pabloz

Please be advised that this SK-3 swivel knife appears to have been modified to accept a Tandy standard-sized blade. Therefore, if you want to be able to use the Leather Wranglers high-performance alloy, then a LW blade will have to be modified to fit the Tandy standard at the current cost of $50. Paul C. Zalesak, Leather Wranglers Inc.

The two diamond hones I use the most are EZE-LAP 1200 grit and then DMT 8000 grit. As far as a final polishing stone, I pick one of a plethora of natural stones. The translucent Arkansas is always a good one.

According to Billy Woofers, a professional saddle maker for 70+ years here in the USA (now deceased), gmace99 has it correct as illustrated. I'll add Billy's gentle instruction as given to me ....."don't you see the birds head you Dumb A$$!"

Ray, Really great IDEA you've got here. At some point I'm sure that I will borrow this from you.... probably sooner than later. Anyway, my 2 addictions are vintage writing instruments s/a fountain pens and mechanical pencils and then vintage watches. These 2 have plagued me since my youth. Started writing with fountain pens in kindergarten and never could get into the BIC- rollerball pen stuff.... just never worked for me. Thank you sir, Paul

LTC, Consult your local Intellectual Property Attorney and you'll find that unfortunately there are some things that simply are not Patentable. But then again, if I was a photographer I would copyright all my work, which the OP probably does giving him a full understanding of infringement concerning "original works." I empathize with you on your ideas being stolen and that in your case "no one cares" but I am also extremely thankful that in this case there are those that do care and have chosen to take action and do something they see as morally fitting for the occasion..... SO as I see it there is nothing for anyone to tell them to "shut up" about. If you ever need an Intellectual Property Attorney to get one of your ideas patented I can make several refferals as I am surrounded by research labs, advanced technology centers, etc. with plenty of legal counsel easily accessible. Also, as I see it, "all your goading of the OP" has done some good, at least from what the OP's response was toward acknowledging credit. PERSONALLY, if my brother made these for me there is absolutely no way I would sell them.....PERIOD...but that's just me. I treasure thing like that. And YES you're correct "It happens all the time on here and everywhere else" but again there are some who don't need a law (patent laws implicated here) to do the honorable thing. There have been many leathercrafters, knife makers, wood workers, machinists, etc. whose work I have admired and have asked permission to make one for myself, my wife, a friend, my brother, sister, whatever and have never been turned down. As a matter of fact, a few have become very close friends and we now collaborate on various projects. This is the sort of thing Sam was reffering to earlier. Hopefully this will help to instill a little more confidence toward an ethical standard that exceeds what laws dictate or on the other extreme "honor amoung thieves." PZ

Dear all, I am exceedingly thankful for all y'all that have an appreciation for our work. It is truly a joy to my heart to see what others think of Rosa and I and our products. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!! When something like this occurs it is a clear testament to the honesty and integrity of some and the blantant lack thereof on the part of others. Mike, Sam, Johanna, Keenan, Camano Ridge...you're the GREATEST!!!! Macca, Yes we do ship to Europe. I would be honored to build a knife for you. Stay SHARPER, Paul & Rosa Zalesak

Thanks Bob for referring to our website. However, we just recently took down the swivel knife sharpening videos and will be putting them back up soon. One can still go to our site and download the swivel knife sharpening handout in the same page towards the bottom. http://www.leatherwranglers.com/tips.html Thanks, PZ

If you’re trying to do the two-tone effect where your flowers, leaves, and stems are a lighter color and your background is a darker color, and you want to use a resist, then you apply the resist to the flowers, stems, and leaves and leave the background uncoated. I usually do two coats of 50/50 Neat Lac to lacquer thinner as my resist, applying two coats to make sure I get complete coverage. You let the Neat Lac dry and then apply the antique over all of it. The antique will be darker in the backgrounded areas and not stick to the surface of your tooled areas. You should get a nice shadow effect in the pear shaded, beveled, and swivel knife areas and the natural color across smooth surfaces. Hope this helps. PZ

Saw dust is all I use to pick up lubricants off the floor...it's free and works great. PZ

TO, I tried to find this thread and was unsuccessful. Would you please locate it and link as I would love to read it and learn from it. Thanks, PZ

Yup....after a slap like that it's gonna be hard to find anyone willing to help ya out. PZ

Jerry Van Amburg http://www.vanamburgleathers.com/ PZ

Hi y’all. Just wanted to give you a little info on the Pendleton show. First off, this was one of the very best organized shows I have ever had the privilege to attend and participate in. I had the pleasure of teaching a class and all the technical aspects for setup (classroom, materials and supplies, etc.) went ultra-smooth, and I believe the students I had enjoyed a great learning experience. Everything just came together without a single problem. The same thing for the vendors’ room – all of our booths were nicely laid out, dividers and curtains in place, dressed tables and chairs in place, etc. It was, again, very well organized and coordinated. A big time tip of the hat and a huge THANK YOU to Luke and Vandy (from Sheridan Leather Outfitters) who hosted the Pendleton Leather Show for the first time this year. Gene and Lori Flaten, and Jeff, and Gerry helped with all the registration and support aspects of the show, adding to an overall smooth operation. For a relatively small show, it was very well attended with a steady stream of people coming in all day Friday and a little less on Saturday. Being that this was the first show that Luke & Vandy hosted, I can only expect that it will be that much better next year. There were a variety of classes available and I would wholeheartedly encourage any of y’all in the wonderful northwest and far west of the U.S. to plan on being there next year and attend a high quality show. I think you would totally enjoy it. We’re already looking forward to it! Paul & Rosa Zalesak

WOW Marlon.....too cool. Also, loved meeting your wife last week at the show. You are one blessed man!!!!

Pablo, I am not familiar with the Porter Cable product so I really cannot offer any good suggestions for it. The best polishing compound that I know of for hardened tool steels is the green chrome oxide, Cr2O3. Some are greasy and waxy others are dry and hard. I use the dry hard stuff and to get it to stick to the leather takes some hard rubbing to generate heat or use a blow dryer to heat up the leather then apply it. I don't know if you saw it but Art did a great tutorial on making a strop here on LW. If you haven't already seen it check it out. Hope this helps. HASTA, PZ

So glad to see I'm not the only one that's "been there, done that."

Please allow me to add one more....based on some very dated research, the sharpest knife made by hand were Mayan (IIRC) surgical instraments made from obsidian. Due to the molecular makeup of this stuff they could knap it so cleanly that it could actually cut through, not tear, individual cells that they could not even dream of seeing. PZ

There are many factors in any given blade that define "sharp" but most importantly is the application of the knife. In leather work I typically say the skiver or round knife is sharp when I can skive the thinnest tissue (catalog) paper I can find. On swivel knives it is a very subjective issue as some like to have an ULTRA smooth cutting blade while some like it to have a slight drag and others want it "perfectly dull"...no slicing just a dent. An 8000 grit mirror finish for my mentor, Jim Resley, was too smooth....he likes it at 1200 grit finish and then strop. Matt Whitaker defines trim knife/ round knife/ skiver sharp as "being able to cut through 8oz. leather with little effort and you cannot hear the leather being cut." Bob Beard defined swivel knife sharp as "it should swoosh through the leather." Jim Hay once told me the sharpest knife he ever saw "split a dollar bill in half" meaning through the bill separating the front from the back. Some people like a super smooth slicing action while others like a "toothy" feel. If you ask 100 people you will probably get 100 answers....again depending on the application. Skiving, slicing, trimming, swivel knife cuts, edge beveling, etc., etc., will all have differences. IMMHO sharp is what you percieve it to be. You can always reference someone or something else but ultimately you must define it for yourself. There are tons of You Tube videos on sharpening and testing the edge. That would be a good way to get a visual definition. Have fun and happy carving. PZ

Swivel knife border edge guide.

A trick that Bob Beard taught me about 10 yrs. years ago, that works really well, is to use a stylus which makes a dent instead of a slice. Make the dent while the leather is still cased, not dry and it will make a nice uniform depth. He explained that this is his method of choice because you do not remove any leather from the surface therefore the color behind the stitch is consistent. It also helps keep your stitches from sinking in too deep, should also make for a stronger finished product and won't close up on you like a slice. If you need to stitch an edge you can start the dent with dulled wing dividers and then finish it to the depth you want with the stylus. I tried it and it worked marveIously and have done all my stitching this way ever since and love the results. Try it...might just be what you are looking for. PZ

Due to the many requests… we brought back the Al GouldSpecial!! It is a ribbed, extra knarly-knurl in a two-toned color motif. They come in both 3/8" and 1/2" barrel size and in red/silver and black/silver color schemes. We will only have 10 of each size and color available at the Sheridan show next week. So, if you're going to Sheridan and would like to purchase one, please let us know by tomorrow, Monday, so we can have it ready for you to pickup without delay. Email pabloz@leatherwranglers.com or call (505) 269-8563. The price is $150, which includes your choice of yoke (flat or rounded), barrel size, red-silver or black-silver color, and blade size (from1/2" to 1/8" angle blade).

... and THANK YOU very much for the great feedback! It is very encouraging to know that our Leather Wranglers round knife has helped make the leather craft more fun for you. Please let us know how else we can be of service or give us a call anytime. 505.269.8563

Chris, Yes sir, that's it. Call me anytime and I'll get your blade done ASAP. I've got plenty of blanks ready to grind. As far as the new releases, I was trying to hold off until the Sheridan show but Shop Talk got to us and wanted "something new" so we gave them a little sampling. I'm hoping to have a few available at Sheridan but I have to fill orders first........then Rosa will put em up at the web site. THANK YOU, PZ

Leather on wood. 3-4-5 oz. leather with the grain side up is what I prefer..... for now. Been using the same strop for about 37 years. Made tons of em and experimented with all kinds of compounds and sprays and always come back to leather and Cr2O3. If you want a firmer, more rigid leather, melt some paraffin into it then put your compound over that. Now, that being said, there is one of our members going OCD on strops, strop theory, fabrication techniques, backings, finishing, etc., and I'm expecting when he has time he will post some results of his exhaustive work. Based on his results I may change my mind on what to try next...if anything. I'll leave him unnamed, but I think most know who it is. PZ

Back when ink quills, dip pens and then fountain pens were the standard it was called "flourishing" and can be found on many historical documents, bank notes, legal documents, dollar bills, etc. Some of us older folks can even remember when animated flourishing was done during or at the end of cartoons. Dover publishing has at least 3 books available with the history behind it and hundreds of great illustrations. Another form of this type of art that I found very interesting is pinstriping. As the flourishing art started dying off in the 20's and 30's the paint brush artists picked it up and started putting it on cars which then led to motorcyles and now it's almost impossible to find and OTR truck not striped out. Two of the great pinstripers of my younger days were " The Hangman" and "Rat Fink". Can't ever forget your first hot car.