MartyS

they often use acid etched magnesium plates for the lettering dies, but any metal would work. the head is hot. you can make up a deal that goes on the drill press, soldering iron + metal design element, just unplug the press first. each different hot foil has its time/temp. they are designed to be fast, like 250F for 2 seconds. if it doesn't stick well then change the surface treatment of the leather. There are hundreds of different foils./ the foil is from the top mylar then release agent then vapor deposited aluminum (or some other metal like what they put on mirrors) with color then hot glue you can also use the same setup to brand with just heat. you need a rheostat on your soldering iron to do the tests. cheers marty

You might be able to change out the board for a new one. I watched the drag knife video, very interesting. Is it cutting on a vacuum table? If so how come the blade doesn't drop down into the holes, or fail to cut through there. Seems like it would work well for some materials and designs, but so well for others. M

I think all the plotter style cutters only cut thin leather like for automotive interiors. I can't sew for beans, so i like the thicker stuff. Hey Tex, Yeah I need the water jet, but I would have to win the lottery and then buy my wife a new house. I am also interested in the other things you can do with a laser, like engrave. Hi Nick, Did you try using different frequencies for cutting? If not try the lower range.

Hi. All. I am considering the purchase of a laser cutting machine for cutting 8-10oz veg-tan leather. From reading and speaking to factory reps it sounds like any laser wattage is fine for engraving or etching, but for cutting thicker material higher wattage is better. How many watts is best for cutting. And are there tradeoffs with a high power tube vs a low power one. I have had recommendations range from 60 to 130 watts minimum. As well as using a lower watt machine with multi pass cuts. If you have tips on wattage, speed, frequency, masking and cleaning edges/burns I would appreciate them. Thanks Marty

Can someone please tell me the steps to use for cement cleanup while doing inlay of leather into leather, like on boot tops. To do inlay it looks like you have to brush cement onto the back of the hole and front of the inlay, and there is always extra cement on the front of the inlay that needs to be cleaned off. Currently i am trying out the new barge TF, blue can with the TF solvent. Thanks Marty

Can someone please tell me the process used to make embossed leathers. For example on a fullgrain crocodile embossed hide form tandy" Do they use 2 rollers with male and female embossing die patterns cut into each roller? Is it a wet or dry process? Is there some kind of resin treatment to help the leather hold the shape. Are the dye put on with silk screen? ink jet? by hand? Do the dye,s and other treatments go before or after the embossing/ inquiring minds want to know. thanks M

I am looking into the different toluene free glues, I am assuming that some of the new ones are good and others less so. Some like the riena have cross-linking polymer additives available to increase the strength. I am hoping that someone can chime in here with info about heat reactivation of glue / cement like what they do in almost all shoe and boot factories. Here is a short video of soles coming out of a oven and going onto the sole press. yeah I know that this is not a leather shoe, but it was the shortest video on the subject i could find. Tanks in advance M

On a 441 clone, which foot would I use when binding with an attachment?? thanks

hi cory thanks for the reply. I wrote a while back to Kwokhing to ask who sells their binders for larger cylinder machines, but they did not write me back . http://www.kwokhing....hine/khf_cy.htm Does anyone know where to get one of these?? thanks M

hi kayak, can you explain your "hand reverse stitch" thanks M By the way since this forum can not search for 31-15 because there are not enough characters in "31" or "15 then try google search <leatherworker.net 31-15> that works much better than the forum search

Hi Can someone please explain to me why many shoe factories use a heat activation process with their glue, Are they using standard contact cements? Do they use heat activation to achieve better bonding, or just to avoid waiting around for the glue to achieve the ideal tackiness for bonding. Does this process differ in that the heat is melting the rubber instead of the rubber being tacky from still having unevaporated solvents? Thanks Marty

wiz which tape do you use? I just ordered sailrite's sail basting acrylic tape, $8 for 50 yards but it has yet to arrive. thanks M

I have been looking for some time to find a binder attachment for my big cylinder arm machine (441 clone) and I am wanting to know what type would work best for binding leather with leather. I know that the right angle binders need a strong feed to work, but I don't understand what is a synchronized binder and when you would need one, nor where to find one. Please see a binder in action at about 30 seconds into this video. Tanks Marty

Hi Greg, Which few are you recommending. Thanks Marty

I have a servo on my cobra 4, and I am considering the purchase of another to use on smaller sewing machines. I recently purchased a singer 31-15, and it is difficult to sew slowly with the standard 1/2 HP clutch motor. I have read most of the posts here that contain "servo" and from that reading I have gathered the following info: Servos make it easier to sew slow without reducing torque. Most servos on the market have the same bolt pattern as a typical clutch motor. 400 watts for smaller machines up to 750? for saddle stitchers. 2 types of speed controls, dial settings or push button with read out. What I want to know is what people DO NOT like about the usability of particular servo motors, and any known reliability issues. For example on the servo I have the motor must be running in order to change the speed, which means you have to pull the top thread out of the needle and get down on hands and knees to adjust the speed while the motor is running. (in this case if the quality was the same I would opt for the dial) I realize that sewing speed is a function of motor spindle speed multiplied by the various pulley diameters. It would be nice to see a chart that has various configurations listed that would enable normal folks to know the resulting lowest stitch speed, or at least a ball park idea, so when calling a dealer one would know enough to make reasonable decisions. Pedal sensitivity: On the servo that I have, the speed control governs (limits) the top speed and does not change the pedal sensitivity. Do all servos act that way or do some models change the pedal sensitivity as you change the settings? Lastly, my 31-15 has a leather belt, which by nature is stretchy and slips. So how much belt tension should one use on a servo. I recently re -sewed all the springs back on my kids trampoline with the cobra 4. Thats 90 linear feet for each pass. With a job that bid one tends to become more and more lead footed as you progress. From that experience I can say that at standard stock belt tension that flooring the pedal causes some belt slip and I think that allowing a bit of slip probably protects the machine from the excessive torque generated by the servo. Servo suggestions and opinions appreciated. Thanks Marty

I am looking for different options for the buckle for the style of woman's tapered belt that tapers from wide on the buckle end down to medium on the tongue end. The type of belt I am trying to describe is worn with the tongue end running behind the buckle end at an angle and forming an "X". These belts do not have a buckle that shows on the front, and although I have seen plenty of pictures, none so far show how the buckle works. Maybe it is a round deal with a welded hook instead of a tongue?? Have already looked at OHio TRavel thanks M

you are going to get less stretch where the leather is touching the form, so using a combination of intermediate forms and grease will help. A female form, or combo M/F might be necessary. Maybe a combo different shaped male pushers into a female form. Cut up every disaster and measure the wall thicknesses, with an eye on getting them overall even. Look up membrane pressing. Or just switch to rawhide. cheers M

the blades on those spot punches bend because they are only sharpened on one edge of each blade like a wood chisel. if you take the blades out and sharpen both edges so it looks more like a cold chisel, then the blades won't deflect. hope that helps M

Stainless is usually very hard and work hardens very quickly. Copper wire can be had cheap form any metals recycler. They have a wire stripper that strips off the insulation. Copper is very soft and would be easy to learn on. Nickel silver which is silver colored and contains maybe 60% copper and 30% nickel, can be polished. To make stainless softer it can be annealed, but every alloy is different. cheers m

Barra, thanks for all that info, As I said i plan to get a cylinder arm for most of my leather work, but for $50 I couldn't pass up the deal. I have found plenty of roller foot attachment sets for that machine, but when but comes to the 1128 needles, I am not getting any hits for a leather point. I spoke with the guy from atlaslevy, and he said the way he recommends is to use a 16-257 needle and retime the machine to suit the shorter shaft. The re-time is explained in the manual and doesn't seem too complicated. I guess that I could sharpen regular ball needles, or does a retime sound like good advise? Atlas said he sends those machines in for scrap, as they don't have reverse. On machines without reverse do you just lift the foot and then drop it back a bit to lock? I know a lot of people ask a lot of questions about using unsuitable machines, and I am trying not to be one of those, but I need a bit of hands on to know what I want to invest in. Thanks again, Marty

Yesterday I drove 2 towns over and picked up a singer 241-11. Machine, 2 clutch motors and table $50. It is a big monster of a flatbed, and says in the manual 5000 stitches per minute. I believe it. Am now reading the "how to feather a clutch" posts. In the manual which I downloaded from singer it says that it will take needles type 88x9 in sizes 7 to 21. I checked the singer site and got no hits on 88x9. But on line it looks like some companies sell needles that say "88x1 needles are also sold under these style numbers 1128,88x1,44x3,DAX1,DAX9,SY1315,SY1361" So my question is will needles marked with the above numbers work or do I need to find Singer brand needles. Someone told me that the Singers are a little longer than the others. Which size for #69 nylon thread? I plan to get a cylinder arm machine for most of my leather work, but I just couldn't pass up this deal. Thanks marty

Hi Steve, All the pressure is causing the leather to become non porous. The dye can't enter a non porous surface. You can die first, then sand off the high areas to get the contrast. Just tape down a piece of sandpaper and rub the piece against it. Or you can try to add more texture to the background areas of the die. Or you might try pressing while wet with the dye then wiping the top to clean off. Or dying and finishing first, drying,then painting the high areas with a rubber roller, with maybe white? On most of the techniques the ratio of raised vs recessed areas is going to make a big difference on how quickly and easily you can finnish. Have a nice day M

cylinder arm 69 - 207 thread, servo... thanks, I need to stand sometimes as too much sitting is un-healthy for me. M

Hi I am also interested in finding info about available strap edgers, either manual or power. Here is the only link I have found. http://www.leathersupply.com/demo_videos.php click on the edger video Thanks Marty

Hi Okotoks, How fast is fast when you say the blades get dull fast Thanks Marty