What is wrong with me!

[Big Papa Leather]

Ok,

I have spent the last two days looking at swivel knives. I already have 3. Two of the Tandy ones and a Stohlman ball bearing one.

I think I need more. But why? Why more.

Then there's head/round knives. I have one a nice Stohlman one bur I have been searching the internet for more..

Why?

I saw some cool vintage rawhide mallets on eBay. I have one of the Tandy ones... Do I need another?

I find my car sometimes points itself toward the local Tandy. I don't need anything and have looked at everything there about 2000 times. But I still find myself yearning to go. Why?

Please help me understand.

Allen

[Luke Hatley]

Allen...............".the one with the most toys wins" ..

[westtxcowboy1979]

You have been biten by the leather bug. You are now a leather feen. lol

[westtxcowboy1979]

Which Tandys do you go to I'm only about anhour and a half away from you?

[Johanna]

Nothing is wrong with you. This is perfectly normal leatherworker behavior. Most of you are tool junkies. There is no cure. You need to work hard so you can buy more tools. Check out the knives Pabloz makes- http://leatherwranglers.com

Johanna

[Casey Jordan]

Wait a minute! You only have 3 swivel knifes?? That's not enough.

Is there is something lacking in your diet?

You either need to get to a doctor or go buy more swivel knifes right away.

Casey

[Schno]

Maybe this should be leatherjunkies.net and Johanna will be our enabler! We need a twelve step program... or just more tools...

[Big Papa Leather]

Johanna Yes, I have seen them and would like to get one in the Royalty Blue!

WestTX I go to the one in Austin. On 35 near downtown. I work in Austin a few day a week so it is almost convenient!

Minisaddle- I have only been at this for a couple months now. I am unsure of the proper etiquette, so with 2 months experience how many knives should I have?

Allen

[Casey Jordan]

Oh, only a couple of months. I think 3 knifes for now is fine, but that won't last long.

I think we all need a support group! We could all meet at Tandy - Bad idea!!

Casey

[pabloz]

Allen,

I've been at this stuff since '73 and my current collection of swivel knives (not including the ones I make) is 17.....which is why I started making them.

Then heres the rest:

7 round/head knives

6 Xacto

5 skivers

4 filigree

3 Utility

2 scalpels

1 hook bill

......you could almost make a song out this.

PZ

[carr52]

Maybe this should be leatherjunkies.net and Johanna will be our enabler! We need a twelve step program... or just more tools...

12 step program?

Step 1: Case your leather

Step 2: Carve

Step 3: Bevel

Step 4: Give up all hope for a cure there is no such thing as a "Recovering Leatherholic" unless its covering a peice of furniture with leather.

[HarryB]

Well, after almost 50 years doing this, I have about a dozen swivel knives, 8 round/head knives, about 15 different hammers around the shop not counting all the duplicate stamps, mallets and other tools I have. After all, for a complete floral carving you only need ONE swivel knife, ONE veiner, about three bevelers, etc. Definately not the hundreds of tools we all seem to collect (you never know when you might need that particular tool!). You will find yourself checking all the flea markets and yard sales during the day for more tools and surfing the internet at 3 in the morning looking for what you didn't find at the flea markets. Get used to it; it comes with the territory. Just accept it and dig a little deeper for your next tool purchase! After all this time I finally purchased a Chuck Smith swivel knife and now I won't put it down . The others are now just "back-ups". You know; in case someone breaks in and steals my Chuck Smith, I'll have another one to fall back on.

[celticleather]

I find this thread enormously reassuring! I've been accumulating tools since the 70s, to the point where I now have four plough gauges (3 Dixon, 1 Blanchard), four round knives, two splitters, innumerable edge shaves, dividers . . . and so it goes on.

It's now clear that tool hoarding is a disease (maybe spread by some kind of leather mite?) that afflicts leatherworkers, and not some kind of personal compulsive obsession. I still scan salerooms and auction houses for tools - preferably old tools - that I am compelled to buy, whether or not they're repeats of what I already have.

I keep thinking that one day I'll have a Grand Sale and use the proceeds to sail off into the sunset. . . . dream on!

[stelmackr]

The 12 Steps of Leatherholics Anonymous

1.) We admitted we were powerless over leather--that our wives had become unmanageable.

2.) Came to believe that Tandy Leather Factory could restore us to sanity.

3.) Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the Leatherworker.net as we understood it.

4.) Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our tools.

5.) Admitted to Johanna, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our tool collection.

6.) Were entirely ready to have Johanna remove all these excess tools.

7.) Humbly asked Johanna to remove our tool obsession.

8.) Made a list of all the tools we have collect, and became willing to give them up.

9.) Made direct gifts of the tools wherever possible, except when to do so would cause another leatherholic to be created.

10.) Continued to take a tool inventory and when we acquired one, promptly admitted it.

11.) Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with Johanna as we understood her, praying only for knowledge of her will for us and the power to carry that out.

12.) Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other leatherholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

[Vikti]

Maybe this should be leatherjunkies.net and Johanna will be our enabler! We need a twelve step program... or just more tools...

Or maybe our dealer or pusher.

I'm thinking about getting a 3rd one for myself with a ceramic blade but I don't know whether to get a straight or angled blade. I use my angle blade during times when my arthritis acts up. Maybe I should take the advice of this thread and get both...

[Big Papa Leather]

OOooh tell me about a Chuck Smith knife.

What makes it your fav?

I've read about Henleys as well.

I was using a regular blade, then moved to an steel angle blade and now I have a ceramic filigree.

So far I'm liking the ceramic although I spent tome extra time stroping it to get it from dragging.

I did it on my flathone and a diamond spray.

I like the Stohlman ball bearing swivel. But I like the others as well. I like the knurling on the one Tandy the best. Both are adjustable so it's hard to describe the difference. I will get a SK-3 of Pabloz if I can stop myself from spending up the disposable income on other stuff. Have you ever thought of a payment plan? LOL!

I have seen some different shaped head knives that interest me, but have not used mine enough to justify

another.

Allen

[wildrose]

I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread...but I must be really lacking because I only have ONE swivel knife. It's a Stohlman one from Tandy, ceramic blade. I have some back up blades inc. steel ones, but usually I just use an angled ceramic.

I do, however, have the tool obsession. I have tools I've bought for just one pattern, and never used again. Nowadays, I'll try to find a substitute tool in my collectiong before I buy like that, but the weakness/need for new ones still gets to me. I bought a bunch of geometrics recently and actually did break down and send them back when I realized I truly wouldn't use them. That was the toughest thing ever!

[Casey Jordan]

Wildrose,

I'm sorry to be the one to tell you but, the shots for this won't help you now. Your to far gone for that.

Chin up though, maybe someday....

Casey

One swivel knife? What a crying pity!

Edited November 27, 2008 by minisaddlemaker

[Johanna]

The 12 Steps of Leatherholics Anonymous

1.) We admitted we were powerless over leather--that our wives had become unmanageable.

2.) Came to believe that Tandy Leather Factory could restore us to sanity.

3.) Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the Leatherworker.net as we understood it.

4.) Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our tools.

5.) Admitted to Johanna, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our tool collection.

6.) Were entirely ready to have Johanna remove all these excess tools.

7.) Humbly asked Johanna to remove our tool obsession.

8.) Made a list of all the tools we have collect, and became willing to give them up.

9.) Made direct gifts of the tools wherever possible, except when to do so would cause another leatherholic to be created.

10.) Continued to take a tool inventory and when we acquired one, promptly admitted it.

11.) Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with Johanna as we understood her, praying only for knowledge of her will for us and the power to carry that out.

12.) Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other leatherholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

I was married to two leather tool junkies, and I know the problem well. I remember being a Tandy Manager and watching the guys pull the money out from behind the kids' pics in their wallets, and slipping the bags into other bags and hiding them in their trucks before their wives returned from the mall. Tool junkies exist in many forms- just the other day we received a True Value sales flyer and coupon in the mail, and my husband did a flying leap across the room and caught it before it hit the trash..."What are you doing, woman? That's from The Hardware Store!" I just roll my eyes and carry on. I'm clean, kids, sorry about your luck. You have been bitten by the leather bug, and there is no cure. But there are more tools...tools you don't have. Tools you might want.

Welcome to Leather Land- you can never have to many tools or hides. Ever.

~J

[Rawhide]

There is something wrong with you....You don't have enough tools yet

Ok Here's my collection so far,

Top row, an Al Stohlman Brand (ASB) with a hair blade, and from my dad's collection an old craftool with a ceramic blade.

Middle row, A new craftool with a Barry King Beader blade, a Henley with blade, Chuck Smith with blade, ASB stacked leather with filigree, Henley with blade, another ASB stacked leather with ruby blade.

Bottom Row, ASB with hair blade, and finally another ASB with Peter Main blade.

Whew.

I also have a Robert Beard knife on order.

Other tools,

3 head knives, Osborne, Marlin, and ASB.

3 scalpels, (two #3s, one #4)

2 skivers

1 bevel point knife

3 stabbing awls

4 stitching awls (one bob douglas, two Peter Main, one Osborne)

3 mauls (two Barry King, one ASB)

5 mallets (two rawhide, two poly, one ASB poly)

2 lacing fids

There's more, but it gives you an Idea.

Bottom line, TOOLS ARE GOOD!

Marlon

Edited November 27, 2008 by Johanna

[HarryB]

I compared the Chuck Smith and the other high end knives at the Texas show. I liked the Smith better because it was a little beefier built. The other one had way too small diameter shaft that holds the finger yolk on. Just liked the weight and feel of the Smith a little better. If you are just starting to do leather work, save your money and get fewer, better tools. Using poor quality tools will discourage you from practicing.

[hidepounder]

Buying tools is a very serious affliction! It has to be the single biggest reason that leatherworkers can't show a profit! Someone should invent a spray for it!

[Luke Hatley]

I HONESTLY BELEIVE THAT THERE ARE A FEW MORE THAT I COULD USE.

[Rawhide]

I HONESTLY BELEIVE THAT THERE ARE A FEW MORE THAT I COULD USE.

yeah Luke,

Looks like you need a head knife, a splitter, a plough guage, etc... the list continually grows.

Marlon

[Luke Hatley]

hey Rawhide , I do have 3 head knives, 2 splitters..... but now that you mention it

i might start looking for a Plough gauge, is it better than a straight edge & Head Knife ?