bruce johnson

LOL, only 63 years young. These catalogs mostly came with old sets or bought on EBay

My Mast press takes 3/8 dies. The Weaver Little Wonder hand presses I have sitting here take 3/8 dies also they should be pretty available. It looks like Weaver is only selling their Master Tools foot press now. Another source for dies is Beilers in Ronks, PA. They still sell foot presses similar to yours, Amish business with no website but they send out catalogs.

Exactly right! When they grab and throw a tool it is exciting. I reverse the buffers on the cradles so they rotate away from me on the top. I work off the top of the wheel where I have better visibility of the edge and maintain a more consistent angle. I have arrow stickers on the top of every buffer showing the direction of rotation to keep it in mind. When I had a helper the arrows reminded him these are opposite of most shops. I don't throw tools like I used to for sure. when I do it is thrown away from me and not into my lower body like it was before I reversed them all. The wheels I had the most problems with grabbing a tool are the airway pleated wheels. The chrome detailers, refurbishers, abrasive dealers all told me how great they are - longer life, hold compound better, run cooler, etc. Buy them, guarantee you will like them they said. I bought a decent assortment of airways and I was throwing tools like a monkey throws poop. Those pleats were like hands grabbing the back edge of a knife or even a shank on a handled tool like a creaser. My shop helper found jobs in the other shop areas. I figured I was in the learning curve and mucked ahead. After a week I was not much better - gave up and took them all off.

I've done a bunch with hair-on. I have used them for bags and pillows some. You just have to know you can walk on these for years and no hair slips. Put it on the back of a bag and a ladies purse will be bare in the 3-4 months from rubbing against them. I don't know why that difference!. I mostly used them for inlays on rope cans and bags, notebooks, restaurant menus and wine lists, and bigger things. I did a few hundred contract belts with hide inlays too. I like working with hair-on a lot but It can be messy. Pattern cut from the flesh side. Pay attention to the lay of the hair and how it will be oriented on your work.

Seems like a good time to bring out the OSHA-like safety poster I made up several years ago for the door to my tool working shop. It is laminated and still there for a daily reminder.

The Rocky Mountain Leather Trade Show is coming right up on May 17-19. Classes start earlier in the week and continue through the show. This is the biggest leather trade show and continues to grow. Last year there was a last minute change of venue and some learning curve there but the Leather Crafters Journal has smoothed out the bumps and this year's class selection and vender layout looks to be great! Classes, informal BSing and socializing with a world wide attendance, the Leather Debut Show of judged entries will knock your socks off, and lots of venders. I am starting to pack tools today and we have the same location as last year - first hallway near the entrance. Lots of people in this group use a screen name but if you are there, please stop by and introduce yourself! Free stickers and the famous 6 inch Bruce Johnson Leather Tools rulers are free as well, plus a regionally famous candy dish. Oh yeah, we will also have a good selection of refurbished and new leather tools. Here is a link to the exhibitor list and map - https://leathercraftersjournal.com/rocky-mountain-leather-trade-show/exhibitors/ Hope to see you there! - Bruce and Rundi

I guess for the few minutes it takes, I usually just sit there and watch it simmer. Never let it boil away before. Evaporust is safe for wood and rubber so cold soaks are fine.

Just a tip with the Evaporust. If you want to save time you can heat it a bit and and reduce a 24 hour soak into about 10 minutes. It is a temperature dependent process. I got this tip from a phone call to the shop of one of their endorsers several years ago. The temperature is "cool enough you can stick your finger in but too hot to leave it there". Kind of a wisp of steam coming off but no bubbles. I put the parts in an aluminum pan with enough Evaporust to cover and turn the burner on. After the parts are clean, filter the Evaporust back into the jug and rinse the parts with water. Then I use a brass wheel for stamps or steel wheel for other parts to knock off the carbon and residue left behind and start the polishing process.

It depends on what the tools are. Realistically unless they are museum or display pieces that need to look the part, removing the old paint and repainting has little to do with lessening value of leather tools. Other tools yes, but most leather tools are going back to work, not be on display or to traded between collectors. It blows away some of my general tool collectors friends what I do that they could never think about with refurbishing. They would kill the value and I don't. I've pretty well tried it most processes and it's evolved - scotch brite, strippers of all varieties, abrasive wheels and papers, etc. Some of these old paints are hard a rock and just laugh at strippers and solvents while others dissolve like KoolAid. I never knew what was going to happen from piece to piece. Here is my process now. I have blast cabinet and blast them down to bare metal. That has been the great equalizer. Faster, gets into the pits, takes off rust as well as paint, and leaves a clean surface with minimal residue I can blow off and go straight to paint. No rinsing off a stripper or residue that resists paint. In the old days a local powder coating outfit blasted for me at an hourly rate. Once I set enough money away I bought a big compressor and blast cabinet. After blasting I smooth and polish every place that needs polished with several abrasives and compounds to the desired finish and then tape off the areas that don't need paint. A coat of primer and let it dry a day. Light coats of rattle can paint for color. I use ACE brand matte or gloss and Rustoleum hammer finishes mostly. I use light coats from a distance every 10-20 minutes until I get the coverage I want. Usually 2-3/maybe 4 coats. In the winter I've got a heated drying cabinet I hang them in. I let the paint cure for at 24 hours or more before handling. Punches and things like that - I blast, polish, and sharpen. I stopped repainting punches a few years ago. I was offering it for $5 more and essentially nobody wanted it. I like powder coated finishes but that's an involved process with more equipment and time that just doesn't pencil out for me right now.

Another vote for the Cobra if you can swing it. I used a drill press and wooden burnishers for years. Burned up two drill presses and went through several burnishers. I got my money's worth out of them for sure with the amount of production pushed through them. Last year my wife bought a Cobra burnisher at Prescott. My nephew used to come down when he had enough work stacked up and use the Ferdco to sew on and then burnish on her Cobra. This year he had us haul home a Class 4 Cobra machine and burnisher from Prescott for him. My wife and nephew don't seem to be violent people but I expect somebody would be bleeding if they tried to take away those burnishers from either one. I had a Weaver through here a few years ago. As much as I like those folks from Mt Hope, that burnisher was not my favorite. It takes up bench space and not the handiest to get around. Fixed speed of 1725 RPM The Cobra is on a pedestal stand and variable speed (2000-3450 RPM). Smaller footprint and about $400 less expensive.

I've been using tubes for about 20 years and know of people doing it longer. The tubes fit well into a Gorilla Rack system. When we were renting the place this wasn't insulated and during the winter it might be 40 degrees and 90% humidity in there and summers might be 100 degrees and 15% humidity. Not problem number one with the leather ever. Excuse the background of the pictures. These are from about 16 years ago right after we bought the place and were converting the garage to the leather shop. At one time I had three of these racks of leather mostly all in tubes. The skirting wasn't in tubes because I was going through 2-3 sides every week or two. Other vegtan was sorted by thickness. The chrome tans were sorted by color to prevent any contact color bleeding.

Seeing that brings back memory. I drilled the head off and slid the tip off. It was a soft nail that peened the tip on the inside of the top. Years ago .... I vaguely remember saying a lot of bad words and spending way too much time for what I quoted.

I used to get some three piece sets with a slotted headless screw to secure the tip. Jewelers screwdriver if that that is the case. If there’s no slot then drill it as dikman said. They usually are too small for an easy out.

The only commercial shop I would trust for a splitter blade is ....none of them unless you really know their work. They mostly all say they can, but I get the results to fix. Coarse grit patterns, irregular bevels, or wavy edges. I would only trust a shop that does planer blades and can go out to some ridiculously fine grits. I cant speak to Weaver or my pals at Cobra. By hand take your pick - wet-dry or stone, then strop. The mechanics aren't hard, maintaining a consistent angle the entire blade width by hand is. I have been sharpening splitter blades at least 25 years/selling tools as a business for 14 years and I'd like to have every edge tool I did in the first 23 years back. What has changed is that I have evolved with machines, abrasives, jigs, fixtures, and a sharpness testing system that have helped me improve significantly. Currently I say don't do outside sharpening but always resharpen anything bought from me (new or used) for no cost - just the cost of return shipping. That said, I have weak moments and do some outside work. If you get in a jam, call me. I am seriously busy with prepping for the Sheridan show right now and once I'm past that - I'm a lot more open.

Randy, David Mabe has been working on some old vintage stamp replicas and he has the Prairie Rose dialed in. I have seen his progression and the ones he had for sale at Prescott are a dead- on match to the original Hamley prairie rose stamp that McMillen made. I bought one from him just so my saddle size McMillen can stay here and not continue to get frequent flier miles out on loan for folks rebuilding or recreating the Hamley saddles. David should have a good stock of them at Sheridan, as well as some old FK Russell and other McMillen stamp designs he'd been working on.

Oils start a good healthy discussion whenever they pop up. At one time neatsfoot was only from lower legs of cattle. Due war-time shortages the specs were relaxed and animal fats were allowed. Cold pressed hog lard oil seems To be the common lore. So this pure NF oil may not be what is is 100 years ago. Compound is a blend - might be vegetable or mineral oil blended with some level of animal origin oil. The major players have a fixed formula and should be more reliable batch to batch than grabbing a generic compound from a seller one time and another seller next time. Several makers use compound, pure only, olive oil, generic vegetable oils, etc. you seem to find the combination of whatever oil with whatever tannage you are using and stick with it.

It’s a gray zone. Burnishing implies some level of heat and bonding of the leather fibers to make it slick. Heat can be from friction or an outside source like an edge iron. Slicking is smoothing. You can literally do that with anything - water, saddle soap, etc and smooth the edge. It likely won’t stay as smooth as a burnished edge over time. Different types of leather behave differently with edge treating.

I will second the Grant Book and there are a few others out there. There are some videos - Bryan Neubert and some others along with on-line instruction. Yes these old timers used relatively crude tools and mostly got excellent results but that was then, this is now. Braiding was a hands-on taught by someone on the ranch usually - a true bunkhouse craft. There are a lot of pieces of that puzzle. Rawhide braiding to my mind is the lowest paid and most labor and time intensive of about any handwork I can think of. That said, I love good rawhide work, appreciate what all has gone into it, and don't mind paying what they are asking. You skin the cow, flesh the hide, dehair the hide by whatever method you like, stretch the hide, cut sections, cut big strings, cut little precise strings from the big ones, bevel the strings, temper the strings so they are just right, keep them at just the temper right while you braid. Then you hope it dries evenly, pulls down good, and doesn't twist or gap. My hat is off to them all. I have been really intrigued by braiding for 45 years but as one guy told me - you have too many irons in the fire to commit to it - fair assessment and true enough. That said, if you are just getting into it then the braiding groups are most likely going to tell you to start with buy some good string, already cut and beveled and use that first. Randy Roberts seems to be the go-to guy for that right now, Bret Haskett has string sometimes, no doubt others. They are going to to tell you to get with somebody to learn the tactile stuff that a book or video can't - tempering correctly and even tension. Once you feel like you have the braiding skills , then go back and make your own when you know what good string looks and feels like and why certain hide parts are better for foundation and other parts better for buttons. Don't know where you are located but the rawhiders are a really open group. There are get-togethers in Texas, Utah, Idaho, and more probably - Pendleton, Oregon gathering is coming up in a few weeks. These are informal gatherings with masters and rank beginners - openly sharing tips and tricks and "let me show you this" deals over a few days. These folks have had someone teach them and most will line up three deep to help a beginner. They can demonstrate everything from a notched wood stick and pocket knife to make string to some pretty sophisticated cutters, bevelers, and splitters. I don't think I have ever met a braider that didn't talk pretty reverently and appreciatively of whoever taught them to start with. Then they say so-and-so taught me this button, that guy taught me to flesh better, Joe taught me to scald instead of scrape to dehair, etc. Used to be they had to quit a ranch job and went to another one to learn different things from the crew there, now they go to another gathering and mostly keep the same job.

Great jaw shape! Much better than most made today. If you do line with leather as dikman suggested then flesh side o r a neutral color chrome tan is better. Has more grip with less pressure than grain side vegtan.

Wax pots can sure have a heater. Some electric but I’ve seen gas jet and wick flame heaters too. Waxes varied by season and preference of the user. Some were commercial, some shop mixes of wax, oils, and spirits. Solvent and some mild heat should clean that up. I’ve seen a lot of thread spools in coffee cans too. One shop I visited squirted several shots of oil on the spool before lunch so it would work into the thread to lube it before they stitched that afternoon. He said he did it at coffee making time first thing, before lunch, and before happy hour at the end of the day.

I have done that with several machines - lathes, mills, etc and it save bucks and time. Lift gate added another $100-150. they did lift gate deliveries by areas and waited until they had enough to make a run worthwhile. It could have sat for 7-10 days at the terminal. I’ve got a Harbor Freight scissor lift cart and that makes unloading even heavy stuff a one man job.

You are sure welcome - These setters are sized to the rivet sizes. The most common rivet sizes are #9 rivets for saddles, harness, and heavy stress projects - #12 for straps and bag reinforcements - #14 rivets for small projects. Here is a link to my website for examples done by both makers and information. https://brucejohnsonleather.com/leather-tools-sale/rivet-setters/

No finish will make it so rivets wont scratch. Setting them will minimize but not eliminate. Some people like the handmade look, some prefer the smooth finish. First off, full disclosure - I sell rivet domers and three piece rivet sets. Some people are going to say vested interest. My personal experience from long before Bruce Johnson Leather Tools was even a thought. I was hand peening rivets or using the Osborne setter dished out part. A good 15 years or more ago I took "Saddle Week" at the Sheridan Leather Show. The second morning I watched Don Butler set rivets with the Bob Douglas 3 piece set. Smooth, easy, fast, nearly or exactly perfect setting, smooth peen, and a domed head that didn't catch. Thirty people stood there like we'd seen the second coming. At the lunch break I was at Sheridan Leather Outfitters buying the Bob Douglas sets along with nearly everyone in the class. Never looked back and my wife is still using them. Herb French may still be making some of the original Bob Douglas ones. Wayne Jueschke makes a nice set and the domer makes a little design in the head. I've got Jueschke sets and what will be the last sets made by Richard Brooks in stock. Buckle Guy has sets. Likely some import versions are on Etsy or Amazon. Point is, they will do a cleaner faster job than most hand peening and the domed heads will not only dress it up, but make it slide over other part with less marking.

Depends on How much you need to move around but Here's some thoughts. I built all kinds of stuff and several saddles in an 8X14 space with two sewing machines, a cutting table, and stamping bench. It was so damn tight I wonder now I got anything done. I like a big table like Tom but I think for the sake of being able to move around, you are going to need to size down to 3x8. Likely it will need to go against a wall. You've got a bunch of bench top machines that take up real estate. Decide if they all need to be mounted in a dedicated spot or can be bolted to a modular base and stored away when not in use. A bunch of old time shops mounted splitters and bench top machines to a board that slid into a slot in the bench, then pulled out and stored underneath. Think about storage of leather, glue, hardware too. A few considerations about shed-shops from being in a bunch. Insulate, insulate, insulate. Have a heating and air conditioning system. Put in twice as many outlets as you think you will need. Put in three times as much lighting as you think you will need, and LED is your friend. Be able to ventilate if you use glues or finishes.

Contact Tim Purdy at Steel Stamps Inc - Boise ID. Best steel stamps in the business and good to deal with.