bruce johnson

At least one stamp maker is using CNC already, and there are still some grerat stamps being turned out one at time on a mill by others.

It looks like one that Tandy sold several years ago - I have had a couple and they are nice knives with a good heavy feel and comfortable yoke.

I use a few knives. I do use a roller knife to straighten an edge next to a 6" measuring stick. I use a point knife a friend made for some inside corner cuts or tight trimming. The other 98% cuts are done with a round knife or head knife.

Good sharp blade and leather with some body I can usually get about 1-2" less than the blade width without a lot of trouble. On some I am doing the one side and then the other to get through. Depeneds on my leather some and what flavor of splitter I am using too.

Edge of the valley here in Oakdale.

Thanks Frank, very well done and clear!

Both were well worth viewing for me.

I buy a regular 3 ring binder and take the covers off. I drill out the rivets holding the clip on. I use the cover stiffeners for a pattern and groove the cover piece for the folds. I line all of them and basically sandwich the stiffeners and edge sew. I reattach the clip with Chicago screws or post back conchos that go all the through.

Everything comes back around I guess. I didn't know they were making them again. Maybe 15 years ago before the meltdown, Tandy had a program called the "College of Leather Arts". I had a broken pelvis at the time and it was a good way to pass the winter. You did modules in a particular area - braiding, case making, figure carving, etc. and climbed the ladder as you completed each one. The more modules you did the better the perks. - token discounts at the first level up to Wholesale-For-Life once you reached the top. It was a pretty good program becuase you had the incentive to do things you might not otherwise. There were levels like journeyman, master, etc. with the traditional certificates suitable for framing. Our local manager added a perk of a Tandy maker's stamp made once you reached a certain level as well. It goes on a Hefty handle. I got one and have to say it was pretty good then and damn if I'm not still using it. There are a bunch more options now for sure, and I wouldn't give up my smaller delrins for the little projects.

Ray, The best overall is the Don King Museum in Sheridan, WY. Don was a saddle maker, tool maker, and tool seller. He has a lot of saddles in there from about every maker of note historically, plus tools he had collected over the years. Upstairs is the Al and Ann Stohlmann display and the whole thing is very worthwhile. A couple other museums have more or less permanent displays of a recreation of a saddle shop. The Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, WY has a good one. There is also a display at the High Plains museum in Spearfish, SD. There's one in the panhandle or west TX and somebody will have to help me out there with which one. We have a saddlemaking and carving tool display at our local cowboy museum I helped put together. It was a set to be a 5 month temporary display, and was extended another 5 months bedcause of the reviews. We are taking it down this next weekend to make way for another display coming in. I don't know what kind of feedback is at other museums, but this one has received good comments from the unititiated and professional saddlemakers alike.

I like the steel ones better also. If you can get one bought right, it has all the shims, a blade, and the screrws turn, good enough. Pretty much whether they are cast steel, brass frame with rosewood inlay, applied wood scale handles, or other variations they all work the same. There are some differences in handle size and shape but that's about it. The early ones didn't have a trigger too. Here's another factor and I have to share this. I sold some tools to a guy about a year ago. Every couple months he'd email and order a few more by number. He finally called a couple weeks back and we talked. He asked me to pick this time, he said he wanted me to pick the prettiest. His wife took down his pinups because of the grandkids, and he figured he might as well have pretty tools to look at now.

And a little more. HF and CS were brothers. HF Osborne was with CS for some period of time, maybe from the time or soon after CS bought the business from Wm Dodd. He left and started his own when some of the sons of CS Osborne were taken into the business in the 1870s. HF was sold out to the CS Osborne company in 1905 or so. Many of their tool patterns were the same throughout the run, but HF had some before CS did. As far as the tools themselves, there is probably not a lot of differences between many of them. Some HF tools are maybe finished a little better. The knife handles on the HFs are generally a little fuller than the CS knives. Some think the wood handles on the HF tools are prettier than the CS, but I have had pretty and "average" in both. There's just fewer of the HF tools around and that makes them a little more collectible. Back in that era though all the makers were competing against each other selling good tools to the men making a living with them. There were a few tools that had some choices on quality level, but by and large it was just one choice.

I will be at Sheridan as an interested spectator.

I got this a couple days ago and have never seen one like it before. Blanchard marked. It works like a plough gauge, but the blade comes down from the top and it runs over the leather. It looks like you could adjust the blade depth for a partial cut or drop further for a full thickness cut. Tor, Knut, and others - please help me out here! LOL. Thanks, Bruce

Another tool I get in some shoe and boot tool sets, some sort of creasing iron I am guessing.

Hard to say without another view of the head, but looks like it could be an edge iron for boot and shoe work.

Lip knife used in shoemaking mainly, but controlled cuts in other leather work too.

If it is vegtan leather then a crank skiver will do that with a smile. A pull through splitter/skiver does laps on straps but not a long edge. Every shoe repair shop should have a crank skiver, a 3-in-1, or 5-in-1 machine that will do it. If this is a one time project then I'd take it and have them do it. If it is a lot of pieces you'll be doing then investing in a crank skiver will pay off in consistant skives and no worries about cutting yourself with a knife.

It looks like the right tool, just the wrong size if the jaws won't open enough the get the shank of the rivet between them.

One thing that comes to mind for me is the blade position. . If the distance from the rollers to the blade is too far, then the leather wads up against the blade and will split unevenly. That will be compounded by a wider strap naturally having more drag and/or a blade that is a bit dull. This can result in thin areas. I am not familiar with the Weaver, but have had Champions, Americans, and Landis 6" crank splitters. Most of these have stops that you push the blade up against to set the leading edge and then tighten it down. First thing I'd do is take the blade out, sharpen it and put it back in. If there aren't stops for the blade, then you want to the get the leading edge of the blade as close to the rollers as you can without the blade getting into them. The second factor may be the position of the bottom roller vs. the blade. If the bottom roller is set a little too far below the blade edge that could make it do what you are describing also. Firm leather will feed straight but softer leather might drape down in to the gap more. The top roller will compress the softer leather more and push it that way. You might try raising the position of the bottom roller up a bit more and see if that helps. If the splitter was originally set up for heavier leather and taking a fair amount off, then you may need to do some fiddling with the roller position to get it work the best for your use.

Ray, I think that little Hertiage splitter is pretty dandy for lap skiving. I usually have one or two around and I like them for laps. Push forward on the handle as you pull the strap through. Smooth and as simple as doing it on an old Osborne #84.They are kind of awkward for level splitting though. There isn't any locking mechanism to hold the level so you need to hold the handle forward against the stop screw with one hand while you pull with the other. If you are doing a long strap you have to stop and reset your hands every so often. The crown splitter is OK, but I don't know how often many people use them.

Barry King and Jeremiah Watt both have some different block stamps and are going to be under your $80 limit at $50-65.

I use compound action end nippers. The ac tion makes them cut much easier. Osborne makes a decent enough smaller one but if you hunt old antigue stores look for a pair of Schollhorn-Bernard compound action end cutting nippers. I buy them for $5-10 when I see them. Rarely are they worn much.

They ought to be happy with those, I sure am with mine!

I have done a lot of orders that have used that letter set. I will give Ray's suggestion of Sharpies a hearty second. However, I find more control with the ultra fine point Sharpies in the tight spots and do the impressions of the letters themselves. In a pinch I use regular old find 'em at any office supply stores Pentel EnerGel 0.7 mm ball point pens and they stay pretty well. You can also outline the other type of stamped letters with them and fill with fine point Sharpies or dye and brush.