Strap Cutter Options

[xlr8tn]

Hello,

I recently saw a video of some bridle making business in England (can't seem to find my saved link) and they used a strap cutter that was pushed instead of pulled. It appeared to be in a box and did not look adjustable. I make watch straps and the widths are pretty standard so I wouldn't mind owning a few custom ones. I would prefer something like this versus the standard tandy strap cutter. Can someone tell me where I can find one of these strap cutters or how to make one?

Thanks,

Brent

[bruce johnson]

Brent,

I started off with the original wooden strap cutters and liked them. There are some knockoffs that are not as precise. I got a draw gauge and liked that alright once I learned a few important safety lessons, one the hard way. I ended up and scored on an old guy selling out his collection of draw gauges last fall and picked up some great oldies. I set one for each common width and thought I was in fat city. A few months ago, I visited a friend's shop and he was taught by an English worker. He used a plough gauge, which I think is what you are describing. I ran a strip with it, seemed simple enough. My local Aussie buddy has his dad's old Dixon and while he will loan me a collection of old stamps to kill for, the plough gauge stays with him. He says if you ever get one, you won't cut with anything else. I got a nice old Barnsley a couple months ago off ebay. Sharpened it up and holy crap, haven't picked up a draw gauge since. Brownie's words ring true - "Toldja, mate!!".

They show up from time to time on ebay. Bob Douglas has them sometimes too. Otherwise you can buy a Dixon from Siegels here in the US, or from Abbeys in England. I don't know if anyone else carries them here in the US.

[hidepounder]

Brent,

I started off with the original wooden strap cutters and liked them. There are some knockoffs that are not as precise. I got a draw gauge and liked that alright once I learned a few important safety lessons, one the hard way. I ended up and scored on an old guy selling out his collection of draw gauges last fall and picked up some great oldies. I set one for each common width and thought I was in fat city. A few months ago, I visited a friend's shop and he was taught by an English worker. He used a plough gauge, which I think is what you are describing. I ran a strip with it, seemed simple enough. My local Aussie buddy has his dad's old Dixon and while he will loan me a collection of old stamps to kill for, the plough gauge stays with him. He says if you ever get one, you won't cut with anything else. I got a nice old Barnsley a couple months ago off ebay. Sharpened it up and holy crap, haven't picked up a draw gauge since. Brownie's words ring true - "Toldja, mate!!".

They show up from time to time on ebay. Bob Douglas has them sometimes too. Otherwise you can buy a Dixon from Siegels here in the US, or from Abbeys in England. I don't know if anyone else carries them here in the US.

Bruce,

I have started to buy a plough gauge couple of times and was just too tight to turn loose of the money. Douglas loves them like you do! What I want to know is are they good for stripping narrow widths and how well do they work on light leather. I've discovered that when I was stripping out 2/3 oz or 3/4 oz leather, my draw gauge wanders.....it's extremely sharp and with the light leather there is not enough resistance between the blade and the guide to keep me cutting straight.

Bob

[cem]

Theres a Dixon Plough Gauge on Ebay Australia at the moment under leathercraft. Not knowing anything about them not sure if the price is high or not.

Cheers,

Clair

[xlr8tn]

Thanks all for the info. I will take a look. Same thing with pricking irons...dang those are pricey...but if you can find some old saddlemakers tools...even better. Just sharpen them up and use them like they are brand new.

-Brent

[tonyc1]

Theres a Dixon Plough Gauge on Ebay Australia at the moment under leathercraft. Not knowing anything about them not sure if the price is high or not.

Cheers,

Clair

I had someone here last week and he'd been to Lefflers in Melbourne and said a Dixon plough gauge is $800 these days!

Tony.

[xlr8tn]

I found the video...part I am looking for is at 1:49.

[bruce johnson]

Brent,

Not a plough gauge that they are using. Cool looking tool though. Scary when he runs that round knife there towards the left hand right after that, huh.

Bob,

I let a couple newer Dixon plough gauges get by me on Ebay that went past my maximum bid. My Ebay theory is to not pay more than half of new retail on anything currently made. This Barnsley came up in early April and I got it bought for $96.55. Sometimes you do eat the bear. When I got it the blade was at the back of the stops and still appeared to have a factory grind with a flat edge on the front to have the final sharpening done by the user. I am guessing the blade was unused. It has its whole life ahead of it. The blade is a Dixon but fits perfectly. There are mating numbers on the frame and slide like the old draw gauges made here, so it might be pretty old. The 2/3 and 3/4 cuts alright with the plough gauge. I think the longer fence and length of the blade on the plough gauge help to keep leather tracking more true than the draw gauge with an inch of blade at best.

I think the plough gauge might have the same issues as the draw gauge on flexible leather. It can wad up between the blade and guide and wander. For the soft leather this is one place I think the wooden strap cutters shine. I put a brand new stropped razor blade in mine, and then make a starting cut with a knife. I set the bars so they are just kissing the leather no gaps to wad up and pull away on the tail. I have one of those third hand bench clamps with the fence wire stretcher cam action. I can clamp the end in there and just back away and watch the tension. When my first wife was doing some beading I could make some pretty even strips of deerhide or piglining that way.

[jimsaddler]

Brent,

Not a plough gauge that they are using. Cool looking tool though. Scary when he runs that round knife there towards the left hand right after that, huh.

Bob,

I let a couple newer Dixon plough gauges get by me on Ebay that went past my maximum bid. My Ebay theory is to not pay more than half of new retail on anything currently made. This Barnsley came up in early April and I got it bought for $96.55. Sometimes you do eat the bear. When I got it the blade was at the back of the stops and still appeared to have a factory grind with a flat edge on the front to have the final sharpening done by the user. I am guessing the blade was unused. It has its whole life ahead of it. The blade is a Dixon but fits perfectly. There are mating numbers on the frame and slide like the old draw gauges made here, so it might be pretty old. The 2/3 and 3/4 cuts alright with the plough gauge. I think the longer fence and length of the blade on the plough gauge help to keep leather tracking more true than the draw gauge with an inch of blade at best.

I think the plough gauge might have the same issues as the draw gauge on flexible leather. It can wad up between the blade and guide and wander. For the soft leather this is one place I think the wooden strap cutters shine. I put a brand new stropped razor blade in mine, and then make a starting cut with a knife. I set the bars so they are just kissing the leather no gaps to wad up and pull away on the tail. I have one of those third hand bench clamps with the fence wire stretcher cam action. I can clamp the end in there and just back away and watch the tension. When my first wife was doing some beading I could make some pretty even strips of deerhide or piglining that way.

A quick tip for sharpening Plough Guages. Sharpen the inside (left) edge at a bit more angle than the outside which is sharpened nearly flat. It is like a light Chisel edge. This keeps the Blade full and stops the wander that you get with a Draw guage (which are not accurate enough for production work). Pull the Leather through with a backhand motion of the left hand. Take long strokes to get even Straps.

Kindest Regards.

Jim Saddler.

[Regis]

I found the video...part I am looking for is at 1:49.

That is an excellent short video. For those of us isolated from other leatherworkers, it was awesome. I wish they would have done the same detail on bags as they did bridles & saddles.

Thank you!

Edited June 12, 2009 by Regis

[tonyc1]

I just had a look at Leffler's price lists and a new Dixon plough gauge is $1085 over the counter and wholesale it is ONLY $945. Pretty expensive these days!

Tony.

[celticleather]

A 5" Dixon plough gauge, bought direct from Abbey Saddlery in the UK is £287.43 (AUS$591.00, US$470.00) plus shipping. Surely it would be better to buy direct, than pay this enormous mark-up? Abbey are quite happy to ship overseas.

[tonyc1]

A 5" Dixon plough gauge, bought direct from Abbey Saddlery in the UK is £287.43 (AUS$591.00, US$470.00) plus shipping. Surely it would be better to buy direct, than pay this enormous mark-up? Abbey are quite happy to ship overseas.

Yes, they are certainly ripping us off down here, Terry!

[rsrepair]

This place sells the lace cutter, http://www.rudedogleather.com/id188.html

[gtwister09]

Bob,

A lot of people swear off of draw gauges because just like plough gauges the blade needs to be beveled more or less on the side nearest the guide. There are just as many gauges that bind up as wander. Beveling more as in the case of Bob (Jim gave this tip as well) allows the leather to pull up against the guide and preventing the blade from coming out of the material or wandering. The outside bevel in this case generally has little impact on the gauges.

Now for caveats when sharpening to fix a blade (SOMETIMES the gauges are garbage and no amount of tweaking the blade fixes their wandering or bunching ....... GET RID OF THESE ASAP). This is not a fix for every gauge (draw or plough) but can help if the problem is slight.

• Excessive (or let's just say "too much") bevel on the blade facing the guide will likewise make the leather gather and bind against the guide. This will make the work difficult if not impossible to get through the gauge.

• Too little as already discussed and blade will wander.

A good rule of thumb for any blade is increasing the bevel will make it dig deeper. Likewise shortening it will make it rise. As in the case of the gauges increasing the bevel on the blade side towards the guide will make it bite deeper. Only do that if it is wandering out of the material. Likewise as stated above if it binds against the guide (biting too deeply) then decrease the bevel. I generally only add or subtract bevels about 1/64" at a time and test.

Several draw gauges that people said were garbage and one plough gauge were fixed in a matter of 10-30 minutes with one or two tweaks to the bevel of the blade.

One such plough gauge was an old Barnsley in VERY GOOD condition and it had been given to this guy. Anyhow he brought it to me to trade because it was a piece of garbage (his words). He sold it for $25. I looked at it and asked what he intended to do. He wanted to get something to do belts and other strap work. I asked what his issue was with it and he said "It was a bear to pull any straps through. Worst design he had ever seen...his wooden one did better". I tested a strap and lessened his blade bevel by 1/64" and SHAZAM it slipped right through there next time. He was sick and upset at that point. Needless to say I told him how to keep it tuned up and got my $25 back. Too bad it was a GREAT plough gauge.

Regards,

Ben

[Leerwerker]

Siegel sells them for $690.00

I have one (got it for a few bucks from an old saddler that taught me hand sewing.) - it has to be super sharp and then it works really well.

Look here to see it.

Hello,

I recently saw a video of some bridle making business in England (can't seem to find my saved link) and they used a strap cutter that was pushed instead of pulled. It appeared to be in a box and did not look adjustable. I make watch straps and the widths are pretty standard so I wouldn't mind owning a few custom ones. I would prefer something like this versus the standard tandy strap cutter. Can someone tell me where I can find one of these strap cutters or how to make one?

Thanks,

Brent

[mike1967]

Ben, just the info I was looking for on tuning the blade of a plough gauge.