akraven

Very wise words of wisdom Trevor. I will probably swing by the auction company and at least look at it and see if they will let me run some leather through it. At the moment though I think you are right it would be wise to set back and wait. I can keep saving the money from selling my knives and put it toward a machine. Thank you again Trevor,,I appreciate it!!!!! akraven

Thank you both for your help/thoughts/pics. It doesn't seem to be the machine for me. akraven

Saw a pic of machine (on an local auction site) and wondered if anybody can identify it,what it might be worth and is it suitable for knife sheath's,holsters or? Thank you very much

Thank you UKRay I have debated replacing the arm the foot mounts to with an orgiinal/copy that would allow me to be able to change feet at will. I am checking on the cost. akraven

Hi Bob Thank you very much for the info!!! I sent you a PM. akraven

Thank you Steve I will check it out. akraven

Thank you Steve I will check it out. akraven

Thank you Steve When I bought this machine (from a sewing shop) they said this would be the machine for what I wanted. I now question that statement! I have sewn through 3 layers of leather without much problem but it certainly isn't as nice/smooth as a friend's Artisan machine. I am really leaning toward selling it and getting something closer to my needs. I live in Alaska and finding any leather machine is almost impossible so I took his word and grabbed this one. This was a last gasp at seeing if maybe I could modify this to suit me versus ordering something and paying the shipping to get it here. Thank you. akraven

I picked up a used Singer 11-20 sewing machine awhile ago for making knife sheaths and maybe some holsters. In learning to use it I find that the width of the presser foot is so wide that I can't get close to any bulge in the leather. In searching the site I see multiple mentions of differient type of feet and of people grinding feet to make them work better. Unfortunatly somewhere in the past someone had brazed the current foot on the machine. So I have to decide if trimming or removing on side of the foot will work as a fulltime thing or do I need to sell this machine off and get a machine better suited to what I want to do and allow more flexability in use. Here is a pic of the current foot setup. What do you all think. Is it a good idea to grind one side down or off? Thank you for any thoughts you can offer. akraven

Well after some searching around I found a leather machine. Here in Alaska finding a leather machine is difficult and I had searched all over on Craigslist and other places in the lower 48. Finally called a sewing machine repair place close by and lo and behold they had a machine somebody had wanted and never came for. A Singer 11-20 made in December of 1924. In excellent condition and checked out by their industrial machine guy. It is an extra deep throat cylinder machine that he said was made that way to sew powder bags for the battle ships??? Anyway I was hoping for a few reccomendations for 1. Thread size for holsters and sheaths? 346? 2. Needle types and sizes? 7X3 is the needle system 3. Best sources for Thread and needles 4. Speed reducers. has anybody made there own from pulleys or just bought a premade one. Anyone know of any online pic's of one? 5. Parts source for future? I have tried it out a little and it punches through 3 layers of 8-9oz leather without a problem. Thank you for any info anybody can offer. I really appreciate it.akraven PS Thats an 18" ruler sitting in front of it to give you a size perspective!!

Thank you for the help everybody. I was gone for a week hunting and just got back. Unfortunatley I also haven't heard back from the seller so can't get a model number or anything. Thank you again I apprecaite the help. akraven

Found this for sale and am waiting for the fellow who is selling it to get back to me if he can find a model number. He says it is probably from the 50's and has sewn up to 1" thick harness leather. Any idea what its worth? I am looking primarily to sew holsters and knife sheaths. Maybe occasionally some heavy webbing. Thank you for any thoughts folks have. akraven

Thank you for the extra info Art. It sounds like it wo't work for sheaths so I am not interested. It was priced at $600 but here in Alaska everything is expensive. Akraven

Thank you Kevin. I was afraid of that. He seemed like an awfully good deal. akraven

I saw this advertised locally and after googling the net didn't find much info. Is this a machine that is capable of sewing knife sheaths,webbing and possibly holsters? Thank you to whoever maybe able to help. akraven