. The common crank splitters were designed for the shoe repair trade and are 6" wide (shoe soles). The downsides of the cranksplitters - more expensive, they push the leather into the blade instead of pulling so the leather needs some body or it will wad up against the blade and split unevenly, .

I've had a bunch of 10" pull through splitters and the occasional 12". Problem is that most people can pull about 3" width pretty easily and it gets exponentially harder once you go wider than that. The extra blade width just gives you more blade to use before you need to work the edge up again. I've probably got a brother Randall to the 18" Big Sioux has in my shop right now. It is here to get a new blade put on and adjusted. It literally took two men and one large boy to unload from their pickup. I expect he paid more than $1000 just to get the new blade made for it. The old rule of thumb on the tried and true big splitters was $200 per inch of blade. That has weakened some, but not a lot. I know of a motorized 10" splitter in a local shop that is closed, but nothing is for sale. The Artisan is a 20" and one of the best favors ever done for me was to get a crappy demonstration and condescending sales talk one year at Sheridan. I had money in pocket to buy one, and Jerry didn't think I was serious. Cobra Steve has a 14" motorized splitter modeled after the Landis #30 crank splitter, not sure where the pricing is now on the Artisan or Cobra. .

I'd guess a push beader and cleaned up on the ends with a beveler. They look pretty rounded up to me. Darcy is a really good maker and i'd bet he'd tell you what he used.

Some are just jammed in and friction fit. Some are glued in. Some have a small wooden wedge on one side or the other of the tang.

I'd go that. Please message me. Thanks, - Bruce

Here you go - The white substance is most likely "spew". It is a combination of waxes, oils, and soaps that exudes from leather not being used much (or over conditioned). It may also be mold. The quick and dirty test is to apply a little heat to it with something like a hair drier. If it melts back in - spew. If it sits there and looks at you - likely mold.

Normally this version would have a maker mark on the shoe (sloping tip that sticks out in front of the blade). Most but not all I have had also have a mark on the brass piece that binds the beam when the lever is tightened. Some had just the dot like yours. I think you are right - unmarked Dixon (and a good one!)

It is not good. I am not a huge fan of rawhide either for the questionable sourcing, but it will somewhat breakdown in the stomach and gut. Leather can behave differently. Being softer the dogs are more prone to chew less and will swallow bigger pieces. After leather is tanned, it tends to form really hard balls that don't digest. I have seen for sure cases where a dog chewed part of a leather leash and TWO months later I got to remove it from the stomach. Have removed leather from the intestines several times. Unless you have a burning desire to share your cash with my colleagues, I would stick to dog treats and separate the dogs from the leather scraps. Bruce Johnson, DVM

I had free rulers in my booth.

Did you pick up a ruler while you were there?

I am with Art. This tool has been sharpened that way. When I'd get the occasional one I figured it was poor sharpening. One some you can see they held it an angle against a stone or wheel, the scratch marks showed that under magnification. I went merrily along believing that was always the case until I got a set with matched right and left Gomphs in 3/5/6 sizes in an old harness makers chest. Gomph likely didn't do it, and that led me to believe some special purpose or the way a guy was taught. Since then I have got two more pretty intact estate sets of similar vintage with matching rights and lefts in either Gomph or HF Osborne. These sets all came from within a close enough region of each other. These were all level on the bottoms and looks like these users knew what they were doing when they modified them. Same shop?similar purpose? Same mentor? Still I sit here - without a definite reason why they did this. I mean I can see the right or left for right and left handed users. What I am still trying to wrap my brain around is why rights and lefts in matched sizes in the same sets? What special purpose was there to these 100 years ago? When I square them up one side of me says "Bruce, this guy when to a lot of effort to modify this French edger his way and you are wrecking it!". The guy on the other shoulder stabs me with the pitchfork and says "Dude, you're just fixing what that putz mucked up 100 years ago. If HF and Henry meant for them to be angled, they'd have angled them right off, GRIND, GRIND, GRIND!! ".

I get them like that too, and some a lot more extreme angle. I see enough that I think it is intentional by the user. Some estate sets have had rights and lefts in a few sizes. Specialty purpose?? Somebody's mentor probably did it and on it goes. I don't see enough difference in use of angled vs straight to convince me one is superior to the other. Some of the Japanese style skiving blades have a square front edge and the English paring blades are angled. What's up with that? What do I do? The guy who taught me a lot about tools was in the business about 60 years and he never showed me any angled ones. I just square up the edge and start over. Also I grind the toes back to stick out maybe 3/32-1/8".

I pulled the stem out of an old bobbin winder. I stick it in my drill and tension the thread off the spool with my thumb and first finger. I go back and forth like a level wind bait casting reel and wind a pretty good bobbin in no time.

Are you going to the Prescott Leather show? If so or you could get it there, I am interested in buying it back. Most everybody I know that could pick it up for me down that way is north of LA. I am tied up until the show, but otherwise we'll figure some way to get it.