--On Monday, March 29, 2004 10:20 PM -0500 Jim Harvey <harvey@greenwood.net> wrote: > Hello Fred, > snip< > 2. Make incision into leather with the razor blade parallel to the > knuckle face, but with the back of the blade on a diagonal (angled > towards you instead of toward the flange (easier than straight cut). > The ideal spot is slightly above where existing leather is glued, > leaving a trace amount of original leather along with factory glue. > Note: too close to the core and the leather won't separate -- try to > determine the top EDGE of the original glue line. The glue most always > has wicked somewhat into the knuckle bolster cloth. Running a needle > between bolster cloth and knuckle leather helps arrive the appropriate > average cut line. A straight-edge and/or elevation guide may be > appropriate for speed and accuracy. > snip< Hi Jim, Thanks for the walk through. Sounds pretty much like what I have been imagining, except that I'll be removing all the hammer assemblies to re-pin them, so will not do the job with parts attached (I'll pull all screws with a power screwdriver and set them in a jig, then proceed to alternate knuckling and pinning, section by section - alternating to keep from getting bored). I'm having a bit of trouble understanding just what you have in mind for cutting leather (above). Why do you want to leave that glue and bit of leather attached? Wouldn't it make sense to make the cut you describe _and also_ cut away the glue and remaining leather, in order to leave space for the excess leather that is being pulled around, and allow it to be glued directly to shank wood? That's what I've done in the past, the couple times I've done this, and it seemed like a good method. I agree stretching the leather is preferable to bolstering in most cases. If anything, it takes only marginally more time, and the results are more controllable. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico
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