Kodiak

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Without my daily fix, I chewed through a whole half hide of latigo.

Without seeing what this is, it is a little difficult to give an opinion. In woodworking, there is the good old dowling jig, that centers and squares your holes for drilling - can't see why it couldn't be used for a punch. The dowling jigs run from under $50 to about $100.

I REALLY appreciate everyone's responses. It was incredibly helpful I talked to Ellis Barnes today and ordered a set from him. What a guy. 85 years old and had to go to working "part time" because he just had a knee replacement. Good people.

Ken, Were you wearing a mask at the time of purchase? GREAT DEAL! I talked to the guys at Montana Leather - I noted that there was no tool listed that punched one pimple - they stopped at a series of 3 for all sizes. I told them you needed a one dotter to get into the smaller areas where a 3 series would not fit. I was told Barry King did not make one for only one dot. Seems kind of strange to me, but I scratched Barry King bargrounders off the list because of that. I tried calling the Hackbarth guys this afternoon, but got a busy signal all afternoon into early evening. Left a message with Bob Beard.

I'm having a heck of a time finding a decent set of bargrounders. Hackbarth used to make great sets. Just got off the phone with Hidecrafters and they tell me they have discoutinued carrying them. Any suggestions? Thanks Jim

Thank you, Clay! Jim

I was wondering if anyone had come across a decent resource for scroll patterns that engravers mostly use. The reason I ask is that I am planning to do a few rifle cases, and thought it would be a neat feature to offer scroll work that matched or was close to the rifle it held. Most rifle engravings are scroll designs, although there are a few that delve into flower motiffs. Thanks for your help. Jim

I watched this auction live on eBay. I'd agree that the leather tools went for a lot based on their condition. I talked to the folks running the auction beforehand - anything over 75 pounds had to be freight shipped. Minimum cost just to crate it up was over $100. The one thing I did weaken on was an old book press - iron and brass - with a brass wheel to screw the press down. Figured it would be a "cheap" version of a clicker press for small items and would be good for bigger impressions. It was made in the 1800's, so there are probably some book collectors out there that would brand me a heretic for using a vintage book press in such a manner.

Pretty enough to use on a Packers fan! I understand more than a few of them need strong leashes...

I have some old machinist polishing stones of all different shapes - round, round tapered, trialgle, square, etc. These do a heck of a job on small tools. You can usually pick them upm on eBay from time to time, or buy them new - if new, they are not cheap! Some of the woodworking sites have wet and dry stone set ups like the strop described above.

I've noticed that the airbrushes use fairly low powered compressors. Would I be able to use an existing compressor without having to buy another unit? Mine is a 4.5 gallon 200 PSI. Thanks

I love a challenge. The drum dye means the stuff was immeersed in a die then tumbled to get the dye to completely soak through. Thinking out loud here.... So, I probably need to see if I can get the oils and waxes out, at least as part of my mad leather experiment. Is there a product other than acetone that can be used for de-oiling and de-waxing? It is probably a given that the piece will need to be soaked in the dye - probably a non oil dye to start with. Then maybe a bath is some oil based dye. Beaverslayer - sorry to hear that. You could certainly liven up the road and those quaint biker bars. Have any customers in San Francisco?

I just got a very nice large piece of latigo at a low price. Good so far. The reason it was so cheap was the color - powder blue. It is a drum dyed Wickett Craig piece. Now unless someone like Beaverslayer steps up and tells me it would be ideal for his leather work (I rode a harley until a rather bad accident where I flew through the air about 20 feet, crashed through a traffic sign and landed ribs first on a concerte curb), I am looking for a way to change the color of the entire piece. I doubt my hunting buddies would flock to my door for a powder blue rifle case to take to Africa, with matching sling, of course. I have not tried to do this with a drum died piece of any leather, let alone latigo. Any advice? Thanks

You might want to give my ex a call and ask her if you can rub it on her legs

I found a non toxic chemical I have used for old gun parts and gunsmithing tools. It's called Evapo Rust. Put some in a pan. drop the tools in and wait a day. It takes all the rust off and also adds a coating to boot. You can keep reusing the same stuff until it stops working. I have used it on old tools, old gun parts, old reloading dies, and it works great. Last time I checked, the Auto Zone was supposed to start carrying it. I get mine from a place called The Rust Store! Jim