carguy

Located in the Midwest area. I just talked to specialty leather and we're going back and forth right now

Bump for the administrators. Please consider deleting this thread. This is a VERY high ranking result when searching for their business online. It is right below their domain and probably scares off a considerable amount of their business.

Bump

So I'm still very much in the research phase here and I have a very newb question. I've looked into some local tanneries & taxidermi places and what I've noticed is the tanneries have large batch and time requirements. I've seen some people quote 4 months out. That is simply not doable. To order a large batch of leather, all of it would have to be the same color. That isn't doable either. What I'm trying to do is have access to a large range of colors and keep the production time sane and keep my material costs down. To order some of these colors by themselves is cost prohibitive. So if I understand this right, I'm buying "wet blue" leathers and then sending them to local taxidermists for tanning\dying? Is that a viable way to handle this process? So then say I need 2 hides in some off purple-orange I just bring my wet blue leather but I can still take advantage of buying huge amounts of leather in bulk?

Forgive me for being new, but how is this done? Do you mask off the lighter color and dye the rest?

Howdy, Looking for someone in Wisconsin with a band knife splitter, preferably in the Milwaukee metro area. Going to have to pay for splitting till I can afford a decent machine. Looking to get down between 1-1.5oz from 2-2.5oz hides. Thanks in advance -Nick

gottaknow : Thanks man! That is a huge amount of useful information. I very much understand that quality is of upmost importance which is why I'm looking at machines like the Juki. There are PLENTY of threads full of people trying to figure out all sorts of clever ways to use home machines which really ignore the fact that they're not designed to work with leather, which is why I'm here. The fact you guys use 40 machines for a single item is mind boggling! Wiz : The reason I mention industrial machines is it seams that by going with a home machine you run into issues right away. First you have terrible feed mechanisms, then you have to get aftermarket feet, and then they're underpowered and needles end up breaking. So at the end of the day, you're churning out garbage, with even the best materials and attempt at craftsmanship. I have no illusions or desire of running a commercial enterprise out of this. I have an extensive outsourcing background and recognize unfortunately that such a thing is something that is sent to a third world country for mass production if the designs take hold. So my purpose in looking at industrial machines is simply efficient and high quality production. I have a full time business which commands my attention, so when I'm "doodling" I can't be worrying about all the short falls in a home machine. So for a straight stitch a Juki 1508NH gets the job done. Do you have a specific recommendation for zig zag w/ a compound walking foot for my application needs? The overcast is pretty cool looking. Would an industrial juki or similar work with wallet depth leather? What about auto upholsery? And do they make any with a walking foot? Is the only appreciable difference from the 1508 to the 1541 the height (ability to work with stacked upholstery... as in leather, foam & vinyle at once) Thanks again from both of you. Hugely informative answers that you are offering out of the kindness of your hearts and passion of your business.

I really appreciate the direct recommendation for the 1508NH, that's what I'm looking for. Can you make a direct recommendation for these material type needs? Automotive upholstery (leather & vinyl), double layer belts & wallets? I won't be sewing anything heavier than that. No saddles or holsters etc. I'm interested in the ability to provide decrotive flair to what I'm sewing. It's been tough for me to research anything outside the garment overlock\serge & upholstery machine recommendations since leather zig zag & pattern machines seam to be sooooo niche. There just aren't enough people to easily discern which a good machine is to buy. Any help is much appreciated!

Hi, I've been searching a variety forums for the past week or two and have had a ton of trouble trying to figure out what I need. I'm looking to buy some machinery to run a small leather studio out of my house. I currently run a successful autoparts operation and am not looking to do anything high volume, I'm more or less looking to efficiently create prototypes to outsource. I have a considerable number of outsource contacts already. Being a business owner I recognize that investing in good machinery can make all the difference in the world. In straight stitch there seems to be a clear preference for the Juki 1541. However in surge\overlock\hem & zig zag there doesn't seem to be as easy of a winner, if any at all. What I'm trying to do is mainly work on automotive interiors & leather fashion apperel. I need to be able to quickly and efficiently generate designs. But part of my problem is that I need to be able to sew a variety of different stitch patterns, for visual variety. This poses problems on the thicker materials. I am not willing to purchase machines that will frequently break down under use of heavy materials or will not easily handle heavy materials. Looking for machines with Heavy material support Compound walking foot Aftermarket feet available for leather feet w/ welt\piping Overlock support Slow enough motor This has been hard to find in the serger\overlock\hem and zig zag department. Also it appears there is clearly a much much smaller number of sewing varieties in patterns with the industrial machines. This poses a problem to me since stitch arangements I think provide a very important element of distinction in the designs. So my question is this. Along the same lines of the Juki 1541, what machines offer the greatest variety of stitch patterns that can sew with leather and work with the proper feet & knives? My apologies for asking such a detailed question but I've had an enourmously tough time trying to find the solution. I see some extremely cheap home machines with nearly infinite stitch patterns and am baffled at how I don't see anything like this in the industrial machines. I'm wondering if I need to instead of looking at an industrial machine consider a high end home machine that supports heavy material use?