bruce johnson

The English made edgers and some old Osbornes can get pretty small. I'll see what I have when I get into the tool shop later on.

Here's how I do it. You either fold the leather back onto itself ot around a filler piece of leather and sew it to hold it "closed". It is best to sew into a channel and glue the channel closed once you done stitching. Then I knock off the square edges with a pretty heavy round bottom edge beveler. I dampen my leather pretty well - about like a good casing would be - back to color and cool to the touch. I apply a light swab of saddle soap (I use white). Then I start with whatever hole the piece will easily slide through and draw it through a few times. The I step down the next size and so on until the round profile is there. The trick is to get the thickness right before you start for the diameter you want to end up with. I usually split my leather and filler to make a combined thickness of about 1-2 oz over the diameter I want to end up, There will be some compression of the leather as you work it in the rounder.

Start in the middle, pull it through, turn it around and pull the other way.

Billy is right. I got one of these in a trade and they are really nice for lap skives. It is a keeper for just the laps. Match one of these up with a precision fixed thickness splitter like a Krebs or Chase pattern pull through splitter or a crank splitter and you can pretty well do anything you'd need to. The cam action is smooth and they just want to roll over without a stick or bind.. They have a set screw to limit the depth for tapering out to a fixed depth. The down side is using them as a splitter, There is not a way to hold the fixed depth for level splitting without holding the handle forward against the stop with one hand while you pull the strap with the other. If you are doing narrow straps without a lot of drag, that isn't a huge deal. Wider straps and it sure can be a little tough to one-hand them through.

I will have a couple in a week or so.

Yep, you need a tire. It goes on the grooved pulley looking thing there.

Tor, I use those brushes in a larger size for my drill press. They do a nice job for sure. They come in a couple grits. I haven't looked for them in Dremels, but will check for you. There are some hobby stores with a big Dremel accessory display and Home Depot here shows them on their website as an on-line order irem. I'll see what I can find. Art's right with his post above, but this half took about 3 weeks so far. I called home for details. The Aquavit I am working on here is Lysholm linie. It shipped out on 8/5/2010 and came back on 14/8/2010. For those not of Norwegian heritage, it is a Norwegian liquor I only had before at the local Sons Of Norway lutefisk feed. I did a little scouting around and found that our local Bevmo carries it.

very fine steel wool would be my choice for the steel. I'd use somethng like Brasso or the equivalent polishing compound you might find there for the roller.

Winterbear, Thanks for the link. Spooky, that looks fine to me. You can take it all apart and polish it all up. The old Dixon plough knives have been good for me. You can sharpen that blade up to better than shaving sharp and it ought fly right through whatever you throw it into. I haven't seen that handled screw on the back edge to bind the fence before. Most of my Dixons have had either a handled screw on top that binds down or a thumbscrew on the back. They always keep you guessing. Tor, Thanks for the Aquavit lesson. I heard from a Finn who likes one makers that has a lot of cinnamon flavor to it. I will have to inspect my bottle a little closer and see if it is Loiten. I know it has a picture of a ship on the label. On the backside of the label you can read through the bottle the sailing and return dates from the aging trip to Australia. It is a little under half empty now, so I can nread the dates clearly.

Spooky, Can you post a picture? I can't get the link to work.

I visited a shop that has one. He does mostly plain or creased straps and does like Billy said. He allows some extra and cuts it off.

Tor, At that price, you stole it. The blade is worth three times that by itself. From the looks I sure agree with everything you wrote. That wedge looks like it would do nothing positive. I want my leather to ride down and flat to the right of the blade. That wedge can't do anything but make it drag and want to drive you off line it looks like to me. The maker adding about $3 more for prettier and more substantial screws would dress this up a lot too. In your honor I just had a snort of Linie Aquavit and time to call it a night!

Here's a link to a website that will answer all these questions, plus the ones a lot of people haven't thought of yet - http://www.rodnikkel...ntent/index.php .

It is going to come from a custom handmaker with those specs. My first call would be to Terry Knipschield. He makes one that is 3-1/4 with the directional handle. www.knipknives.com

Probably way too stretchy for shoes, but deer makes a nice lining for some things. I made some gloves based on the patterns from TLF several years ago. I made the Buffalo Bill type gauntlet gloves with 6" fringe for myself from deer and elk. I sewed them by hand. They came out well, fit good, and were kind of fun to wear. I was kind of limited where I could wear them. Apparently some people (both wives) thought they were not as fashionably appropriate as I did.

Clay Miller makes one

PrettyPrettyPretty

To just address the wooden handled tools, those tools have been available. McMillen made nice handled tools with pretty good steel and plain sort of handles. They had a pretty good finish to the steel and most were and still are pretty good workhorses. The original McMillen was in Kansas City and then was bought and moved into Missouri. It has been a family run busines. They sold through a few distributers, but never have the upfront marketing of other makers that are now somewhat riding a reputation. The guys making the higher end tools today have a lot invested in equipment and more importantly - experience. The machinery to make them isn't cheap, they don't have a shop full of employees cranking them out, and to compete they have to put out a better product and make it look nicer than the off-the-rack tools. Good steel properly shaped does that on the working end and a pretty handle does it at the other end. The older tools from most makers generally had rosewood handles, brass ferrules, and were pretty. There was competition and pride between the makers. The harness and saddlery trade was big and these tools were made for professionals. They had to work and pretty was just a plus. Pretty much by WW1 most of these makers were out of business - 3 generations of wealth rule and lesser demand. One company carried through and still made working tools until the craft business came on. After that, tools tended more towards a price point and plain handles with dipped finishes and nickle ferrules got more common. Eventually some of the old designs got dropped or changed in favor of less hand work and finish that still will sell. Some of the end users took a lot of pride in their tools too. I am attaching a picture of an old Dixon round knife I just got. Here's some pride! My wife claimed it right off and it is in the glass display case for now.

Are you using a rivet setter to set spots? They aren't domed up as much as spot setters and will deform them. I start my spots with a hand setter, then finish them off in a press to set the prongs and clinch them. Yes, there are Chicago screw backed conchos as small as 3/8". I use a lot of them. They are 3/8 Hi-Dome conchos from Hansens - www.hansensilver.com

If you are looking for smaller than 3/4", you might try Hansen Silver - www.hansensilver.com

The marks you see are mostly burnishing marks from friction. That is just a fact of using a saddle and it shows a little more on smooth leather. If the saddle is a user and the fender cuts allow a great range of motion, to some guys the cosmetics of the cuts wouldn't bother them at all. If you want them replaced the costs kind of depend on where you are and who does it. The beadline isn't hard to duplicate. Replacement fenders start from $150 up to $350 depending on the shop.

I have a pair of Bret's reins that are that color and they get a lot of comments. The color has stayed good on them. Looking forward to a two rein hackamore to complement them.

Best Investments I. A range of maul sizes - makes the maul do the work. I am not muffling one too heavy or whacking away with one too light. 2. SOLID stamping surface. - I only thought I had this before. I looked at a lot of stamping benches and talked to a lot of people about likes and dislikes. I like the one Wayne Jueschke takes to shows and Ken Tipton has a nice one too. I based mine on theirs along with size and height advice from Ben Cox. 3. Best quality tools I can find with cutting edges - edge bevelers, knives, swivel knives, plough gauges, etc, . You can get anything sharp, something that stays sharp or maintains easily is a pleasure. 4. A good organization system for tools and supplies. Stamp storage is always evolving and I am sure happy with what I have now. My thanks to everyone who has invited me into their shop. Ken Nelson had one of the real jewels - blueprint/map drawers for storing patterns. I found a couple scratch and dents at the office furniture outlet warehouse. I think it was Greg Gomersall who told me about the concrete form tubes for storing leather. The fact that they exactly fit a 24x48x72 Gorilla rack was just my dumb luck. 5. Rubber stall mats on the floor all the way around. Easy on the feet, warmer than concrete, and I can't remember the last time I dropped a knife and said bad words about having to resharpen one. Murphy's Law says a dropped round knife lands edge first on a concrete flor and then bounces three more times in different places on the edge before it falls over.

Everybody has different needs and preferences for leather. Some need price first, others need smaller pieces, and then there is preference for tannage. As is evident from this and other posts, some tanneries have issues with consistancy. Some sellers seem to get the better leather than others too, or at least sort it and represent it better. If the policies and shipping costs work for you, my thoughts are to stick with who works for you the best. They will know your preferences and that is a big plus. Personally I like Thoroughbred in weights, Horween or TB latigo, and Sadesa for skirting. I am using a lot more leather in weights and latigo now, just the way orders have trended and my business plan has evolved. I can order from Maverick Leather and have it next day. Matt knows what I want in weights, will call if there are any blemishes and make sure they'll work. I need my latigo long and he'll go stick a tape on the choices while I am on the phone or call back. Nothing against other suppliers, Maverick just works right for me. Close for shipping, less inventorying cost for me, and leather I like.

I transfer patterns with a stylus for the most part. I don't like the bent tip ones. Barry's are more like a pen and pretty comfortable. I also have one a buddy made from some hex rod that's a dandy. For really detailed or tight work I use a mechanical pencil without the lead.