bruce johnson

I use a few power tools. I have two drill presses. One is set up for burnishing and the other is used for punching/drilling holes. I have a 4x36 bench sander also. I use the end for removing glue residue or mild trueing with a pretty used up belt. I use a shop press for a clicker, molded cases, and embossing. I have one bench grinder in the shop I charge the wheels with compound for final polish on edges. It sits under a three sided carboard box to prevent flinging excess compound around. I just got a 1x30 belt sander for "slack belt" sharpening. It was from a link someone posted here to a knife forum. It really works nicely for final edge work. For me, the drill press would be first and then the benchtop belt sander.

You are playing with some pretty cool toys. Enjoy them!!

I was talking with a friend this evening and we got to talking about glue dispensers. He mentioned that he really likes using the Kabi dispenser. I can find these listed from a few foreign suppliers, but no US suppliers are jumping up on a quick search. Anybody have any experience with these either way or know of a US supplier? Thanks.

Bev, Some use contact cement and some use rubber cement. I use rubber cement, and buy in small quantiuties to keep it fresh. I buy Elmers rubber cement in a pint can from whatever hardware or office supply store I happen to be near. I haven't found it that much different than Barge. I have had some of the brown clearish bottles of rubber cement be thick and unuseable when I got them. Likewise some other brands just weren't as good as Elmers.

I like the turnbacks too, and the Vizzard edgers will do inside and outside corners well too.

Phil, Welcome. Your name came up the other day in a conversation with someone who has spent some time over the hill there. I can tell her now that you are on the forum here. Welcome again, feel free to jump in or go back through the archives and add to them.

Those veiners look good. I am looking for some bigger ones like the leaves. I'll give him a call. Thanks.

This is from an email I just got - It started off and finshed with some words we didn't learn in Sunday school, but this part I copied and pasted out of the middle pretty well sums it up. Do you want to buy my tools? Between Darcy’s saddle and Mason’s now, I am about to sell out and run goats. This is like looking at National Geographic or Playboy. I am staring at colored pictures of things I won’t see again. I can agree with that sentiment.

Tim, I have some from Barry and they are good. I had some from Hackbarth that were some sticky son of a guns. My favorites came from Bill Woodruff. Bob Douglas had a few sets of four at Wickenburg and thought he might be getting some more.

The bar is raised again. I don't know what else to say.

Brackney's is/was in Greencastle. I went to school at Purdue and lived in Logansport before that. I saw one snowflake too many, and spent one night too many in a snowdrift in 1983-84. I live in Oakdale CA - north central about 250 miles or so north of Camarillo on the east side of the central valley.

Tim, I dye lettering with black Sharpie markers. I dye before I oil, and haven't had a finish lift it yet. I'd try it on a scrap of your leather to make sure, but it works for me.

Greetings from California. With your interests in Sheridan style and horse gear, you will find a lot of stuff on the forum here. Where are you at in Indiana?

Ok Charlene. I hope I don't step on any toes here, and sure mean no disrespect. My candid experience from a few Sheridans and one IFoLg show (Indianapolis). They are two different shows. Sheridan is Sheridan and Indianapolis was 70 miles from my folks, chance to go home after 25 years, and a tax advantage trip for the leather business. 1) Sheridan has nearly every seller of consequence. The IFoLg has about 10 - Barry King, Bob Beard, Jeff Mosby, a few suppliers of materials, and a couple machine sellers. They told me it was one fof the best shows as far as number of venders. 2) Sheridan has a contest with one division and seems like fewer categories, but some world class leatherwork from the top end makers. IFoLG has a contest with three divisions and more categories. You are going to see some good to great work there, but Don Butler,the Seidels, and that level won't be at the IFoLg. On the other hand, there is an entry level, midlevel, and a masters level division that you qualify for after so many wins in thge lower ranks I was told. That levels the playing field some for contest entries in IFoLG and encourages more entries at the lower levels. Qualifications and rules are a bit subjective, as is the advice from entry secretaries and judges. Some of the Sheridan contest entries were IfoLG show entries from last fall too. Some at IFoLg is really good and some wins by default. 3) Both shows have classes, although one or two of mine at IFoLG were cancelled because of the instructor not being there. I have not regretted a class taken at a LCSJ show at Sheridan or the other shows they put on, although the lineup is getting stale. 4) Social aspects - Sheridan has Kings and the Sheridan Leather Outfitters social events. Bigger attendance overall too and more chance to bounce ideas, discuss, and socialize with more folks in the show hall, coffee shop, and the Mint or at Holiday Inn bar. IFoLG seems like most everyone attends the banquet - awards handed out and socializing around the table. Last year I met a few people at IFoLg who are not regular attendees at Sheridan and we hit it off and keep in touch. 5) Sheridan is just plain cool. The scenery every morning if you have a west facing window is righteous. Don King Museum is a must see for a lot of folks. This is a one-man museum and it is probably the best saddle display collection in the country of any museum. Other leather work, tools and a great Stohlmann display there too. It is Sheridan WY, not a metro/cosmo town, and dang I like to go there. The IFoLG show floats around so that mixes things up a little for local attractions.

I am not 100% sure what you are wanting to do. If you are looking to skive off 1/4" into the edges of a belt, either a crank skiver or bell knife skiver will do that all day. That will thin down the edges and leave the centers full. For handtools, that is kind of the baliwick of french edgers or skiving blades. If you are looking to cut a slit into the edge, that is a little different. A channeler with a real sharp blade might do a passable job on something like that. Otherwise some sort of jig like Twin Oaks suggested could work. I don't do enough hidden stitch work to matter. When I do I follow what I think Steve Mason wrote a few years ago. I hold the leather down on the edge of my stamping rock with a ruler and use a blade to go along the edge. I can see better and have more control with a razor blade, cut towards myself to see better, and make multiple passes to get the depth I need.

Mike, I expect I have DC servos on my two machines, but don't know for sure. My experience with servo motors. I had an Adler 205-64 with a clutch motor, smally motor pulley, and speed reducer. At that time about the only really controllable motors seemed to be the Efka motos = $$$$$$. When the servos got sort of more available about 5-6 years ago I swapped out the clutch for the servo. Way more control and at least for me seemd like more torque. With the clutch I had to feather the wheel to prevent the jump when I started. I got into the habit of having my hand on the wheel to control the starts and slowdowns. The first thing I noticed about the servo was it threw my hand off starting out. Same with slowing down for a corner. The control was enough I didn't need to have my hand up there ayway, just a habit to break. I got a 2000 and at that time still had a choice of clutch or servo - no decision. I went with the servo and speed reducer setup. I can dial it from a stitch every 3 seconds to pretty fast running down a rein. When I ordered the 1245, Ron said I could probably get by without a speed reducer. I wanted slow speed control more than fast speed and went with the reducer anyway. The speed reducer on the 1245 makes it easy to just pop the belt off by hand and tip the head back to get underneath for maintenance too. I don't need to get the wrench and slide the pulleys. Most of my sewing on the 2000 is from gussets in cases and bags where In need the cylinder arm and special plates up to 2-3 layers of skirting on the flat. The 1245 does all the strap work and most of the flat stuff that won't exceed the capacity. Neither of my machines lack any torque. My only complaint is this - WHY can't they make the speed control dial remote so that it can be mounted on the table by the motor switch instead of part of the motor? When you change top end speed, you have to crawl under or behind to change the dial. Just put it there where it's handy. That is my mini-rant.

Jim, Following the numbers here - 1. I usually split my leather dry. 2. If the leather is really heavy you can put a strain on the spring action splitters if they have one (86 does). The 86 worked for me better just relasing that thumb lever as I started the pull. The ones without a spring like the 84 or the 83, you have to taper the cut into the leather with the handle as you go. To just mash down the handle on the leather sitting there, setting it, and then pulling is straining the frame or the blade edge. The Chases or Krebs like it better if you start the pull as you lower the top roller too. 3. The width capacity depends on the blade. A really sharp blade with flatter taper can split almost full width. I've got a 12" Chase pattern and can pull 11" fork covers through when the blade is fresh, but those blades are thinner and have a lower angle than the 86. 4. I use lasting pliers to pull some through, just depends. 5. Sometimes I split in two passes, just depends on how much I am taking off and the blade to roller clearance. With my hand crank and the Chases. I usually take off about 3 oz at a time. That doesn't really over stress the spring actions much. 6. I use the diamond stones and buffing wheel too. When I am ready, I test them like a knife and cut some firm leather and test the full length of the blade. 7. They will split damp rawhide.

Casing is one of those things that can be as simple or complicated as a person wants to make it. We all have developed a procedure that works for us, out leather, out climate, and our time frame for being able to work it. Personally I use a mix of water, lexol, baby shampoo, and listerine. Some people like it, some don't. I tape the back of my pieces first to prevent stretch. I slather the casing mix on with a sheepskin scrap with the full length wool. I let it soak, depending on how fast it soaks in, I add more in a few minutes. Sometimes another slather, sometimes squeezed out some. By experience I know about what I want it to look like. Then I slick it while the surface still has moisture and it has penetrated some (explained below) and bag it. Depending on the size of the piece I use ziplocks from sandwich size up to those jumbo storage ones that are like 30x24 or something. I put enough air in the bag to keep the plastic off the grain of the leather. Thinner leather may be alright in an hour or two, thicker leather longer. I work nights and early mornings around a day job, so I account for that. If I need to add more moisture I mist it on with a hand sprayer. Usually I spray it over the piece and let it fall on rather than a direct shot. I sure try not to ever let it get dry enough I need to mop on more. If I need to stop, I rebag it after a light mist of casing mix. Slicking is rubbing the surface of the damp leather before carving or tooling. Slickers are a flat tool with a smooth surface to prevent marking. They can be wood, plexiglass, glass, stone, I used to make some out of LDPE cutting board scraps. I will agree with some of the comments that the glass ones have the heft and durability and seem to work better for me. The purpose of slicking is to apply an even pressure to the top layer of the leather to compress the fibers somewhat. It sort of evens up the softer and firmer areas and leather cuts and tools more consistantly. Some guys like the leather pretty damp and others slick when the color has returned just prior to cutting. I prefer mine to the damper side of the curve, but sure not sloppy. I hold the slicker and a low angle and push and then lightly pull it across the grain surface. I overlap the strokes, and then go at a 90 degree angle to the first pass. I use light strokes to start with and then a little more force. Just enough to "slick" the leather without a real hard glaze on it. To much force or raggy leather and you can push a wrinkle ahead of the slicker and separate the grain from the deeper fibers (this is a "bad thing"). They call that slipping the grain. If I am not tooling a piece, just oiling and finishing, I still will slick. It really makes a nicer feel to the finished product. Some people will slick the flesh side as well on things that won't be lined.

Somebody here has to know who made it. My sister-in-law sent it to me and it was attributed to someone in Texas. There are several references to it in the last few days on a Google search and they mostly call it the "Texas" seat. I guess kind of like the Pace picante sauce ad, if we find out it was made in New York City, we'll have to get a rope....

Ann, The three year update. It is still used pretty steady. I use it for splitting chrome elk and mule hide for horn wraps. I use it for skiving for turned edges on chrome tan. My favorite use is for thinning down edges on vegtan. I can take heavier leather and groove for folds, then skive edges down. I leave the middles pretty full and get deeper tooling effects and the edges are thin and even so they don't look clunky. The best part - I have not had the first bit of trouble with it, not a second's worth. I am so glad I took the time to go try a few out, that I got brushed off by another dealer, and ended up at Melanie Machine with a sack of my leather. Arnold compared a few he had, showed me how to set mine up, had the right feet and wheels, and honored his promise that he would make the trip worthwhile. I was dealing with a guy who had used them and knew them.

Bryan, Aye, good question and the exact reason I posted "that" corner on the first pic I did. You can see where I started in the corners and just went to stamping. That first pic some of the impressions got close together and are not all that pleasing. The second one is more to the same style throughout. Light spacing impressions of the heel to get the spacing right and then go back, set the whole stamp and have at it.

Here's a couple ways I do them.

Bill, Anyone that builds an 8 button loop seat for the first one has my respect. A couple things I see. Probably a preference, but I'd have dropped the back end of the rigging lower to not have the slot up into the rear jockey too. Depending on the bar pattern, you might have had to do that with the shallower skirts though. Seems like the holes I'd use the most on the back billets would be the second to the sixth up from the bottom. I am not sure a guy needs to have punched the top two for sure unless you have a pretty long back cinch and use it on all sizes of horses. Last thing would be to take a set of clippers and trim the wool sticking out around the edges. Otherwise, dang, for a first one this is great. Seat, finish, ear cuts, all look good.

Ken, I have a 31-20 just sitting. I bought it without a table and have just handwheeled it to sew up little things. I haven't touched it for a few months and wouldn't miss it is you need it for parts. PM me back if you are interested in it.

Good looking saddle, Andy. Sorry we are going to miss Sheridan but looks like we are probably going to be able to make Elko.