bruce johnson

The man you need to get to know well is Eli Schlabach at Landis Machine Co in McLeansboro, IL. Phone number is 217 543-3464. Eli rebuilds stitchers and big stuff and has some 16 parts. I sent him some parts for other stuff a few weeks ago so I know the phone number is good. Before I bought a 16 that hasn't run in 17 years, I would talk to Eli first.

Since the auction deal got brought up, here are my auction thoughts. Actually this is an excerpt from a draft part of an article I am working on. This isn't all necessarily directed at anyone, but hopefully some things you all can consider. I buy privately and through auctions. Privately it is usually a "take it all" deal or "everything but machines". I love auctions on one hand because I don't have to buy it all. I don't have to pack out a box of screwdrivers, pliers, and claw hammers because it is part of the shop. That is the auction buyer's advantage - cherry picking. I can pick and choose. I get to a few auctions. I have a buyer at many of the other auctions I can't get to. They have my full support and know the ranges I will pay. Some days my phone is blown up. The auctioneers that deal with these kinds of tools and equipement routinely are somewhat regional (and some are Amish). The owner (you) ends up with travel expenses and lodging for the auctioneer and crew if they come to you. The promotion generally consists of an ad or two in Illume magazine (used to be ShopTalk). Some social media advertising. Maybe the Plain Dealer if that still exists or Ag newspapers. Those expenses are yours in some form. Some auctions might still be 10% commission on larger ticket items like machines (like two or three of the machines in this thread), 20% on the rest and smalls is pretty common. Some charge low commission percentages but then add on a buyer's premium. That is a percentage the buyer pays and most buyers figure that in when they set a top bid they are willing to pay. They bid less in total because of it, you get less in the end, and the auctioneer gets the bigger cut they need for expenses and services. 15% buyers premiums are not unusual. No sour grapes, my son is an auctioneer and premiums are just how they have to do some auctions to cover expenses while getting a decent return for the seller. Picking a local general auctioneer? It might be OK but I have seen some real train wrecks. Poor promotion, poor sorting and presentation, poor knowledge of products, and no idea of values so bids start at a bad spot. If they have someone to help with a knowledge of them, that covers some mistakes. Live auction. If I get on the airplane/rent a car/ship purchases home or drive 12 hours - personally I need to have plenty to look at. Otherwise I'll have somebody I know already going or hear about it later. Bidders at an estate or retirement auction - bid like a buyer, not a bargain hunter. Be fair, this a fund raiser in the form of selling out a livelihood. If you hold up five fingers on something that should bring a hundred, don't be mad when I bid $75 next bid. The auctioneer doesn't want to run it $5 at a time to reach the hundred and probably doesn't need the practice. They appreciate a fair bid, three or four more advances, and sold. On-line auction or live auction/on-line bidding - some local auctioneers are set up for it and run it well, some aren't. Some are legit and honest, some aren't and will run up an absentee, phone, or on-line bidder during a live auction with that option. If I don't know them by reputation or someone I trust's experience, I don't bid. Also I want to know the other charges like shipping and handling up front. If they charge a set fee per lot and then take it to the UPS Store to pack and ship - I'm out. I don't begrudge anyone the charges for reasonable packing and shipping costs. If you are charging $10 per lot packing fee to drop 3 groups of 5 handled tools into a flat rate box with no padding, that's $30 plus the flat rate cost. Again, I'm a watcher not a bidder. I like the on-line auctions but I want these previous concerns addressed before I click the first bid.

This is always tough. Some of the machines may have a local market value and some won’t. Once you get out of that local sphere shipping costs go way up and offering prices go down. The hand tools ship easily and you’ve got some good ones and some wall hanger only ones. Once you get some space cleared then I’d recommend sorting by maker and type. That will be the best way for buyers. It’s good you aren’t on a tight time frame! Some of these estate sets have to be out of a building in a month or two and those are tough. ideally selling as a unit or large groups is easier but at the expense of less money. Selling in small groups or individually tends to bring a more true value but you will end up with stuff that nobody wants. I’ve seen it down both ways and sometimes the buyer wins and some times the seller wins.

I just sold one on my website Saturday. I believe I’ve got another copy. I add tools for sale nearly everyday and usually do books and pattern packs on Saturdays.

In a word - no. The top roller and shaft is one piece. Cast and then machined. This is a 100 year old or more piece and finding anything modern that will match up and mesh with the bottom roll and match diameters - unlikely. I hear you on the day job. Down to about 7 months to go and my tool gig will be full time.

Tonight I have added 8 Don King stamps for sale on my website. These stamps are duplicates for us and friends I trade with. It is pretty rare that his stamps come up for open sale. Background - Don King is generally credited with refining the Sheridan Style of leather craving and influenced many carvers who further progressed with it. He was also a great stamp maker. If you have been to Sheridan and visited the Don King Museum, then you know. I have a large collection of them that I have used and now Ms Rundi uses. Pretty much everything she makes seems to have a Don King stamp on it. These stamps are meant to be used, not stuck in a drawer. For more details please check them out at - https://brucejohnsonleather.com/recently-added Thank you! - Bruce

That was my guess too but then when I read about taking it apart, that made me wonder. I’ve had people ask me about swapping out the full rollers at times too. Some think that the top and bottom rollers are just slid on a separate shaft.

Do you mean putting a single wheel on the end or swapping out the rollers?

Numbers don’t mean much between makers and some makers have a different numbering system for different types of edgers they make. I’ve got round profile edgers that go to 3/16” inch of cut. I have new edgers from Ron’s Tools and refurbished from a few makers. Here is a link - https://brucejohnsonleather.com/products/hand-tools/edgers

I was in a shop a few years ago that he had a good setup. Cut about a two inch square in the top over the utility drawer and used that for thread ends. He had a few machines and kept small stuff and needles in a parts drawer organizer and screwdrivers in a tool rack.

Sold one a short while ago for $300 but I don’t seek them out. Going to say, the Weavers are OK but bulky for what they do. If you are set on a Weaver I understand. I’ve had a couple Cobra’s through here and my wife and nephew both have them too. The Cobras do the same thing with the advantage of variable speed. They also can go on a stand and not take up a bunch of table of bench space. Also the Cobra is half the cost.

At the Pendleton Leather Show Toby Yoder and I discussed me carrying his tools for sale on my website. It works for me because some of the older tools are getting less common to find in the sizes that makers need. The discussion came together, the latest shipment arrived yesterday, and I have added them all to the website today. I have a dedicated page of the Ron's Tools now and they are also listed throughout the website in the appropriate pages by tool type. Ron's Tools has a long history of quality tools. I bought my first good edger from Ron Edmonds almost 30 years ago, and I have been a user ever since. When Ron retired and sold the business to Toby he has carried on the same quality and craftsmanship. These are just plain good ones. We are starting with Montana edgers, round edgers, French edgers, cantle binding trimmers, free hand groovers, and gouges. We will be adding more sizes to the lineup as well. You can check them out at https://brucejohnsonleather.com/new-tools/rons-tools Thank you for your consideration, - Bruce

Yesterday I added a page to my website of leather related instructional books and pattern packs. I had a bit of a feeding frenzy after my email and social media posts and a lot of the initial postings sold but we still have some good stuff left. This will be an ongoing page with regular additions of more materials - some vintage and some relatively new. Please check it out at https://brucejohnsonleather.com/products/books-and-patterns-1 For more updates please consider signing up for the email notification list on my website or follow on Facebook or Instagram. Thank you, Bruce

It is hard to make a generalization about the two styles of skivers you have. These designs have been around for a long time. I could get both styles of the originals to work. I modified several. On the silver skiver I bent the handle up on one to reach some areas I couldn't otherwise. On the black skivers I bent the ends to different arcs. There are some great tools coming from the Asian countries, and on the other hand - some cheap knockoffs that aren't made to function correctly. I haven't had any of the Amazon skiver versions through here that I've used but here is my thoughts. If these are made so the blade angle is too steep, they will dive down and dig too much. If the blade edge is tipped up then the leather rides under the cutting edge. There is a sweet spot for angle and you may need to tip the handle one way or the other to find it. The other thing is to make sure there isn't something on the frame on the bottom in front of the blade edge that prevents the blade from contacting the leather. Too thick and the blade can't meet the leather. The other issue is blades. I get some Import tools with supplied blades that are "universal blades", the cutting edge is about as sharp as the back edge (dull, dull, dull). Gripping them with a visegrips and buffing makes a big difference. Option B - order some good blades. Good quality blades make a difference.

Have you tried Campbell-Randall? It has been too long since I talked to Dan (and should do that) but they used to sell a machine to sharpen those blades too. Also as a D-I-Y I visited a shop a few years ago. Every so often he would remove the guard and touch a cylindrical stone to the edge of the blades as it ran. One of the stones like you use on the inside of a bell knife.

The tip of the awl blade doesn't have to go through the collar. The butt of the blade just needs to fit down through it. That said, the #58 saddler awl blade is a honking big blade. I stock up to the #57 in saddler awl blades for cantles and horns. The bigger blades I special order and the people using them are mostly using them for lace work, not thread.

Quick deal here. The Palm awl hafts with a wrench work well for medium and larger awl blades but can slip on the small blades. The Osborne #988 haft is better for small blades. The palm hafts use the wrench, the #899 hand tightens with the collar. On some of the larger blades you may need to take the collar off and spread the tip inside a bit to seat the blade better. Sharpening styles on the blades depends on your needs. Thin soft leather, then a 1/4 inch or so may be plenty. Saddle cantle of 5 layers and you may want them sharpened most of the length. I sharpen a dozen or two blades about every week. I sharpen my harness blades most of the length and my saddler blades at least as far back as full width. I go through at least 1500 grit and then strop the edge bur with purple compound. I want a high polish for less drag. If someone wants the edge dulled up further back then they can do a few strokes of the edge on crocus paper to do that.

LOL, within a few minutes of posting I have had two phone calls. Yes the kind that ring...at 9:30 at night.... I got past the round needles pretty fast. I used LR needles and that gives the mild slanted appearance and cleaner look to the stitching. That is all I used in the Ferdco 2000 and 1245 too. As soon as my wife runs out of needles for the 26, she will have her straight needles quietly replaced with LRs as well.

Mine was cast too. I bought it at the time that ANY powered machine was $5000 or more. (yes, powered machines have gotten more affordable since the year 2000) I paid $1600 for the Boss. That was the price with the basic package - maybe two or three feet, tools, small spool of thread, and 3 bobbins. Mine sewed better with poly thread than nylon. I started sewing with coarser thread (346/277) thinking it looked "sturdy and cool" like my previously handsewns. As I got more production orders they wanted smaller thread and shorter stitch lengths for a cleaner look. The tighter ones are probably 207/138 and eventually 138/138). I did a couple hundred of the hide inlay, edge spotted belts for production orders. They put conchos on them to customize them for the customer. One of them ended up in Wrangler jeans ad that run for about 5 years. The edge spotted belts were spotted first, then lined so no prongs showed on the back. They were sewn with an outside toe foot. The Boss let me sew really close to the spot without running off the edge or leaving much if any wave around the spots.

You guys are my tribe! I've got a benchtop lathe and mill also. I can make small replacement parts for my leather machines and true up parts. (That was the original intent). A couple months ago I had someone over in the leathershop. They loved my stylus, nice heft and feels comfortable. It is just a piece of hex stock a friend turned a pencil point on and gave me. I told this guy I could duplicate it and he requested an inch shorter. Loves it, my wife likes hers, and so it goes. Fast forwarding - sometimes I need a break on a "shop day" or just don't have enough time after work to jump headlong into some refurbishing. I have stock cut to length already and I turn some styluses. "Mentally soothing and satisfying", "very therapeutic", and gives me sense of accomplishing something in what would probably be non-productive time.

I sewed several hundred belts and at least the first 20 saddles on one, plus a ton of smaller projects and was great for repair work. Buy it at that price for sure! I sewed up to 415 thread in mine but realistically over 345 is overkill for most stuff. "Leather does the work, thread just holds the leather together".

My thoughts are that it depends on the compound and maker. I have found that within the green, black, and white colors there are variations between makers. One suppliers green can be greasy and spread and stick well to anything. Another maker’s version can be chalky and dry. Those do better with oiled leather. I found a maker that I like for wheels and strops and stay with them.

Yes they are originals - rosewood handles and original Gomph name and size markings. The versions Gene made for Ellis had hardwood handles and a bit different shape.

It is not original. Original would be marked differently and different handle. Gomph maxed out at a size #8 and 1/2 inch width. This is one that Gene Pepples made for Ellis.

We are starting to pack tools for our booth at the Pendleton Leather Show coming up at the end of next week. I have missed the last 2 shows because of work schedules but ready to be back this year! If you are in the northwest please check it out. I can make it worth the trip with just free rulers, stickers, and candy. Seeing tools, machines, leathers, and hardware is a bonus. Here is a link with more information - https://www.pendletonleathershow.com/ We hope to see some of you there!