bruce johnson

Trox, Thanks for your insight and experiences, I appreciate it. I am still liking the Dixon style plough gauge knife that Terry Knipschield made for me. The edge has held up well and have only stropped it. As a heads up, I sent Terry a Blanchard plough gauge and he is getting the pattern for that style knife also. He is busy making knives for the Boot and Saddlemakers Show coming up and has a few other things going too. He is making a knife that is patterned after my favorite Rose. My wife said it came today, and the clock can't roll fast enough this afternoon anyway.

The same buckle is used on flank straps for bucking horses. I haven't got any for a while, but Lowy was the source I used in the US. I don't remeber the cost for sure, but think it was around $12 for both parts. OIf sopmeobdy in the US is looking here's a link to the buckle - Flank strap buckle .

Another great one!

I use a stirrup throat plate. It makes it much easier to get into and around the inside corners rolling over the smaller radius of that plate than the others I have.

The saddlemakers groover at least used to adjust wider than the other one.

Trox, Every time I think I have seen most of them, I get another. I sold a Blanchard last week that had the top thumbscrew adjustment tightener like the newer ones, but had a vertical slot for the roller and thumbscrew instead of the lever and cam. It came with a rosewood handle knife andn not the lighter color wood of late. Blanchard seemed to use rosewood or ebony/ebonized wood interchangeably in the older ones. . As far as using a Blanchard vs. Dixon I don't see a lot of differences. The blade angle is a factor and I think the Blanchards tend to run the leather down due to more of a slicing action. A good adjustment on the roller height compensates for that though. I there is some overkill in the Dixon design. They are too high and most people will never use the top half of the blade. Steel quality - I sure like the old Dixon steel. I am pleasantly surprised by the Blanchards though. Their older round knives and plough knives are good too. At least growing up here, we always heard about Sheffield steel or Solingen steel in our pocketknives and it was supposed to be a quality thing. No kid ever bragged about French steel. If it was around, we didn't hear about it. I am cutting with a Blanchard round knife right now that is just a dandy. I have had a few email discussions with long time plough gauge users and a few varied insights. It seems like most want the roller about 1 to 1-1/2 cm ahead of the blade at the bottom. They think it seems to flatten the leather into the blade and goes easier. A few want the roller as close to the knife as the can get it to feed directly into the blade. Some like to push down on the strip being cut and push, Others like to pull up slightly on the strip and a couple will pull a bit of a slight twist as they pull to tension the leather at the cut. Any thoughts on this? As far as bevels, I have heard from a few who want more bevel to one side or the other. Most seem to go with a blade beveled on both sides though. Most of the blades I get are beveled both sides. Another thing I see on Blanchard blades is a small notch on the bottom front of the blade. They seem to be on about a third of the blades. It lets the blade sit further forward in the slot and/or it lets the handle sit at a higher angle in the same slot position. They are low enough that the notch is down in the slot. and not up where the leather would contact the blade. Ever see this over there? One thing that pretty much everyone agrees on is that in use to watch the leather in contact with the fence instead of looking at the blade cutting. I found the same thing with a draw gauge. The natural tendency is the wacth the action at the blade cutting leather. If the leather is in contact with the guide, the blade will generally take care of itself. I cut a lot more consistantly after I was taught that.

Trox, They are OK for hard heavy leather, but for most leather straps a plough gauge or draw gauge is faster.

I have gotten cutters and feed wheels from Pilgrim Shoe Machine - Here's a link - Pilgrim Shoe Machine .

I would be willing to bet if you give it a week you will have a hard time finding it. Then like Dirtclod said, once you oil the saddle everything will even anyway.

I have taken down several Landis, Americans, and Champions and cleaned and got them back together. This USMC looks like it has some different mechanisms though. Luke's right, call Pilgrim. The only manual for a crank splitter I know is for the Landis 30. Some things are sort of universal, but this has a little different design for the adjustment than the others. Are there any set screws on top that might adjust the height position on the slider bar? Still if that top roller is moving, it ought to be splitting at different thicknesses. Another question, are you running it through grain side up? Had to ask. I had a customer buy a Chase and have problems with only splitting one thickness very easily. He had used a Tandy #84 knock off pull-through splitter before and was pulling the leather through the Chase grain side down too. He said it would only split about 2 oz or a little better. The light came on for me then that he was pulling his leather through like he would on the #84 style. The Chases are opposite and pulled through flesh side down. When we figured out the problem, it hit me that I set the gaps between the lower roller and the blade for about 3 oz. Kayak45, so you're the one! I have got two crank splitters that had the diesel dunk. One was pretty well packed in bubble wrap and I was the only casualty. The other appeared to have been put in the shipping box and then the box was filled with enough fuel and newspaper to burn a wet mule. It made it here from MN only held together by the power of 3M strapping tape. The post office folks were not happy. They gave it to me in an official use only plastic tray and told me to keep the tray, they didn't want it back. It had warning stickers all over it from probably everyone in the USPS that handled it. I am kind of surprised I even got it. I figured it would got diverted as a hazardous shipment somewhere along the way.

Pete's got the plan for straight lines. Easy deal like that. I used to make some cups and pockets for bottles ands needed to do rounds or half rounds too. I laid out a scribe line as a guide. It needs to be the thickness of the leather. Adjustable creasers or wing dividers work for that.

I wiould check out Bearman and see if he has one in a similar configuration. I used to get the wooden Weaver ones (yes, plural). I was doing a lot of work and they are a time saver. The problem is that each time you chuck that wooden shank into the drill press it might make a dent in the wood. Eventually they would chip out or get out of round. I used them until the stem broke off and would order another. I was going through a few a year, but for the money, they were saving me that much in time. I got a metal shank one from Norm Lynds maybe 6-7 years ago and still use that another he did. One I use for dyed edges and one for plain - they dye will come off some and trasfer to undyed edges. I don't know if Norm is still making them, but for sure Bearman and his son are.

Good tips for sure. Just to add one moreI have found with my Ferdco 2000. Whenever anything messes up and you just know that you have everything right, change the needle. It can look great, feel great, and changing it puts everything right with the world. Even taking it out and putting it back in sometimes can do the trick. The needle may have rotated slightly or dropped slightly and that changes everything. My Adler was real finicky about that.. On my 1245 I developed an annoying light click one night with every stitch in heavier stuff but still sewed without a skip. I opened everything up, cleaned it, oiled everyplace you can oil and still did it. I couldn't hear it handwheeling or on lighter stuff. I was telling a buddy about it and he listened over the phone - "Hey dumba**, turn the needle. The needle is twisted and the point is ticking the needle instead of hitting the scarf." A quick look and he was right. He'd been there, done that, wears the shirt.

:rofl: I have sewn two sets of skirts by hand. That is just snough to appreciate a machine. I bought my Boss one Monday morning after sewing up about 10 truckers wallets with zippered pockets on Sunday. It was a struggle to raise my arm to dial the phone to order it. The Boss was the coolest thing ever at that point. I do like my saddler's stitching horse even though I don't handsew much anymore either. It is in the museum display right now but normally sits in my living room in front of the book case. The background and history is pretty cool. The owner (Charles Collins) had shops in Arizona from 1914 through 1956. He retired at age 77 and died in 1962. There are some pretty cool stories about him on the internet and some his grandson told me.

As much as I like splitters, I have had some feedback from a guy who has good splitters and tried this. He has access to a band knife splitter, and has a few options for pull through splitters and a bell knife. He had the best luck thinning the leather down with ........ a benchtop belt sander. More control, no stretching or bunching. For skiving edges, I'd think this would work about like any other latigo or chrome tan - sharp blade by hand or bell knife skiver.

I have added several plough gauges and draw gauges to my website today. There are some really pretty ones in there - Dixon and Blanchard plough gauges along with HF Osborne and CS Osborne draw gauges - Strap Cutting Tools. I have put on a mix of some really nice knives and rein trimmers too. There is a Rose knife that is one of the best I have ever had. Thye have all pretty much been spoken for in the past. There are some Gomphs and HF Osbornes, along with some good CS Osbornes too. I also have a few miscellaneous knives. There is one super clean Danny Marlin that looks to be pretty much unused. There are some of the unmarked knives too. They look all in the world like the older CS Osborne knives. Good steel in them and everyone who has bought them in the past has been happy. Here's the link to the knives - Knives and Cutting Tools for Sale Thanks!

Here are some pictures of mine. It is an oldie.

We were discussing this in a carving class a few years ago. One guy pointed out that some people wear a belt and suspenders together too. Either one might be considered paranoid.

Trox, Both of the Blanchard carriages I currently have for sale have the angled teeth points. One has 8,10, and 12 per inch. The other one has 10 and 12 angled teeth pricking wheels and a #10 overstitcher. Here's a link - Pricking wheel carriages Thanks, Bruce

I have my great-grandpa's saddle and we know he got it second hand in the early 30's. It has the same border stamp pattern as yours but a lot of shops used it too. His came from Duhamels is Rapid City and they called that pattern an acorn pattern .Most places called it a shell border and was popular at the time - easy to do and kind of decorative with only a few stamps and a narrow embossing wheel to border it. Mine is marked in the cantle dish. I know this is a longshot but is there a number stamped on the latigo hanger? Duhamels marked the model number below the slot on the latigo hanger. I am just thankful that when great-grandpa broke the carrier slot out he baling wired the one side back. The #106 is on my carrier. How are the stirrup leathers adjusted on yours? It looks like some variation of a Conway buckle? Mine was orginially laced but somewhere along the line somebody put some Al-Rays on it. My uncle thinks that was done in the 50s. I took them off when I restored it and laced them.

The thing on this one is the 1-1/8" width. I have or have had them in widths up to one inch. I can't recall one larger than that.

I had the same problem with IE. When I clicked the "compatibility view" for this site all was right with the world again here. On some websites (mine and Terry Knischield for instance) if I have "compatibility view" enabled then the hover feature that brings up descriptions when you hold the cursor over a picture doesn't work. The compatibility remembers the settings for each site, so I don't have to click back and ofrth once I figure it out.

Thanks for the links! Interesting reading. Now I have a use for those pesky metal shaves that find their way to my shop. I have used the wooden spoke shaves both to true up edges and also to do long skives similar or equivalent to paring. I also have a few paring blades I reserve for thinner and softer leathers. I do better with the blades for skiving, I can control them and the leather betters than I can with a two handled wooden shave.

Bruce in Oakdale

I have seen pictures of a few old casing boxes from old saddle shops but none in person. They were built kind of like a foot locker, and at least one was metal lined with what I was told was zinc. I don't know how tight the seals were. My old tool buddy told me about using the casing boxes back in the day. They would rough cut the parts and then soak the leather pretty good. They'd wrap it in either burlap or army blankets and stick in the box for a day. He said he was in a big shop in the 50s and they used a casket for casing.