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Kevin

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Everything posted by Kevin

  1. Kevin

    Skiver

    Are you looking for a splitter, a bell skiver, or a piece of leather called a skiver? Kevin
  2. 56 here, but most of the time I feel like I'm 13. I think if you don't have kids, you don't have an age pespective. We had a 25 y.o. working in the shop and my boss who is 63 and I both felt we should call the girl's parents Mr. and Mrs., when in reality they were our age. Whoever gets out of that car next and comes in the door is my real boss, whether it's a 16 year old with a pierced tongue or the president of the O.A.S., and I try to treat them the same. Kevin
  3. OK, I think I have found the solution, Southstar Supplies says he has 5 of the 8 guards I need and is calling around to see if he can find the other 3. They are cheap (7.50 each) and plastic, so you can easily modify them for your exact application. Now I just have to find a way to cover the belts on an old Landis line finisher. Kevin
  4. Well yesterday our Workers Comp coverage carrier came for a little inspection and after thirty years, feels we need to have belt guards on all our sewing machines. Are these available somewhere or am I going to have to make them? His main concern is where the belt comes onto the hand wheel in back. I think I've seen little small guards for that on a machine before, but how was it attatched? Drill and tap the casting? Many thanks for any leads, Kevin
  5. Hi James, I haven't made one but I have given it some thought. Depending on the size you want to make, I think some 1/8"x3/4" steel would be OK, with rivets for pivots. For me, it's the hardware that really sets those old bags apart, the locks themselves are a work of art. I've only seen a couple of new bags and they just had straps like a tool bag. Make one please, Good luck, Kevin
  6. I would use a piece of vegetable tanned leather because it can be molded and hold the shape after it dries. Make a male and female mold and use a clamp to apply the pressure and leave it alone until it is dry. The hard part for me is leaving it alone, I have to check and see how it's doing every five minutes. Good luck, Kevin
  7. I don't mean to be an A hole here, but by the time you take the halters apart, pick out the old stitches and put them back together, you could have just as easily and cheaply made new halters. Kevin
  8. That is nice, I have a Blanchard and a Don Carlos, but they aren't quite as curvey and sexy as your's. Is that inside curve sharpened or just tapered? My Blanchard (old) is sharpened, but my Don Carlos (new) is just tapered. Since they are sort of similar to the knife in a plough guage, I've always ASSUMED, but of course never actually tried, it is to straighten an edge. If you could control it, that point would cut a pretty sharp curve. Maybe it's not even for leather work, who among us hasn't tried a linoleum knife only to find you can't even get it sharp, much less cut anything with it? I hope someone has some answers, I only have guesses. Kevin A friend of mine has a 12" round knife, what is that for?
  9. Another possibility is the alignment of the blade over the roller. Too far forward, the leather just goes under the blade, too far back it will cut right through it. I think I got that right. Don't get frustrated, Kevin
  10. Kevin

    Byler Punchs

    I forgot, I used to see them on Ebay sometimes, but I don't look much anymore. Kevin
  11. Kevin

    Byler Punchs

    Hey Andrew, I have the English end punches and bag punches, they are much better than Osborne's. I ordered them from a guy at the show in Sheridan a few years ago, but I've had a fire since then and don't remember who he was. I think the guy was from Tenn., but he was selling them for someone else. Chuck has bought some since then I think, so call him and maybe he remembers. Did you get your Union Lock running? Good Luck, Kevin
  12. I think he's saying he likes The Horse (Back Street Choppers), But the bodacious girls get in the way of actually seeing the bikes. Kevin
  13. In over 30 years of handstitching, I have never seen stitching improved by using an overstitch wheel. I have a friend that insists all stitching must be hammered afterwards, to my way of thinking, that compresses the leather and leaves you with loose thread. The only time I use a groover is when I'm restitching someone else's mess and the stitches are too big to pull down into the leather (machine stitching). Of course, I am oversimplefying and generalizing, Kevin
  14. Ask 20 people and you will get 20 different answers. I recommend a thin oil like Flexalan and glycerine saddle soap. The second thing is, you have to actually use the saddle and break it in. All the oil in the world is just going to give you an oily saddle. Someone came in the shop last week and wanted us to "roll" her saddle, it might help, but I'm not doing it. Remember, leather is just like your skin, if its dry moisturize, otherwise just keep it clean. Good luck, Kevin PS The Chronicle is at the end of the street I work on. My boss' mother was editor in the fifties and very early sixties I believe.
  15. The cost of your material plus shipping plus 33% (for waste), then double that figure, is a pretty safe formula I think. For your materials. You have to charge for your time, those "little accents" take a lot of time. Add that to whatever you charge for your basic piece. They're not scraps 'til the trashman takes them away. Kevin
  16. OK I guess I'll make a stab at this. It depends on the creaser. Mostly they are used to put a crease on the edge of a strap instead of cutting a line with a swivel knife. Here in the US, a single crease, also known as a tickler, is used all over the place and I can't begin to explain it except, yes it is like a bone folder, only on steroids, because you can get so much more leverage and exert a lot more pressure than with a run of the mill bone folder. I want to say it is as basic as a pencil, but also as complicated and useful as a pencil. You could make a straight line or you could create a work of art with one, although I've never seen it done. Well, that's quite a load, but maybe its a start, Kevin
  17. What do you mean by heavy duty industrial rivets? Kevin
  18. When I used to do seats and skirts, sometimes I had to turn the seam with pliers before I could use the seam turner. I don't know if I didn't skive the skirt enough or didn't get it wet enough, but it was pretty tough to get it turned the way I wanted it sometimes. Every once in a while when I was putting the seat back on the tree, I'd feel the seam working back up under the seat and have to take it off and work it some more. Don't get too frustrated if you have trouble just keep at it and you'll get it. New seats were my favorite part of working on saddles. Kevin
  19. Osborne makes a single tube punch on a frame like a rotary punch. It is a TL153 with either a size 9 or 10 punch tube. Siegel had it in their 2004 catalog, maybe they still have them. Kevin
  20. Irons indicate the thickness of the soles not size. If you are doing leather soles you can cut them to size, but some specialty soles need to be somewhere close to size or you lose some of the design. Here in VA, because of the damp weather, I used ribbed soles and brass tacks instead of pegs, next time it will be soles with siping like deck shoes, which I have seen in tan. I don't know for sure, but AGS, Cudas in Ashland VA probably has the pegs, they've been around long enough I've gotten hog bristles from them. Good luck, have fun, Kevin
  21. Kevin

    Briefcase Locks

    You may also need a spacer under the lock to bring it up to the height of the hasp because the replacement lock may not be as thick as the original. At least that's the experience I've had with some old Brooks Bros. cases. Kevin
  22. I am just running my mouth here, but I think the problem is "oil finish", which to me means it will bleed 'til the oil is gone. Call the tanner or seller and ask them if they have any ideas. Kevin
  23. I don't know anything about it, but we have it done all the time on chap leather 4/5 oz. The leather just has to be big enough they can get it on a hoop. Kevin
  24. This is a pet peeve with me. So the hook of the snap doesn't rub the horse's face or worse yet, dig into it. I just repaired about thirty Tues. and already have another ten, so I do see a lot of halters and I would say 75% are crap. Whew, I wrote a bunch more, but I digressed, so I deleted it. Nice job, Kevin
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