bruce johnson

I wrote a series of articles for ShopTalk magazine about upgrading from basic tools - which tools and what order to do it in, and some recommendations without many if any specific maker recommendations. If you subscribe they may be able to hook you up with back issues or the on-line subscription might link to them. I can't copy it here because of copyright issues. I've had wonderful feedback from experienced makers and several "thank you's" from newer people on that series. Sticker shock is kind of relative and I get that. People who know my background understand where I've been at times. It is all a progression and nobody has the same finances, expectation, or needs as any other leather maker. I'm at a trade show right now. Barry King is here, Robert Beard is here, Clay Miller is here, Horse Shoe Brand Tools, David Mabe is here, Leather Wrangler is here, we are here...all selling new stamps, mauls, and swivel knives at different price points. Some are more expensive than others. I am set up and selling general tools plus new stamps from Wayne Jueschke, new stamps from Richard Brooks, older McMillen, Gore and CLT stamps, Don King stamps, and slew of Craftools. I've got stamps in a big price range. We sold over 200 Craftool stamps today at $5 each. I sold a few $185 flower centers, and a lot in between. I had a few people just want to hold a Don King stamp and look at it. They are all important to me and Rundi and I are just as happy for the customers who got their Craftools as we are the ones who got their Jueschkes and the ones who may buy a Don King before the show ends. Ive said it before but these are our people and this is our tribe.

I am at the Prescott leather show and both of them are teaching here. If you want to knock two bucket list things at once, they will both probably be teaching at the Sheridan WY show in May. The class schedule should be out in the next couple weeks. Both of these shows are really fun and good classes, comraderie, world class leatherwork contest, lots to see and a big trade show.

I may be wrong about this one but most of these outside instructor classes at Tandy stores are during times the store is normally closed to avoid interruptions. The ones I've attended may have a store manager or employee present to "host" the event but may not be able to access the system to make sales. These are not necessarily "Tandy sanctioned classes" to specifically sell current Tandy tools. I have sold Jim discontinued Craftool stamps he has used for some of his classes. He has made some of these available for students to use or buy. I don't know what this class is or the specific tools recommended. As far as bringing your own tools, yes that is pretty standard for most classes. Bringing your stamping surface? yeah, pretty much a requirement at most leather classes. I'm at the Prescott leather show right now, and everybody taking a class is packing their stamping surface. Usually a square foot piece of marble or granite with a black rubber punching surface glued on the backside. My wife took a class here Wednesday and has one like most people - marble stamping surface and a black sole material back with a leather wrapped edge and handle. Let's face it - stamping on an 1-1/2 marble on folding banquet table is not optimum, but the first project is not the end goal - learning the techniques to go home and apply them is.

LCI closed a while back about the same time this thread came up. MSDS sheets might be available from an old reseller.

Here is a "be careful" word of warning. Those Palosanto French edgers are very sharp (good thing), they can also very be very brittle (not always a good thing). I have had several through here, some bought sets and after the second or third broken one they decided to bail on the rest. Some sent me the broken ones to try to fix. I don't generally do that for most stuff I haven't sold. A couple broken ones were dropped. Most tools survive a fall, but granted not all do no matter who made them. The most common way these broke was in use. They don't seem to readjust angles in mid stream all that well. The edges are thin enough they want to follow the plane they are in. A little mild prying action from trying to do a "scoop skive" or changing the angle because "Oh crap, I'm getting a little deep" and they can snap a chunk out of the blade. I have done that personally testing some as well. t I haven't tried the drop test because I believe they folks who sent the rest to me. Make friends with these tools.

Here's my experience. I don't seek out craft tool stamps to resell, but still over the course of the year in buying sets and estates we end up with about 800-1000 of them. I used to list some on my website but it was not worth the time and effort to break them out even in the small sets for what they returned. Even in a small set someone would just want some one would just want one stamp and ask that we break the sets. It wasn't worth it for a five dollar tool, and then kick about the shipping costs. There are a few rare and collectible craft tool stamps, but not many. Jim Linnell usually buys those that we have. Otherwise it can be a tedious experience to catalog, take pictures, deal with buyers and shipping. We take them to the shows and sell them on the bargain table for five dollars each/your choice no matter how they are marked. I used to charge seven dollars for the prefix stamps and five dollars for the rest. Literally my wife or I spent half the time explaining to people the difference and very few cared. The people that do know and care are happy to sort through the cans and find them. We give a lot of stamps to kids. Makers Leather Supply gives out kids leather project kits for free, and those kids come over and pick out four or five stamps from us for free, and maybe a mallet if we have them. Between the Prescott and Sheridan shows we usually move about half the stamps we get. Usually at one or the other of the shows there is someone looking for tools for kids groups, rehab, or veterans groups and we donate whatever is left over.

Personally I would run from the knife. If I got it in a set of tools, I would drop it in the garbage again without a second thought. The deep pitting in that knife is at least halfway through and the rugged edge tells me everything I need to know that it will never restore to be usable and a wasted effort. Sorry to bust your bubble but that's how I see it. There are too many knives in way better condition that would be more worthwhile than this one.

Will, Here is my take. The Tippmann Boss is made in Fort Wayne Indiana. I am sure not all the parts on any of these are all totally made United States, but all three are ordered in the United States and should have access to parts if needed. I had one of the old original cast iron Bosses, and it paid me back many times over. They were always there with parts and service for anything I needed. When I sold it I had it shipped to them for refurbishing and they shipped it on to the new buyer with a full as new warranty. I'm not sure if they still do that. I have helped a few people set up the aluminum body ones. One just would not sew consistently, the others were okay. Tippmann at that time was good about replacing them but that has been a few years ago. Word-of-mouth has been okay on the Weaver Cub. The Cowboy Outlaw looks to be a good machine and one guy I've talked with likes his a lot. Toledo has a good reputation for service and advice for years, and if I was looking I wouldn't hesitate to call them first.

You are sure welcome, anytime. The podcast with Steve Van Plew was a blast to do, thanks!

You are not that far away but I'm picking one up at the Prescott show for my wife in a few weeks. I'll keep you mind because I get people asking me for machines or advice but I don't deal in them.

The ruby blades are sharp and the advantage was they never needed sharpening, only stropping. True enough but they were very brittle and prone to chipping very easily which then made them fairly useless when that happened. Doesn't take much to do that - just tapping against the stamp rock or hitting another tool can do it. Tandy had a program to return the blade for $1 or something and they would repair or replace. There have been some really carvers who swear by them and probably more that swore at them. The people that like them take care of them - capped blades and a cradle or woolskin patch to lay them when not using. Once the edge is the least bit dinged - then they drag and chatter like any other crappy blade. Same goes for ceramic blades - good ones are good, bad ones are not. Both require special sharpening equipment and skills to clean up an edge. I've had some good ones through here and they are good, the rest unpack right into the trash. They never show up on my website because there are standing orders for rubies with perfect edges. Whether you choose to call them a gimmick or not? Your call. Tandy realized 50-60 years ago there were people who didn't know how or care to sharpen and maintain tools. The company was looking for something that came with a sharp edge that needed less maintenance at a price point. Ruby blades didn't work out for everyone as expected is my take on it.

Tim Purdy took over Harper and moved it from Las Vegas to Boise several years ago. Harper became Steel Stamps Inc.

Steel Stamps Inc - Tim Purdy is a great guy to do business with and extreme quality - https://www.steelstampsinc.com/

Insurance is a necessary part of business. There is just too much to lose no matter what your level of income or business size is as the original poster pointed out. For my example - I started with a new carrier and program two years ago when we found out that our then homeowner's policy was only going to continue replacement coverage on our 1200 square foot shop for $20K. That was their new limit on structures not attached to the house. Prior to that I only had a business liability policy (pretty cheap). Realistically I average 1-2 visitors a month to the shop, that is a minimal risk but still present. The new business insurance package has $200K replacement on the building. The inventory and equipment value coverage has a cap but fairly good and good liability coverage too. I opted for cyber-insurance that covers cyber-terrorism, website failure, business interruption, etc. In return I have to do secure computer backups at least weekly, have licensed fire extinguisher annual service, and a few other hoops that are mostly just common sense. Exclusions are no welding (don't anyway), no equipment loaning, and no employees. I had a guy helping me a few days a week as needed and had to let him go. Otherwise - good piece of mind for the cost. We also just switched to a LLC designation which was fairly pain free.

Sorry to hear about Walter. We had some good email conversations. Funny Walter story - one of the first packages I sent went Express MaiL instead of Priority Mail. Not much more money, better tracking, and insurance. It arrived on Saturday. The postal service saw Express and figured Walter would want it right away. He woke Walter up about 6:00 am with vigorous knocking on the door. Walter had been out until about 2:00 am. Walter told me next time Priority Mail would be just fine.

Here’s the quick tutorials I did several ago for angled basket stamping. Still pinned at the top of that forum section but the pictures seem out of order. May have been because of the meltdown the forum had sometime back then.

It all looks great. The only critique I’d have is the orientation of the basket stamping. Running slightly downhill to the left. Early on one of the best stampers I know gave me advice to make my basket stamping rows come out parallel with the edge top and bottom. There is a tutorial somewhere on the forum here I did several years ago how to set and maintain that angle.

Here’s my experience with it. I had one sent to try. I’d let my wife use it on daily use knives but I wouldn’t use it personally on my good ones. It’s pretty simple to use and fairly fast. My biggest complaint is the single grit and the side to get the burr corrected straightens the bur like butchers steel, doesn’t really remove the bur. Ok for kitchen use, not for finer durable edges. Worth the cost? Not for me and my needs. If I didnt have machines to do it and I sucked at any sharpening on stones then yes it works better than most “one size fits all” sharpeners.

These splitters were designed for dense stiff shoe sole leather. They will do vegtan and stiffer latigo well. Much softer and the leather can wad up against the blade and not split evenly

To adjust the bottom roller, here is how I do it. I loosen the jam nuts first (like yours already are). I tighten the square head bolts to push the roller up almost to the blade if not kissing it. Then I tighten the jam nuts up against the frame to pull the blade down and set the gap. Tighten the two jam nuts against each other to hold that position. Then a test and if I need more pressure I tighten the square heads to compress the springs more. for thinner leather you will probably need to drop the top roller some also.

1). The blade edge needs to be about 1/16” or so from the bottom roller when it is centered over the roller. Any more than that and the leather slides right under. 2). if changing the along tension moves the bottom roller, it is not assembled correctly. there should be two jam nuts on the threaded studs and they should be up against the bottom of the frame. The springs allow for expansion and the roller to drop if you are taking off more than the 1/16” gap. Those nuts are what allows the gap and side-to-side leveling the bottom roller 3). there should be vertical tabs on the blocks and cover the bottom roller shaft goes through. The blade needs to be up against those stops to set the position. Then back off very slightly so the blade corners aren’t rubbing on them. That blade appears to either be short, the stops are gone, or something funky. The blade rest on Americans is longer than a Landis and the blades don’t hang over as far, but ideally should hang over some. That is the purpose of the two screws on the back is to keep the blade in position and not slide back with pressure. The bevel up or down on the blade? 4). Too much gap between the top and bottom roller to push thin leather. Dial in the bottom roller setting first. Then drop the top roller. There are two threaded slotted studs on the top with a jam nut. Loosen the nut, screw the studs down on each side and tighten the jam nut when you like the roller position. try this first and let me know

I use a stirrup plate on my machine. Goes around that corner much easier

I could write a book on adjusting these but it's Sunday and I'm not feeling the greatest. Lets see if we can narrow this down and make life easier - I am sure it is just adjustments. You are trying to put something through this machine it was never intended for but can be adjusted to do. What kind of leather are you trying to split? How big is the gap from the blade edge to the bottom roller? If you move the top adjustment to thinnest setting, how far apart are the top and bottom rollers? Is the blade all the way forward to the stops inside? Loosen the hold down clamps and center screw and slide it forward. It should hit the stops at both corners of the blade. Back off the back-up screws about 1/4 to 1/2 turn. You mentioned "off-kilter". Which roller or both? Let's get you splitting here

For straight straight knives they work better than nothing but barely. No real way to use them on a round knife. If you are doing a kitchen knife that gets beat to hell by a spouse that has no concept of a cutting board or slicing action, probably OK. A good knife you hide from that person - use a few finer grits on progression and a strop, or just a strop.

I sharpen the inside edges with a round diamond file. Once i have a bit of a bur all the way around I buff the out edges on a sisal wheel with black compound to take that bur off. I go back and do the inside with a hard felt or small leather wheel on a Foredom (Dremel works on lower speed) to take out grit marks near the edge, and buff the outside again to clean up any straggler burring.