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Hello All, I'd made an impulse purchase years ago on an Al Stohlman round knife from Tandy. Having never used one, I managed the learning curve fairly well, but the constant stropping eventually made me put it down for a long rest. I read somewhere that the blades aren't very good metal, and they're mass produced & poorly made in general. The take away from the post was that they needed to be "thinned" to help them keep a good edge. With the Corona-cation upon us, I've dug out this new/old knife and put it on a whet stone flat with a spray bottle nearby to keep everything nice and wet. I spent an entire day on one side and I've got at least that much more to do to flatten the first side. I've been keeping track of progress with a sharpie. The pits and variation of thickness are vast. I have a fairly large floor mount belt sander. Question: Do I just need a speed reducer to keep the blade from getting too hot? Get this thing flat on both sides and then sharpen, strop and put to use? Suggestions, advice, questions and constructive criticism is welcomed. Thank you for reading. As per Newbie regulations, I reside in Knoxville, TN. I travel for work, so my location Varies.

A couple years ago I bought an Al Stohlman Tandy round knife. It wasn't even close to the condition he describes in his 'Use and Care of Hand Tools' - type book, and I only made it much worse trying to sharpen it by hand. So I built a "Thing". I work in the aerospace industry for a living, so I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to end up, and knew that I would fall far short of that level working in my garage with hand tools. I used a piece of 2" x 2' x 1/4" angle iron, and put a lot of thought and work into it. I used the Lansky sharpening system idea, basically, working up to their finest stone, and quit (for now) with their leather strop. I originally put this idea up on a 'Facebook' page, and took a lot of flack about it not being perfect, or exactly equal throughout the entire curve of the blade, etc, Some of the people commenting were big names in the sharpening business, and they definitely know what they were talking about. The thing that they didn't get was that I just wanted something that would work for my occasional project, and I leave my pursuit of perfection behind at the company's door when I leave my job in aerospace for the day, and go home to work on stuff. I stole my motto in life from Theodore Roosevelt..."Do what you can, with what you have, where you are". I think it turned out great, because now I can cut caiman tails so fine that when you hold the cut edges together, it's hard to see where you caused the separation. (I haven't been on this site in a long time, so I'm not being rude if I don't respond to questions. I don't have any type of instructions, never made a single drawing, or anything like that. The only important thing that I can tell you is that I did my trigonometry calculations to come up with a 15 degree angle on the blade. Like I said, I have an Al Stohlman knife, but you can customize it to whatever you have. I feel that the key to this device is that it is very repeatable, within a small margin of error. I'm very happy with the results, and figure that I put much less time into making it than I would have spent trying to teach myself the muscle memory necessary to get proficient at sharpening by hand.)

Greetings everyone from Tx, I'm just getting back into leatherworking after 30 years,I'm about to be 39 in March, and have spent the last 10 months building my collection of tools, since the pandemic, I was forced to close my business of tattooing that I've been doing for over 23 years,and have now decided to focus on my love of leatherworking if you have any Al Stohlman tools for sale or just entertaining the idea of possibly selling please let me know Many BLESSINGS! JB

Here we have the Al Stohlman's Classic Patterns 1, 2, & 3. They are in good condition, a couple have minor staining on the binding. Other than that no issues. The Volume 1 does not have a copyright year, but Volume 2 & 3 have Copyright 1982 on the inside cover. Selling as a set for $80

Purchased this knife a few years back but never really used it. It is very sharp. Click here for photos $40 shipped CONUS takes it.

It's a design from one of those Al Stohlman stencils, I'm not designing my own yet. It's 9oz leather. It just doesn't look right. I feel like I'm doing something wrong. I used to have an issue where I was tooling with the leather way too wet, so I stopped doing that and all my work looks improved, but I still feel like something is not "clicking"? Like I'm missing something about this. I have most of the Al Stohlman books including Figure Carving Finesse. Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming and confusing though, and most of all I wish I could see his work in real life, because I stare at the flat photos in the books and I wonder how deep the cuts are and such...and sometimes it's hard to make out what effect he's trying to teach? I feel like I need to see and touch to really understand, but that's not possible...I don't know any leatherworkers in my area either. I feel like maybe I'm striking too hard or cutting too deep? Beveling too deep? Using the wrong bevelers? Stohlman recommends certain specific bevelers for figure carving, but I don't have those exact ones (yet). I have these straight bevelers, B935 and the bigger/wider version of that one. Will it really look THAT much better if I use the triangle-shaped "figure bevelers" Stohlman says to use? Also I don't know what Stohlman means when he talks about using the modeling tool to "smooth and round off edges" of the beveling. Like, I see this ledge that occurs when you bevel, but I don't really understand how to make it round, when I try to use the modeling tool on it it just feels like I'm making the image less dynamic and pressing the edges down so they don't stand out as much. idk if that makes sense. Obviously the lines inside the animal (supposed to be muscle definition) is a hot mess. Also I suppose I should add some fur texture? So idk. Any and all advice and critique is welcomed. I kinda like how this turned out because I really like working with thick leather, it allows a lot of depth which is fun, but I still feel like I'm not understanding something about it.

The Art of Making Leather Cases by Al Stohlman - Vol.1, 2 and 3 All 3 books are in excellent condition. The only signs of wear are on the exterior covers (shown in photos). The pages have been virtually untouched and are pretty much in mint condition. Asking $45 for the 3 volume set - shipping is included to the US (Priority Flat Rate Envelope/Mailer). Other countries PM me for additional shipping costs. Payment through Paypal preferred. Shipping &Tracking info will be uploaded through PayPal's website.

Hi there, I am in the process of making a guitar strap using some patterns from Peter Main's book "Australian Leather Carving" and in the section on colouring he refers to Al Stohlmans book "Colouring Leather" and the colour reference chart in there. Has anyone made one of these charts and if so can you let me know what are the main colours used. I am particularly having trouble identifying the first colour which looks like an ochre. I mainly use raven oils as that is what I can get nearby, (Brisbane) I have been doing leatherwork on and off for a number of years but never really been concerned about specific colours before, but I would like to get the carving of the gums reasonably accurate. Cheers Mark

I just noticed from the latest Leather Crafter Journal that our own Bob Park (alias Hidepounder) has received the 2015 Al Stohlman Award! Congratulations to one of the finest leather crafters out there! No one deserves this more than Bob Park not only for his talent and experience but his willingness to share them so freely. We've all benefitted in one way or another from his generosity right here on this forum. Thank You, HidePounder for setting the bar so high! Michelle

Here we have some Leather Craft books for sale. How To Carve Leather 1952 Craftool Co. - $15 Ken Griffin's Scrap Book 1952 Craftool Co. - $20 Tandy Leather Black Powder Book by Gene Noland 1978 Tandy - $10 Black Powder Bags & Pouches 1985 Tandy - $10

Here we have some Al Stohlman books for sale. Inverted Leather Carving 1961 Craftool Co. - $20 Craftool Tech Tips 1969 Craftool Co. - $15 How to Make Holsters 1962 Craftool Co. - $15 Belts Galore 1962 Craftool Co. - $15

Another thread led me to a thought, why did good leather instruction and pattern books begin and end with Al Stohlman? Am I right, or just not looking in the right place? My favourites are Al Stohlmans Handbook of Stitching, Cases 1, 2, and 3 and his Leathercraft Tools book. What are your favourites? While we are on the subject of leather 'knowledge', I do understand that here on this board is by far the best instruction if you can find and collate it. BW Claire

Has anyone seen this book and know where I can get a copy? Amazon has none. http://www.amazon.com/Ann-Stohlman-Personal-Patterns-Portfolio/dp/B000M1BJ3E/ref=sr_1_22?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389311011&sr=1-22&keywords=al+stohlman

I have two Tandy / Stohlman Round Knives For Sale or Trade $40 each OBO plus shipping or $70 plus shipping for the pair. I am open to trades, let me know what you have. They are Tandy item 35014-00 for the bigger one and 35017-00 for the smaller one. Both have very limited use and look brand new. I got them with a set of tools I bought and didn't need these.

Lately I've been taking my coffees on the go (traveling by bike). These ball jars have great covers for sticking in a bag somewhere. The only thing is they get too hot to hold... so i made a koozie for it. This is also my first attempt at some al stohlman horses.

Was in my storage room the other day and peeked in the protective cases at these two Stohlman saddles I have had for years. It occurred to me that what a shame it was that I only look at them a few times a year and that nobody else has really ever seen these saddles. I have been told by a few that they are possibly the best Stohlman saddles in existence. Whether they are or are not they are beautiful and I wanted to share them with you guys who can appreciate them. I purchased these from Ellis Barnes of the legendary G & H tool company. I was in his shop with few other saddle makers and we were chewing the fat when he asked me to climb up a ladder into the loft of his shop and grab the saddles under the blanket. Imagine our surprise when they were two unridden saddles that Al had made Ellis and his wife, I guess they were all pretty tight. After some discussion with Ellis I ended up taking them home. Please enjoy them Sorry it wont accept my pics. They are small JPEGs, I will try to figure it out