Johanna

Rick Reed Treemaker 88 Burma Road Riverton, WY 82501 307-856-4383

Greg, if money were no object, you'd need one of everybody's. It's Fords and Chevys, wine and women- some are better than others, some are just different. It would be great if you could get to a trade show and look at them, hold, them, tap a little. You may want different tools by different makers depending on your style of working and the look you want to get. It's hard to say "better", impossible to say "best". They all do certain things very well, which is why their tools cost more than Tandy tools. The Hidecrafters tools were made in Japan by a company named Kyoshe Elle (I may have spelled that wrong!) if I am remembering correctly. George Hurst liked the quality, and the price was still less than the individual makers. I remember those tools as leaving very crisp impressions, but on a whole they were smaller than some of the comparable Tandy tools. Maybe somebone with a better memory than mine can fill in the details? That said, I have seen Jim Linnell, Tony Laier, Karla Van Horne and others randomly pull tools off the rack of whatever Tandy store they are visiting and create precise and beautiful works of art. Go figure. Johanna

{{Beaverslayer}} Great looking stool- glad you haven't lost your touch! Glad to see you again! ~J

Tom- I don't know why you are getting that error. No one else has reported a problem. Try clearing your board cookies (front page, towards the bottom on the right) and reboot. If that doesn't work, I'll reset your account. Johanna

Hah! No coffee pot and no radio- and you call that a shop! Looks great, Bruce. There will be an inspection next month to see if everything is still orderly and neat. ~J

Just got an email from Tandy- the Pro Tool Kit is on sale now, and they are offering free shipping! This has everything you need to get started: Tell your Tandy Manager LW sent you! Johanna

A new fan for a desktop is less than $7, and I have seen people fry their several hundred dollar processors because they didn't replace a fan they could HEAR was going bad. Changing a fan in a laptop is a little more complicated, but it still boils down to a screwdriver and some heat sink. It's a cheap investment if the computer is important to you. Johanna

Can you borrow the person's old one to use as a template? Ask him what he likes and doesn't like about the old one, and take note of how it attaches to his guitar. Remember a right hand strap can be a left handed strap if you just flip it over and trace upside down. Johanna

The day would not be complete without Arlo Guthrie... You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant Walk right in, it's around the back, just a half a mile from the railroad track You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant

I was married to two leather tool junkies, and I know the problem well. I remember being a Tandy Manager and watching the guys pull the money out from behind the kids' pics in their wallets, and slipping the bags into other bags and hiding them in their trucks before their wives returned from the mall. Tool junkies exist in many forms- just the other day we received a True Value sales flyer and coupon in the mail, and my husband did a flying leap across the room and caught it before it hit the trash..."What are you doing, woman? That's from The Hardware Store!" I just roll my eyes and carry on. I'm clean, kids, sorry about your luck. You have been bitten by the leather bug, and there is no cure. But there are more tools...tools you don't have. Tools you might want. Welcome to Leather Land- you can never have to many tools or hides. Ever. ~J

Nothing is wrong with you. This is perfectly normal leatherworker behavior. Most of you are tool junkies. There is no cure. You need to work hard so you can buy more tools. Check out the knives Pabloz makes- http://leatherwranglers.com Johanna

Discontinued as in they aren't making it any more or discontinued as in Tandy isn't carrying it? I can't imagine working without it! Johanna

Gave me a cold chill. Looks a lot like my first husband, the old man who dragged me kicking and screaming into leather land in the first place, Jon Alger. Would make a neat leather carving or tattoo, the Leather Wizard. Johanna

Ahem. Alan, we are missing Bob Marley quotes here. I can't believe you ran out! Waaaaahhhh! I want 'em back! ~J

can you send the image to me, Harvey? I can reverse it and send it back quicker than I can explain it. admin@leatherworker.net

The machine Artisan brought to demo at the IFoLG show had one of those lights, and it made quite a difference to me, even in the brightly lit vendor room. I am finding that the older I get, the more light I require to see clearly. Twenty years ago the light wouldn't have made much of an impression on me, but it made huge difference for me when they let me try out their machine. It really helps me to be able to see where I'm going, and between the light and the servo motor, I think I could sew anything on that machine comfortably. Johanna

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...amp;hl=nintendo Here are a couple of ideas. The box worked out really well, better than I thought it would. I use Kraft paper for patterns. If I make a mistake or want to change something, I just throw that scrap away and start over. Johanna

Allan Scheiderer graciously invited me to his home in Marysville, Ohio to let me take pictures of his work and talk about leather. Allan started doing leatherwork the year before I was born, when he received a Tandy starter kit for Christmas. He showed me his first couple of projects. He is currently serving as the president of the Buckeye Leathercrafters Guild of Central Ohio (BLCO), the guild that hosted this year's IFoLG show. His passion for his leatherwork has earned him many ribbons and awards over the years. He has several Doodle Pages, catalog covers and other accolades to be proud of, but he is first and foremost a teacher. Allan teaches youth groups or individuals- anyone who wants to learn. He is a modest, quiet sort of fellow, not the kind to toot his own horn. If he wanted to, he could have a brass band. Here are a few pics of his leather library: including a complete collection of old leather magazines... and his shop Oh, I took a bunch of pictures- he has made many beautiful things- I love his geometric patterns (We Germans just love precision and symmetry!) and I am updating his website (no, it's not done yet!) He is retired now, but still works hard in his shop. I'm going to do another post in "Marketing" detailing "how to run a successful leather business" because he's doing everything right, from his brag book of pics of his past work to his displays and more. But I just wanted to introduce you today to one of our own, a leatherworker who was bitten by the bug and has never stopped learning, stretching and passing it on. Thank you, Allan, for being such a kind host and showing me all the neat things in your collection. I had a lot of fun, and now I have lots of pics to share. I hope they inspire some of you to think "out of the box" like Allan. Johanna

I had one of David's seats in the back of our old Honda during a torrential downpour near Pensacola, Florida, on our way to the 2007 IFoLG show in Ft. Worth. Everything in the back of the car was soaked- I'm talking wringing wet. When the rain stopped, I looked at the wet seat with horror, "Oh, no! What have we done?" Put the seat in the drier part of the car. Got to Texas, submitted the seat, and it took a blue ribbon. You couldn't tell that it had taken a bath in the Panhandle. So whatever it is David does to the seats, I have no doubt that they hold up just fine in the weather. Just had to tell that story. Johanna

I use a thonging chisel to punch the holes. You put the last tine in the last hole you punched and everything stays even. I use a chisel one size smaller than the lace I plan to use. I like it to look tight- and I don't want to see any light through it. I personally can't stand two pronged needles- some people swear by them. I like the Life Eyes (tubular brass) and I sharpen them. The trick to lacing is never let go of your needle(s). You want to keep the lace from getting twisted. If you do get a twist, take the needle off and use a modeling tool or a fid to yank it out. Double up going around corners for an even look. Always start and finish in the back of a project, even though if you do it right, you will never be able to tell where you started and stopped. It is better to splice than it is to drag too much lace through the holes. Too many passes through the holes will make the lacing ragged on the edges. A good rule of thumb is to hold the spool and pull off enough lace equal to a little but longer than your arm. When you are finished, beat it down with a smooth cobblers hammer or the butt of your mallet on your stone. Hope this helps a little, Johanna

I'm not a horse person, but this doesn't seem like a fair way to compare trees because a truck running over a tree does not provide the same stresses a tree would be subject to in real life situations. My mom's car weighs several tons less than my truck, and in an accident, she is more likely to be injured than I am because her car sits lower than my truck. However, she gets double or triple the gas mileage that I do. So is my truck "better" than her car because I am less likely to be killed? You can't compare apples and oranges. JMO- YMMV Johanna

Ferret! Hey you won! Whoo-hoo!!! ~J

It may not be illegal to use someone's design without their permisssion, but I would ask anyway, if for no other reason than to be polite. I've seen friendships ruined because of someone using a design without having the courtesy to ask. Johanna

A smart alec told me that they are called possibles because getting by without them is "impossible". Just a possibility. Johanna

Great topic and list, Harvey! Those of you who love a leatherworker can never go wrong with a gift certificate either. Leatherworkers get giddy with gift certificates. Kids in a candy store...tool junkies, almost every one of you. Johanna (former Tandy Manager)