bruce johnson

Mark, I just replied to your PM, and then saw this thread, so here goes again. This stamp works better for me laid at about a 45 degree angle. On the gentle curves you can slide the impressions around each other and maintain pretty well. On tighter curves tip the stamp and stamp the outside to be continuous. You can make the inside of the impression with a concave beveler or a crowner. For tighter 90 degree corners you have to do some partial impressions. I am attaching a little deal I made up several years ago, and then one I cracked out one morning for the Celtic challenge deal we had here a year or two ago. I did these before I got Barry to make me up a couple, so you are already ahead of that curve.

I have Jeremiah's round bottom edgers from#1 through #4. I use them all. Be aware that the #3 and 4 are pretty big. I use the #3 to round saddle skirts. The #4 I use to trim after sewing through something oversized. In my experience they don't hold an edge quite as long as Ron's edgers, but sharpen up in a flash. The rest of my edger lineup from Jeremiah is (besides the free hand groover and the round bottoms above) - #3 and 6 french edgers - very sharpa nd smooth cutting but the trade off is thin blades. Easy enough to pop off the end of the blade if you try a tight turn trimming something out and apply a little inadvertant leverage. They will sharpen right back up though. #1 bisonette - pretty good, from when I was trying out a couple makers to get some "in-between" sizes for my wife. I am liking the bisonette style edgers a lot too. #2 turnback edger - nice for slots #2 and #3 vizzard pattern edgers. I like them a lot, and use them to trim with as well as edge. A real handy pattern I think. They will do a lot of slots too. I'd like to see them in more sizes.

I've got a #1 I use quite a bit. The description says it is for #207 and #277 thread. I use it for #346 without a problem. I don't have any complaints about it.

Jim, Welcome and thanks for the info and the previous experience. I have heard of guys using silicone oil for saddles, especially about 10 years or so ago when the anemic looking light saddles were the show saddle fad. The formulas back then ranged from straight silicon to silicon and olive oil. At the least Feibings and I think some others make a saddle oil with silicon/lanolin. I kind of recall that some have a mold inhibitor too.

Good site for saddle tool dude, and I like his makers section - good source. Now I am thinking on the keyboard here. It would be kind of cool if we had our own e-museum for tools here. We could do it within the leather history section easy enough. Threads for each type of tool like draw gauges, plough gauges, splitters, round knives, edgers, etc. We could add pictures of what we have and a little history. Keep each tool type in its own thread.

Henry, The black one in the fourth picture is the HF Osborne. It still has a little of the gold striping paint in some places. The one on the far right is the flush mount. On all the other Chase styles I have had, the top roller moved as a unit no matter which knob was turned. On the flush mount each knob controls the height independently on that side. I have tried to use it to skive with for fun, and it sort of gets you close. A guide would really help it with that I guess. The crank skiver and bell knife are the tools for that when it needs to be dead on. My favorite users are the Chase patterns for most uses. With the top and bottom rollers and long blade bevels the leather feeds evenly and doesn't climb a bevel or flip up and chop off. The top roller on the Krebs helps with that too. The dial on the Krebs makes it repeatable.

Janice, Yep, looks like you have a Landis 30 crank and a Krebs style. I think that a few manufacturers built the Krebs style - I have had one with the Krebs tag on it, an Osborne 85, and right now have a Randall Krebs on the bench. Is there any manufacturer tag on yours? I am attaching pics of the current lineup. I just bought a nice American crank splitter, pretty much unused. I have the black CS Osborne Chase 10" I pretty much keep set at 8 oz thickness. That is a common weight for me to split to. I also have a 12" Hanson Chase on the bench. I can pull anything up to about 11" through it. I can level about anything but saddle skirts with it. I have a flush mount 12" Hanson Chase I got mainly to have the blade as a backup for the mounted one. It is kind of neat, the sides adjust independently, so you could set one high and the other low to split wedges I guess. You mount these over a hole in the bench and the skivings fall through. My hands down favorite is the HF Osborne Chase style. It has a simple mechanism, a single knob slides a double wedge bar back and forth that raises the roller. I don't have it mounted, it is retired and will be part of a museum display bench at some point. I have a Spitler pattern Osborne splitter enroute. I bought it for a buddy who just wants one to split strap and do some laps with. I may end up refurbishing it and keeping it, and find him an 84 type of some variety. My name is Bruce, and I am a splitteraholic.......

Janice, Those pictures are alright, keep posting. There is a tutorial on posting pictures as attachments here - uploading pictures as attachments. They do need to be resized to under 1 MB I think, but down to about 200-300 kb seems to work well. Especially show the splitters, we like splitters......

The guest book has the Museum logo on the front. It came from a graphic designer and I am not sure what font it is. I am pretty font challenged and use the ones in the Baird book, some of the TLF books, Hidecrafters lettrering pattern pack, and whatever came loaded on my computer. The color is just NF oil and Siegel's oak side leather. I dyed the lettering with black Sharpies.

It is working for me, so I will have to leave it up to more knowledgable computer folk than me. It is a bg file and I've been told that can be a problem for some systems? Hopefully someone will help us out here.

I thought from your original post you were looking at the handcrank strap cutting machine that Weaver sells. I don't know anyone who has one. The other options are the powered strap cutters that the sewing machine sellers have too. With any of these there are blades and spacers. You set the spacers to the width straps you need and run the leather through. It can make multiple strips in one pass. If you are looking at hand strap cutters - good advice so far. Like Horsehairbraider, I have run a lot of skirting through a wooden strap cutter. The original design seems to work the best. They are a hardwood and seem to track true. Not the most ergonomic for extended use, but will do the job. The blades are pretty much protected within the bars, so pretty safe also. I use razor blades in them and break off the excess length that sticks out. If they track true, the blades last quite a while for me. I have a few drawgauges, and thanks to a local tool collector - seem to be getting a few cool old ones. The old ones have different handle styles and shapes, with and without triggers, etc. and were built for workers. It is pretty cool to pull a strap with 100-150 year old tools. The new Osborne blades are OK, about like most other blades - the old ones are better, but maybe not worth chasing all over to find them. I have been getting draw gauge blades from Bob Douglas that Bill Buchman makes. They are the best I have used. They have a little wooden handle on them that makes it easier to hold onto when you sharpen them. That handle is also pretty handy to reach under and use your left hand on to steady the pull when you are cutting heavier or harder leather. I recently got to try a plough gauge. It was pretty slick, but they are pretty spendy new and when they come up used. I smoked a deal on one last week, and have used it for 5 days. I can see it fast becoming my most reached for strap cutter.

The reverse hook buckles seem to hang on alright. The others with pins that have some hook do alright too. The ones that are a little straighter have the problems sometimes. I have seen some guys drill a small hole near the tip of the pin and then run a small cotter pin through to secure them. I have seen some that had a little washer soldered on after they were through the belt too. I have seen some with a rubber washer sort of like an elastrater band put on the hook after it is through the belt. One guy used a small blob of gripdip for tools that he painted on. You could pick it off if you needed to remove the buckle. I have had the pleasure of snapping off a pin trying to bend a little more hook in it. That will make you say some things your grandmother wishes you didn't.

TK, Pretty ranchy looking, I like it. How did you attach the buckle so it stays? I have seen a few ways to do it, and still haven't figured which way is best.

We reached 100,000 posts on the forum this morning. Someone more official than me can verify this, but it appeared to me it was Bob who hit the mark with his reply in the sheepskin replacement thread. Personal thanks to all who have helped make this forum what it is.

To avoid picking the stitches, one of my old friends gave me this tip. I think he let me pick several before he told me, just so I'd appreciate it more. Before you mess with the the woolskin at all, skin the top stitches on the skirt. You can do this with a sharp gum tool/patent leather tool/freehand stitch groover/compass style stitch groover with the loop type blades. You probably can do it with Douglas' stitch groover also. Run the groover tool over the top stitches and cut them down or severely weaken them. Then loosen the woolskin and pull it off. The top stitches will mostly all pull through when you pull the woolskin off. It is a heck of a lot easier than ripping the woolskin with an old french edger and then picking. Besides the factors mentioned already that figure into the cost, I also look at how the skirts are attached. I charge more for sewing pocketed bars back on than for lugs. It takes me more time, and I usually bleed (repeatedly) from feeling for the awl tip coming through.

Russ, Looks very good. I like the browband with the initials especially. I really like Dale Bass' silver too. He does some quality work.

Little John, Good looking setup there. It is also good to see you posting over here. Looking forward to seeing more.

I respect a lot of tradition. That said, if rules had always been followed, there would be no Sheridan style to begin with, the variations there are of it, or many other styles now.

Tony, Here is another link - Another Barnsley info site. It looks like they started in some form in 1836. I am not sure if they were in continuous business or under the same family management the whole time or not.

RDB, Basically a plough gauge is a strap cutter. The front of the blade is sharpened and it is pushed into the leather rather than pulled like a draw gauge. I have some neat old draw gauges I have come across and like them. I got to use one of these plough gauges at my friend Giovanni Zapetta's shop a month or two ago. I had not had the opportunity to try one before that. Different people I have talked to would not part with theirs for love or money once they got one. My Australian buddy here has his dad's old Dixon and said I'd never regret getting one.These are pretty pricey to buy new. The Dixons run a little over $600 here, and are just under $500 before you get them shipped from England. I have just been hanging out looking for one to try at the right price. Andrew, I am attaching some pictures of it. I got it on Ebay last Sunday. The markings on the bar are Geo Barnsley & Sons, Sheffield, England. Above that is the logo with the shoe. The match number is on the free end of the bar and on the guide fence just under where the blade slides through. The guide fence has the same tool maker's mark on the outside front. It has the thumb screw adjustment for the roller height on top. The width adjustment has a thumbscrew at the back of the blade slot. It has some age on it, but is tight. The blade is a Dixon. I am kind of thinking the blade might be unused. There was no edge to speak of on it. Almost like the old ones came from the factory - shaped but square, the bevel and edge are left to the user. The handle is cracked but the blade sits in it solid. If it ever gets loose, I can replace the handle. This blade is at the front of the slot, so it has its whole life ahead of it. I sharpened it up and it is the real deal. I stripped out some breast collar tugs and it was smooth. Here is another link to some Barnsley shop pictures I found - Barnsley shop pics. Thanks for any information.

Anna, It really is one of those questions with no answer. Some customers insist that they go through the tree. Others are just as insistant that they not be drilled. Some of it is regional bias and some is individual. If a customer has no preference it is a toss up and I go with the saddle's usage. Arena saddles - no, using saddles - yes. For the non-drilled I use screws, not nails. For the last few years I have been stringing the drilled ones through the tree only, not going through the skirts. I drill the holes and then remove the rawhide between them to let the strings in. It makes a smooth profile on the tree bottom. Then I just go on and attach my skirts normally. It is also easier for me to drop the lugs, run a new string through and pound it flat than to have to fish one through the skirt too. I use screws for my lugs, so zip-zip they are off and zip-zip they are right back where they were.

I just got a Barnsley plough gauge, and am wondering if anyone could have some insight on dating it. Pretty good condition tool and definitely some age on it. The bar and guide fence both have match numbers of 58. I know from my draw gauges that the older shops would mate the frames and bars up by numbers within a run of tools. That was when they were hand made and due to slight variance needed to matched. I am not when sure when the companies here in the states stopped doing the matching numbers. The HFOs, Francis & Ward, and other oldies pretty much all have the matching numbers. I don't think I have any of the CSOs after the Harrison move with numbers. Does anyone know if Barnsley had the matching numbers throughout their time in business or just early on? From what little I can find on the internet, Barnsley changed from Barnsley and Sons to Barnsley and Sons Ltd. in 1948. Mine is marked as Barnsley and Son (no Ltd), but not sure if they changed the tool markings to include the "Ltd" after that or not. Any information is appreciated.

Josh, Another good job here. I like them a lot. My wife is not a real fan of meanders. After seeing how you used yours, she really likes how you used it to frame the wheel and not as an outside border. Good thinking outside the box.

Elton, Right on with that! It is that time of the year too. Being a loyal Cubs fan, I'd have to say Bob smacked this one out of the "friendly confines" and onto Waveland Avenue. Go Cubs! Bob, You guys just keep raising the bar. Outstanding stuff. Long live cowboys!

Steve, Probably my favorite yet of the ones you have posted. Great one.