lwm803

Not that I do a lot of sewing, but when I do, I generally grab these Xelite bent needle nose.

I used a cam nut from Rockler when I built mine.

I have used my Ridgid oscillating belt/spindle sander on wood for several years and recently on leather also. I have not felt the need to alter its speed for either material. It has been a very useful bit of equipment for me.

Open sez me........I would like to see it too!

I put this string cutter together with some old chrome tubing and other scrap metal that was laying around the garage. I wanted to test it as is before bothering with the angle cut for the bevel cutter. It seems to be working well so I am looking forward to when I get a chance to make that addition. I have never actually seen a real string cutter so have nothing to compare this version to.

That looks good. I made a couple of them for myself recently, in fact, I guess these two sheaths could be the first real leather working project that I have done in several years. I only recently started setting up a leather working area in my woodworking shop.

I agree that there is a point where ease of sharpening trumps edge holding ability. If I were unable to sharpen my own knives I would place a much higher priority on edge holding ability. A knife that takes an occasional couple of strokes on a stone and/or strop consumes no more of my time than one that only rarely requires a more involved and intense sharpening session.

Yes, mass produced products generally display a manufacturer's/re-labeler's name. Highly regarded art work/craftsmanship is easily recognized by the work itself and needs no label. The mark of an unknown maker (or one who is not widely known), unless extremely attractively done, is very likely to devalue the product in the end for some consumers. If you are selling more product because your name is on it, I am not one of your customers and it is likely of as little concern to you as it is to me. If you feel that your name adds value to the product then by all means stamp it front and center, otherwise you might consider that stamp as a potential "deal killer". It is much your choice to stamp as it is mine to choose. I would never advise anyone to base there decision on my opinion, I simply felt strongly enough on this subject to state my thoughts.

I am new to all this, don't even own a maker's mark, and have never sold anything that I have made from leather but I do have an opinion. When looking at pictures on this and other sites I often see some fine looking work "spoiled", in my eye, by a prominent makers mark right square out in the open. To my way of thinking, any maker's mark should be on a portion of the product that does not normally show. I do not mind it being there as long as I have to look for it, but I will not buy a "billboard". Other opinions will likely vary.

I recently ordered the medium Stohlman stainless round knife because I had never used a round knife before and wanted to see what all the hype was about. I spent the first evening with it making test cuts, sharpening, and stropping it until it was cutting like butter. Pushing the round knife is such a natural motion that I found the "learning curve" to be non existent for me. Of course I have used and sharpened my own knives for many different types of work for many years (since the late 50's) so I am sure that had some influence. The round knife is now the first choice for me when cutting leather whether the cutting is straight or curved. It is also the easiest that I have for skiving. I am not a professional leather worker, it is not even my main hobby, so this is just my impression of a round knife that is not generally very highly regarded among those who mention it. It has always been my experience that a sharp knife is always the best knife, Whether or not that knife stays sharp or requires frequent sharpening is usually a matter of of both dollars and sense (not cents).

I simply centered a hole 7/16" in diameter and a couple of inches deep in one end of the ram. I cross drilled and tapped for a 10-32 set screw to lock the tools in place. I have used tools with 1/4" diameter and others with 3/8" diameter without a problem. The set screw simply pushes the smaller diameter tools to the side of the bore and holds them there just fine. As long as the tool is bottomed out before tightening the set screw I have never had a problem with tools trying to move around in the bore. I agree that the v grove and or a good slip fit bore would be more precise but with my limited tooling this was the best approach for me. Using a one ton arbor press with one centered hole in the ram and a set screw that is long enough to secure the smaller diameter tools seems to work fine for me. In my case the set screw only serves to keep the tooling from falling out of the bore when the ram is raised and provides minimal but effective support in keeping the tool vertical while the bottom of the bore is still just the solid ram which transfers the force to the tool. The Harbor Freight style arbor press works fine for me but it is not a precision machine. I see no point in putting a hundred dollar hole in a fifty dollar machine.....

I drilled the ram on my 1 ton arbor press (similar to the HF model) on my drill press. It just took a bit of careful set up and a good sharp drill bit. At the same time I ground the bottom two teeth off the ram so the handle could ratchet when the ram is raised completely, allow me to reposition the handle without removing the pinion from the frame. I have used it for 3d stamps, hole punches and setting snaps and rivets without a problem. Though I usually use my full size Delta drill press (turned off) for punching holes, mostly because of the laser cross hairs to indicate where the center of the hole will be.

Here's one already loaded.

I made this silly little sheath to protect me from the blade on the string cutter that I recently built and have been experimenting with. It is actually hand stitched and has a welt.......LOL My fingers are too wide and my eyes are too old for me to mess around with anything this small but I thought I would share the funny little project....LOL But I have used the string cutter to convert a lot of tapered and hour glass shaped scraps into more useful leather string. .

Glad to hear you are enjoying the show. It's just a job if it's not fun!

Several years ago, when my collection of leather working tools started getting hard to keep up with, I bought a medium sized plastic tool chest. It had two trays and and a larger storage area below. This held my tools as long as I was careful how I placed them. My leather was carried in a large duffel bag. This was back in the day when my job kept me living in a motel more than my own home. Eventually chain maile work won out over leather work due to the simple fact that it is easier to carry a bucket full of wire rings and a couple of pairs of pliers than the selection of tools necessary for working with leather. I also learned that making chain maile armour was an excellent way to make 20 cents an hour....LOL. I have since retired and I recently ran across that box in my woodworking shop and have begun the quest to figure out a way to have a leather working shop share space with my woodworking shop in hopes of satisfying a renewed interest in leather work. That old plastic box is now empty (thankfully). I hope to never live out of a work truck or support a hobby out of a box again.

If the center will be covered, chances are the center will need to first be located and marked. Marking/cutting with a compass would be the absolutely best way of locating the center of the circle. Otherwise, anything round and about the right size could serve as a template and in many cases as a cutting guide. In the case of a targe with center medallion some form of compass/trammel would be my first choice.

The simple solution would seem to be to size the strap to work with the punch that you have, either that or pay the premium for a punch that more precisely meets your expectations. If error in your strap width is precisely 2/126" (only about .016") from end to end then your level of precision in cutting leather far exceeds the metal working skills/standards of Tandy's current tool manufacturer, so you many need to shop elsewhere. As my hobbies include metal, wood and leather crafts I often have to stop and remind myself that a belt is not expected to be a "press fit muffler bearing for the space shuttle". Also with so many hobbies I have to settle for whatever tooling I can afford or make myself so I am required to learn to design my projects to fit the tooling on hand, or buy new. In which case (using the belt as an example again) I could just go out and buy a pretty good belt for less than the cost of a quality 1 1/2" end punch. I cannot help but believe that skilled leather workers have been turning out quality leather products for much longer than strap end punches, hole punches, swivel knives, and even head knives have existed.

I actually did, on occasion, shave with my pocket knife back when I was in the Air Force. But it was usually just to show off the fact that I could get my pocket knife sharp enough to shave with. Even though the knife in my pocket right now has two razor sharp blades, these days I'm more likely to skip shaving all together....LOL

Thanks, based on the limited use so far the pony seems to work very well. The clamp nut, as Phil replied, is from Rockler.com, other than that I just used a 5/16" carriage bolt. It is a cam action lever nut that I already had laying around the shop, I use two of the same clamp nuts to position/hold the fence on my drill press.

I just recently decided to try using a rotary type paper cutter on leather, partly because it uses the same blade as the hand held rotary cutters that I have used on paper, rubber, leather, fabric, whatever needs cutting (within reason). Of course thickness of the leather is one limiting factor and another is the width of the material, it has to fit on the cutting board between the two clamping arms. I have used it on some purty thick material (rubber, cork, leather) by simply using the deep cut left by the rotary cutter to help guide a knife blade to finish the cut. I have also recently acquired a couple of the Al Stohlman brand stainless (not damascus) round knives in the small and medium sizes. They were too dull to be useful as delivered (as expected). But after sharpening them I find that I can do a much better job cutting leather by pushing a round knife than I can pulling any other type of blade. I do not know how long these little knives will hold an edge but they certainly will take an edge with a bit of honing and stropping. For me, it really is the best way to cut leather and I'm sure if I ever get my hands on one of the old quality round knives I will never look back but for now the cheap and available Tandy ones will do me just fine.

Looks good, and it looks like you have a place for everything right on board. That is similar in design to the one that I built for myself. Only I just used pine to build mine, didn't have any fancy wood laying around the shop. I tapered the base of the one I built too and rounded over all the edges and corners to cut down on wear to my chair and my body. In fact the only time that I have used mine so far I was sitting on a shop stool that has a motorcycle style seat and it worked just fine, I never even noticed that I was sitting on the base of the stitching pony. The magnets on yours look like a good idea, I may eventually add them to mine if the need shows itself. I'm sure you will enjoy using the one that you built. Here's a pic of mine.

I like the idea of the floor model and agree that some way of locking the jaws mechanically (preferably foot operated) would likely be a good idea. I get the idea the the jaws are already self closing due to the weight of the foot pedal and that might eliminate any need for a spring to accomplish the same goal. The one that I built is self holding due to the natural spring in the jaw arms as there is no hinge, I have to use a spreader block to open the jaws to insert leather but still need to tighten the clamping bolt a bit to hold everything good and tight for sewing. If I ever build another I will carefully consider a floor model. One other thing I would like to do is to tilt the jaws to one side, more like a full blown stitching horse.

When I was 6 or 7 years old my grandfather gave me a pocket knife and a small whet stone (which he called an "oil stone") for my birthday. When my next birthday came around he presented me with a box of band aids. I reckon my sharpening skills had advanced more quickly than my knife handling skills....LOL In showing me how to sharpen my knife he walked over to the tractor removed the oil dipstick from the engine, dripped a bit of the oil on the hinge pin of the pocket knife, and wiped the rest of the oil off of the dipstick onto his finger then smeared it on that brand spanking new stone. Until I joined the Air Force and left home I used oil from the tractor's dipstick when sharpening my knife. Had to find an alternative after that as the USAF did not keep many tractors around in the 60's. I'm not recommending anything here, just passing on a fond memory which this thread brought to mind.

I don't know what is "right" or "wrong" but I have been using whet stones for over 50 years. As a honing fluid I have used spit, burnt motor oil, machine oil, honing oil whatever is handy. In spite of the fact that I may not have ever used an "acceptable" honing fluid I have always managed to have a shaving sharp blade on my pocket knives. There is no need to over think it, if the stone loads up a bit of dish washing detergent will clean it just fine, and the type of stone or fluid used has much less to do with the outcome than the experience and skill of the operator. Honing guides such as the Lansky system, etc. are tailor made for those who do not care to develop those skills, just as a digital camera comes to the rescue of those of us who are totally useless with a canvas, brush and paint...