lawman133

Hi, several years ago I saw an adapter that allowed you to change the direction of the pressure arm from a 'push down towards the rear of the press method' to an 'over the top pull down' method. It allowed you to face the work from the front with a better view while pulling the pressure arm towards you, if that makes sense. Does anyone know if these are still available. Thanks.

Hi. I add hide a small amount of powdered hide glue to the soak water and then work them into final shape/finish before the hide is completely dry while allowing just a little for shrinkage and to allow for stitching as well. I have also had success by waiting until the project is done before a thin hide glue solution is painted on. As for shipping from the States to Canada, that is completely out of the question as the cost even for small items is frequently double the cost of the item itself. I rely on my one or two trips to Kentucky a year to make any substantial purchases of supplies as each adult in the car is allowed $ 700. duty/tax free worth of goods upon re-entry to Canada.

Hello. I have posted this suggestion on other leather-craft sites in the past as a money saving suggestion but can not find if I put it forward here or not. I make knives and the custom fitted sheaths for them. As I live 2-1/2 hours from the nearest Tandy and hate paying their high prices and exorbitant shipping prices I have learned to be creative. When doing small rawhide projects in the native style, such as sheaths and pouches rather than purchasing a whole side of rawhide I hit either the nearest pet store or Costco for the foot long rolled dog chews. The pet stores for individual chews or Costco for the more economical 12 pack bags which are $20.00 Cdn. When needed I simply soak one overnight in water then UN- roll and flatten it out to dry until it reaches the right workable state. I bring this suggestion up now as being a dog lover I am aware of a movement, at least here in Canada, to boycott/ban rawhide dog chews as they are causing deaths due to blocking the digestive tract of pets. A number of the chain-stores are getting on board with this so the chews are becoming harder to find and it may be time to restock your supply before they are no longer available.

Be careful...It's addicting. As a new knife-maker a few years back, I learned from a Good Friend and Kentucky Knife-maker Daryl Hibben, that NO knife is complete until it has an individual, custom made and fitted leather sheath of equal quality to the knife to go with it. I got hooked and now do more leather work than knife making.

Hi FRODO. Damn that is expensive. It would be $60 in our Canadian funny money at the current exchange rate. I found out from a friend Kentucky that some of the trade schools or high school metal working shops in the States, (that's our Canadian way of referring to you folks south of the Medicine Line), will do this sort of thing either for free or just the cost of materials. He is sending me a 1-5/8 inch round drive punch he had made that way which only cost him $10.00. I have tried to purchase one from various tool making companies down you way and it was going to cost me close to $160.00 Canadian including shipping. Even a used one on ebay was over $100.00.

Hi. I forgot to mention that this also works with the common 1000 lb Arbor Presses with 3/8" Ram hole. Jim

Thanks, they look interesting as a fall-back plan. All the best.

Hello. I came up with this a couple of years ago when my wife gave me a Tandy hand press for Christmas. She saw me drooling over it in a catalogue but did not realize how expensive the setters were for each application. I bought an Xtra set of the hand setters for around $12 Canadian and took them to a local machine shop where I had them shortened and milled to fit the 3/8 inch press as shown in the photo. This cost less than the price of a single purpose Setter from Tandy and provides 5 different options. I have a Heavy duty ball detente handle for 3D stamps that will be adapted the same way. I hope this helps you save some money as it did for me. All the best and stay safe. Jim Ziegler

Thanks Todd, Thanks. I may have lucked out as my Good Friend Daryl Hibben, in Kentucky believes he has one buried somewhere in his shop that he hasn't used in years . Fingers crossed he finds it.

Hi I am looking for a 1-5/8 inch round punch. Preferably in Canada so the shipping isn't more than the Punch.

Hi. I need a round (full circle) round hand punch in 40mm/4cm/1.5 inch dia. for several projects. The ones I have found for conchos are too small in dia. or scalloped. Can anyone provide a source or have an old one they would be willing to sell? Thanks

I've been in Covid isolation too long, being Canadian I thought you wanted a stamp of our Province of NFLD/LABRADOR. Time for a BEER EHH!

Is there anyone who can help with this problem. I live in Southern Ontario Canada and have been trying to order some supplies on-line from Tandy Canada's Mississaugua store. Due to the Pandemic it is not possible for me to drive the 2-1/2 hrs to Toronto as their stores have been closed as Non-essential by our Government. All attempts to do so on-line say my nearest store is in EL PASO TEXAS ! Shipping from the U.S. to Canada is ridiculously expensive even in the best of times, often being more than the purchase price of the item itself. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi... I am making a knife and marlin spike for a good friend and would like input into how to incorporate the marlin spike into the sheath. Photo's I have researched show either a secondary surface mounted sheath or an 'edge' mounted cylinder type holder similar to the one in the photo for the fire striker.. I am leaning towards the edge mounted type and would like to know how you account for the extra thickness where it is attached. Any help would be appreciated. Jim Ziegler

Hi. I obtained a Landis 5 in 1 from a friend whose Grandfather and Father ran a shoe repair shop in Canada for going on 60 yrs. It has been in storage for at least 20 yr. I obtained a 1 page exploded parts diagram from Landis Canada but they tell me there is NO users manual, at least they don't have one. Can any members of the forum provide one or let me know where to obtain one. I am hoping to use the Landis in my knife sheath making. Thanks Jim Ziegler

Hello. I tried to include photo's to my reply a year ago but they wouldn't go through as I am an Idiot with computers. Hopefully my photo's make it this time and my previous explanation will be more clear. This works well with all the snaps rivets etc that Professional hand setters and a mallet are meant for. I am awaiting the arrival of the heavy setter for larger 3D stamps to have that milled in the same manner.

Hi. I would go with the Chinese versions available over EBay. I have several different head shapes with both steel and wood handles that are excellent for all purposes. My first choice would be to buy made in Canada,/Britain/U.S but I have not been able to find anything near this quality or price. I have not paid more than $15.00 Canadian with FREE shipping for any of the 4 I have ordered ! It may take a month to get to you but as an Xtra bonus I have never been chargeed any customs or excise tax either. When you consider that Tandy wants over $200.00 for their leather handled "Nuclear" version this is a "NO BRAINER" decision. For shock reduction on the steel handled ones a couple of "dips" into a can of rubber "Dip It" solves the problem and helps with grip also. The quality of the Tandy stamps is going down hill as well as I noted yesterday when I picked up a stamp in a Detroit Tandy. It was a a mistaken purchase of a stamp I already had and when I got home I realized my mistake and when comparing the two the finish on the new one was very poor. Jim

Hopefully these pics come through.

That's a great alternative to Tandy's out of this world press and die prices for you Aussies . I came up with a solution to their exorbitant prices for the setting dies when I was gifted the press last Christmas. ( I made the mistake of drooling over the press in front of my Wife while going through the catalogue one evening). She didn't understand all the various dies I would need to make it work and that I couldn't justify the expense. I had been using the hand basic setters which are too small in dia. to fit in the ram. I mulled over trying to fit a brass sleeve with 3/8" outer dia. fitted to each setter but that seemed to be a slipshod solution. Then it hit me... I purchased a set of the more robust dia. "Deluxe Snap All Setters" and had a local machine shop mill them as follows.. 1) Reduce to overall length of 3& 5/8" measuring up from bottom of each setter. (This was the proper length to allow the top of the setter to sit firmly against the top end of the female end of the hand presses ram and still have 1&1/4" protruding). 2)Reduce the dia. of the setter to 3/8" for the top 1& 3/8 inches". (this was the dia. of the hole in the Tandy ram and coincidentally it is the same in the 1 ton arbor press sold by Harbor Freight in the U.S. and Princess Auto here in Canada). This also results in a shoulder for the bottom of the ram to press against giving a second pressure/contact point between it and the setter. I then drilled out 5, 3/8" holes on the back of the hand presses base to act as tool holders for the finished setters an glued 3 super magnets to the side of it to hold the anvil which came with the rivets setter kit. the total cost was less than $100. Cdn. for setter kit and tooling, saving me hundreds over the cost of what I would have to spend on Tandy's fancy tools. if can find my camera I will try and post photo's. Jim Ziegler

Hi Chris. Thanks for the reply. I've seen that one but it is not the one I am referring to. If I recall it was an English chap who had some that a friend had made up. A very inexpensive way to make the inexpensive hand setters fit into either the Tandy hand press or a $60.00 1 ton arbor press which have a 3/8" hole in the shaft of the press. I looking for a screenshot so I can give it to a tool and die maker and have some made. Jim

Hi this may be a repeat request as the site kicked me off when I submitted it the first time. I'm looking for a YouTube video i can no longer find re a chap who adapted a 3/8 " steel rod bored out to accept Tandy's inexpensive hand setters for use in either their hand press or an arbor press. Any help finding the video would be appreciated as I'm not about to spend over $1000.00 for all of Tandy's dies/setters and hand press. thanks Jim