Ppolachi

So as far as the Frobana, I have been told (and got confirmation from an older post on here) that its still being made and sold, just with different branding, now going by Ottobock/JOS America under the name outsole stitcher S42-if this is true then the parts might not be totally unobtanium. You’d know better than I, though….and I already have the landis sole cutter and a newer Chinese clone of it that works half as well as the original-I am just trying to make the jump into machine stitching as opposed to hand stitching because I’ve reached the point where I am being inundated with requests for bespoke shoes and I have to turn probably 8 of every 10 people away because the entire soling process takes forever and a day to do by hand. That said, thank you for the thoughtful and detailed response, Wiz….i can’t lie, i specifically wrote that post in hopes you’d see it and give me this exact type of advice. You are a treasure, man. Stumbling across this forum and specifically your posts is what got me into actually trying my hand at leather work instead of just reading/watching others do it. If you ever need a free pair of shoes you know who to call for them.

I am definitely interested. I would be using it to make cutting an even holdfast into a veg tan insole easier, for the purpose of Goodyear welting

Hey all- ive spent my winter learning how to make bespoke shoes, and I’ve gotten good enough at it that people are starting to try and commission me to make pairs for them. I want to oblige because a) they’re friends or friends of friends and b) people pay insane prices for this type of shoe and i like everyone else have bills to pay. I’ve decided I need to get a sole stitching machine to try and increase my output with time saved not hand stitching. Does anyone here have experience with Frobana, Mitchell, or similar styled machines that can be operated with a hand crank? And, failing that, does anyone have experience with a Landis 12 or similar machine (and if you do, how steep is the learning curve when starting out with those?) ?. Any advice appreciated greatly, will pay it forward many times over.

I’ll take the feathering knife

Still have this?

Title says it all. Looking for something like a 441 clone or similarly heavy duty cylinder arm machine, ideally in the Boston area. Must be willing to ship if located outside Greater Boston.