billybopp

@chrisash I see your point, however at this time @Rhale is mostly right when it comes to new tooling stamps for sale. Bob Beard and Wayne Jueschke both make hand-made tools with the price tags that go with that(WAY beyond my budget, so I can only speak to their reputation)! Barry King tools are semi-mass produced and still very good for the price. Sergey Nescromskey (spelling?) from Romania also makes good tools, and the ones that I have are good, but there are not many "traditional" tools in his catalog yet. The stamps out of Asia are mostly sub-standard by all accounts, but that may change in the future - they are catching up on other types of tools! In the past, there were some good tooling stamps coming from other places, but those are not available new anymore sadly. As for other types of leatherworking tools, there are few left anywhere that mass produce with decent quality. The best right now come from those that hand-make these tools, and most of the world is represented with these! The old mass-producers are mostly gone, and those that remain are a shadow of what they once were in terms of quality (in particular thinking of CS Osborne in the US, and Vergez-Blanchard in France). PS - If you ARE going to purchase tooling stamps from Barry King or Sergey Nescromskey - be sure to use the links at the top of the page and give Leatherworker.net some love! Also, if you're interested in used stamps check out Bruce Johnson's banner ad above as well! - Bill

It's my understanding that in general, the oldest Tandy / Craftool - the ones with just a number and no letter are the best. From the 1950's & 60's are best. In the 70's and at least most of the 80s when they started adding the letters, they were still good. It's mostly in the 90's on that they started to decline significantly. Until recently, modern Craftools were considered bottom of the barrel - but over the last few years with Chinese tools that bend the first time you hit them the Craftools are starting to seem a little less junky! When thinking about tools, consider that the quality of some is much more important than others! Things like basketweave and geometric stamps that REALLY have to line up correctly are more fussy than some others - so keep that in mind! Your tools should be just fine - but in time you may find that you want to upgrade some of them - the ones that are most critical and the ones that you use most! - Bill

Basket weave stamps need to line up precisely, so quality makes a difference there. Barry King makes some nice basketweave stamps. Not cheap, not super expensive, but worth what you pay. Tandy is not up to snuff, nor are the Chinese stamps. - Bill

I'd be up for giving a try! Thank you! - Bill

Looks good, as always! And totally recognizable as your style! - Bill

This may help - not great quality, tho. Singer 16 Manual.pdf

Good to know! I had heard long ago that they were not usually returned. I wonder if they were returned in more urban settings, and not so much rural. It would be pretty expensive to return them empty via train or wagon. Either way, the staves would make a very serviceable stitching pony! - Bill

I haven't heard of using barrel staves to make a pony before, but it makes sense. Barrels were used to ship just about any and everything at one time, and they were essentially disposable in much the way that shipping pallets are today. Many of today's woodworkers use pallet wood to make utility items for their shop if they have access to pallets. If you look around, you may still be able to purchase wine barrels - some home improvement stores and plant nurseries sell them cut in half as planters. - Bill

You're a good man, Ferg. - Bill

You could always get some self-adhesive cork and add that in yourself - that's what I've done for my long straight edge. I don't remember how much I paid for a 1"wide roll , but it wasn't terribly pricey. - Bill

Seems to me that a leatherworker oughtta find a nice wooden stool just under the right height at a yard sale, some foam padding, and some veg-tanned leather to tool up 'n make it look nice. - Bill

To a large extent, edgers are a matter of personal preference and suitability to the task, with the same caveats that go with any cutting tool on taking and holding an edge. My older Tandy craftool edgers seem to hold an edge better than the newer ones, but I do have a full set of them so they're useful for when I need an out of the ordinary size. I bought a couple of new CSOsborne bissonnette edgers to try out. I liked that they can be used on both push and pull strokes, but haven't had much luck with them, probably because I can't quite get a handle on how to sharpen them! My current go-to is an antique Osborne #1 common edger. For sharpening, I have some small files to use when they need a lot of work, but mostly use bits of leather or round leather cording (depend on the shape of the edge needed) glued to a board. One set of those have some heavy duty compound on them (brown tripoli), and another set with on which I use a lighter compound (green) for stropping. For sure make a strop! They make all the difference in quickly "touching up" your cutting edges. You'll need to do a full on sharpening far less often if using a strop. The first strops that I made were fairly small, and I still use those for small blades like my swivel knife. I have a much larger strop of a couple of feet length that I use for larger blades, allowing me to take a larger pass at it. Much faster! I often use my leather strop to touch up kitchen knives, pocket knives, disposable utility blades, and just about everything else with an edge - Very handy! - Bill

Bruce Johnson has a few of these with blades intact ... https://brucejohnsonleather.com/leather-tools-sale/shoe-boot-making-tools/ - Bill

That is a channel groover. It is used by cobblers / cordwainers to cut a slit in the sole of a shoe at an angle. The "flap" of that slit is lifted up and sole sewn on with thread lying in that channel. The "flap" is then glued back down over the stitches to make a smooth surface. That one looks to be missing its blade, which seems to be a very common with these. - Bill

ROFL - That's one kind of brayer. A brayer is nothing more than a tool with a wide roller on it. They are used to roll stuff down, put ink on a woodcut, or even press down adhesive tapes in construction - although they call it a J roller. - Bill

Thanks for the info! I have yet to make a ranger belt, but it's on my mind to try one. Again, love it! - Bill

I do not cut a groove and only use mine anymore as a creaser, but grooved can be sharpened by putting some polishing compound on a toothpick and twirling it in the hole, and also working the outside of the cutting edge on a stone or strop. - Bill

Synthetic threads like nylon and polyester generally do not dye well. Waxed even less so. - Bill

Looks really good. As stated above sometimes simple is as nice as, and harder than fancy. Every flaw shows on simple. How wide is that belt? - Bill

SLC did a youtube vid awhile ago which showed how they collect their leather scraps - they keep them in BIG carts - something like a hotel dirty laundry cart. I'd suspect that what you got came from the bottom of the cart, and the dents and scratches that you see are from the weight of all that leather atop. There's no way to know for sure, but that's my theory and I'll stick to it! Nevertheless it'll be good for practice, and as stated above - put those flaws to use to your advantage exercising your creativity! - Bill

Take a look at the banner ads at the top of the page here for Toledo Industrial Machines, they are a site sponsor for LWN. Or a direct link is https://www.tolindsewmach.com/cowboy-outlaw.html priced at 1395.00 ... Cowboy Bob is on here frequently, and from all indications provides fantastic support to his customers. - Bill

Here are a few pictures and some measurements that may be helpful for you. I have two antique knives that I use, both 100+ years old. The larger is a Gomph, and the smaller a CS Osborne Newark. They are both a bit over 1.5mm near the ferrule, and a little under 1mm at around 10mm from the cutting edge. They both have their advantages. The Gomph works a little better for long straight-ish cuts, and the Osborne works a little better doing curves using the tip of the blade. As for sharpening, a V grind or Convex is going to be the way to go. V grind will probably be easier for you to maintain using stones. A convex edge is fine, but a slack belt sander would make re-doing your edge easier if that ever needs to be done. I use an angle of about 15 to 17 degrees on each side, yielding an angle of 30 to 35 degrees for the overall edge.

@dangerous beans ..... What say you?? Tell us more! - Bill

It sounds weird, but leather thickness is traditionally measured in ounces, and still is in the US and many other places. 1 ounce is 1/64 inch, so an 8oz leather is 1/8 inches thick. In other areas of the world thickness is measured in mm - (and square feet in area still - go figure). Even when using metric, one still asks about the thickness by asking what weight. Weird, right? Thankfully most of the other measuring systems are no longer used (Irons, anybody)? - Bill