Contributing Member JLSleather Posted November 30, 2016 Contributing Member Report Posted November 30, 2016 No marks? SUE WEEEET... you got the only one Does look like more than one color, though .... Quote "Observation is 9/10 of the law." IF what you do is something that ANYBODY can do, then don't be surprised when ANYBODY does.
Members ArtisanOCL Posted November 30, 2016 Members Report Posted November 30, 2016 http://doublekleather.com/ carries an extensive line of leathers and products for leather crafters, out of St. Charles, MO. Someone recently told me Kevin is called 'the king of veg'. Quote
Members TinkerTailor Posted November 30, 2016 Members Report Posted November 30, 2016 On 11/20/2016 at 7:41 PM, Big Sioux Saddlery said: I wouldn't be surprised if your old Tandy tools are better quality than the new Osborne tools. They're mostly junk. I looked at an osbourne head knife at a shop the other day and the handle was crooked by about 15 degrees. I have recent manufacture an osborne #145 awl that has the ferrule glued in on an angle so there is no way to put the awl blade in parallel to the handle. That one was a gift, so I kept it. It really is a joke. There is a market for quality tools and it is growing. We as a society are swinging away from mass produced, and more people are looking for quality hand made items, and classic items that last. Look at the money being spent on barber supplies like straight razors, or on quality axes these days(or crappy leather stuff on etsy). Those tools from China are made for pennies and sold for dollars. There is a huge profit margin there. Some of those companies have managed to sell penny products for hundreds. There is more than enough room for a manufacturing company in the USA to put out a quality product and not have it cost a fortune if the profit and greed is kept in check. If Osbourne leveraged their heritage as a brand (ie spend longer than 5 minutes a decade on the website) and actually put out a quality consistent product, they may not go the way of Dixon and the rest. Quote "If nobody shares what they know, we will eventually all know nothing." "There is no adventure in letting fear and common sense be your guide"
Members billybopp Posted November 30, 2016 Members Report Posted November 30, 2016 33 minutes ago, TinkerTailor said: I looked at an osbourne head knife at a shop the other day and the handle was crooked by about 15 degrees. I have recent manufacture an osborne #145 awl that has the ferrule glued in on an angle so there is no way to put the awl blade in parallel to the handle. That one was a gift, so I kept it. It really is a joke. There is a market for quality tools and it is growing. We as a society are swinging away from mass produced, and more people are looking for quality hand made items, and classic items that last. Look at the money being spent on barber supplies like straight razors, or on quality axes these days(or crappy leather stuff on etsy). Those tools from China are made for pennies and sold for dollars. There is a huge profit margin there. Some of those companies have managed to sell penny products for hundreds. There is more than enough room for a manufacturing company in the USA to put out a quality product and not have it cost a fortune if the profit and greed is kept in check. If Osbourne leveraged their heritage as a brand (ie spend longer than 5 minutes a decade on the website) and actually put out a quality consistent product, they may not go the way of Dixon and the rest. Aside from the "darn that's so cool" quality of using old tools, they really are better IMHO. If I were starting over again, I'd skip the new tools and only buy old .. I've got some real crap new tools. As I mused in another thread, I think the old timers who used these tools day in and day out were willing to pay a premium price for tools that would (and often did) outlast them. They depended on these tools for their daily bread and butter. Even the best modern tools are comparatively cheaper to buy, but good quality can be had at the right price. Unfortunately, for now "The Boss" has forbidden any leather tool purchases. Just when I've seen a few that I'm lusting after too! LOL. A friend of mine is a laid off machinist, and I've given some thought to seeing if we can come up with some startup cash for tooling to make some true quality tools. I think you're right, there IS a market for them. Maybe we should make it happen! Bill Quote
Members seagiant Posted November 30, 2016 Author Members Report Posted November 30, 2016 7 hours ago, JLSleather said: No marks? SUE WEEEET... you got the only one Does look like more than one color, though .... Hi, Well....as this is my first jump into buying something but a belt blank, so I'm happy! Of course I have no experience to go on, but have to start somewhere! Thanks again for the info!!!! Quote
Members seagiant Posted December 25, 2016 Author Members Report Posted December 25, 2016 (edited) Hi, I thought I would add to this thread as I bought one of the Hand Strap Cutters (The wooden Original Strap Cutter) I have to say it worked fantastic and I cut me 3 nice belt blanks with it. As Springfield cut me a straight edge on my leather already I was good to go and everything went VERY smoothly! Sure beat my old Tandy strap cutter that was made out of 2, 1/2" pieces of wood!!! Edited December 26, 2016 by seagiant Quote
Contributing Member JLSleather Posted December 31, 2016 Contributing Member Report Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) Back to where to get belt cow ... Alex (Boriqua) says he's been happy with the leather from http://aleatherd.com/ I haven't been there as yet, but it looks like Alex knows something about leather, and thus he's convinced me to test it out Phone call this morning gets a message that Bridgett is away from her desk, but since it's new years eve in parts of KY, that's no great surprise. Plus I have no idea who Bridgett is Edited December 31, 2016 by JLSleather Quote "Observation is 9/10 of the law." IF what you do is something that ANYBODY can do, then don't be surprised when ANYBODY does.
Members klaykrusher Posted December 31, 2016 Members Report Posted December 31, 2016 So what determines whether the flesh side is processed smooth like HO or a little rough or spongey? Is that the grade? So SLC has HO 'B' grade which has a really smooth flesh side for the few backs I've purchased from them. The couple of shoulders i got from ALD the flesh side was not so smooth, pretty rough. My mistake was not specifying a grade at the time, I believe. grain side is pretty nice for these though. Quote ~Dave
Contributing Member JLSleather Posted December 31, 2016 Contributing Member Report Posted December 31, 2016 I don't know where that fits in "grading", but I dont' use 'fuzzy'. If they can't split it cleanly, then I'm out! Seriously, splitting is done all the time, and I wonder if someone who can't take care of that should even be supplying leather. Quote "Observation is 9/10 of the law." IF what you do is something that ANYBODY can do, then don't be surprised when ANYBODY does.
Members klaykrusher Posted December 31, 2016 Members Report Posted December 31, 2016 okay, makes sense. I'm gonna give ALD another try and this time I'll be more specific with what I'm looking for and what I expect. Quote ~Dave
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.