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Had a go at making some dies for a fellow shooter and leatherworker. It's not as easy as it looks and there's an element of luck in trying to match the shapes on two sides. Part of the process is figuring out which combination of tools works best to get a desired result - sometimes it's not what you think. I had to make up another tool because nothing I had would let me get the bend I wanted! I tacked the die together with the MIG, and after I'd taken the photos I put a sharpened bevel edge on one, using a worn 120 grit belt (that reduced the risk of grinding too much and also polished the edge). I put it under the Vevor press with some thick scrap and heaved away, very satisfying when it went clunk! It worked!! The banding works well and is surprisingly tough, although being 1 1/2", compared to the 1" of the steel rule, means it's just a bit harder to work with. Damn, I'm good!

That's a bright idea. If you turn on the drill press slow you could use the punch for mixing batter too.

Drinks are a mix of metric and Imperial. At the local pub, they're sold in pints and ounces, but at the store, I buy a 2 litre bottle of pop. Smaller bottles and cans are a mix of sizes. The 'tall boy' can of beer I just drank is 473 ml, which is actually a pint, though it doesn't say that on the can. Bottled water is usually half a litre, but a can of Coke is 12 oz. We're supposed to be bilingual in French and English*, but it would be more accurate to say we're bilingual when it comes to measurements! (We're not - you will have a hard time finding anyone who speaks French fluently outside of Quebec.)

I just bought this saddle. I am happy with the saddle either way, but my preference would be for it to look a bit more even. I've tried searching, but I had trouble finding this specific situation. Lots of people wanting to dye black, I just want mine to be a more even brown color, and I'm not even terribly particular about the shade, somewhere medium-ish, but dark-ish would be okay too. I just started playing around with a bit of leather work, so this is definitely not something I've done before. Is there any dye, stain, or anything that would work to make this look a bit nicer?

I doubt it will be an upgrade. Why do you think it could be an upgrade? If the Consew has a larger bobbin that IMO would be the only improvement. Both are Chinese made clones of the Singer 29K with minor downgrades from the last Singer version 29K7X

I really wouldn't be able to say. I personally have had poor luck with Consew when compared to other clones. kgg

Once you get it freed oil it with a couple of drops of synthetic transmission oil. kgg

Here's a Leonard Galvin saddle for sale on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/202343889446163/ It's got a non-closeup of the makers stamp. Get it before the posting is deleted.

Clarifying here...are you able to adjust the stitch length? Meaning can you adjust to go smaller than 6/in ? When making the adjustment toward longer stitches, does the adjustment screw stop? When your needle lands on the material, what is the motion of the feed dog? Ideally the feed dog is stopped front to back motion when the needle lands. Just wondering if you are losing some traction by something else being out of time. Perhaps a video of your feed dogs working, and photos of your stitch length regulator?

It's getting better! When I got the machine it stitched 8mm stitches. After the first round of diesel it was adjustable from 8mm - 12mm. I'm guessing that 12mm is the maximum for this machine since it seems to come to hard stop there, and it's a "round number". A week or so later I tried again and now it adjusts down to 6mm! Guess I'll keep soaking it as I use it to see if it will keep freeing up. If I can get it down to 3mm that's probably good enough. I appreciate the help

I finally came across an old post by gottaknow where he shows us the answer to my question above, "How to always have the hook to needle distance be next to nothing?" https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/47477-211g155-do-i-have-the-wrong-machine/page/6/#findComment-304044

Hope you found you problem by now. I recently got a 1508n. I had a squeek occur while I was setting it up to sew leather. It was self induced by turning out the presser foot pressure adjustment knob too far. I turned it back in a few turns and the squeek stopped. I had it turned out as far as I could get it. if yours isn't turned out super far that not your issue. I couldn't tell from your pictures. maybe this helps

No, not part of the press. These are tiny bicycle lights which I found. Not very expensive, (about £/$2.50 each) very bright and rechargeable via a USB lead. I have two on the press for lighting up my work. They are held in place with sticky pads

I think that may work fairly well. Let's try it.

That's great! Ideally the safety clutch would trip before the belt slips, so on some cold October night you may want to investigate how to get the safety clutch to disengage under load. Figure 65 (page 26) shows a style of safety clutch that is unfamiliar to me. I think you adjust those three screws coming out the side to set how easily the clutch trips.

I think this solved the problem! Many, many thanks. I believe that what happened is that when it jammed (and I accidentally hit full throttle) the belt slipped. Now that I have aligned the "lower pulley" with "setting mark A" (as per page 26), it seems to be walking again. We have a heat wave here, and I don't feel like thoroughly testing it at the moment, but once I get around to it (which might take a week or so), I'll post here again, just to confirm...

Please critique this card holder I made. My first one using non-scrap leather.

Cool little lights. Are those add-ons or where they part of the machine? I'm over 50 and my eyes require more light so I'll have to figure something out.

Anyone able to tell me the age of these old lasting pliers I found? Found them here in Newfoundland in my brother in laws shed. Thanks

Congratulations on your retirement, Bruce. This sounds like a great service for the community.

Not much room either top to bottom or from the ram to the back

The Economy and Craftsman grade sides I've bought from the Tandy store look better. Sure, they sometimes have a place you need to work around, or a brand - but that is to be expected with those grades. What you have may have been grade A at one time, but after having been left out exposed to light and what appears to be folded, rolled backwards, and whatever else, it isn't anymore. I agree with what has been said - if they don't make it right for you, name them so we can avoid your pain.

I have several belts. One heavy duty belt to handle my bush gear (pouch, knife and tomahawk). One for my hip quiver for my horsebow and two "general duty" belts for daily use. One of them is going on 12 years now!