Greywolf

I have the Bob Klenda model and love it and I also got a draw gage knife blade from Terry and it is incredible. They are expensive but way well worth it!

The reason the Craftool pro line is so expensive is because they are made of stainless steel. Consider grinding the top flat where you strike your mallet as you will get even better and crisper impressions. This was a tip I found in one of the Facebook posts.

Tandy calls it an iron cross basket weave stamp. A lot of motorcyclists love it.

I believe this is more of a Geo stamp than a basket weave. Each Geo stamp has a pattern it works as, I have many of this line, but not this one yet, but what I do before I use it is I take a piece of scrap and I experiment with it using various positions until I find one that is pleasing to my eye. Good luck!

Sorry the deer Hyde is too soft, veg tanned leather or the veg tanneds that have stuff added to it like Latino and harness leathers.

Are you talking about Craftool pro line from Tandy?

Something that came out on a fb post was that the Craftool pro line tools are domed so the tool doesn't get a good impression as it could. The solution to these and the regular Craftool line is grind the top flat, I hope this helps.

Embossing machines and there rolls are hard to get now, Amazon is where I got mine, eBay and Craig's list might help, Good luck!

My Tandy manager said that they pulled there's off because of a lawsuit involving Tippman Boss, why I don't know but they recalled that machine and the rolls, I bought a number of rolls because I have the original "Speedy" and it is great, I wonder if they will sell this ever again. The fact that Tippman quit selling there's too has got me wondering because Tandy was selling there's.

I have a 1972 Ford F-250 camper special, it originally had a 360 co engine and a two barrel carb, when I got it was all original but needed some serious love, I ended up building it up with a rebuild we blocked, decked, inline bore and bored the cylinders .030 over, put in high comp Pistons, rings, rods and bearings, camshaft, crankshaft, making it into a 390ci bored .030 over, put an edlebrock manifold and 4 barrel carb. Headers, duel exhaust, and an electronic gizmo into the distributor so we wouldn't have to change the points anymore, replaced the heads with hardened exhaust seats, new valves and rods, lifters and springs, plus a new larger clutch. Now it is a monster but I need to get the brakes fixed, the adjusters fried and so I have to manually adjust them, bought a kit for that and will have it installed soon, lots of torque and power, low geared for towing, want to do more to it but it costs money and a lot of it. My love for Leathercraft is much stronger and a super cobra 4-25 leather sewing machine will come first along with tool upgrades.

I have been studying the various manufacturers and there products, and those who endorse them and I find that for the money a super cobra class 4-25 is the most versatile and great quality machine, and easy to use. The leather machine company is also known for great product support which I believe is one of the most important factors in buying any machine!

I am and always have used Tandy craft tools I don't have a problem with them yet but I can see that I will need to upgrade to better tools in the future, the new professional line is supposed to be a lot better so I might buy a couple and do side by side comparison. The handmade tools are the best as I understand it but if manufacturers start using CNC machines I think those tools will take over the market if there QA is good. I used to be a CNC operator and you just can't beat the work these machines do if the design is right. Bottom line is that Tandy tools are great for a beginner to a near advanced leathercrafter but when you get experience you want to upgrade to better tools, it's like comparing a Chinese made micrometer, it'll work just great but then you use someone's Starret micrometers and your hooked, even though they are a lot more expensive and you are at least paying some what for the name, it's still a far better tool!

i currently use the Al Stohlman brand knife, not the Damascus blade but the regular one, I like it a lot but I just started using the round knife. I want a Damascus blade but Tandy doesn't carry them any more. As I get deeper into my business I can see that I will want to upgrade to a better knife, I used to be a professional cook and used Wustof Grand Prix knives made with high carbon trident steel from Soligen, Germany, absolutely loved them, and I never had a problem with rust, I would love to get something like that! As far as sharpening is concerned the two angles on the edge work best, cooks prefer them that way because they don't have to steel them as often, or re sharpen as often, many cooks have there knives professionally sharpened but I was too cheap to do that, I used a tri- honed ceramic sharpener and I also had a diamond steel, and a regular steel and so I could keep a good edge all the time, I don't know how that would work with a round knife as I am out of practice.