MarshalWill

Bruce, I see 4 Gomph French Edgers in your inventory. Are those originals?

You may want to contact Lonnie Height, who is running the show now at Gomph-Hackbarth. I talked to him about a year ago and he was still selling tools. 520-642-3891 or on his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/people/Gomph-Hackbarth-Tools/100021212726476/ . He might be able to answer your question.

I like the simple tooling technique you used. Looks mighty good.

Nothing beats a good hand made tool. That one looks to make a perfect stitching hole.

Outstanding straps! Super work on all of them. Very nice detail work.

I use a 1' x 1' piece of marble for a lot of my tooling. It has worked well so far but it is developing a fine crack across the middle. I also have a large slab of slate I use for larger pieces. It's pretty solid but I don't dare hit really hard on it. Your idea of quartz is a good one but like you mention, it's thinner. I have been tempted to get two slabs of quartz bonded together to make a thicker piece. I'll probably pursue that one of these days.

I use oil dyes, mostly Fiebings or Lincoln. I add alcohol to get the shade I want. Before I apply the dye, either by dipping or wiping (heavy coats when wiping), I wet the leather with alcohol first. I never get blotchy finishes doing it this way.

I like the little round knife but with those points it would wear out my pocket in a hurry. Heck, keys alone do that. LOL

Those are most interesting. I can see why folks like them.

This is what quality leather is about. It's the real reward.

Looks good. The magnet on it could also be used to hold your awl.

A fine bit of workmanship, there! Good job.

I have one of those and use it as a 'push bevel' but draw it towards me. It's tempting to cut it down and fit it in a swivel knife.

That's really outstanding work. The boots, too. Did you make those as well?

That's some fine work. Outstanding job repairing it.

That looks good. I am looking forward to seeing it tooled, or however you will carry it out.

Well, then Kudos to you both. It takes good craftsmanship to get a good end product, though, so that gets credited to you.

Outstanding! That is a fine example of a good idea carried out properly. Lookin' good!

Barge doesn't work the way it used to. None of the formulas I've tried compare to the original formulation. I have changed to Master Cement and it works like the original Barge one did.

I have the same groover you showed. It's easy to use and does the job well. My only objection is that the smallest groove is bigger than I sometimes want so I have to resort to an old one I have on hand that I don't like as much but does the job.

I made my first stitching awl by grinding down a screwdriver shaft. I keep it around because it reminds me of how I started out. I now get Vergez-Blanchard awls when I need a new one. This is some of the best advice you can get.

In the saddle shop we just cut on plywood screwed to the workbench. For punching holes, end grain blocks much like @fredk showed in his post

When I saw that part of the video, it changed my thinking on X-acto knives. His method works great.

2:45-3:34 shows a great use for an X-acto knife. I use his method more than any other for cutting complex shapes from bridle leather. A good holster making video.

That's a mighty nice bag. The extra pockets look useful. Very nice work.