bruce johnson

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.

If nobody pops up with a used set you might try calling and seeing if they still have any.

I never used sheep skin for lining but used a bunch of vegtan and chrome tan goat. Just used Barge originally and later Renia when the Barge formula changed. That printed sheep looks kind of iffy maybe for bleed through - I'd test a section first. For finishing edges - vegtan - as normal. For chrome tans I used Feibings leather sheen to give it some stiffness first, then a light sanding. Burnished with my wax of choice but usually beeswax followed by paraffin.

Kenner, If you are interested in a little travel and seeing a bunch of stuff, the Southwest Leather Show is in Prescott, AZ next month. There are classes available during the week and weekend and a trade show Friday through Sunday morning Feb 23rd-25th. There will at least two used/vintage tool sellers and a few more new tool sellers there. Other than the Sheridan show in May, this is a really good chance to meet people and see tools and leather. There are some bargains at the shows that are not on the usual internet websites.

You are sure welcome!

Edelbrock & Son - eventually became Ryon's. I think they were a long time shop - 1800s through 1940s.

I got a big heavy resupply box from Wayne Jueschke today and a few are pictured below. I try to keep stocked with biweekly or even weekly orders at times but the earnest Christmas gift orders started in mid November and the "I didn't get Wayne Jueschke tools from Santa" orders started at 6:05 am on Christmas morning. We couldn't always anticipate the orders and stocked as we thought through experience would be enough. As of tonight, I am stocked up again on mauls from 12 oz to 2 pounds. Wayne is out of the larger than 2# sizes as well but should be back up and running soon. The individual stamps or set of stamps are stocked also with a very few exceptions that he is also out of for now. For mauls, string cutters, and rivet sets - https://brucejohnsonleather.com/leather-tools-sale/new-wayne-jueschke-mauls-string-cutters-and-riveters/ For stamping tools - https://brucejohnsonleather.com/leather-tools-sale/wayne-jueschke-mauls-and-tools/ Thanks! - Bruce

Do the outsides on something with some give. I use a slack belt section on my belt grinders for the very edge. You can duplicate this effect by hand with a piece of neoprene (mousepad) and wet dry paper going through the grits. As advised above you can take the burr off the inside with a round diamond pile or wet-dry on a round dowel.

Looks great! Are you back in AZ?

Im not sure how "drapy" it would be to use as a bedspread but might be pretty easy to use the whole hide as an overlay throw-on thing. I never made a full bed spread but did some other bed accents when I was doing some work for an interior decorator. I did "bed runner" strips 2x7 feet from hair-on cowhide and stamped vegtan borders. They laid across the bottom of the made up bed and used the matching hide remnants for the decorative pillows. (Think "Cowboys and Indians" magazine). Also a couple sets for a really high end guest ranch's top of the line lodge suite. I got a huge hair-on buffalo hide one time. My son claimed it and laid on top in the living room floor and used it as a bedspread in the winter.