gtwister09

Chris, I'm with Sam about the smaller pictures not doing the gallery grade burl justice. Looking forward to better pictures... Regards, Ben

Steve, Nice looking saddle. As other have said someone will get a great Christmas present. Regards, Ben

Reddevil, There area couple of threads on leatherworker about it and there are a couple of places that sell them as well. These are mainly for light weight leathers like those used for bookbinding. In fact that is what they are used for. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=20489 http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=1216 Talas carries it and the Brockman. Talas Paring Machine Regards, Ben

Ed, Really glad to hear that the knuckle is doing better. A great gift for someone. Regards, Ben

As I said in the other thread, the attention to detail is great. As Gregg said it is impressive. Regards, Ben

Here is a link to some information for the selection of swivel knife barrels and lengths. It is a starting point for you to go from. Swivel Knife Selection Starting Point Regards, Ben

Looks like a great refurb job for sure! As others said it is a great job. Regards, Ben

I created a PDF of Robert's post after the crash so it is not perfect text wise but it does have the photos linked within the PDF. Hope that helps. Robert Woods - Making your own tools.pdf Regards, Ben

SurgiSharp carries the leather belt for the 1X30. A couple of places where you can find these is USAKnifeMakers and Woodworker' Supply. Make sure you remove the leather belt from the sander. If there is tension on it then it will stretch. The Scotchbrite pad is also a trick that glass/sandpaper sharpeners use to create a Moran edge as well. I started out with the Scotchbrite pad on the 4X36 also but found an insert called the Belt Lift that does the same thing. I still use the 1X30 a lot or I should say that the neighborhood uses my 1X30 a lot. Regards, Ben

John, This is not Ed but here's his Flickr photos. You can click on each individual one and see larger photos. BearMauls Regards, Ben

Denise, Thanks. I was looking at all of the pages that you sent out and it was not on those pages. I would move the RSS feed to a standard place at the top of the page where your other links are at. By doing that it would be there for all your blog pages. Regards, Ben

Glad I saw this. How about adding an RSS feed to your blog so that we can subscribe and be notified when you add content....just a thought. Regards, Ben

Here's some good discussions on them in older posts. Like Chris I have both of the packages listed and he has given some great information on operational items for the lasers. The woodworking forum he listed has a lot of information on them as well. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=11278&view=findpost&p=17614 http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=7778&view=findpost&p=81159 http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=11029&view=findpost&p=16380 http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=28589&view=findpost&p=179288 Regards, Ben

Chris said a while back that he was retiring from the leather burnisher business but may still be making them. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=34128&view=findpost&p=211431 Here's a thread with several others listed that are making them. Hope that helps. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=24469&view=findpost&p=169075 Regards, Ben

Ed, Good to see that you are finally moved and back in business. Regards, Ben

Would certainly agree with Bruce's assessment of Rose. I have purchased a couple of them with messed up handles and another without a handle. Others have given you good advice on cleaning and use of proper adhesives. "(drilled from the top as opposed to split and glued back together) " . Drilling from the top of the handle is not done. Originally these were only drilled out and things like epoxy weren't used. They were press fits so they were drilled out a little tight and it was also the reason for these ferrules. A fit that is too tight will crack a wooden handle. However it will be advantageous to utilize new techniques like epoxy, pins, bolsters, etc... In order to have a hidden tang on these knives like what they originally started out with, they are drilled from the bottom (where tang enters handle). Generally the center is drilled out a little shy of the depth of the tang. Then the handle is set at an angle equal to the angle on the tang and that is drilled to a depth that is again shy of the original depth. Some additional stepped holes are drilled out back towards the center hole. Need to make sure that the drilled holes that you make as you approach the hole DO NOT exceed or encroach into the wall of the first drilled angled hole. Next the angle is flipped to the other side and the process is repeated. In order to remove the places where the drill bit left some material between holes, you will have to clean the edges with a knife or other sharp item. If you have some round files/riflers that will not exceed the diameter of the bit you use then you may use them as well . A Dremel or other type rotary tool could also be used for the cleanup with the caveat of making sure that the tool used is smaller than the diameter of the drill bit. This will give you an angled hidden tanged hole. A couple of things to consider is that if you are using a press fit then choose a drill bit slightly smaller than the thickness of the tang material. Likewise you would make the holes slightly undersized as well to accommodate a pressed fit. On the other side if you are using an epoxy (not JB-Weld) then you will need to use a larger drill bit to accommodate the epoxy. Likewise the depth will be slightly oversized. Hope that helps. You can pin it as well. Regards, Ben

Chris, We used to use the Dura-Lar, drafting film and mylar for Symbolization (silk screening) of large parts directly from AutoCAD. They worked well in the roll feed plotters. We also used several other brands from various other drafting supply stores. We also used quite a bit of the 8-1/2 X 11 stock in laser printers as well for the smaller parts. I have used a couple of rolls of something similar to Dura-Lar for more than 15years and I am almost out. Regards, Ben

Chris, There are already some people that use it for outline type patterns like you would see done by a laser. Likewise they do patterns like you would see with pyrograhy. They can be very deatiled and precise. I have seen some fairly detailed ones that resemble bulino engraving...have seen it on scrimshaw as well. The chisels versus rotary tools are just different methods and techniques of removal. Each has it's function. One uses gravers and the other uses rotary items like burrs. The fine level of control used by gravers to cut would require a lot more effort with the rotary tool to yield a similar effect. I put a lot of money into the Turbocarvers and did a lot of things on other materials that I couldn't have done with the gravers. I will see if I can locate some of the pictures that I have of ones done that look like pyrography (not ones that I did..personally I never tried that on leather but have seen it). Share yours when you are done. Casey, Enjoy the links. Regards, Ben

Casey, It is a fairly versatile rotary carver. I used it for marble and glass etching, scrimshaw, erosion bowls (kind of like Chris's vase) and initially as a rotary burr for a knockoff Rose lathe. It is also used for eggs, glass, gourds, pottery, wood carving and so much more. Go here and see lots of creative examples. Some are not so good but it still shows ideas. Turbo Carver #1 You can go to the other two pages from this one. Enjoy. As you can see not the same type of engraving on these materials. The GRS and Lindsay ones are more suited for engraving that you do. Regards, Ben

Chris, Too many areas to chose to work in... I understand fully. I have been accused of having way too many interests. I still need to get some tabletop machining tools (mill/lathe), a graver set and other odds and ends. Of course there are new sharpening systems to acquire as well for gravers. Regards, Ben

Chris, I also have the same Turbocarver and it can remove material but it is a rotary instrument versus a hammer instrument like the GRS or Lindsay gravers. Some of the people on the engraving forums do use some rotary tools to remove backgrounds and so forth but the rotary tools do not give you the same fine level of control. I bought the Turbocarver for egss and erosion bowls. Regards, Ben

Here's something to back up what Bruce said earlier about the "X" designations concerning their size. Regards, Ben

Here's an old thread on drum dyed, dye struck and so forth. Hope it helps. Old Drum Dyed Thread Regards, Ben

Knut, The old thread that Denise referenced has some good discussions. Here's another source. Verlane under the ASMA flag wrote this information concerning rigging. She discussed the positions and some methods for determining those rigging position utilizing multiple saddle tree styles. I saved it as a PDF and had to look up the link. Here it is. Verlane - ASMA Rigging Positions and Methods Hope that helps. Regards, Ben

Bruce, I think that this is the one that you are looking for.... Rope Stamp Comparisons - Bruce Johnson Regards, Ben