cs and us civil war stamps

[buckskin billy]

i spend  most of my time playing cowboy or mountain man, but civil war re-enacting is pretty big around my neck of the woods. we're still trying to beat them yankees.
  so anyhows a few of my friends that play johnny reb on the weekends have ask me to consider making some civil war style leather.
thanks to the help from yall on this forum i have located some patterns i need.
now i'm in need of those cs and us stamps that are seen stamped on the flaps of those military holsters and cap pouches and the such.
  any of yall out there know of such a place would be helpful.

thanks a bunch

billy

[Kid Terico]

BB I got mine from weaver leather for $75.00. KT

[Slowhand Bob]

Try getting in touch with these good people.  They will probably save you some money also.  http://www.bunkhousetools.com/

[buckskin billy]

thanks kid and bob. got both of these web site bookmarked.

yall got me going in the right dirrection now

[Springfield Slim]

Check out this post.  http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,33299.0.html

[JD Alan]

Well, now ya got me goin here. If I understand this right, you could take a heavy ram press from Harbor Freight, make sure you have a piece of steel large enough to cover one of their plates, put that piece of steel between the ram and this embossing plate then press it into cased leather? Inquiring minds want to know. 

[GunClick Rick]

Ned Buckshot needed ,chime in Ned........

[Slowhand Bob]

JD, if I wanted a press for somewhat heavy embossing work I would pass by the arbor versions, in favor of a hydraulic version.  I bought a huge 3 ton arbor model years ago and actually prefer the Tandy Embossing press over it (I have busted two of these Tandy models).  I still want a fast powerful press for embossing but I am convinced that the hydraulic units would work better.  Our local Harbor Freight does not have the smallest ones but there is a small bench mount A-frame press available somewhere that uses a six ton bottle jack and I think the price is well under a hundred dollars.  These will need a bit of additional work and the narrow area over which pressure can be applied are drawbacks that you must also consider. 

[JD Alan]

I have never seen a clicker for sale, so I have no idea what those might run, or their size. I can see how a hydraulic would work better, but I can also see problems with the narrow area of pressure too. Sounds like an interesting idea though. Thanks Bob.

[Freedom]

I am not sure...but the only embossing I have done has been with and old 1800's letter press. It just has a big 14"?? wheel and a couple flat iron plates, linked by a threaded shaft... all we do is crank it down snug and let it set for 5min. Then take out your leather and it is done... I don't believe we are getting anywhere close to a "ton" of weight applyed. I would would be afraid to use our big hydrolic press on any leather...it is just way to strong and itis hard to "feel" how hard you are pressing. It does have a gauge but that is for steel.


On another note...some of the best embossing plates I have used have been hand made from skirting leather. ...Just take the mirror image of what ever you want to emboss and tool it onto a piece of heavy skirting. Varnish it  and let it dry... then take it to the letter press and press it into cased (and mostly dry surface)... this is such a neat idea and really opens the door for a lot of us that can't afford or have no use for a bunch of expensive plates...... even simple knife cuts will  fill out, so you can use your swivel to write anything you want on the leather plate and the letters will be raised font on your finished piece... The reall tricky part is writting those letters backword on your plate

[Biscuit Joe]

Freedom I saw an example of what you are talking about just a few weeks ago.
A person had taken a coin and used it for the mold into the leather and then used the hardened leather for the stamp impression. It worked real good too!

[JD Alan]

Freedom, the heavy leather embossing sounds like a slick idea, and I like the idea of the press you have. I imagine it would take some space though!

[Freedom]

Joe the coin idea is a good one.. I have some real old dollars and some Buffalo nickles that might look real nice embossed on something.

JD, the press is not mine...wish it was but my friend Wade lets me use it whenever I want.

I guess it is a "book press" and it is pretty small... about 16" square and sets on the counter... it looks just like this one   http://dolcepress.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/book-press.jpg

[JD Alan]

Thanks for that picture Freedom. Now if I ever see one for sale I'll know what it is and what I could use it for, assuming I could afford to buy it!

[Slowhand Bob]

JD, a couple of metal plates could work on pretty much the same principle, IF you have access to a really big vise.  While I was out yesterday I picked up one of the small six ton jack presses (bench top a-frame) while it was on sale.  The kicker is that the NRA mag has been including 20% coupons recently and when this was tallied in I got the press for around $55 with tax included.   Probably will not get to assemble it until tomorrow though.  I will try to do a report on it soon.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Thanks for the pic, Freedom. That's a cool press.

[JD Alan]

I'll keep an eye out for how it goes Robby