Bitta

Anybody know about this small one? Don't wanna order from China if I can get it here!! http://www.leathercraftpattern.com/cowboy890-leather-paring-device-kit?search=free&page=3 I have a 9" bench mount for larger/heavier stuff...

Found this link to purchase "shrunken calf"...http://www.fineleatherworking.com/shrunken-calf Don't know if it's exactly what you're looking for, but might be similar.

I have a couple of the large cutting mats by Olfa and Fiskars. You can find them in fabric/craft stores and even Wal-Mart and Amazon They are kinda pricey, but they are great if you cut with rotary cutters or knives versus using shears. they kinda self-heal, but will wear out eventually over time, but you will definitely get your money's worth out of them. Just be very careful using adhesives on them, because of the texture of the surface, adhesives REALLY like them and don't wanna come off very easily. They don't like heat, especially irons and heat guns, and will get all warpy and curl up. My big one is 36" x 48"...they market the big ones to quilters. The measurements are really handy as well. For punches, the poly cutting boards...maybe 1/2" thick or so work great. Just like they protect your good knife blades, they also protect your punches. Don't worry when the punch drives into the plastic a little...that's what it's supposed to do. They have a good long lifespan as well even when they get a little ugly. Thanks for the slang lesson! That link is great...will check out a dead blow hammer and see if I like the feel. I like the replaceable end pieces - I wouldn't sweat dinging them up knowing I can swap them out. I kinda baby my nice maul, Thanks for that!

I have a heavy wood work bench set up and I cut leather on a cutting mat, punch into a poly board with a ball peen hammer, tool/stamp on a granite slab with a poly maul or rawhide mallet and set hardware on 3/4" plate steel with a ball peen hammer. That's just the way I was taught. I've recently who use other various work surface combinations and configurations. I was taught that the granite could break with the right strike in the wrong place and dings and pits in the granite from setting hardware on it could effect the outcome of your tooling, so it needed to be reserved solely for tooling. I use hammers on punches because by the time they are mushrooming on the striking end, they are probably getting dull enough to replace anyway and for setting hardware to get a solid strike. I cringed the other day watching a guy try to put a 1/2 dull punch through belt leather into a 1/4" rubber mat while making divots in his $100 Stohlman poly maul all the while. He had his way and it was his tool. I know we all have our own ways of doing things, but was looking for some outside opinions as I'm teaching 101 classes at our local makerspace. I don't want to be overly stringent in what I tell them, as I'm not the only leatherworking instructor, but I dont want them trashing tools, wasting hardware with needlessly bad sets, or breaking our slabs. What kind of work surface set ups do y'all use for tooling, puching and setting hardware and what are your thoughts on using hammers vs. mallets with some tools.

Not in my experience as a bootblack...BUT...are you talking about thati liquid stuff with the sponge top applicator as shoe polish? I only use that stuff on car windows, lol. In bootblacking, we refer to dyes/stains, polish which is cream polish, grease and wax. The type of leather determines which products are used i.e. oil tan vs. high shine. Typically, bootblacks are working on leather (boots, garments, bags & misc.) that people care about and want to last. You won't find anything in my kit claiming to be instant anything although most products even the dreaded parade gloss and sno-seal have their place, they ate damaging to the Leather over time as some of their chemical agents will saturate & seal off the pores of the leather and they are a pain to strip off. Yes, bootblacks strip and re-dye items as needed to keep the accumulation of wax from making the leather less supple or discoloring the leather over time. Bootblacking, like my leatherworking is a craft and an artform. Products are used in synergy to condition & protect the leather, make it look great and last for generations. But there is no shoe polish or boot polish per se except on the manufacturers packaging. Just look at how many different labels Pecard's has come up with for the same formula of their original dressing. Marketing schmarketing, but they admit it if you ask...they added black dye to the motorcycle line...that's it. If you wanna put that white liquid shoe polish on sneakers, knock yourself out, but if you wanna do justice by your good boots, drop me a line and I'll get you going!

Well lemme get the egg off my face...wow. Sigh, so they are all made in China? That sure knocks the wind out of my sails in justifying the price tags. But, it is what it is and if Chinese steel is all we've got to work with, I can only hope the level of service and attention I've seen and heard about on here from CobraSteve and CowboyBob remain steady. All we can ask is that they stand behind their product. Guess that knocks the Techsew out of the picture.

The Cobra and Techsew big packages offer similar capacities and attachments other than the Techsew having the laser guide and coming with EPS. Are there any other significant differences? I know Cobra is all American made, but don't know about Techsew. I don't know if Cowboy offers an everything and the kitchen sink pkg or not, but would certainly entertain it as another American made option. Decisions decisions...

The High Tech 4 3/4 inch model https://www.tandyleather.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/3790-00.aspx $180 elite price.

Tandy just put their older model Pro Splitter (modeled after an Osborne #84) on the Outlet website for $249.99 online sales only and sporting a suggested retail price of $899. They came out with two newer ones. A 4 3/4 inch "High Tech" model and a 6 inch model with the fancy new Craftool Pro black rubber handle. Can anyone attest to improvements in these new models or is the older model a better deal? The older Pro Splitter is an 8 inch and comes with an extra blade. http://www.tandyleatheroutlet.com/p-383-pro-splitter-wextra-blade.aspx The new Procraft Deluxe Splitter https://www.tandyleather.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/3795-00.aspx $385 elite price.

Found this video/slideshow for using a push pin jig to make them. Worked out great for the beginners! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeW9l3FGzEM. The video shows using paracord, but we used leather lace with no problem.