bruce johnson

The other two things to consider are punching surface and how sharp your punch is. You need a firm backing to punch against.I use a piece of LDPE cutting board on top of either an anvil or a stamping rock. You don't want any bounce or give in the surface. No punches come sharp enough out of the box. They need to be taken out to a fine edge, then stropped and polished. My personal drive punches are sharp enough to rock through the leather by hand. I have some of the wood handled end punches I use for fun too, and once I put that same edge on my drive punches they came to the party. Some people don't want that fine an edge for various reasons, but I think you should be able to slice leather with the edge on any of them.

Acids can etch them if the chrome is gone. Many thanks to Ray who referred me to EvapoRust/Metal Rescue. These are rust chelators (not converters like Naval Jelly) and remove the rust without harming the base metal. Almost safe enough to drink and minimnal warning labels. Most of the big name D-I-Y stores have one or the other, Harbor Freight, hardware stores, etc. I have used both brands and think they are probably very similar. You soak the stamps or whatever in the solution from a couple hours up to a day or so. It is room temperature sensitive, so the warmer the room the faster it works. (more on that later) The solution gets dark, but lasts a long time. Basically you use it until it doesn't work anymore. I strain it through a coffee filter back into the jug to keep the particles out. If you Google the brands you can see that two TV personalities endorse each brand. I called one and under condition of anonymity he shared a tip. He heats small parts in an aluminum pot and what takes 18 hours normally takes about 15 minutes. I tried it and same experience. You just have to get the solution warm. I go warm enough to stick a finger in for a second, but too hot to leave it there. Swirl the pan every couple minutes, fish the parts or stamps out with tongs and check them. If they need more time, drop them back in to stew. I have now done a bunch of stamps and parts, and don't think twice about dropping Jueschke stamp or a propriety threaded fastener in anymore. This stuff works and is safe.

We almost need to start a list of edge dressings for slicking and burnishing. Intended and labeled leather stuff off the top of my head are Gum Trag, Ron's edge dressing, QuikSlik, I believe Bee Natural has one, and diluted LCI Neutral Case..... Not leather labeled off the top of my head - dilute Elmers glue, Corn Huskers Lotion, KY, Corona (the veterinary salve, not the beer),Future floor wax... keep adding to it folks!

I found either that stamp or its brother. It is a Jeremiah Watt stamp, but like all the borders, not showing up on his website. I don't know if he has discontinued borders or I am jut not seeing them. It is listed in my 2 year old Weaver catalog as a "running border".

This came up not too long ago in another place, maybe one of the Facebook groups if it wasn't here.. Pretty sure it was found to be a stamp. My peabrain is leaning toward Hackbarth, but I am not home to check that. omebody may have made a roll too, but not finding it in a quick check of my McMillen catalog.

It is always a pleasure to see what you can do with the tools, Walter. They all look wonderful! I have made the decision that I am no longer taking orders for leather work, and now concentrating only on the tools. I have spent the last two days rearranging and organizing the tool shop. I have a few more shelves to move and I will be ready for work again.

Osborne calls it a push beveler. I have been chasing one around for a couple years and haven't really found it to have much use.

Shoe maker lip knife

Mike is correct, it is a channeler. They also make or made a variation with a loop type blade.

Sheridan Leather Outfitters

The oil tanned is 5 oz I like. Hairon gussets. Don't like them for one reason. The lay of the hair will be down on one side and up on the other. I have done them, but don't particularly like to. Piceing them looks off to me. Also, hair on is really soft so needs to be backed for some firmness, especially ate the bottom.

I use oil tan for the gussets. It has a little more body than chap leather and helps hold the shape. Soft enough you can open the zipper and sort through. I over lap it on the bottom about a third and sew across the ends. That double layer helps prevent sagging from weigh and keeps the shape better over the long haul. I just sew them to the front and back with a machine.

I have asked a few guys since you PMd the picture. It is a split nut screwdriver. Not really a leather tool, but there are a few fasteners on some leather tools that use them.

John, One other person I asked about the ELBO stamps was Chuck Smith and he popped that right off. He said it was one of Ellis's deals and didn't think he marked them like that very long and thought about the same time frame with the other stamps in this set. They might have been a line for one of the other short-lived early crafting supply sellers in SoCal. Interesting for sure.

Here are the two CalCarved I have, along with the ELBO marked stamps. Neither of the CalCarved are plated. The ELBO bargrounder isn't plated, the checkered beveler is clean and not knurled. All are magnetic. The "ELBO" was in larger letters the length of the shaft. Chatsworth is in very small lettering the length of the shaft and not into the knurling. These all came in a set with RBS and no prefix Craftools only. Most were plated, but a few of them weren't. Local estate set, not a put-together deal. - Bruce

Just to throw another iron in the fire here. I bought a set of tools that had no prefix Craftools and RBS mostly. There were a couple Cal-Carved and a couple marked ELBO and Chatsworth. One source told me that ELBO was one of Ellis's aliases (say that three times fast!). Any thoughts on ELBO?

I have never even glued the bottom. I just tack and stitched the fender to the leathers. With the buckle rivets and stirrup hobble strap, they aren't going anywhere.

There used to be a deal sold that was a roatry shaft tool and reciprocating handpiece with a large collet. They called the "SpeedStamper" and weren't in business very long. I had one and liked if for long beveling especially.

Don't even need to see the video anymore, question comes about once a month and it sure looks handy. I tried to track it down a few years ago. I have asked a few folks in England and even the one I talked to at Jeffries was not real sure where they got the cutter. One guy said he thought it was made by a handyman sort of guy in Walsall. He said it used roller knife blades and spacers between to set the widths, sort of like the strap cutting machines. It really doesn't look all that hard to make knowing that now. He said it was good for fixed widths, but he liked the ability to change widths and used a plough gauge once he left production work.

Awesome work - again - and CONGRATULATIONS!

I like that a lot Little John. The lining cuts are a good touch for sure.

It depends on what kind of leather you are making the binding from. A crank splitter pushes the leather into the blade, so the leather has to be pretty firm or it bunches up against the blade. You can pull a little softer leather with a pull-through, but there is a limit as to how soft you can go there too.

I think you are probably the one who sent me an email this afternoon. I gave you a call back but missed you. I curated an exhibit on old saddle making and leather working tools and use for our local cowboy museum. It was supposed to be a 4 month rotating display and was popular enough they kept it up 9 months. I'd sure be glad to talk to you about how we set it up, and details.

Depends on how much you think you'll use it. A guy can sure make one himself, but that takes time. I think the draw down feature on Ron's is really handy. You can raise and lower it, or spin it and it doesn't change the strap tension. I was a the first Wickenburg show and a stand was not even on my radar screen. I got hung up BSing and my wife went on ahead. She came and grabbed me to go look at Ron's stands.She talked me into it. Never a regret.

First call I'd make tomorrow is Keith Pommer - (605)372-4523