bruce johnson

I am mostly seeing some chipped paint with the original John Deere green underneath showiing through and some light rust on the black that is inconsequential as a user. I am with Ken, the price looks pretty fair as-is for the way these have been selling. To do much more you are going to be taking it down and repainting. I am not sure you are going to gain much when you figure in that time. To be honest, I like to see grease and oil when I buy these. That tells me somebody hasn't been sparing it.

Harvey, Next time you are up you could pick a historic wooden slicker from the toy box.

Good job my friend. Stitching looks good and like the tooling also.

Lap skive (tapered skive) and sew them is the most secure.

I'd have a few bobbins - different colors or sizes. I like to have a spare when I am sewing so if run out I can pop another in and go right on. I didn't have their flat bed, but made my own. The downside of the Boss is that you already have one arm running the handle. That leaves one hand to support and guide the piece. Having a flat bed can help support that and makes life easier - big or small work. Mine was an adjustable height so that the table could support the weight while sewing gussets into cases and bags. I mostly used the double toe foot, once in a while a right toe. I used the standard plate mostly but the stirrup plate sure made sewing gussets into bag corners easier. I din't have a material guide and they didbn't have any light set up when I got mine.

Cheryl, I have a hard copy catalog and a PDF of it also. Their basic catalog hasn't changed. They were a little spotty to get things from a few years ago, but sounds like they are back on track with some things. The catalog hasn't changed for decades probably. Someone sent me a recent page from them with updated prices and kind of a "if it isn't on here, we aren't making it anymore" disclaimer for the catalog. Ivan's daughter is supposed to be running things now.

Ray, I missed this earlier, but another vote for Hansens - Hansens Silver . They wholesale only out of their shop. If you see something you like, I can pick it up and ship to you.

Pretty sure it was a McMillen roller pattern and just looked it up and verified it.

Embossing roller - no doubt about it.

Brian - what year? I was there from 78-84. Two years of animal science and 4 years of vet school. Spent a lot of time the first wo years playing euchre in the lobby of Lilly Hall. Probably should have been in classes, but as the old saying goes"'there's more to an education than getting an education".

Welcome, and being you are from Indiana, I am hoping the "boiler" part of your screen name refers to Purdue. Spent 6 years there. To answer your question within a maker, the sizes may be pretty much standard from one type of basket stamp to another for instance. Then again handmades may vary a bit. Between makers nothing is a standard.

Greetings from Oakdale

I've had some practice with this. I first use a pretty good dousing/rubdown of hydrogen peroxide on the whole section of something like that. Then concentrate on the spots and might take a couple of wettings and wipings. There is usually still a smear, but less noticeable. Once it is mostly dry but still slightly damp then I use oxalic acid to clean it. This is one place that I don't think lemon juice is a valid substitute for oxalic acid. Iron freckles - yes, blood - no. There are pigments in blood besides the iron and I think the oxalic does better on those in my experience. I don't like to "scrub" the spots. That tends to glaze the leather and be more obvious, just use light wipings. Once you oil the piece it will be a lot less noticeable.

Rob, I'd sure run this by at least an accountant and maybe an attorney with a handle on labor laws to be above board. I looked into doing this 10 years ago when I was doing a lot of wholesale and awards stuff. Back then the local small business advisory board had some workshops and referrals for volunteer professional consultations for guys like me. Employment taxes and penalties haven't got any better since then and labor laws sure haven't got any simpler. Paying an employee as a hired employee, piece worker on site with regular hours, call them contract labor but using your equipment, or apprentice all have their own set of bookkeeping, legal, workman's comp and other insurance implications. I ended up and paid my kid to edge and slick, and conned my then girlfriend into sewing with the Boss.

It all depends on how you grip the knife. Some people are more comfortable palming the handle and pushing it along. It maybe gives you a little more strength behind it. If that works for you then shortening for acustom fit is alright. For me palming the handle gives me way less control. I pinch the blade with my finger and thumb and have more control, especially for curves. The handle shape and size doesn't matter as much to me. Here's a link to some videos we did for a museum display that shows how I grip and use a round knife for cutting - Tools Of The Trade . The knife clip is down the page a bit.

Jake, It depends. One factor is the size of the thread. I want it to be recessed..If I am using that hand sewing waxed kite string it might take a few passes from whatever groover I use. It also depends on which groover I am using. Nothing against the Tandy type grooovers because I use them all the time. They have a limit to how deep they will go, even with multiple passes. The shoulders next to the blade hole are the limiting factor there. I have taken my stock blades and carefully ground some the shoulder off to get them to go deeper. The old Osborne compass style groovers will cut pretty deep it you want and multpile passes will go deeper each pass. The patent leather tool/gum tool/freehand groovers will go as deep as the sides of the U-shaped tip are sharpened. After that they dig in and don't go any more.

He is using a stitching clam that is held between the legs. It is a mostly European influenced deal. For me the angled jaws on a stitching horse are easier to see and feel the stitch marks from the pricking wheel or overstitcher. It is a more natural push for me too. A stitching grooove may not be absolutley necessary, but I do them on both sides when I hand sew. As far as this guy, I'd wager he's done enough that he has the experience to get a straight line on the back without looking. If you line the front up and keep the same angle of stab each time, that back side takes care of itself. I had an old Irish harness maker visit me quite a few years ago,. He took a rasp to my stitching horse jaws to make them more user friendly and sharpened up a couple awls I had at the time. He scratched a line on some old scrap and then sat down to school me. He sewed about 4 inches of 10 to the inch for a warm up, then another 4 inches of 12 per inch, and finished it off with 4 inches of16 - all spaced by eye and a lifetime of sitting on a sttiching horse. The back side was as clean as the front.

I have been involved in our local Oakdale Cowboy Museum for several years as a board member and president. After going off the board, I have been working on the concept of displays showcasing the leather side of the things. We have some great saddles on display and often times the questions are"what are they made of?, How come they are different?, How come the flowers? Who makes them? How are they made? etc. I have the concept worked out for semi-temporary displays showcasing leather working and saddle making. The first installment features saddle and leather working tools, as well as carving examples by local saddlemakers. There are also three representative examples of the saddle swe have on dispaly. The Sheridan style saddle was made by Chester Hape in 1977. It is a lesson in carving in itself. I learn something everytime I look at it. The russet colored saddle was a 1940-something world champion single steer roping saddle made by Keyston. The dark saddle is a Garcia and was the 1936 world champion cowboy saddle. The display opens tonight and will be up at least through the end of this year. The tools on display run the gamut from Wm Dodd, Sauerbier and others from the mid 1800s up to tools made new last year. The Oakdale Cowboy Museum website features descriptions of the tools as well as Youtube videos of tools being used. Just a note, yes I am the narrater and handmodel. The tools being described are the display tools, although most of the tools being used in the videos are off my working bench. Here is a link to that page from the museum website - Oakdale Cowboy Museum - Leather Tools in use . I am also attaching pictures that offer an overview of the display. If you are in the area, please feel free to stop and see it live.

Another good looking rig there Steve.

A curved awl would work if you sew with bristles. I just did them with straight awls and and angled the holes. I left the stitches really loose and then tightened everything once it was turned back in and butted up. Seems like most I have seen are sewn about 3 spi, so goes fairly fast.

It is a hidden stitch. You sew through the partial thickness of leather from the flesh side. It is a pretty common deal on a lot of production saddles. I have done it a few times on some repairs where one side has broken down.and it isn't all that hard. I left my stitches a little loose and then took out the slack once I turned it in. Still I prefer a welted seam.

Pete, changing gears from a skiver to a splitter, the pull through splitters usually do best if the leading edge is over the center of the roller. Some still do better slightly behind though, just need to play with that. One thing to check is to make sure there isn't a bevel on the bottom of the blade. That is the usual reason leather runs under a blade. Another reason is if the blade tips up a little from something being off on the frame. . That can be hard to tell sometimes.

Hard to say, but I'd check the blade and make sure it is sharp and the bevel is good. After that, I would crank some leather through while you have the blade off to see if it feeds straight. If that's good, then check to see if the balde edge is up close to the rollers. I am not by mine right now, but most of them have a stop for the corner of the blade to rest against and set the forward edge position. After that just fiddle around with blade angles and guide positions to get it where you want to be. I haven't ever seen a manual anywhere. The only manual for the bench machines I know of is for the Landis 30 crank splitter.

I have a maul from Bearman, a couple from Barry King, and four from Wayne Jueschke. They each have their merits. If you ever get down this way, you are sure welcome to come by and try them all. Reading your interests below your avatar, we can kick around some western history and Charlie Russell too.

Springfield Leather has them.