Midas Stamping Tools

[Maus]

I am relatively new to the leather crafting world, and just was introduced to some of the midas tools- but was told they can be hard to get hold of. Is there any other place other than ebay to look?

Also I'm looking for the kanji of the Chinese zodiac

a edge slicker that is small enough to fit in the eye holes of masks, I tried the new wood one from tandy and am rather disappointed in it. an acrylic/nylon would be fine, or cocobolo wood in a perfect world.

as for the advice part, any hints to where I could hunt some of these items down would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Luke Hatley]

I am relatively new to the leather crafting world, and just was introduced to some of the midas tools- but was told they can be hard to get hold of. Is there any other place other than ebay to look?

Also I'm looking for the kanji of the Chinese zodiac

a edge slicker that is small enough to fit in the eye holes of masks, I tried the new wood one from tandy and am rather disappointed in it. an acrylic/nylon would be fine, or cocobolo wood in a perfect world.

as for the advice part, any hints to where I could hunt some of these items down would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Midas is no longer in business, keep checking E-Bay out ,you might get lucky.....

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

There is also Craigslist, and Leatherworker.net. I have some Midas stamps that I got from someone that was getting out of leather that I found on CL. I have also found some at garage sales, and flea markets. Not sure how many would be floating around Italy, so you would be looking at a lot of shipping unless you could have them shipped to a relative here who could send them all at once in a flat rate box.

For the edge burnisher, I would say to make one. They are not that difficult to shape, and can be done with no more than a rat tail file. Your location is listed as a base in Italy, most military bases have a hobby shop where you could make one, if you don't have the tools to do so. The wood could be found in a second hand store, I see those ironwood animals from Mexico at the Las Vegas SAVERS fairly often. Just look around you, you may see something that you can adapt for you purposes.

What don't you like about the Tandy one?

[whinewine]

Also I'm looking for an edge slicker that is small enough to fit in the eye holes of masks, I tried the new wood one from tandy and am rather disappointed in it. an acrylic/nylon would be fine, or cocobolo wood in a perfect world.

as for the advice part, any hints to where I could hunt some of these items down would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Chris Wright, http://leatherburnishers.com manufactures & sells a variety of cocobolo burnishers that fit drills/drill presses & also dremels. He also will make custom burnishers to your specifications. Excellent, excellent craftsmanship ! His avatar name here is "spinner".

[Maus]

Yeah I'm aware that midas is long out of business, finding spiffy stuff to late or "vintage" is always my luck. But it never hurt to ask. Looks like I"ll just have to troll ebay for a while-shoot. Oh well.

Thanks whinewine for the link-- those are really spiffy, and I've been looking for an excuse to get a dremel tool. Oh the trouble I could get in, this will be fun.

[Maus]

There is also Craigslist, and Leatherworker.net. I have some Midas stamps that I got from someone that was getting out of leather that I found on CL. I have also found some at garage sales, and flea markets. Not sure how many would be floating around Italy, so you would be looking at a lot of shipping unless you could have them shipped to a relative here who could send them all at once in a flat rate box.

For the edge burnisher, I would say to make one. They are not that difficult to shape, and can be done with no more than a rat tail file. Your location is listed as a base in Italy, most military bases have a hobby shop where you could make one, if you don't have the tools to do so. The wood could be found in a second hand store, I see those ironwood animals from Mexico at the Las Vegas SAVERS fairly often. Just look around you, you may see something that you can adapt for you purposes.

What don't you like about the Tandy one?

Its kinda hard to find things on CL for me as I'm out in Naples Italy, and unfortunately for me don't speak Italian at all. I'll have to see what the hobby shop is like here, I guess I've kinda been avoiding it as I don't need any more hobbies to suck me in.. *sigh* I'm an easy sale when it comes to that sort of thing. But its worth a shot.

I guess I'm not to fond of it because of the wood that they use on it, it seems pretty porous to me, and I wasn't liking the edge that it left on the masks that I used it on... I had better luck fighting with my nylon ones and then going to the corners with my shaft of my stylus. Which works I suppose, but I'd rather a good slicker so I don't have to fight so much.

[King's X]

Use the search feature.....top right hand corner. search 'midas tools'. There was a recent thread about midas tools and a limited edition being planned.

[Maus]

Really? I couldn't find that thread! Much to my dismay But that is exciting news to hear/read!

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Maus,

don't look on the Italian Craigslist, look on the ones near family members over here. Have them pick them up, and then ship them to you. Having a military APO address will cut your shipping costs to Italy.

The slickers that my Dad made are made from Lignum Vitae. The same wood that is used for the propeller shaft bearings on some large ships. So dense it sinks like a rock, and best to use metal working tools to cut it.

[Maus]

It sinks? Really? Thant is so cool!! Sorry, inner nerd came rushing out there for a sec. I pity the chainsaw that had to take down that tree though!

I've got an APO address BELIEVE me I'd be up a creek without one as shipping costs would eat me alive! I've been trying around craigslist, so far not much luck in Houston, St Louis or Cincinnati. Darn. I guess I just have to keep on trying.