Joe,
I took measurements on half a dozen Heiser and Johnson sheaths: The keeper strap widths are all 9/16" (Within a negligible tolerance), and the baby dot snaps on the Johnson sheaths are exactly 1/2" (Again within a negligible tolerance). I'm asking you to look again at the 1-6 photos below. I went to the auction and took the two best angles from each side. As you can see, there is no way that snap is 1/2" in diameter if the width of the strap is 9/16":
Ron -
look closely at the keeper snap. It is not centered on the strap with the base of the male part of the snap even visible sticking out from the strap. That being said, I am not saying it isn't 1/16" or 3/64" or whatever size larger, it may be but the photo is not clear enough for me to determine definitively.
In any case, the old snaps are in fact different irrespective of the diameter. The way the male and female fasten is different than the baby dot. So is the snaps penetration and attachment through and to the leather.
Not the case at all, Kemosabe! I'm quoting Gaddis: The snap installation machine at Heiser would not accept this stronger Baby Dot fastener, at least not without costly modification. Gaddis doesn't say why it would not accept it. It could be any number of reasons! We'll never know. One thing we do know is that you can't rule out size. I have a circa 1950 Heiser leather 300 Mag cartridge carrier. Pics below:
As you can see, it has a painted steel snap in the same domed configuration as a Baby Dot and is 9/16" in diameter! So Heiser WAS tooled for a 9/16" steel snap!
It doesn't matter "why" the HKL machine would not accept that snap. It irrelevant. He clearly states that HKL did not, could not, or whatever, use the snap. It is most likely moot anyway because HKL was pretty much out the door as a sheath supplier to RMK.
I'm not going to refer to the later operations of Heiser as "HKL". Yes, the company changed ownership, but there is no evidence that the facility, equipment, operation and personnel were tampered with. From a Randall collectors perspective, a Heiser sheath is a Heiser sheath whether made in 1945 or 1960! With regard to your question: How plausible is this scenario: Johnson had equipment to fasten a 1/2" diameter steel snap, but not a 9/16" diameter snap. Why would Bo pay to have Heiser tool up for 1/2" when he could maintain status quo for a finite period of time? So yes: We're talking apples to apples!
Request to anyone reading this thread and buys the 1-6 in question: Can you please let us know the diameter of the snaps. That will give us a lot more to go on. If I eat crow, it won't be the first time.
You can do as you wish but the fact remains, the Heiser Co. was not Hesier as we know it. It was the second sale of the company in about 8 years and the name had changed. That is a simple fact. No one is 100% certain as to any operations or employment changes, but it is apparent that the company was probably only making knife sheaths for RMK as a small portion of their work with saddlery, harness gear, holsters, etc. as the predominate business plan.
This begs the question, again, that I have not gotten any feedback on. What was the perspective of the HKL "conglomerate" relative to the RMK sheath business? Was it worth devoting the resources to continue? Was the company wanting or encouraging Bo to find another maker? Was the company planning of phasing out that portion of its business? All are certainly plausible but we may never know for sure.
You are surmising Bo was introduced to the Baby Dot fastener prior to Johnson but turned it down? He had already been using Heiser sheaths with a steel snap for years off and on. He didn't make the change then did he? Nope. It was not until Maurice Johnson that the change was made. So the steel snaps used by Heiser were not Baby Dot snaps and never were.
So, while the HKL steel snap was available, it was not used on knife sheaths regularly through 50's into the early 60's. It was a different snap than the Baby Dot.
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