bruce johnson

I have been putting a bunch of tools for sale on my website in the last few days. Some people have already found it and things are sold. To keep things organized, every picture is tagged with an inventory number. There are some really sweet plough gauges and draw gauges I put up today. There is a bunch of hand tools, punches, a few hammers, some punches too. Here's the link - Leather Tools for Sale. The best way to contact me is to email through my website "contact me" link. Thanks,

Kate, I have had guys tell me the rollers can be remilled or trued by a machinist. The first time you take one apart it takes a good part of the day (or having a manual) to figure out how everything comes apart. After that it takes about an hour.

I have put dividers in some flat tops. I have made some round bags with two compartments each with their own zipper. I still have a couple of those plastic rope can divders left and they work alright for the round bags and rope cans too.

Charlene, The quick and dirty rsponse is this. Most of the rope cans I do are just covered on the top. I tool up the circle patch, finish it, and glue it down. I also use conchos to keep things together. I haven't had to reglue any of mine yet, but have some others. I have done a few that we covered the sides too and they were a pain to fit up, but came out alright. A lot more time involved with those. The ropes inside are treated with powder, so any leather inside is going to get covered in powder pretty fast. The biggest reason they are only covered in the front is most rope cans are thrown down in the dirt. Here's a an example of that - http://fineartamerica.com/featured/rope-cans-carol-miller.html . At least two of the cans in that picture are mine and maybe a third. I need to order it for my wall. Rope bags are a whole other deal. I mkae them from 18" to 22" diameter. Usually I put a gusste in that finishes out to be 6" and a heavy zipper. Some guys like a flap over bag and I make some of those too. If I inlay on them they are lined, otherwise not. Some like shoulder straps, some like handles in shirt medium or long. They defintitey aren't a one-size-fits all project. If you want to give me a call we can go over any details you need help with.

I have never been wealthy enough to get more than one Landis 30 and then somebody with more money bought it pretty quick. That put me back to looking for and buying another American. I have been thinking about it for a day and my bulb is still pretty dim. It has to be a tension, blade, or feedroller issue. One side or the other feeding and I'd think that tension is the problem, but if the blade is not square with the roller that could do it too. The blade being too far back from the rollers and softer leather can cause some funny feeding too, but I suspect the Landis has stops too to set the front position of the blade to be right. I'd be curious what it does with some firmer and heavier leather too. Now not feeding in the middle. That sort of makes me think a blade sharpening deal with drag maybe or a feed roller problem. Are both wheels true and not worn in the middle? Some of them get worn down in the middle because it is most common to stick a strap in the middle and crank away. Eventually that could lead to less feeding pressure and wadding up.

On some I put a 1/2" concho there. Depends on what the customer wants. It is sure easier to put a screw and washer in there and get it tighter more easily than some conchos.

The leather is softer when I am done. If I want to make something that needs the leather stiffer, I use warm water.

I use the mix for molding too.

Art's list is about as good as it gets. There are also some regional shows that are not as big. There are smaller shows in Elko NV and Pendleton OR too. These are smaller, fewer venders, limited class numbers, and most attendees haven't traveled as far to get there. Still they sure serve a purpose and although they may not appeal to someone looking for the biggest bang for the buck for a one time experience, they are a chance for some people to make a weekend trip if the timing is more convenient than other shows. Social aspects aside, all of these shows are a great chance to meet suppliers, see and compare what they all make, and put faces to names. I would make one other suggestion based on some conversations with some venders. BUY from them at the shows. With a few exceptions most of them have a website, and they all take phone orders. Yeah, you can take a flier and buy from home later. They will be glad to ship. They would be happier though to swipe your card or take your cash at the show. This shows them that you appreciate them being AT the show. They have time and money tied up in travel, booth displays, and lost production from not being at their shops. It shows some appreciation for their efforts.

Josh, Thanks for posting. One of our favorite singers, as evident by my signature line.

Billy, Welcome also from me. I am glad you are kind of creating a one-stop site to see some of what is out there from a few of the stamp makers. I sure think that is a good idea, and should make it easier for customers to compare.

This is on Ebay and that is the difference. Ebay puts the burden on the seller of proof of shipping, insurance, and proof of delivery. International packages are not tracked in either envelopes or small flat rate boxes. You have to put it in your own packaging, do the proofs, and insurance or stick a single leather stamp in a medium flat rate box. That gets up to $20 pretty quick. I found this out with some sales to Canada. The mediums I sent first were all tracked. When I sent a couple small flat rate boxes, the tracking ended at my local sorting center. Here is the text of a response to an inquiry I sent to Customer Service - Right off the bat, Bruce, the package you are submitting is either a Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelope or a Small Flat Rate box. Any customs forms that start with the letter "L" are not trackable. The "L" means that it is considered a LETTER POST item. Unfortunately, the Universal Postal Unions of the World, voted NOT to track letter post mail. Believe me, the USPS would love to be able to track everything for you....so bottom line - I have no information on this package, nor can I submit an inquiry. No one tracks Letter Post. In the future if you need tracking, either send it in your OWN packaging and pay Priority by weight, or upgrade to Express Mail International. You will receive tracking then. I apologize for the inconvenience.

There were some hardware updates last night on the host server and some of the posts put up yesterday were lost from time of the last backup until the new hardware came on. It is a pain, but hey, not anything like the entire meltdown a few years ago. Thanks for reposting.

I am with Chris, they don't do much if there is resistance. I use mine after I start the concho or once I have it loosened. They do good on the tedious hand turning there. I got mine in a set, I don't know how much they even sell for. For what they do, I wouldn't pay a lot. One little warning is if you chuck them into a drill, be sure you are centered over the screw. Otherwise they turn pretty wildly and slip off easy. SOme of the conchos I deal with don't have the screw exactly centered and that can mess you up.

Pete, I have had some when I was getting yard sale sets. Those weren't much more than a glorified edge creaser with one side sort of sharpened. I have made a couple out of regular Osborne edge creasers. Some wet-dry sandpaper on the appropriate size nail will profile the center groove. Then sharpen the edges of the cutting leg but leave enough bevel to lay open the cut a little.

It's been a while since I posted anything, but here's some of a batch of spur straps I just finished up. The oak pattern is a new one for me. It kind of has a softer look than some, my wife has already claimed a set. There is also a new style for me. This guy ordered a set that is a variation of the rough stock spur leathers that double through a ring and buckle back. I did a running vine kind of pattern on them. They were fun to do.

I don't know if it is a trick or not. I use a round bottom kind of French edger with some sweep to it. If I sew dry to avoid a rat butt pattern on top, then I spritz a little water on the bottom and let it soak in before I trim it. Cutting the binding with this tool and little moisture makes a nice slick edge. I just kind of try to run one rail over the stitchline and so far I haven't cut any off. If you keep the toes ground off the tool, you can run it right up into the corners. My leather is probably 6/7 or so there. This is an old Osborne #1 and it works.

I pretty much do like Jim but an old man showed me a trick after fighting a few. I cut my binders on a slight curve. I don't use a pattern, just kind of do it by eye. I skive like has already been mentioned. Once I have it wet up and cased to be back to right and moldable, I kind of fold it a little down the middle where it will lay over the back of the Cheyenne roll and shape it some. Put a stitch groove in the leading edge with will be the long side of the curve. When I lay it in place, center the binding and tack in the middle and work ymy way out to the corners tacking every so often in the groove line. As you lay that long side down, the shorter back/underneath edge will tuck up underneath almost on its own. There is a lot less bubble to work out underneath for me. I do that like Jim and kind of compress small bubbles at a time. I was taught to start that in the corners and work in about 3" sections at time. By the time I get up on top, most of the time I don't have any bubbles at all. I run a tickler around underneath to push everything up tight ahd throw a few small nails in the from the bottom the hold it up tight.

Valley Mfg Co - Woodburn OR (800) 527-6385 I ordered some from them last summer for covering. They were a little better quality than some of the catalog sellers. I had to wait a couple weeks for some deep ropers, but they had them done when they said they would. Easy enough for that one time I dealt with them.

The only thing I can find is in Graham's book "Old Cowboy Saddles & Spurs". Ab Womack - Hailey, Grangeville, Kooskia, ID 1892-1966

Old men are generally wise, and here's the tip from an old departed friend. He told me about doing this and then sold me the tool to do it with. Besides a marriage license it may have been the best $75 I spent. First off take a freehand stitch groover/gum tool, patent leather tool/whatever you choose to call it. I am attaching an example of one I have. It is basically a very small U-gouge. Run it over the top stitches and cut them off or severely weaken them. It may take two passes. Then just pull the woolskin from the bottom and the stitches all or mostly all pull out. The whole procedure takes maybe 10 minutes. I have used the loop blade type race compasses also, but the freehand groovers do a cleaner job for me. As far as the tool, the only ones making them now are Jeremiah Watt and I believe Bob Douglas. The old ones were made by Dodd, the Osbornes, and Gomph. I had a waiting list for the old ones I have finally cleared, but none to sell right now.

I liked it. It is probably one of the more complete DVDs out there.

Here is my new stamping bench. I built it last summer after seeing several different types and sizes of benches in other shops and advice from guys on the forum here. It is 48" wide to hold longer things like belts and saddle skirts. It is 29" deep so I can easily reach the stamps. The height is 37-3/4 so I can stand or sit on a drafting chair. The rock is a granite insepction plate from Grizzly that is 24x18. I like the larger rock for less noise, bounce, and a bigger area to beat on.

I have added more round knives for sale today to my website. I think there 10 or so left. There are Gomphs, CS Osbornes, a Harrington, and a Rose, along with some other tools as well. Here's a link - Leather Tools for Sale Thanks,

This is one of the places a draw gauge really shines. You make a slit with your knife of choice where you want the cut to be and put the draw gauge blade up through that slit from the bottom. Then you just pull away. I have done them two ways, One was to set the width of the cut for the width of the strap and just hold the previous strands out of the way working from right to left. The other way that worked better for me was to make the width for the width of the strap minus the width of the strand. Make that cut and then readjust the blade for the width minus two strans, and work from left to right. I have never actually braided these, but several years ago cut quite a for a wholesale order for a group to braid. For the bracelets I used a swivel knife in the border edge guide thing and marked out the strands that way. I finished the cuts with a round knife.