gtwister09

Harvey, Outside then inside but I guess if there are templates made it's six one way half dozen the other. So far it appears that most do it that way. Regards, Ben

Ed, Now I like that! The handles are truly distinctive (a couple of combinations of maul handles designs - with your rendition thrown in) as well as the distinctive wood. I assume the punched "10" is for a 10 oz maul. Looks very....very nice. Regards, Ben

Mark, That's a really good looking set of straps. Regards, Ben

There are two people that I know who have purchased from this guy and they "rave" about his work. However I show them the pictures of the saddles on other builders sites and also that the claims of him making the trees is WRONG. I have scared a couple of other people away from him. At a bare minimum even if they are satisfied with his saddles he is misrepresenting himself, his work and stealing photos. Regards, Ben

Dianne, Not Bruce but to answer your question... "I don't know what an LCSJ is or where to look for it..." Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal.... LCSJ Website Regards, Ben

Swivelsphinx, Have you considered the use of wood dye stains like TransTint? You can make them as water or alcohol based dyes. In the past I have used some on leather with alcohol and it was very colorfast (not purple though). Here's a link from Woodcraft and from Homestead. Woodcraft - TransTint Dyes Homestead TransTint Dyes I have also seen some wood workers use soap ingredients like potassium permanogate to create a purple stain but I have only seen it used with water and not alcohol. However most consider it pretty hazardous to use. In fact they generally rinse with a baking soda solution so that would make me believe that it was acidic in nature (assumption on my part) Regards, Ben

It sure is... About one third of the way down... Bob Park Belt - Black Alligator Ostrich Market Gallery Regards, Ben

Nick, Unfortunately an ideal ergonomic height and "perfect position" just depends on the individual and the work performed. There are several other threads already discussing this subject...just search on workbench, workstation, etc... Here are a couple that I quickly found.. Workstation Link #1 Workstation Link #2 Likewise an intended purpose can affect the height as well. Here's some examples of lowering heights to maximize their function. Many times you will see a work bench used for planing a board is lowered because of the sweeping motion that the woodworker is trying to perform on long boards. Therefore the reach impacted the finished height. Likewise lets say someone inserts threaded inserts regularly on a part that is 14-15" inches tall. They would lower the height of their workstation to account for that increase in height even though they didn't have an extended reach. Many times for workbenches/workstations that change part sizes you will see a workbench that is adjustable. You may even consider a mock-up work bench to determine your most comfortable height. Some of the other threads have that discussion as well. Just some existing threads and some other thoughts to think about. Regards, Ben

Ed, Great colors for fall. I would agree with Bob that more muted or subtle colors might have made more visual impact. Even with that said...nice. You have been a busy man with the handy-dandy repeater and 3 mauls along with this piece. Good luck with the other 10 mauls. Regards, Ben

Terry, Suffice it to say that this is fairly well covered. It is certainly better from an ergonomics standpoint but there are many posts out there if you search on mauls and/or ergonomics. Regards, Ben

Ty, It looks nice so far. As others have said...share the completed saddle. Regards, Ben

Elton, That's certainly a nice maul. The stamping tools look nice as well. Turning can develop into a nasty habit as well. You got a great Christmas present and made very good use of it. Regards, Ben

Ed, Not smart...as you know it's just standard jigs, fixturing and mechanisms. Keep up the good work. Regards, Ben

Ed, That is one of the disadvantages of doing the knee board...it does become a stationary machine then. Kate reminded me of the roller guide that we added for him as well. He needs all the help with making it easier for him to perform the stitching. By having the guide all he has to focus on is the stitching marks from the wheel. Regards, Ben

Happy Birthday Clay. Sounds like you already hit the jackpot. Regards, Ben

Ed, As always you are busy making things..... Many years ago ('96-'97) when I was helping someone who struggled with hand sewing after many hours/weeks of "attempting" to do it what most would consider correctly. Anyhow he could barely see and his hands trembled some but he was determined to hand stitch. He didn't want to purchase a machine either. So we took a small tabletop drill press that had a dead motor and made a larger table base for it from baltic birch plywood. It was only a 10" drill press instead of 13" like yours. We mounted the awl in a 3/8" dowel; slid a ferrule over that end and chucked it up. We did exactly like you did with the cork inserts. We had the added benefit of using the drill press to have the stop built in. We initially had a ring magnifier with light and have since changed it to a Full Spectrum 6X ring magnifier to it for him as well. He also uses a bendable full spectrum ring 3X magnifier over his stitching tree as well in order to see well. One thing that he has added over time was taking off the handwheel and making an attachment for a foot pedal so that he could keep his hands free. He says it makes his hole punching go about 40-50% faster. Of course he didn't like standing and modified it for a sitting position and a knee board instead of a foor pedal. Since that time many people comment on how well he hand stitches. It certainly does make sure that the holes are straight from both sides of the project for sure. It was a great aid for him to be able to overcome his issues of seeing and trembling. The great thing was that it cost almost nothing to create. It was also a pretty quick project to convert the drill press. We picked up the dead drill press for $5. He had tons of 12X12 cork left over from his grand kids wall project and he has only broken one awl blade in all this time. Good design! Regards, Ben

Josh, Always good to have a work area. I too commented on your round knife but in your apron post before I saw this one. ...Sorry! Regards, Ben

Josh, OUCH!!!! I would not put that round knife in the apron. Move it to your bench within easy reach. That's almost an accident looking for a placed to happen. Regards, Ben

Mark, Please share the maker, material and cost with us. Regards, Ben

Photos being removed or deleted from an image hosting site is an issue that occurs when you look through older posts for information. This is the reason to ask for files to be uploaded here unless you are linking to another site. If they are your photos please upload them on leatherworker so that when others review the older posts they can still reference the photos. Sometimes the information doesn't make a lot of sense without the photo. Regards, Ben

Dennis, Andy is so correct about marble versus granite. Here are some links for you to check out extolling the virtues of granite over marble. Ours is a salvaged piece of Baltic Brown granite. Link 1 Link 2 In going around and talking with a lot of older toolers and saddlemakers I have seen many of the larger ones bedded in sand (some swear it takes out some of the ringing due to the dampening effect of the sand). Some of them even have setups with heating elements (nursery or heating pads) added on the bottom of their stones (these have an outside edge where they are generally bolted onto like a surface plate in a machine shop). Some have heat tape around the outside edge of their surface plates. Most of them have a tooling stone that butts up against or is in the middle of other tables/worksurfaces so that they can keep long items from hanging over the edge. Read the 5 links and they should give you some ideas on designs and material selection. Regards, Ben

Dennis, Here's some past information in these links associated with workbenches and marble tops/concrete tops. There are some more but these are ones that I quickly searched on. Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 Regards, Ben P.S. Mine has industrial casters and doesn't bounce. They lock as well. Also have additional weight of 2X4's turned on edge and marble bedded. No tilt on mine (its flat) but I did create a slight rolled edge to keep tools from rolling off onto the floor. My vote...no tilt but it's your bench. Customize it for yourself. I would change some things now but it fit our needs 10 years ago.

Thanks to both of you for the additional pictures. Details are great as well. Very nice! Great work. Regards, Ben

Andy, Really nice tooling, carving, color and overall design!...Very nice. Maybe you and Bea could send some additional photos showing more details of the saddle including the silverwork. Regards, Ben

Holly, From dealing with freeware, shareware and open source for more than 20 years, I can assure you that it rarely means "free". Almost every time they will state in their EULA or website something to the effect that use of the product is only for personal or nonprofit use. I would imagine that if you looked around long enough on their site that you would find something to that effect. They generally require some payment for commercial use, maintenance or such... Some leather patterns also carry warnings about commercial use with them as well. You are better off to be safe than sorry. Regards, Ben