Oldtoolsniper

I'm with the arbor press crowd. I have three of them and they get used a lot. It's one of the tools harbor freight sells that works very well for leather working. I set my rivets and all my snaps with it, I use it to punch holes, I use it for stamping with the 1" stamps, I use it to make conchos, I use it to set my makers mark and the uses go on and on.. Get a press, chop off the rod and go to town with it.

Nice looking set.

I am inspired to give it a try, your work is impeccable!

I really, really want to wear that just walking around the neighborhood, or perhaps even to Walmart. It's MADD Max meets mid evil. Really nice work and the tip for building the pattern is first rate. I'm stealing it to make a hunting chest plate for my dog. Thank-you for sharing both.

I have six or seven, I prefer Iwata. I repaint old fishing lures. Think of an airbrush as an ink pen, some people have beautiful penmanship while others not so much. The pen does not make the penmanship. The paint makes a difference but different colors in the same brand will behave differently. The most important thing you can do is learn to clean it and keep it clean. I've run about everything you can think of through mine and have no fear of doing so because I can clean it. I use two part catalyzed clearcoat for cars to finish my lures. With a catalyzing finish there is no cleaning if you let it set up, the airbrush is ruined. Practice with Ink., food coloring, 50 Cent bottles of acrylic paint from the craft store. I use it to apply most stains to my leather. Don't be afraid to experiment with them. I prefer iwata because I can get parts for them locally, they also are resistant to solvents. They are also easy for me to keep clean since that's what I started with. I run mine off of three different compressors, two are big enough to run my framing nailer and roofing guns, the third powers a whole shop. My point is you don't have to buy only airbrush stuff to run one. Here is some examples.

Got into leather because of woodworking. learning to restore and sharpen all the old hand tools lead me to a need to have covers or sheaths for the edge tools. Friends pick them up and cut themselves. I figure if they took the sheath/cover off it and proceeded to cut themselves it's their fault. I sharpen my utility knife blades as I consider them dull out of the box.

Wicked welts, I'm with Monica on that don't use those blades as the are made specific to the profile of those planes. The wood ones are profile planes. The production ones are scrapers, etc, send me a pm and I'll get you in the right direction as far as what they are. Then you can go on Ebay and see what they sell for. I've been collecting and restoring planes for years. Plane blades that are worth $150 would be a rare and I do mean rare tool. Just get a standard plane blade and go to town learning. Don't rule out wood carving tools and chisels you can always reshape the handle. Start with the garage sale and flea market stuff. It's not wrecking it if you learn what not to do while attempting to do what you are doing!

See if your husband has an extra plane blade. It's the same as a skiving knife with no handle. Sharpen it and give it a shot. A woodworker can make a simple handle from the scrap box in minutes. Not pretty but very functional.

Monica, The blanchard knives are not High Speed Steel (HSS) that steel is used for drill bits, lathe tools and other applications where " High Speed" is used. That is where the name comes from. You can sharpen it with wet/dry sandpaper or most any stone however, since it's used in drill bits, lathe tools and other applications where precision counts a jig for maintaining the angle and a grinding wheel is the preferred method of sharpening. I own a blanchard skiving knife. This knife IS NOT HSS, in fact I can't imagine why anyone would manufacture a hand tool out of high speed steel unless it was for Edward Scissors Hands. How could you possibly wield it at high speed by hand? I sharpen the blanchard and 90% of my tools both leather and wood working with wet/dry sandpaper on 1/4" thick shelf glass. Google "Scary Sharp" method and you will find lots of detailed instructions. It's and easy way to get into super sharp tools for not a lot of cash outlay. The learning curve is relatively short and you really only need to learn sharpening, not stone flattening, reading Japanese for the water stones, cleaning up oily and watery messes and storing each type of system. Sandpaper fits in a file folder and the glass can go on a shelf. You mentioned your husband is a woodworker. He may already be set up with the scary sharp system. Take a look at any gouges he may have. They will cut leather as well as carve wood. Chisels and hand planes will work on leather too. I mention the carving tools because there are a gazillion types and shapes of them, there is a perfect corner rounder out there in any size and sweep you can imagine. Size is width and sweep is the curve. They are cheaper than most " leather tools". I get most of mine at flea markets and garage sales. Don't be afraid to grind a chisel into the shape you want. If it's a $1 yard sale chisel it's good to learn on.

If I had that skill set after a week there is no way she would be getting something I purchased. I'd be making her something from leather. That's one nice rig and a spectacular way to honor something your wife gave you.

That looks great.

Mark, No problems with the thread catching the spring at all. I ended up drilling two cross bolt holes in mine. I use mostly the lower one because that way the bottom end of the Rockler cam clamp is covered by my leg so the thread does not get under it either. I also used a carriage bolt and counter sunk it so the thread cannot catch on the other side. I post some pictures here in a few minutes.

One thing I did with mine that I built was to add a compression spring to the bolt shaft, that way when you release the cam lever it forces the clamp open.

That is a Marines dream mask! That is really cool! I need to make one so I can chase stray dogs out of the yard. I'm already the crazy guy at the street according to my neighbors.

Um I've never done anything I've " learned" from.. Go to the thrift store and find a dehydrator for a couple of bucks. Cut the plastic with an old soldering iron (outside) or a dremel tool and modify it to your hearts content. The round ones seem to be the easiest to find, that means as you find more you can stack them higher to get different temperatures. They are hotter lower and closer to the element.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer that. I'm going to order some and try it out!

Wow, that is really nice. What size thread did you use top and bottom? I'm asking because I have an Adler 30-1 that is pretty much the same machine. Any tips on using the thicker thread?

This is very good advice, I have a pancake holster on my bench to remind me to STOP and cut from both holes, I over cut and it only has one belt loop now. It really doesn't make a very good holster with only one belt loop holding it on, it's a dangeler holster now!

Very nice indeed.

Thanks for pointing those out. Do you see any advantage to the welded three way bolts over the bolt and eyebolt method? I have access to welding pretty much any type of metal so welding is not a problem for me. My question is more of how they fold up and store.

That is really a nice set up. Is there a common set of plans for these? Looks like they would be great for farm auctions, rifle ranges, campfires and the extra body that always show up.

The Blanchards will rust if not taken care of, most any cutting instrument will suffer the same fate if not taken care of.. Some collectors call it "Patina" and it sells for more money that way, to me it's just rust. Here are my Blanchards as shipped to me. I keep them waxed because they will rust. The edge that does the cutting is sharp and they don't stick in the leather but then I don't drive them through the leather either. As for the rest of the tool being polished to a mirror finish it is not. I'm not sure what the purpose other than how the tool looks polishing the entire thing would serve. It would bring the cost up and they are already costly enough. The cost will keep most folks diligent about taking care of them..

Here is the packaging and instruction sheet as shipped from goods Japan. The back of the sheet is blank.

Cowboy Bob from Toledo Sewing came up with some needles and a new servo motor to run the beast as well. I'm rebuilding a table top from an old singer industrial machine to fit this machine and my needs. Being a trapper I may as well learn to sew the furs as well. This is definitely a bizarre operating machine, it uses only one thread and it loops it around the hem or edge of the two furs being sewn. I'm not sure how you lock the stitch at the beginning and end but I'm sure after I get it all working I'll figure it out. I'm betting that way back then folks learned the trade as an apprentice, the manual just tells you how to adjust and thread the machine.

Monica, You even store your irons differently than I do. I'm stealing your idea and making a new case for mine. Thanks!