bruce johnson

niftycurly, They will do firm chrome tan like latigo and some oiltans pretty well. Not so bueno on chap or softer mulehide. As far as splitter vs. skiver. If you level the blade they will do a level split. I was told that was the elusive "third function" of the 3-in-1 > cutting with the wheel, skving with the blade angled, and splitting welting material with the blade level. Anybody else heard that?

And to add yet a third hybrid method..... I had a good conversation with a guy this morning who asked me to share how he has been doing it the last 15 years. He puts two thin coats of contact cement on the skirts/plugs and lets it dry well. This is to help with sweat penetration. Then he uses rubber cement over the contact cement on the skirts and the woolskins. He thinks the rubber cement is stickier with picking up some of the contact elements, but still can be pulled off easier than contact alone. Kind of an interesting approach. Anybody else doing this?

The only thing I use rubber cement for is woolskins and for what it is worth, the brand of rubber cement I use is Elmers. I buy it in the metal quart can at the office supply store. I was using Barge and paying the shipping. After visiting a few shops and seeing the gallon can or quarts of Elmers sitting there, I decided I could go that way easy enough. I don't see any difference in use. A couple of those guys told me that the glue stays better in the metal cans.

Just a question here. I started off with a clutch motor on a 205-64. I upgraded it to a servo motor maybe 6 years ago. That servo had a screwdriver adjust that limited the top speed. I had a good range of pedal travel and control. When I bought the 2000 that servo was an option I took except it had a dial instead having to adjust it with a screwdriver. I got the 1245 with the same motor too. I really never thought it about it until Wiz brought up the brake release on the new servos. I have been doing that on this motor without ever thinking about it. It seems to release the same as the clutch motor used to. There is nothing digital on it, just a sinple rotary dial. Is this type of servo motor still available? Another control tip that sure helped my was to stop using the pedal like the gas pedal in my truck. I am kind of a drive with the ball of my foot guy behind the wheel. A local sewing machine guy taught me to put my whole foot on the sewing machine pedal. "Toe to go and heel to slow" was his saying. When I just had the ball of my foot on it, there was a little lag from letting up until the spring pulled it up. Using my whole foot and pushing that that heel down really slows it faster and gives me more control. .

I use rubber cement for sheepskins. It is probably all in how a person was taught. I know good makers who use rubber cement and good makers who use contact cement.

For horse gear they are called "panic snaps". If you check at farm supply stores and tack shops, they should have them on the rack of miscellaneous hardware.

Leathersheen is an acrylic type finish that Fiebings make. It is pretty close to Supersheen I expect.

On the personal goods stuff. I oil first and leave it 24 hrs at least. I resist with two coats of Leathersheen. I usea diluted briar brown HiLiter sponged on and worked in. Then wipe about 10-20 mninutes later with a sponge of Leathersheen again. It isn't as complicated but looks good.

There is no regulation in almost all of this. There are a few groups that are trying to get some standards, but pretty slow sledding here in the US.There is sure an art to leather and then the mechanics of doing things with leather. I have heard Leather Artisan, Leather Craftsman (person?), Leathersmith, and probably a few others if I thought a little more. Then you can self-add the adjective "master" to these too without a lot to back that up. Some people work in shops and others work in studios. Mine has a roillup door and you used to be able to park a truck in it so it is a shop by my reckoning.

Interesting question and hope some of the international members weigh in. I have followed this same discussion on other forums in the past. For a lot of people, they may be pretty synonymous. Some will say that a leather crafter in the US tends to bring up the image of crafts - modpodge, hot glueing felt shapes into birds, creamics, macrame and that sort of thing done as a pastime or by kids at camp or scouts. Crafts are something done for enjoyment and not necessarily profit motivated. "Working" is a business and profit is more of a factor in that scenario. It kind of follows the trend into hobbies and pastimes post WW2 according to some discussions.In reading from people in other countries it changes some. A "craftsman" indicates a higher level of skill or artistry than a "worker".

Jon, Very cool. Some great leatherwork and I really like it, hoist of the Leinenkugel for ya! Gotta say it now. I started off in Minnesota so had to be a Vikings fan. On to Indiana and back then it was the Bears. I have now been in California for 28 years and still can't buy into the Raider Nation/49er deal up here so converted to the Pack a few years ago. I am not a pick a winner guy at everything though. Still a Cubs follower.

Michael, It is the "Pro Stitching groover". The other Tandy I have is the EZ adjust. It is pretty alright too.

Cheryl, The last message I had from you was that you couldn't do anything until June 3rd and I don't have anything quite that wide right now. The largest slot I have right now is short of 1-1/2" in anything older. I bought a small set with some wider punches that may be at the post office today and could have one in there. One of the 1-1/2" for sure is a trace punch, but she described some that are regular slot but wasn't sure of the sizes . I'll know more tonight if they came today. I'll email tonight either way. I will also let you know exactly what the Dixons measure. One option for slots also is to use a shorter punch and overlap the previous punching to make up a longer length. Thanks, Bruce

If I was going to use just one, it would be the Tandy one that came out a year ago. It makes a nice groove and pretty easy to run. The blades seem to be fairly consistant too. I have a few others - the larger of the Tandy offset groovers (Saddler's groover?), the Osborne #34 with the loop tips, Osborne #129, had a couple Osborne #130s, and the patent leather tools/freehand groovers. They each have their own advantages. I use the compasses for work with more curves, the freehands to take off top sttiches to pull a stitch line for repairs, and the other Tandy if it is close by.

There are some topics pretty easily searched. "What kind of sewing machine should I get?" for example. A lot of the rest of it falls into the "I'm so green at this, I don't know what I don't know to even search it". In the good ol' days of leather crafting there was a Tandy store in most major cities. A majority of the leathercrafters that are seniors now probably started off that way. Someone at least could teach them the basics. A lot of the repetitious questions now are from the folks who haven't got that available to them, but they have a keyboard. How many of these threads start off with "I got a kit from TLF and have a few questions"? These folks may not have the classes available to them. This group and others are basically the on-line tech support for the craft supply sellers. Telling them to buy some scraps and have at it blindly would be like giving my wife a welder and pile of scrap iron and telling her to build a windmill. They don't know the terms to search for, or when they do search they get 20 posts from threads that may have some relevance, but put together looks like a committee cow. I have been here from the start and a little background on the "search". Early on the plan was to merge and collate questions into previous threads to make things more searchable. There was talk of a "leather wiki". When there were 300 or 500 members, it was cumbersome to keep up. Crossed over a couple thousand members and it became impossible. That is why there are duplicate threads and search is hard to figure sometimes. One thing I have found is that there are precious few only-one-way-to-do-it techniques in leather work. Everybody uses different tools, cases different, tool stamping order, choice of oil, finish techniques, etc. Probably the best thing I get out of a lot of the basic questions is the responses. I learn a lot from those. With new people coming on, some of these folks have a ton of experience. They haven't gone back through the archives and added their tips and tricks to every appropriate post, but will reply to the same question asked today. Keep them coming.

No, he is just a working guy who checks his emails and normally replies on Sunday. I have known him through internet groups since I started and have dealt with him too. Good guy.

DC, PM or call me. I've got a good using set of 1-1/2" Osborne strap end punches in round and English point, #5 oval punch for the holes.

From another thread going on this topic, sounds like it may be something with these motors. A few other folks reported the same deal - most of the control is in that first 1/8" of travel. I'd call Steve to see if a new batch of motors had something change or there is some adjustment thing. I have different machines and older servos. They have a dial that controls top speed. Even cranked up I have good control over a usable range.

It is helpful to have a nice sized layout table with a long enough cutting board to make a decent length cut. I have a 24x48 cutting board that was pretty inexpensive from Tap Plastics. That way you are not having to move the board all the time too. I have 3, 4, and 6 foot metal rules. Ace Hardware here has them pretty inexpensively. I line up my cut to take out the clip ,marks and give me the best yield. I make the cut with a knife down the edge of the rule. I overlap the rule on the cut line as I get about to the end and go on from there. With the six foot rule I only have to do one shift with the rule and one and a bit more for the cutting board. To answer the original question, I use a wooden strap cutter, draw gauges, and plough gauges to cut strips. I use a razor blade in the wooden strap cutter for thinner or softer leathers. I can't secure the small blades they come with well enough to sharpen them cinsistantly and safely for me, and don't find they last all that long anyway. Razor blades slide in and throw away. I use a draw gauge up to an inch for shorter strips I can secure easy enough. I use a plough gauge for anything over an inch. These are my general guidelines, but sometimes I will overlap with the draw or plough gauge depending on which is handier.

Jon, Harvey hit the class deal, I would allow a day for the show, and preferably the first day. There are also two evening socials of note. On Thurs night before the show, King's host a reception - good food, libations, and comraderie. Geat socializing time. Friday night Sheridan Leather Outfitters hosts one at their place. Another great time. They also have the banquet or reception and pass out the awards for the Leather Debut (entered competition held at the show) as well as naming the Al Stohlman Awardee and Ann Stohlman youth winner. The Don King Museum is a must see. I would allow a few hours at least. Open the same hours as the saddle shop I believe. Unbelievable collection of saddles and gear. Lots of vintage tools on display - some Don made and many he collected. A lot of the Stohlman memorabilia is there - original sketches for the books, the actual workbench, tools, etc. Ok, maybe a few hours is light. I have been through a few times the week of the show and a lot of people there. My last visit was a fall trip and nobody much there. Spent an afternoon and the next morning and finally felt like I had appreciated about half of what was in there. We haven't been for a couple years but next year are planning on it again.

I have used the pinking and scalloping 45 mm blades for roller cutters to make that look. I use a metal yard stick as a guide. I have done from chap leather to 13 oz with them. There are some old hand crank scalloping wheel tools that clamp on a bench too. Usually sell for $75-100 in the antique stores.

I used to work with a guy that one as part of his belt. Snapped on or something.

That seems to be the going rate. Some simpler stamps might be a little less, but some more intricate can go for more. Part is collectible and part is that they just good stamps. There are sure other makers that are sought after but the Don Kings tend to be the top of the heap. Personally the other one I would compare is Bill Woodruff. I wouldn't sell a spare Woodruff basket for less than a Don King. I really like his basket stamps and the rest are nice too. I like Walt Fay stamps too, but they don't have the collectible factor. Good old stamping tools and old books are pretty much a one-way street for me. When I find one I don't have, they aren't leaving soon.

Ya know, this made my day! I sure liked that picture of Dawson sitting in the saddle in your shop a while back. This is even better! Brownie looks like the right kind and needed a job too. Brownie will be the cow eatingest ranch horse on the place in his mind. Wouldn't you like to be kid again.

I have added quite a few more tools on my website in the last 24 hours and changed it up some for easier searching. There are round knives, plough and draw gauges, cool old pricking wheel carriages and wheels, stitch groovers, straight and angled channelers, a ton more edge bevelers, some French edgers - neat old round bottom French edger in there. Quite a few fresh adjustable creasers, some punches, and two rein rounders. Here's the link to the index page for the tools - Bruce Johnson Tools . Thanks!