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Good morning! I thank you for your words!

It works with a simple mechanism. Elegance is sometimes found in simple.

Thanks for sharing those projects. I'm amazed and inspired.

Okay, that last bit I don't believe! He'd have to be a very mean cop to give the pilot a ticket for an emergency landing!

I do not know ASTOR but usually the threading for the upper die is either 1/4" (UNC) or M6, at least on the presses I worked with. I once restored two very vintage unknown brand presses with odd threading for a friend and on both I was able to replace the inner part that holds the upper die with a plain round m6 long nut (Gewindemuffe or Verbindungsmutter as it is called in Germany). So he can use standard M6 dies. https://www.ebay.de/itm/165996998186? The outer diameter was the exact same as on the die holder it required tinkering but both presses worked w/o problems. For my own press (I´ll post pictures later) I also needed an adapter but he company I bought from (IIRC it called IX-Trade or so) no longer exists (a way different press anyway) as it seems but there are some CO's . in Germany that sell different adapters, not sure if there is one that suits your needs: https://www.jstrading.de/de/pressen-oesen-zubehoer/Zubehoer/ or this one, they even mention ASTOR: https://www.getmore-shop.com/epages/61848837.mobile/de_DE/;ClassicView=1?ObjectPath=/Shops/61848837/Categories/Presswerkzeuge

@shoepatcher @kgg Do i needle to drill hole and thread with tap for screw to hold it or just it has tight fit , please advise....

I bought this machine 2 weeks ago. I havent used before. Stitch lenght dialer was stuck at first. I remove it and all the story started. 😢 I have lots of reserse mechanism machine but none of them resembles this.(Brother Ls2b837-DA669-Singer 196k5).Even the most similar one is 196K5 but when I press reserse in 196K5 it bounce but this has nothing. Also by turning the stitch disc, reverse lever should go up or down but this is motionless. Since its weight, I dont want to move the service May be I should try to change assembling order of parts.

Hi! I recent got a Astor hand press, the A51, classic grey etc etc And know I want to stock my arsenal with tools and attachments for this fantastic machines. So I bought what I thought was a genuine Astor tool-adapter-thing that I needed for a lot of my old attachments. ***All of this text end my questions is about the upper threads on the machine*** And the tool didn't really fit, you know it that way when the threads are not 100% in the feel when you screw it in the first time. Back and forth for a couple of days, with the official Astor seller in Sweden, and we couldnt figure out what was wrong. So I took the situation in my own hands and started to dig! After a couple of years with working on sewing machines from all over the world and my true passion motorcycles, Harleys, Euros, Japanese doesn't matter, I have had my struggles with bolts and threads before. I have more tools, screws and bolts than the average middle age man, but I don't have everything... apparently... I can't figure out the true size of the "thread system", if you like. And I didn't have any right bolts that fitted exactly correct so I couldn't use the classic thread gauge tool. Searching the internet didn't really got my any answers that pleased me. Even emailing the company to get hints of; this is a secret...hmmmm!? They didn't want to answer any of my questions haha, I couldnt believe it! Is this true?! Is this an international secret to know what thread sizes Astor uses on their machines?! Will I get "taken out" if I continue? Jokes aside, someone? Please help! It's the Classic grey A51 button press, and a vintage model 5 press (in excellent condition I might say) that I want help to figure out the threads on. I can't seem to solve it by my self, so it's time to ask for help I am losing my mind.... where is my mind... Attaching pics on my two beauties

Aaron! Sorry for replaying this late! But yes I found everything I was looking for, thanks man!

Gorgeous work!

If you're only going to be sewing things occasionally then hand stitching might be the way to go but if you definitely want a machine then don't mess around and look for a walking foot, DO NOT buy a domestic machine and expect it to sew leather (regardless if someone says it's a "heavy duty/semi-industrial" machine). The deciding factor is the total thickness you want to sew.

As they say, the customer is always right. I guess he knows what he's doing, regardless you did an excellent job on the snake.

I really don't know myself. It's a completely foreign sport for me. I was behind the gun counter for 15 years, sold all the modern supplies for BP. I don't think I once had a costumer that was shooting bp shotguns. I know nothing about any of it though. If someone came in, they needed to know what they were looking for or I would get a coworker that knew a little more than nothing. This client here is really into the traditional black powder shooting and hunting. I believe he also does reenactments. I recently did a holster for his handgun that he was fairly specific on. Match the period specific.

Thanks Will, I've been experimenting with using a cam to do the pushing, it seemed to me it should be a more "elegant" approach but it ended up pretty clumsy trying to get the travel required. It seems the pivot/linkage is the best way to go (that's the method used in a couple of commercial units I found).

Powder AND shot - I did wonder why you would make a double shot holder but not having any experience with that side of BP shooting I took it at face value. I would have thought carrying a separate powder horn/flask would make more sense.

Beautiful work indeed! I love the moth (butterfly?), it's brilliant.

A real incident happened here about 15 years ago. At certain places we have automatic speed radar cameras. Anyone exceeding the limit is automatically caught. Sometimes the radar units are remotely monitored On one road a camera started to measure somebody doing 100mph, then 125, then 150, this triggered a call to a police car unit to catch this speedster. Turned out it was a light aeroplane making an emergency landing on the road. The police arrived after it had landed and gave the pilot a speeding ticket!

HS - GROAN!! Found on FB today: A Texas Highway Patrol Officer was conducting speeding enforcement on Hwy 77, just south of Kingsville, TX. The officer was using a handheld radar device to check speeding vehicles approaching the town of Kingsville and was suddenly surprised when the radar gun began reading 300 miles per hour and climbing. The officer attempted to reset the radar gun, but it would not reset and then... It suddenly went dead. Immediately a deafening roar over the Mesquite treetops on Hwy 77 revealed that the radar had in fact locked on to a USMC F/A-18 Hornet which was engaged in a low-flying exercise near it's Naval Air home base location in Kingsville. Back at the Texas Highway Patrol Headquarters in Corpus Christi, the Patrol Captain fired off a complaint to the US Naval Base Commander in Kingsville for shutting down his officer's equipment. The reply came back in true USMC style: "Thank you for your letter.... You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Hornet had detected the presence of, and subsequently locked on to, your hostile radar equipment and automatically sent a jamming signal back to it, which is why it shut down. Furthermore, an Air-to-Ground missile aboard the fully-armed aircraft had also automatically locked on to your equipment's location. Fortunately, the Marine Pilot flying the Hornet recognized the situation for what it was, quickly responded to the missile system alert status and was able to override the automated defense system before the missile was launched to destroy the hostile radar position on the side of Hwy 77, south of Kingsville. The pilot suggests your officer covers his mouth when cursing since the video systems on these jets are extremely high-tech. Sergeant Johnson, the officer holding the radar gun, should get his dentist to check his left rear molar. It appears the filling is loose. Also, the snap is broken on his holster." (Okay we know it probably didn't happen but it sure made me laugh!)

I'm sure I know what you're talking about, but cannot think of what is called offhand. I'm thinking if using this white plastic sheeting I forgot I had leftover from a doing a shower upgrade for my (half) sister's mother. It'll take her to get it into a funnel like shape that tight. If not, then a poly pattern sheet that I have. I need it to be thin and light at the same time as form fitting, while also being able to stitch it all together. That's why I decided to go with a thinner sheet plastic that what I original thought.

Try pressing down (with your hand) on the bar that the knee lift pulls down on. Press all the way till you feel it stop against something. How far do the presser feet raise in this case?

This is embossing and carving with a rotary knife.

I have a Juki 1508NH but it didn’t come with the knee lift attachment. After installing the attachment, I noticed the knee lift would only raise the feet about 4mm, although it would still drop the hand lift. I tried making a few adjustments on the bottom of the machine using the engineer’s manual. Now the knee lift goes up the same height as the hand lift (but I believe it should actually raise higher than the hand lift). The problem now is that the knee lift no longer drops the hand lift at all. Has anyone run into this issue before? Any guidance or suggestions would be much appreciated. IMG_7170.mov

The leather is Tandy’s 2-3 oz. as that is what I had on hand. Herman Oak is sending some 1-2 oz. which will go on the next saddle cover. It is comfy for a beach cruiser, its primary purpose. Attached is pics of the wood form I made and used for initial wet forming. I did use staples to aid that process. Thanks for the comments!

Really great work!