Is Everything From Tandy Sub-Par?

[natenaaron]

AND .... the point is that though that gal is just a tad chubby healthy, I conclude that NOT EVERYTHING from Tandy is sub-par

Sounds like a good enough reason to wonder in there. Just to see if she is alright. Totally off topic. I wondered why my mechanics were ordering so much from NAPA until I saw the delivery girl. She left and my NAPA bill went way down.

Edited August 14, 2015 by natenaaron

[Chief31794]

I'm never as lucky as JLSLeather, my Tandy Manager is knowledgeable, normally free for lunch, etc. However, if I'm not mistaken, he learned his leatherworking in the Prison Leather Shop, so I just go in there to see if anything is new and don't bother with the whole lunch thing. One other note though, my Tandy bill stays quite low! LOL

Chief

[JLSleather]

While I agree tha's not so lucky, if he's out the prison, way ya hear bout summa them boys, he may not mind gointa lunch witcha!

Tha's a riot. Get it? Prison... riot ....

[Jim]

Ah, this is the perfect time to tell this story.

Late in the last century, I decided to pursue my boyhood love for leather work full time. So, with a hundred dollar bill in my pocket I set off to the local Tandy store. (Actual location shall remain un-named.)

I had an idea of what I wanted to do and what I'll need to do it. So I ask the lady there about the various stuff and she points it out to me.

(This is where is gets good!)

I tell her that I need a good knife for cutting leather, so she hands me this funny looking thing with a curvey metal top over a swivel and a very odd looking cutting edge. I says "This cuts leather?" To which she replied, "It's what the professionals use."

Mmmmm -kaaay. Not what I used when I was a kid, but oh well.

So, I took it home and laid out a piece of leather to begin cutting a long one inch wide strap with my "professional" leather cutting knife. Well, after about eight passes and no success, I put it to the stone for a better edge.

After thirteen more passes and a very bad cut, I threw the SWIVEL knife in a box, went to the hardware store, and bought me an UN-professional knife to cut my leather.

You can't make that kind of stuff up!

Jim

[ChriJ]

Jim,

that certainly didn't work out. Maybe you should have seen what she was doing for lunch!

Chris

[JLSleather]

Jim,

that certainly didn't work out. Maybe you should have seen what she was doing for lunch!

Chris

Yep. Still kaint cutno leather, but the trip wernt wasted!

[Jim]

FOR SALE - one Swivel Knife. Used Once. . . . . . repeatedly.

[Oldtoolsniper]

So I could not figure out how to do a pattern that chief did on a belt. Arrowhead basket weave I believe he calls it. He did a video and now I can do it.

Tandy stamp new from the store JLS is talking about. After watching the video and getting consistent results on scrap I started down my belt, I've driven nails, and spent many hours on the handle of an axe, sledgehammer, and or splitting maul so I'm pretty good at hitting the mark. I'm going down the belt and at around one third of the way down I started getting glancing blows, just one or two at first but they increased as I went. Now I'm the guy who just started to wear reading glasses and they focus at a certain point, that point was the tool meeting the leather not the maul meeting the stamp. Pretty soon I couldn't hit the mark at all, I was convinced I must have had some sort of mini stroke and lost my motor skills so off to the couch I went. When I got back to the bench I noticed that stamp, it was now curved. A 16 ounce maul bent that fine quality pot metal stamp into a nice c shape. I'm pretty sure it's some kind of pot metal since a magnet won't stick to it. They are cast not made from a blank like the old craftool co. tools are. I've learnt my lesson and now I buy the vintage stuff from eBay.

As far as knifes go I have about twenty or so head knives. I'm a hoarder, I mean collector of tools to some extent. No you do not need one. Learn with a replaceable blade knife first, no use trying to learn how to sharpen a round knife until you are ready. It's a whole skill itself.

Learn to strop that replaceable blade they are not very sharp even when new and you will have plenty of knife for most jobs.when I use one, I use one that the blade does not retract on, they are firmer meaning less blade flex, I also live alone so no worries about others getting cut with an exposed blade.

Tandy does sell some tool shaped objects that you can learn with.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Oldtoolsniper

[johnv474]

Part of Tandy's market is people just getting into a hobby, before specializing. Some of those people may give up the hobby after spilling dye on the carpet or making one Fathers Day belt. Telling someone like that to buy a Barry King this or an other-big-name-brand that is like selling a sniper rifle to a Cub Scout or a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar to a fifth grader. The quality and prices of the tools and supplies reflects that when someone moves from beginner to hobbyist to expert, they will replace those tools. For all beginners and many hobbyists and some professional, the limitation is more often the skill than the tool.

[stelmackr]

Part of Tandy's market is people just getting into a hobby, before specializing. Some of those people may give up the hobby after spilling dye on the carpet or making one Fathers Day belt. Telling someone like that to buy a Barry King this or an other-big-name-brand that is like selling a sniper rifle to a Cub Scout or a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar to a fifth grader. The quality and prices of the tools and supplies reflects that when someone moves from beginner to hobbyist to expert, they will replace those tools. For all beginners and many hobbyists and some professional, the limitation is more often the skill than the tool.

This, in my opinion, is the best comment regarding Tandy and really describes its target audience. I started with Tandy products and use many of them to this day. I also have specialized and custom tools. I always chuckle with "I think I need the best whatever tool" and remember visiting the Al Stohlman section of the leather museum in Sheridan, WY and seeing the tools that Al started with: a pocket knife, a bent piece of metal, some other odds and ends and a dye of India ink. These primitive tools produced works of art that simply magnificent.

Bob Stelmack