sheathmaker

I have been buying from W&C for about the last five or six years. Their overall quality and consistency has been about average or maybe a little above. I use the drum dyed skirting sides and generally buy about 24 to 30 sides a year.. Their customer service as it relates to turn around time and inventory available has begun to slide rather dramatically. I place an order with RJF Leather who is a supporter of this site and I believe if his product is as good as I've heard I will continue with him and become an ex W&C customer. Paul

That might work okay IF the X line forms perfect right angles, but if it doesn't you will be off with each progressive impression a little more. I have had good luck with just a very light, (VERY LIGHT), VERY LIGHT, vertical line and then line up two of the legs exactly on that line, The next impression will give you three reference points, two on the line as before and the top legs of the previous impression and the bottom legs of this impression and so on. Once you get that full length base line in perfect then keep on doing the same thing very precisely until you have filled the area. Tilt your stamp near the border to 1/2 impression if necessary and the use a border tool of your choice.

The "nylon" push beveler from Springfield is nothing like the one you pictured. It fits into a swivel knife, has a fairly broad face and is very easy to learn to use on straights and curves. It's also relatively inexpensive (If you happen to have a spare swivel knife laying around). See photo above showing beveler mounted in the swivel knife and then the loose bevelers. Paul

I'm interested. pfl@cebridge.net Paul

Ray, I'd have to vote with Malabar on this one. It looks like A Gator belly cross section between the legs. Paul

You must get as much of that "fur" off the Elephant as you can on order to establish the best possible surface to surface bond for your contact cement. Elephant is usually a little too thick for a good inlay/overlay so skiving off the fuzz will have a dual benefit. Also if you skive near the edge on an overlay it will make the final edges look much better and will be much easier to finish uniformly. Paul

Art, I don't know where you got your information, but Artisan is a very long way from "done". Not sure about pursuing additional interests, but if they are it will be to the benefit of the Artisan brand. I have used Artisan products for about ten years now and have had !. problem free service from my machines, and 2. excellent, and outstanding customer service from Jerry Zonis and his entire staff and before that from Steve when he was still there. I do not have any financial stake in Artisan, nor am I connected with them in any way other than being a very satisfied customer. Just out of curiosity, Art, do you have any financial or other interest in Cobra? Spinner, I am sorry you didn't have what you consider a good experience with Artisan. Your experience surely does not reflect what I have always gotten from the Artisan group. I wish you the best with your new machine. Paul

Johnny B., I still haven't received any payments , nor have you answered my private messages. You did acknowledge receiving the beaver tails in this thread. Is there some other problem? Sorry for posting this in open forum, but your lack of response for and extended period leaves me little choice. Paul

Better check your outgoing mail, Johnny. I still haven't received anything from you. thanks. Paul

No problem, Johnny. I have the same memory problems. Paul

Morten, I talked with Jerry just a few moments ago and he said he had answered your email some time ago advising you that postage on one pack of needles would far exceed the value of the contents of the package, and advised you to buy the needles locally. Since his understanding that the order was for one (1) package of needles (10 needles) he felt his best service for you would be to advise you to buy locally. If that, in fact was the extent of the order, then I concur with his advise. Best Regards, Paul Long

There has to be more to this ! Artisan's customer service is some of the best anyone could imagine. Are you positive they even received your emails?? Any possibility your parcel could e stalled in your own customs division?? I will call Artisan on your behalf and alert them to this thread, then you might be able to communicate with them here. .....and yes, you should have given them a call. Paul Long (sheathmaker)

I have worked with Beaver tail quite a bit. I use it mostly for inlays on knife sheath front, but have made a few with full coverage. i bought about 120 tails a while back from a guy in Canada. These were all tanned at a big tannery in British Columbia. I would part with 15 or 20 of them if anyone in interested. Contact information is below in sig line. Paul

Thank you much! That information will keep me busy for a while! Paul

Good morning! I am looking for help and information concerning vacuum assisted wet molding holsters and knife sheaths. I need to start at ground zero because I know absolutely nothing about the process. What bags are used, material and source? Preferred vacuum source (shop vac, floor vac etc. and preferred power of the vacuum source)? If any specialized equipment is available, I would like to hear about that and the source. Just in general, I'm looking to learn everything the "collective" has to share by way of information, and I thank you in advance for any help rendered. Paul

Back when i was making a lot of high end head stalls, I used two layers of 7/8 oz. cemented flesh to flesh. The out come was a good sturdy hard working headstall that was lined and looked great either relatively plain or dressed up with braid and trim Paul.

Capgun, please don't take offense, but could it be you occasionally "short stroke" your Tippman? This could cause part of the problem you mentioned. That old pump handle has to be ALL the way up and ALL the way down. Nearly don't count. Good luck! Paul

You have a great surprise ahead of you if you think you can turn a hair inside tube inside out. Unless your fished strap is going to be about 6 inches wide , there is simply not enough room inside the strap to get a full reversal to inside out. Your best shot is to make a roll or tube with about 3/8 inch overlap, hair out, and the center the cemented seam on the back side of the flattened tube (the entire length of the inside of the tube could be cemented so when you finished pressing it flat, it stays that way.) and stitch full length down the center of the front side making sure to stitch the cemented seam in the process. No raw edges and the cemented seam will be on the back and mostly out of view. The very best advice you have been given by others is the make the strap out of veg. tan or chrome tan leather and forget the hair on thing. Paul

Acetone. available at your friendly Hardware store or Paint supply store. Takes dye off really quickly from human skin to hard surfaces of any type. Not good at all near or on plastics. Paul

Based on the information and photos you supplied, you have been grossly overcharged for that quantity of goods even if they were made of the very best materials in the world!.........................and finished to perfection. It sounds to me like (" well you've stepped in our poo and you don't like it, so we'll keep your money and show you this other pile of poo to step in free of charge") It's up to you, but I'd sure write them off for good if it was me. Paul

I would absolutely return them. End of story! Paul

My first .....and LAST experience with them goes back about 8 years and even back then they didn't give a hoot about pleasing or accomodating a customer.....................but it only took me one time to change my buying habits where they are concerned. Paul

Plus 1 for me, Bob. I agree with your post word for word. I have used the round knife for so long for 99% of ALL my cutting that I can hardly remember not using it, but having said that, I also agree that for others "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Use whatever you find to be the best for you....................but if you haven't been all the way around the learning curve with the round knife you just could be missing out on what I think is the easiest way. Paul

I think it depends on the class of the machine (asset) with regard to length of depreciation. This would be a good place to seek professional advice. Paul