bruce johnson

Trox, Not fakes. I don't known when these were made, but have had quite a few of them. I have never seen the "CS Osborne Made In England" on anything but punches though - strap ends and slots. They appear all in the world like they were made in the same style as Dixons. Good steel in them. On the strap end punches the walls are thicker than the domestic CSOs.

Hackamore would be nice too, I'd like a medium stiffness 5/8 but could go for a smaller 2 rein size too. . Got enough string left?

I really like those Brett. Sure bet they will really look even better after a year of using them.

Just sent you a PM. Thanks!

Yeah, best I have seen, except for maybe the one you just posted. These look like they were tooled with the pattern foremost. Without stepping on other's toes, these are designed and executed to show off the leather tooling and not acrylic paint, spots, and crystals. Good for ya!

How many do you need? I have seven 1" and one 3/4". I don't make tiedowns anymore, so I'd part with them for $10 each - take them all.

Best bronc halter I have seen.

I'll take it for that. How do you want to be paid?

Anne, I used one like that for a long time but yours looks a little more finished. The only thing I'd add is a spring to pull the bar up. Otherwise you are always bending over to pull the bar up. I also cut a long wedge from a 2x4 to make adjusting easier for inbetween hole tensions. Just slide it in under the pin and tap it in to increase tension. Great for stretching and setting stirrup leathers on the tree. I ran a section of 4x4 fence post through the stirrups, and it was crosswise under the bar, Just increase tension a bit at a time and they stretch and set pretty well.

Sheridan Leather Otfitters has them in the three piece sets. They have them in #9, #12, and #14 sizes.

I use the stirrup plate for sewing gussets in bags and cases. The tighter radius makes it easier to sew into, through, and out of the 90 degree corners. I wouldn't be without it. I use the holster plate very rarely, usually sewing in gussets in saddle bags, although not really 100% necessay.

Cop out answer - I use both for thread in #207 or smaller. My offset one is the larger version of the two offsets TLF sells. I don't have a real preference for the straight runs, but the centered one is my grab for curving lines. I will qualify by saying on the offset one I have modified the blade some. I ground off a little to each side of the hole and that lets it make a narrower and slightly deeper groove than it came. The centered one came like that. There has been some discussion about the cutting holes not always being centered or too high on the shaft so YMMV. For larger thread I use an older CS Osborne compass groover. It cuts a nice narrow and deeper groove in one pass.

Canada and England seem to be the slowest. Express Mail goes through pretty fast, but Priority can sit for 10-14 days sometimes.

Jake, I have used a swivel knife some for that, but for lines I wanted to bury. A cut line tends to close up. It also tends to go deeper than I maybe want for most things. I just have more control on depth and groove width with a stitch groover.

A few tips and tricks. Contact cement gives a mostly immediate permanent bond if both sides are tacked up. If they are lightly touching you can sometimes lift them apart and go back. Once you press them with a slicker or hand pressure. they are usually stuck for good. You can reposition the pieces if one or both sides are wet with glue - not allowed to time to fully tack. Both sides wet give you more working time than one side wet/one side tacked. They need to be left alone for the bond to cure, but will sure stick. Rub them the next day and they are usually set for good. If the glue gets past the point of tacky and fully dry, many contact cements are heat activated. You hit them with a little heat from a heat gun and they get sticky again. If you need to peel apart something that was contact cemented, a heat gun works there to soften the bond sometimes - get a start, throw a little heat to it, peel back, throw some more heat, peel more. Some contact cements will loosen or not bond well with oily leather, some will (or used to). Might need to use temporary tacks or clips and while sewing or lacing. Some will delaminate later if just glued. If you need to mold something later you can put on a couple of thin coats of contact and let it dry good. Then dunk the piece and let it case up. Once you are ready to stick it, hit that glue with some heat to tack it up. Stick it down and go to molding - I do it for ground work on saddles and hear the boot and shoe guys do that for some sole applications. The heat gun I use and see in most shops is a paint stripping gun.I just fan it over the area. I use mine on low usually. Hair dryers never got it for me, I lack patience at some things.

Chrome tan chap leather is the usual. You can either use water, alcohol, or a mix of the two to wet the fringe. Then twist it tightly and let it dry. On the twisted fringe stuff I used to do I would twist three or four up, then use a binder clip on across the ends to hold them in place while they dry.

I haven't used any for a while but at least some were metric. I have some 4mm screws that fit those. If they are regualr threads, I am thinking 8/32.

Ferg, If yours has the welt press on top, it is called a 5-in-1. At least one place lists the five functions of those as a welt roller, sole cutter, heel trimmer, edge beveler, and skiver. Can any shoe folks verify that a 3-in-1 will trim heels as well as cut soles. If so, they may be a skiver/sole cutter/heel trimmer. It is probably one of those things that a person cand do enough different things that the functions kind of overlap. I do know that at least with my dedicated crank skivers I can level them and split or angle them and skive. The only 3-in-1 I have is a Progressive salvage piece and it has the blade adjustment way different and "Progressive" may be a misnomer.

Ferg, As far as I know Landis was in St Louis, but I haven't had a ton on Landis bench machines. It seems like most of the leather bench machines came from St Louis primarily and Minneapolis also has some. Memphis might have been part of the Landis deal. I just don't know. I think at some point Landis acquired American and Champion, but I am not 100% sure if and when.

I have started a new thread to continue the discussion on crank skivers. There are pictures of two crank skivers I have right now with the blades angled and level on both. Here is the link - American and Landis Crank Skivers .

I am starting at new thread on comparing two crank skivers I have with pictures. The American is my own user and a Model B with a 2-1/2" blade. The hand lever will open the gap between the rollers. This skiver I modified. The top wheel was milled originally. I took the teeth down to make it smooth. The blade angle adjusts with two eccentrics. One is under the hex head bolt to the left of th etable in the rear view of it. The other is under the lower slot head bolt to the right. Loosening the bolts and then turning the eccentrics changes the balde angle. There is a view with the blade leveled for splitting too. The Landis is one I just got. It has a 1-3/4 blade. The blade angle is adjusted by the hex heads in the slots - two on the left and one on the right. This one will level up too.

Melaine Machine had everything from small sewing machines up to clickers big enough to cube a car when I was there. I took my leather down to Melanie Machine and that helped a lot. I took a mix of chap leather, oiltan, and vegtan up to skirting. He had a few choices in new and used machines. We played with the different machines and switched some parts like the milled steel feedwheel back and forth to test the choices. Arnold also has the cleanest warehouse I have ever been in. It looks like one guy's sole job is to walk around with a duster.

Ferg. Is that a Landis or American? The adjusting set up looks pretty similar to the Americans I have had. I haven't had many Landis skivers, but the ones I have had and the one I just got haven't had eccentrics. On the American I have right now, I have two eccentrics. One is up at the top left looking at the picture you posted. The other eccentric is where that hex bolt is on yours. I can't tell from the picture if that is a washer or a eccentric under that hex head. By raising that eccentric up and lowering the top left I can level the blade. This Model B is a kind of a cool skiver. It had a milled wheel top and bottom. We took the teeth off the top to keep from marking the grain. There is a lever handle to "open" up the gap between the feed rollers and that gap is adjusted with a nut on the handle linkage. It also has a 2-1/2" blade which makes it really handy for longer skives. Ken, I went along not ever knowing or even thinking much about what all a 3-in-1 does. I had one and I knew they cut and knew they skived. I asked a few guys and nobody knew why they were called a 3-in-1. "I guess something to do with shoes" was the common answer. I am pretty sure it was Arnold at Melanie Machine who said the third function was splitting. I've always had a splitter pretty handy too, and they are a lot easier to adjust.

Ferg, I have had Americans that had the eccentics, My American Model B on the bench has them too. I just played with it and can go up with one and down with the other and splits a 3/4 inch strap pretty level. It is pretty limited with the range, but gave me a 7 oz split. I have only had one Landis 3-in-1 and can't remember how it adjusted. I just got a Landis crank skiver like this one pictured and it has the same slots and bolts adjustment. I can level the blade on thts Landis and have a little more room to change height than my American.

Melanie Machine in Vernon or Steve Tayrien