bruce johnson

Hilly, Sewing hair on will give you gray hair. It slides very easily in the hair direction. If I can, I glue it down to something and sew through it sandwiched. On a binder I use the stiffeners from a 3 ring binder cover. I have just sewed right through the cardboard. When you put on a liner the inside stitches don't show. If I am doing something that doesn't have a stiffener and I don't want stitching to show through the liner, I tape it in place on the flesh side with carton tape. Sew it and then pull the tape off. I trim it closer to the stitch line with a wide french edger so it kind of skives at the same time. Some people use tacks to hold hide for sewing and then pull them as they get to them also. It works alright too. I don't clip the hair close the stitch line and then glue it. Never fails - it slips and I have the bare area showing. I likewise have had poor luck applying glue to the hair and not having glue show. At times I have also skived the edges, glued it down to oversized thin lining pig and then glued the pig to the top piece to keep things lined up. One thing on albums that looks nice is to plug them. Take the piece you cut out and thin it slightly and then take an allowance off the outside edges. Set your stiffener in place, place the plug and outline it. Then glue it down, and glue the inlay over it. Put the top piece in place and sew it. Plugging hair-on inlays really makes them look nicer I think. The problem with plugging comes on things subject to abrasion wear like belts. The hair will rub off with use.

I am with Luke, that is just a fact.

My wife is requesting I post this question. As some know (especially those on another list) I have a plough gauge and really like it. I need some advice about storing it for easy access. It lives now on a bench, usually pushed blade in to the back wall (but not always). She is afraid of me reaching across it, much like the great homemade string beveler incident she heard about secondhand. I tried hanging it on the pegboard, but that exposed blade edge pointing up looks worse to me. How does anyone else store one? If you want to say. "Just leave it on the bench", I'd owe you one but she'd see through it.

Jake, I like the work a lot. The only suggestion I would make is to cut the scallops with a halfround punch and not an end cutting punch. That would avoid those gaps at the corners. Other than that, good looking stuff.

Dustin, Add another name to the I don't have one favorite club. Like Ben, someone told me I needed a tall skinny one; like Ben, I hated it. The cool thing was I bought it Tandy's deathbed sale for $10, and it adjusted lower. I still never really liked it being too skinny though. It was in a drawer for several years. After dislocating my thumb a few times, thin barrels just don't get it for me any more. I am more comfortable with a slightly thicker barrel. Blade size depends on the type of cut. I use all straight blades and the longer ones let me have more knife in the leather and track better for long straight lines. Thicker barrels help to prevent rotation. I am attaching pics of my two most reached for knives and the customization I did. The silver one is an Ol Smoothie with a 1/4" slim blade - used for tight turns and intricate work. The brass is one of Barry's with a 3/8" blade I made the angle a little flatter to leave a narrower cut. I use it for stems and longer lines. Both of these have been outfitted with custom grips, gummy pen sleeves from the checkout display at Staples. Spit on the barrel and slid them on. If I need to plow a border ditch, I have a couple knives set up with 1/2" blades and big barrels. They really track.

Bob, Maybe some of the suppliers can chime in here about Barge. There is a toluene free formula out now. I don't know if the original formula is still available or not. On one of the boot and shoe forums they were talking about the new formula, and you needed to stir or shake it if it sat very long - the solvent and base will separate. The guys who didn't get the message from their suppliers thought it was really thin and didn't bond well. Then they found the sludge at the bottom. I bought up 12 gallons when the old stuff was on the way out. I learned with Barge and knew what to expect with that. My friend was using Masters and he liked it because it would bond latigo. He switched to Renia and another guy was using EMU sar something. I bought a gallon of each to compare. The EMU is alright - nothing spectacular. The Renia is stronger and faster setting. You better like where you set something the first time or get it off quick. I am back to using the wax paper trick. I have not got a chance to put it on anything and work it wet like you can with Barge on a swell cover for instance. I was saving my last of the Barge for that, and used it up on this last one. I am liking the Renia a lot for everything else so far once I figured it out. You can put it on dry leather, let it dry, dunk it, and it retacks with heat like Barge. About the can covers coming off. They had never had many come off before and used Masters for all of them. I saw one from them, then a call a week later about another one. I called the shop that did them about the problem as a "heads up" and so I didn't do what they were. He had already had a few calls. These were ordered in late November. They had a cold snap and that was when it happened. They figured that they just rushed it bit with waiting for the glue to tack enough, and not waiting to ship when cured. Might have been deal with that can of glue. These guys were going to the buildings. Coming out of a freezing trailer into humid indoor arenas might have been a factor too.

Kathy, I set the leather in place and drill my holes for conchos first. This helps with alignment once it is glued. I have to admit I have been an original Barge AP sniffer for years. I like some of the other properties of it a lot. I put a coat on the leather and let it dry. I rough up the surface of the can with a wire brush, add another light coat to the leather. As it is tacking I glue up the lid. Once it is tacky I use saddle spikes in the alignment holes to guide placement. If you have to reposition the glue pulls off the lid while still a damp. I press in place, working from the center around and out. I will weight it for 24 hours to cure, and (knocking on my head here) haven't had any come loose. I have reglued some for guys that the original maker told me he used Masters. He said it was cold in his shop and he may not have let it set enough before sticking them on and then shipping them out. That said I have been using a couple other cements since Barge changed and my stockpile is gone s of last week. The last ones I did with Renia. I have been using it on some other stuff. It tacks up a lot faster, and makes a strong bond right off the bat. Good stuff - apply it outside in the wind. Also I like to use some conchos for to help hold them on too. At least if they ever come loose, the two parts will be together. One of the Master ones I reglued he shipped me the lid and the guy he traveled with for a while dropped off the leather - it fell off in his trailer and that's where it stayed. LOL.

Kate, I have a couple CLTs and they are very good. They came from ebay and looked like McMillens in the pics. I really didn't know much about them until I got those. My friend probably has a good a set of using stamps from several makers as anyone. I have access to them, and he has about 20 of the CLTs. I made impressions of all his stamps the last time I had them here. He has all three BW stamps from CLT.

Wooden magazine racks are a little different too. Tool a piece to go over the ends or the side with their names or initial. They can go on with glue and upholstery tacks. You could also do a leather magazine can. I did one as a wedding gift order. As an afterthought the best man had me make a matching lid with a slot for guests to drop in wedding cards at the reception. People starting shoving money in there too, and they MADE OUT WELL!!! Beats those tacky "money dances".

I just got an updated list of vendors from Paula today for the Elko show. It sure looks to be good. "This is a list of our vendors for our Leather Show: Douglas Tools Sheridan Leather Hansen Silver Barry King Tools Wayne Jueschke Tools Artisan Sewing Supplies Hackbarth Tools Horseshoe Brand Tools Leather Machine Co Van Amburg Leathers Oxbow Trina Ferdco Capriola Stevenson & Paxton Hide House Timberline The Tooling Bench Thank you! Paula"

Bell knife skiver.

Ed, This is a tool you can make pretty easily yourself. Take some rod or a small bolt and grind it out with a dremel.

Usually not much wildlife to see off my porch other than the parade of quail that come about every morning. Attaching a picture of a tremendous day, must have been a quail revival or something. I counted well over 100 parading through the calf pasture out the front. Usually just 4-5 pairs, and now some babies. Once in a while I'll see a coyote early mornings by the bonepile in the back pasture, but haven't seen a fox before at this place. This morning Rundi thought she saw a fox go into the blackberry bushes close to the house that separate us from a less than scenic neighbor place. Tonight it was a for sure deal, a decent sized gray fox out enjoying a breeze. I got a few pics, and then two pups came out also. I never could get all three in the same frame. Since we have had a ground squirrel problem, I am live and let live with my vulpine pals. Must be getting old, Joel Nelson wrote a poem about that kind of deal. I might start setting out some water for them to wash the squirrels down with.

Marlon, I mix anywhere from 6-12 oz per gallon of NF. I use either medium brown or dark brown depending on what I want. Just pour it in and shake it up. It stays mixed for me. I still have about 8 quarts of the Tandy dye left, so that is why I am playing with some of the Feibings to see what will mix when the Tandy is gone. The big thing is finding the color equivalents in the Feibings dye, color names mean nothing.

Kate, Don King is generally credited with being the guy who brought the Sheridan style to the forefront. Sheridan had a long traditon of saddlemaking before Don King got there though. He worked in a few shops around the country and worked with guys who had been around other shops. You hear a lot about "he took a flower from this style, the flowing circles from Visalia type patterns, the leaf from this or that guy and then tightened it all up". Some of it sure likes like that, but all these styles were and are all evolving and hard to pigeon hole. You can read about some of the influences and readings he borrowed from. There is a biography on him called King of the Western Saddle. I kind of recall that he did borrow from European architecture sketches and pictures as time went on. Another good read is Saddlemakers of Sheridan Wyoming. One of my friends tells a story he heard from one of his mentors. Early on the NFR was in Dallas and this guy was working at a shop there. He thought he could tool a little and had seen some good work. He heard the trophy saddles were made by a guy named Don King. He figured he'd go take a look. He decide maybe he hadn't seen good work before. You can look at some of those early trophy saddles and see the style. In one of the books is a picture of a ropecan Don King did in the early 60s maybe, and it is just as neat today. We have one of the PRCA trophy saddles in the museum that Chester Hape did, and it is just as timeless.

I have used Tandy's Prodye for several years to color my NF oil, works well but is no more except for what I have on hand. I am now playing with the Feibing's dyes to see what works and what doesn't. I haven't got the Feibings Pro Oil dye to mix.

Adam, One other concern with edgers would be doing slots. I do them a couple of ways depending on which beveler is at hand and size I need. The bisonettes won't do them very well. I have a larger turnback that is designed for slots and tight inside curves. That said, my round bottoms will get them. The sweep on the vizzards works well to get into tight spots too.

Adam, I am not a holster maker, but have used about as many styles of edgers as I have splitters. For edging a round profile there are a few choices. Round bottom edgers, vizzard, or bisonette edgers will get the job done for you. As far as hard numbers for size, the size numbers may not correlate between makers. For instance, Jeremiah Watt's size numbers run larger than most other makers with the same number. I have had and use some from Jeremiah, Barry King, Ron Edmonds, and Bob Douglas.

We have just finished updating my website, and added a few new galleries and several new pieces. It has a similar feel, but many things are different. There will be another gallery or two added soon as I get things completed for it. Probably the best feature is that the site can be easily updated and edited by me. There is a "new off the bench" section showcasing recent pieces, and they will be bumped into their respective categories as new ones are added. There is also a link to my blog. I plan to keep the blog updated every week or so, and plan to keep it casual. It will have some tools and how I use them, progression pictures of some projects, and be pretty free wheeling. I welcome comments, and would sure like it will be interactive. We welcome any comments and criticisms on the site or the blog. I have to thank a couple of tireless workers who have got this up and going for me - Johanna Schroer and Kate Dubiel. Johanna got the first one going for me, and the results have been great. Kate set the new format up and has just been a peach to work with also. I would highly recommend them to anyone contemplating a site. The new site has the same address - Bruce Johnson Leatherwork, and the blog links off the home page. Feel free to check it out and sign the guest book or leave a blog comment. Thanks.

Shirley, Bleed knot - when the strings come out of the concho slot, cut a slit lengthwise in the middle or the top string where it exits the concho. Pull the bottom strand up through. Then cut a slit in that strand and pull then former top/now bottom strand up through that.

KK, Overall it looks very good. I see a few things I would do a little differently next time. First off I would skive the turnbacks under the cheek buckles a little to thin that area down and lay a little smoother to the horse. I would round or point the strap ends rather than the square cut. Kind of a visual thing. Finally I would bleed knot those concho laces rather than the square knot. Those square knot ends will flip and flap, and might get into an eye if it hangs that way. A bleed knot will hang straight down and not flop as much. The color looks good, stitching nice, and edges look nice too.

Good looking stuff. You can add bigger sized pics too. 100-400 kb show up well. Show us this kind of work anytime.

Jamie, If this guy is having to go check stuff you ask about, I am thinking he was not the user. I may be off base on this next part, but then again..... If there is one speed and it is slow no matter how far you press the pedal, it may have a servo motor. The first servo motor I got didn't have a speed adjustment knob. I was merrily sewing along at a very comfortable pace, enjoying the control (one speed - slow). When I wanted to ramp up the speed for some straight projects, I called my supplier about a different speed reducer with the 3 pulleys. Didn't need it. The speed adjustment on that particular motor was done by turning a screw inside a small hole. The hole just appeared to be a ventilation hole or something - not particulary well marked. That opened up a whole new world of speed control. My later servos have a knob and dial. If this one goes one speed and slow, might be a servo with that early control. As far as whether the deal is worth it, you just have to add up the machine and shipping and see where it falls. The price seems pretty good if everything works. One thing nobody else has mentioned, and it may not be a factor if you are just doing one thing is attachments. They are not inexpensive. As you use it you may find the need for other throat plate and presser feet combinations. I have about all of them for mine, and can say I have used them all.

Eric, I have one that is similar. It is a rotary shaft tool with an oscillating handpiece. You chuck a stamp into it. The one I have was sold by company called SpeedStamper. The chuck is large enough that most all my stamps fit it. I haven't seen their ads for a while so they may not be in business anymore. Silver engravers can use one of the engraving systems, Barry King was making stamps with the shanks turned down to fit those. These work pretty well with the walking tools - bevelers, some pear shaders, and matting tools. They oscillate fast enough that the checkering effect is lost, but the tool burnish is more than using the same equivalent in smooth stamps. I sure don't use mine for everything, but when I have a large order with several beadlines to bevel it really speeds things along and is less fatiguing. When I was dealing with the rotator cuff problems it was a real plus.

Ken, I lived around that area for a while. Loon Creek Leather in Huntington IN (260 356-0726) bought what I think were all the dies and patterns from the family. They are supposed to be making them on some level again, and I'd give them a call. I would not trust that these conchos are silver like Bohlins. Many of them were not. The green is probably verdigis from copper in the JB alloy. Not much of a trick to removing the swell cover other than to be careful you don't lift the head off the nail. Most of the time you can chase out those dents from the back unless it is really cheesy plating and flakes off. As an aside, what is the tooling like? Some was pretty decent and some was fairly mediocre on the Flowers.