OLESKIVER

Mulesaw you might try tandy again. they might have it back in stock, it is possible that Weaver leather supply or Springfield leather might have a copy of it also. the book goes into detail about how it should fit the horse, and some problems that arise from poorly made saddles. the " Leathercrafters and saddle makers journal has been running a series by Bob Klenda on making saddles. that might help. plus in the book he shows some dicontinued C.S.Osborne tools, of which I have one of them. bought it new, it is now 50 yrs. old. but yes, I agree, there is some differences, but also some useful stuff. good luck on getting it. I wouldn't give mine up for love or money. lol

just to offer a suggestion? have you looked at the book " Al Stohlman Encyclopedia of saddle making"? it was originally 3 vol. but they made it into one, and it is hardback. 708 pgs. plus it shows you how to make a few " tools" a pull-down horse, a saddle rack and something else. awesome book. Tandy still carries it. you might be interested. hope this helps.

ok, are you talking about japanese skiving knives or leather cutting knives? if it skiving, I have never seen what you are talking about so I don't know. if you are talking about leather cutting knives, yes, you always use a ruler or straight piece of metal for a straight edge, even with a stap cutter your first cut on your leather should be made with a ruler and knife to get a square straight edge. If you go to Weaver leather supply's page and scroll down to how to videos, you will find a bunch by Chuck Dorsett on strap cutting, belt making, braiding, lots of things plus he has a live broadcast at 3pm est on yt, plus a fan page on facebook. he does most stuff simplified for beginners. hope this helps.

I get an order from them almost every week. they have wonderful customer service. dominick is a great guy. have you tried calling this no.? 1-973-483-3232 that is their phone no. not fax. i never have trouble getting ahold of them. hope this helps. If they go under it will be the end of a 190 yr. tradition.

Ok, I will try and answer some of this, If the vinagaroon works for you instead of straight pro dye, stay with it. but you can always experiment with other dyes on scrap pieces. loosing some or all of your detail? that would in part depend on if you are stamping or tooling. on either one you will loose your contrast from the tooling and stamping{ burnishing} The is an old saying in Leatherworking " if you mess it up you can always dye it black" I was told this back when I first started this. if this is a belt, I wouldn't worry that much. if you have a rounder or piece of scrap you could tool a flower on it or do a little of your stamping on it and do your dye and see if you like it, which is what it all boils down to. I don't know anybody that has dyed then tooled leather. personally I think you would have an issue of getting it wet enough and even saturation for tooling or stamping. and since you are mentioning pieces I will venture a guess and say it isn't a belt. well, maybe a ranger belt. so I hope this helps you some. some one else will probably chime in that has possibly done this.

Like Yintx said " you're off to the races." real good for first time. but may I suggest that in the future you might want to complete all your dying and finishing before you attach any and all hardware. maybe tape it with painters tape? on how many coates? sorry I can't help you on that. I have always applied it right out of the bottle with a dauber or sheeps wool. it seems this doesn't work for everybody. don't know if they changed the formula over the years. all I can do is suggest that you do one coat and see if you like it there or you feel it needs a second. or, you could take a scrap piece of strap, dye it similar and do the finish on that just to save you from doing the whole thing over. this is one of the reasons that you always save your scrap. lol..hope this helps.

well, I use different sizes depending on project, and of course I am a toolaholic. lol. plus most of them are c.s. osborn. maybe I read too much Al Stohlman books.

the only thinner thread that I know of is c.s.osborne, they have light, med. and heavy. the heavy is .55 the only draw back is they only sell it by the hank [24 individual threads, in two lengths and 4 colors. light is .040, med. is .045. pre-waxed. hope this helps.

thanx cowboyleatherma , I saw it on their website. will have to check with my local store and see if they can special order me some .8 in turquoise in a 500m spool. would be willing to get a case of it if there are only 4 spools to a box or case. Tried Weaver on tiger thread but the girl I talked to didn't seem that informed on the product. I am reluctant to try rhino brand from SLC. Well, I will persue the carriage thread as far as I can, or have the patience for, lol.

Have you thought of using shearling? Either real or synthetic? on the padding, if you are going to "sandwich" it between two pieces of leather, I would think you would want to glue it down at the least. I would worry that if left "floating" it might bunch up inside. hope this helps.

personally, I like the carriage thread if for nothing else than the fact that it has a high strength { 4 times stronger than linen} that would be 100 lb breaking strength as opposed to 25 lb. I have tried the same thing. to find the mfg. I have bought quite a few spools of it, but get kinda fustrated with Tandys , what would you call it? their sorting system? they get something good but don't realize it? so start getting rid of it or down sizing what they carry of the product. back to the thread, I think this is something opposed to thread in particular. Has Tandy totally dropped carriage thread? didn't see it in their new cataloge. If you get any more info on this or can track down the Mfg. I would love to know.

By the way? The French knife is a different design, it is a little longer on one side. just thought you might want to know.

have you looked at herman oaks yet? it all tools nicely, or are you just looking at making just dress belts? just curious. hope this helps. I use 8-9 oz.

i have seen the master tools knives but once I saw and read about Knipschield knives, I am fixing to get 4 of them{ Knipschield ones} they are very well made and should last me at least two life times. lol on the french edger, I like the CS Osborne ones. go to osborneleathertools.com, I hope thats right, On my pc I just click the icon, but that should put you into their site with prices. most of these tools from big Co's need to be stropped and maybe polished. alot of people like to finish their own cause they like it a certain way. plus, if you want it fully polished and sharpened, then now you are talking custom made and yes part of that price is going to be for them polishing it and sharpening it.just depends on what route you want to take.I'm a big osborne fan, have been since Jr. High, when I got my 1st one, which is 50 yrs old now and I still use it. hope this helps you out .now the master tools, from what I understand are american made as opposed to Tandy being chinese made, and I am fixing to buy their draw knife if and when they get it back in stock, plus their diamond punch sets. personally I prefer american made if I can get it. but having said that I do love Sergys stamps, and I have two of his swivel knives, one is skeloton, and the other is gothic themed. love them. luck on your quest.

ok, sorry for the lag in responce, but am out of state 5 days a week. if you look at the knives, as in comparing them, the kulp knives just reek with quality, everything you asked about but geometry for the knives. the texas rose bud is pattered after a rose round knife but scaled down. bob klenda knife is one he designed and had made for him and the guy got his permission to use the pattern and make them for sale. for sharpening, I watched a video on it put out by SLC that was quite an eye opener for me. you just need a bench grinder and a big soft buffing/polishing wheel on it and some compound. they used white. basically it is power stropping. do this before using it and it should stay as sharp as the day you bought it. kulp does recomend using black compound on the round knives. hope this helps and good luck with what ever one and style you choose.

what fredk said! but you might also look at weaver leather, their punches are nice and fairly inexpensive. at least they are made in usa. fixing to buy their whole line of diamond punches since I found out my tandy " premium" punches are made in china. hope this helps. one thing about buying top end tools....you only have to buy them once..theoretically! all my punches have one or both of two words I look for in the description, forged or drop forged. hope this helps

I would but I have 8 already, lol. that's still not a bad deal. luck

i will offer this bit. it meets at least some of your criteria, but price wise, well, but you would wind up giving it to your kids and them to their kids. Knipschield knives. yes they are custom, but quality, don't have to sharpen them much, just strop them. the one that is in your stats is a chan geer knife. 3 1/4 '' from point to point. 5 1/2 from top to bottom. $245.00 He aslo has Texas Rosebud, 4 1/4 from point to point . $245.00 the blades are rc 60. Bob klenda loves his. just thought I would throw this out there for you. Remember, after you have been in this for a little while, you are not buying a tool, you are making an investment. that will last a long, long time. hope this helps. '

howdy. I believe you are going to want to put some kind of protective finish on your lace before you braid it. especially since it is going to be outside a bit. you might try Fiebing's leather balm with atom wax. easy to use and gives it a soft shine. just put it on and buff. Oh! by the way knotty linda has hot pink metallic lace....uhh, maybe you shouldn't show that to your granddaughter. lol that would be from exp. hope this helps

blackjack, Tandy's offers two different pattern paks on vests. they might help you. hope this helps

ok, I'll go out on a limb. on the sewing mach? I can't help you, I always handstitch. on the zipper it looks like to me that the ends should be facing out not in. if out that will give your bag a more fluid shape and I think put your zipper tracks closer together. not sure how you are going to get the zipper over the two ends though. I think that is why they usually put the zipper between the two ends. that's just my odd way of looking at this, haven't played that much with zippers yet. maybe someone with a little more zipper experience can tell you better. luck i

I use craftool B198 as my every day beveler, and the B936 for smaller places, plus B902 for corners and sharp points. you can get smaller bevelers than these but they are in the F series{ ie figure carving} pl;us they are also smooth faced. you would have to practice with them awhile to get used to them. the smallest one will act like a punch if you hit it too hard{ don't ask how I know that} hope this helps

buckstitching is angled punches, at least all mine are. Have had them since the 60's. if they are straight? then you are doing a running stitch, correct? tandy has a buckstitch punch and it is angled, I believe that is what Al Stohlman shows in his book on Buckstitching. at least that is what I am used too since I have been doing LW. might of changed now.

I have one question.....are you making your knife cuts deep enough? I have seen chucks video{ I love all his videos, he is a good teacher} but on the casing? I have tried it once, when I was just starting out, got bored waiting for the leather to dry enough to tool, since then I just use a bowl of water and a dense sponge wet my leather pretty good and let it sit for a bit, then when it is almost back to dry looking I start to tool and I get the same results that chuck got on his casing version. but I use a 10 oz. tandy rawhide mallet that I have used for over 50 yrs., yep same mallet. I rewet my leather with the sponge also. with a 1pd. maul do you find control an issue? just curious.

you might go to osborne leather working tools.com. they have an adj. v-gouge and 3 u shaped ones. their v gouge is patented. plus they have a bunch of other stuff you might like. they have been in business for 190 yrs. so, the only down side to them is that once you see their site and or get their catalog, you might experience the " Kid in the candy store" problem. hope this helps. sorry, web site is osborneleathertools.com weaver leather would be another source, but I don't know if they have different brand or also carry csosborne too.