Tex Shooter

OK, Lets say you have a large number pocket knives, but don't know if the market is cowboys, truck drivers, woodworkers, fishermen, plumbers, tinkerers, craftsman, carvers, fireman and etc., so you sell a few of these knives cheap and see who buys them! Another way to use a lost leader sales technique is if you a very large number of items such as a banana or leather product that is not very popular, you can sell a few of them very cheap to several sales areas to spike a interest in them. You might use this where there are areas that don't use the the item at all just because it had never been introduced there. When I used these techniques, it was usually in conjunction with another sales technique.

This trade is no longer available!

I have 300 plated steel tubular rivets to trade. I have 3/8 inch overall tall rivets and want 1/4 inch tall ones. So there is no confusion I am showing a picture of the two rivets. The one's like I want are shown on the left.

I am not a very great stitcher, but I don't do any machine sewing as i use hand stitching for therapeutic value. If I can hand stitch this thin super soft stretchy bison ( like Deer skin or Elk ) I think that with a little practice any body can. Here is a picture of a piece that I saddle stitched this morning on the pony! You have to use a little less stitch pressure and more back stitching. I also knot the last double stitch. This leather is super strong, which is surprising given how soft it is. It easily stretches in all directions. I think that soft splits pose about the same problem, but I believe are a little easier to hand stitch. Hope this helps.

I glue before awl punching and keep the sewing line close to the pony. I even sew thin very soft top grain bison leather with decent results.

I poked myself with my awl a couple of days ago in the top of my thumb. I still don't know or can not explain how I did that. -- Tex

I am 77 years old and have lots of arthritis and it actually helps mine. Hurts when I am doing it, but helps the pain every day. I have found that using any part of my body, but not too much at a time actually help me stay mobile and able to do things. -- Tex

I hand stitch only because for me it is therapeutic. -- Tex

I laid mine out on card stock and sent it via snail mail. -- Tex

I want to take this opportunity to say something about the dies that Texas Custom Dies make and sell. I have several of there dies and are very happy with them. They are accurate, sharp and strong! I have one of there dies that has made thousands of clicks (I sell this product 500 at a time) and is still very sharp and clicks a perfect item. If you have a need for a clicker die, they are a fine company and you will not go wrong with them. -- Tex

What can I say, well simple, beautiful, and very top craftsmanship. -- Tex

A lot of people want to sew leather for a project or two, but don't want to spend a lot of money. "Springfield Leather" a advertiser on this forum sells a waxed thread kit with needles for $3.99 and a stitching awl for $11.50. These and a couple of things around the house like a sharp knife, a little glue, a ball point pen, a ruler and a board will work fine. With these items you can make a good looking project by hand saddle stitching. Cut your pattern on the board with the sharp knife (you may have to resharpen it a couple of times). Fold and glue the edges of the pattern together. Using the ruler and the ball point pen mark out a stitching line. (you might have to use lid tops also if the pattern has curves). Make marks along the stitching line for stitch spacing. With the pattern on the board use the awl for pricking holes at about 30 degrees from the edge. I tap the awl to do this with a small piece of wood, but don't try to make the tip go through more than about 1/16 of a inch. When this is done lift the pattern up and push the awl through each pricked hole, being careful to maintain the angle and not sticking your finger. Now you are ready to saddle stitch. You can use something to hold the leather to make the stitching easier, but I have doe it several times without anything while showing how it is done. Here is a sample of saddle stitching this way. -- Tex

Ya-all enjoy now, yea hear. -- Tex

A nice older Schrade knife also. -- Tex

If it is a diamond awl I have a idea that it is not sharp enough. -- Tex

I make and sell these slingshot holsters from my rough belly scrap. -- Tex

I can not talk about a hammer die, but I have a Texas Custom Die that has cut thousands of parts and is still sharp. I use it on a Lucris press. -- Tex

I stitch toward myself and also away from myself. I insert one needle through, while holding the thread tight on that side, I insert the other needle through and poll both threads tight. I have found that the height that I hold the tight thread while inserting the second needle makes a big difference in how the stitch looks, both front and back. Also I like to reverse the insert order of the needles when going the opposite direction. -- Tex

I make formed items and sometimes I get leather that does not want to take on water. When this happens I use a drop of liquid soap as a wetting agent in hot water and this usually works. I rinse the leather with clear hot water before proceeding. -- Tex

You can power sand the edges with a fast sander if you have a real light touch. Then you can put a bees wax finish on them. -- Tex

I don't have a web site. I started selling plain knife sheaths when was working as a knife wholesale rep. My customers a have been my customers for many years and I don't need a site. I sell the small sheaths mostly in person and my customers pick what they want out of the stock that I carry. I also sell some at close by trade and gun shows. Most o9f my customers want nothing but hand saddle stitched items. Most of my sheaths sell for under $10 wholesale. -- Tex

That is a great buy. It is still set up for paper, but that is no problem. -- Tex

Depends on what you are going to use it for, small or large parts to start. I make small parts with a Lucris and would not trade it for any other manual press for that purpose. The largest part that I click has about 22 inches of cutting edge and the Lucris handles it fine. Most of the parts that I make have less than 12 inches of cutting edge and I can make about 250 parts a hour with these dies. If you will be making parts with 25 inches cutting edges and up a shop press would be go for short run production parts and a hydraulic swing arm press would be best for larger production runs. -- Tex

I have stitched with linen also and for most app's it is a nice stitching thread. I have on occasion had linen fray when stitching a very tight stitch. I do like the Tiger thread but what David says can happen, but I have little trouble with it doing that. As you can see from my pictures, I don't try real hard to get a very perfect stitch because of the price point that I sell these sheaths. They are just a way of getting rid of my scrap leather (usually belly) that I don't use in my main products. Also my wife passed in February and hand stitching gives me something to do to keep my mind off of my loss. I will be with her again someday though. -- Tex

I get rid of my scrap chrome tanned leather by making simple friction folding knife sheaths with it. Here are two made with some 5 OZ belly top grain.shown with a vintage 3 1/2 inch KA-BAR advertising knife. Wish they still gave away this quality of knife for advertisement. The sheath on the left is stitched with Springfield Leather twisted poly and the sheath on the right is stitched with ! mm Tiger thread. I remove excess wax and flatten the twisted poly before stitching with it. I find that it pulls easier after I do this. I sell these little sheaths wholesale very cheaply and don't do much finish on them for that reason. You can see the differences in the way that the two threads look when done. -- Tex