Draw gage

[purplefox66]

What is the better way to go? buy a new one or get one from Bruce Johnson? The reason i ask i was reading not sure where that the newer ones don't last very long?

Edited June 26, 2023 by purplefox66

[Bawarrior]

Forgive me I have no idea what your asking about

[purplefox66]

draw gage is a better version of a strap cutter

[Bawarrior]

31 minutes ago, purplefox66 said:

draw gage is a better version of a strap cutter

Thanks

[TomE]

I've been using a Weaver Master Tool draw gauge for 3 years and been very happy with it.  The Weaver blades are almost sharp when new.  Osborne blades require a bit of work to sharpen.  I would expect that Bruce Johnson would sell you a draw gauge with a razor sharp blade ready to go.  I prefer a wooden strap cutter for widths less than 1/2" and for lightweight leather.  Bruce has a useful tutorial on his website about the correct way to hold a draw gauge. 

[purplefox66]

I bought a blade from leather wranglers and that blade is so sharp.

[bruce johnson]

12 hours ago, TomE said:

I've been using a Weaver Master Tool draw gauge for 3 years and been very happy with it.  The Weaver blades are almost sharp when new.  Osborne blades require a bit of work to sharpen.  I would expect that Bruce Johnson would sell you a draw gauge with a razor sharp blade ready to go.  I prefer a wooden strap cutter for widths less than 1/2" and for lightweight leather.  Bruce has a useful tutorial on his website about the correct way to hold a draw gauge. 

Yes, I use stock Osborne blades. I take the shoulders down some to a lower angle bevel and sharpen them. My final step is rounding the pointed tip at the top end.  

[purplefox66]

Thanks for the help guys

[Northmount]

Moved to Leather Tools.  Certainly not a show off item.

[Dwight]

My brother in law gave me an aluminum strap cutter some 10 or 12 years ago . . . 

I buy drywall razor blades . . . snap them in half with two pairs of pliers . . . use those blades till they get dull . . . break a new one and I'm good for another month or so.

Works for me.. . . . (this is not mine . . . but is the same type . . . . black paint is long long worn off . . . left side is slick and shiny from all the leather passing by it)

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited July 3, 2023 by Dwight

[Doc Reaper]

On 7/2/2023 at 10:26 PM, Dwight said:

My brother in law gave me an aluminum strap cutter some 10 or 12 years ago . . . 

I buy drywall razor blades . . . snap them in half with two pairs of pliers . . . use those blades till they get dull . . . break a new one and I'm good for another month or so.

Works for me.. . . . (this is not mine . . . but is the same type . . . . black paint is long long worn off . . . left side is slick and shiny from all the leather passing by it)

May God bless,

Dwight

When you say drywall razor blades, are you talking about the case knife blades??? Could ya do a snapshot, please

[Dwight]

Well, Doc . . . here is the real deal.

As you can see . . . paint is long gone.

Box like thing at the top is a package that once was full of the razor knife blades . . . laying side by side . . . in a decade plus years . . . I've used 2/3 or so of it.

You can see the full size blade . . . with the broken one above it . . . done with 2 pairs of pliers.

The "standard" blade that ain't worth a crap . . . cost I think 10 bucks . . . and could never be sharpened past screwdriver end sharpness is there rusting away.

Anyway . . . this is my tool . . . works like a champ.

May God bless,

Dwight

[bruce johnson]

You all got me curious today. I pulled out 4 common blades that have been mentioned and compared them on my edge tester. The Irwin utility knife blade, NEW CS OSborne, and supplied blade commonly seen on other website draw gauges are all stock - new and untouched. The sharped blade is just a random I pulled from my drawer of "ready to go" CS Osborne blades that I reprofiled and sharpened. The lower the numbers the better. Kind of interesting results and realistically, I was a little surprised on both ends of the spectrum. 

[fredk]

So that last blade, what we call a 'Stanley' knife blade, is of reasonable sharpness straight from the box?

[chuck123wapati]

thanks for taking the time to do this. What do the numbers mean? 89 = arm hair shaving ?  524= a dull fro?

[bruce johnson]

35 minutes ago, fredk said:

So that last blade, what we call a 'Stanley' knife blade, is of reasonable sharpness straight from the box?

Fred, yes it is pretty OK sharp. These Irwin blades are my personal favorite for good edge retention. I cant speak to others right now, no other brands to test. Two problems with utility blades for draw gauges though that I see.  

1). Sometimes the utility knife blades are wider than the slots on some older versions of CS Osborne and nearly every HF Osborne. You have to grind the back off some to make them fit.  

2). The pointed top end is no advantage except for the people who sell band aids or work in the emergency room. People get cut mostly two ways on draw gauges. First is trying to push the leather into the blade to get it started. Common with a dull blade and just poor user technique. Second way is reaching over the top either from setting it on the bench blade up or reaching over the top in use to tension the strap. You catch the point sticking up. I used to wonder why a lot of the old draw gauges I'd get in from estate sets had a rounded blade on them. At first I figured it was because they used whatever they had on hand to make a blade. After the second or third cut the light came on. It was rounded for safety. That is why I round the off and dull the tip on the blades I sell. That kind of affirmed to me a few years ago. I bought a large estate set that was dated to a harness maker who died in the 1930s. There were 5 unused  blades in petrified paper that had been ground over at the tip. Four HF Osborne draw gauges and every one had a rounded blade. He might have been dead but his tools told me what I needed to know.

[bruce johnson]

13 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

thanks for taking the time to do this. What do the numbers mean? 89 = arm hair shaving ?  524= a dull fro?

Chuck, Basically this edge tester uses a pressure plate to determine the force needed to cut a standardized media (looks like monofilament). I can shave with about anything less than 160-175 or so on the scale. There are a little chart that came with it but I cant find that right now. Basically 500 is butter knife. I just did a couple more. One is a single edge razor blade that went 80. I did the back side of the draw gauge blade just for kicks - over 2000.

  

[Doc Reaper]

14 hours ago, Dwight said:

Well, Doc . . . here is the real deal.

As you can see . . . paint is long gone.

Box like thing at the top is a package that once was full of the razor knife blades . . . laying side by side . . . in a decade plus years . . . I've used 2/3 or so of it.

You can see the full size blade . . . with the broken one above it . . . done with 2 pairs of pliers.

The "standard" blade that ain't worth a crap . . . cost I think 10 bucks . . . and could never be sharpened past screwdriver end sharpness is there rusting away.

Anyway . . . this is my tool . . . works like a champ.

May God bless,

Dwight

Dwight, I really have to thank ya for posting this and I pretty much have the same blades, you have also made it crystal clear for not only me but all the others as well - thanks much

[Doc Reaper]

8 hours ago, bruce johnson said:

You all got me curious today. I pulled out 4 common blades that have been mentioned and compared them on my edge tester. The Irwin utility knife blade, NEW CS OSborne, and supplied blade commonly seen on other website draw gauges are all stock - new and untouched. The sharped blade is just a random I pulled from my drawer of "ready to go" CS Osborne blades that I reprofiled and sharpened. The lower the numbers the better. Kind of interesting results and realistically, I was a little surprised on both ends of the spectrum. 

Bruce, the question I really have to ask is why would someone have a machine that measures sharpness???? How do I get one?

Edited July 10, 2023 by Doc Reaper
I’m crazy that way

[bruce johnson]

1 hour ago, Doc Reaper said:

Bruce, the question I really have to ask is why would someone have a machine that measures sharpness???? How do I get one?

Doc.

Second question first. I got mine from the friendly folks at sharpeningsupplies.com - just plain good people to do business with and know their stuff. 

Why would someone have a sharpness tester? Average guy probably doesn't need one. Refurbishing and dealing in leather tools is my business. I blast, buff polish and sharpen a bunch of old tools. Every new Osborne tool I sell gets cleaned up and sharpened. In my tool shop I've got a 2x72 VSR knife grinder, VSR flat platen grinder, Brodbeck 1x42 VS sharpener, 1x30 HF belt grinder, buffing and scotchbrite wheels for the drill presses, five variable speed buffers with dedicated wheels for greaseless and buffing compounds, Dremels,  Foredom handpiece systems, Foredom bench lathe with a bunch of interchangeable media, Diamond stones and sticks for hand work. With all that stuff, I want to make sure I am doing OK. Sharpness tester just made sense. I buy crappy sides of leather to test some blades and tools. I do the paper slicing test sometimes too, but in the end - I like to see numbers.  It saves my left arm from being bald.