Toro 3000 Is On The Way!

[BigRiverLeather]

I bit the bullet and ordered up a Toro 3000! It shipped yesterday so I sould see it by the end of the week. Now Mrs. BigRiverLeather is going to make me clean the basement now to work down there with it.

I hope the learning curve is not to great on it. The idea is to speed things up, yet still put out a quality product. Any tips from any of you would be greatly appreciated.

I will miss the look of my hand stitched holsters. The heavy waxed thread adds to the look in my opinion.

For the Toro I plan on using 346 top and 277 bottom. I don't even have any idea how that works yet!

[Art]

Even at one stitch a second, you will be ahead in no time. Once you get comfortable with controlling the machine, you will go a lot faster. Start slow, it makes the same stitch no matter how fast (or slow) you go. You might want to start with 277/207 or 277/277 as 346 may look a little big. One problem some have is trying to use too big a thread or too small a needle. If you start having problems, go down a thread size (or up a needle size) and see if it helps.

Art

I bit the bullet and ordered up a Toro 3000! It shipped yesterday so I sould see it by the end of the week. Now Mrs. BigRiverLeather is going to make me clean the basement now to work down there with it.

I hope the learning curve is not to great on it. The idea is to speed things up, yet still put out a quality product. Any tips from any of you would be greatly appreciated.

I will miss the look of my hand stitched holsters. The heavy waxed thread adds to the look in my opinion.

For the Toro I plan on using 346 top and 277 bottom. I don't even have any idea how that works yet!

[Tac]

Big River,

If you are like me, you will be happy with your 3000. I bought mine a little over a year ago and have been very pleased with mine. Prior to this machine, I had zero experience sewing on a machine of any kind and I was able to figure it out and sort of teach myself as I went along. Once you have the basics figured out and the machine set up correctly, the only thing I can recommend is to practice. Go to the local leather store and pick up some remnant peices of leather that you can sit down and practice sewing on until you get comfortable using the machine, before you attempt to build a holster on it that you intend to sell.

Once you get comfortable with how the machine works and get a little practice under your belt, you will figure out how to go about sewing different styles of holsters and you will figure out what works for you and what doesn't. Once I got my machine set up to sew the correct thickness of leather that the majority of my holsters are made from and the tention adjusted properly, I haven't had to mess with it at all, besides oiling it occasionally. When I first set it up I remembered the salesman telling me that the presser foot had a ridge in the bottom that might cause me some issues with marking the leather. He advised that if I experienced this, to simply take a flat mill file and file it down flat. I did notice that it was causing me some problems on my practice peices, so I filed off the ridge and immedeately solved the problem. (Something to keep in mind if you notice the presser foot leaving marks in your leather.)

Having a sewing machine has allowed me to speed up my production, experiment with new designs that I would not have tried if I had to sew them by hand and most importantly, it has taken the pain and stress out of making holsters from my sore hands and fingers. (I have some arthritis in my fingers and sewing by hand almost ended my hobby as a result.)

My machine was a dealer sample used to demo at one of the Leather expos and I bought it already set up and picked it up myself to save shipping when the show was over. So considering the savings in initial cost up front, I estimate that it will have paid for it's self in just a couple of more months. I definately do not regret it's purchase at all.

-Tac

Edited April 27, 2010 by Tac