Matt S

Osborne tools are made in the US. Some smaller/artisan makers out there too, as well as quality tools made by nations which align closer with your values than China (George Barnsley of England for instance, and Blanchard of France). Don't be surprised at the price being at least 5x times that of a Chinese tool -- it's amazing what you can save by employing virtual slaves, ignoring environmental concerns and having your shipping prices subsidised by the government in order to undercut the manufacturing capabilities of foreign nations.

If you want to replicate the function rather than the process or appearance, a zigzag machine works for buttseaming. I've even seen some with a centre guide blade in the foot.

Hi Amira, These sorts of cuts are never easy. A lot will depend on the size of the workpiece, the temper of the leather and the size of the curve. I find a small. thin, well stropped, head knife the best for the job (Osborne 73 being my favourite as it sits easily against the heel of my hand with two fingers extended along the side of the blade). If you can't do it in a single pass give a shallow cut first, with just the very tip of the knife in the leather, then go over it again with the knife as deep as you can accurately follow the initial cut. Try to keep the knife in line with your forearm as much as you can and either turn the leather or turn your entire upper body from the waist if you can't move the leather. You can do it with "pull" knives like box cutters and scalpels but I have always found that it adds a fair amount of extra difficulty. Don't worry about going fast, that comes with practice. Concentrate on keeping the knife straight up and down, dead on your cut line, and moving steadily forward.

Good one mate, thought you were serious for a minute! Tell us next about how farmers are fleecing us cos they are "selling stuff what grows out the ground", or car mechanics "just turning a few spanners" don't deserve to get paid. Doctors are laughing all the way to the bank cos they are "just repeating what Big Pharma pays them to sell". "Electricians shouldn't charge that much, wire isn't very expensive." And while you're at it don't forget the old "$40 for a quality belt? There's like $1 of leather in the thing. I can definitely make it for less, this guy is clearly making exorbitant amounts of money." I also have to say, you have certainly changed your tune in a year...

If it ain't broke...

The single prong chisels are, IMHO, about as much use as tits on a boar. As others have said a 2-prong for tight corners and something a bit longer for straight runs, the length depending on how curvy your design is. Will you be sewing a belt also? 5 SPI chisels are available (I've got them as coarse as 4 SPI) but less common, and to my taste might look a little too coarse on a pistol holster but that's subjective. (I'd go to 6 or 7 SPI for "working" gear and 8 or 10 for "finer" but again that's just me.) Advice for use? Stab the chisel into a bar of glycerine soap every so often to lubricate it. Works far better than beeswax and you can use it to slick your edges too. Make sure your chisel is perpendicular to the leather before you hit it (bitter experience there). Then when you've finished your project and want to do more, buy a pricking iron and a decent awl and double your sewing speed

For sure the resin's a little brittler than filament, and more expensive weight-for-weight. I believe that the regular resin (£40/kg) is roughly equivalent to cheap PLA filament in overall strength and the tough resin (£50/kg) somewhere in between PLA and ABS filament. The toughest readily available 3D resin (£90/kg) is good enough to make a functional socket wrench or rimfire sound suppressor, with appropriate design. The material price difference is not such a huge deal to me if the machine is less buggy and needs less fannying about with than the similarly priced FDM machines. As far as functional strength we'll see just how tough it is -- I have a sneaking suspicion that, like most materials, the key is understanding the material and designing with it in mind (and not trying to make everything under the sun out of one material!). I'm not expecting to print drive sprockets or belt buckles or anything like that with my machine however I hope the stuff to be strong enough for quickly knocking up jigs and fixtures, with easy adjustment/customisation. To me that'd be worth the price of the machine alone. There's also the usefulness of being able to try out iterative designs for fit (with good dimensional accuracy) before having them machined or cast in more suitable materials. Plus the range of technical resins now available, including ones specifically designed for lost resin casting, flexible resins, and some even designed for printing heat-resistant casting moulds for short production runs I don't doubt it Jimi, it will add another badge to the range of nerds that I am! Both technologies have their strengths and weaknesses. To me the limited choice of resins and small build volume are the biggest drawbacks for SLA printers. The general opinion is that most users will end up running both a resin and filament printer, which sounds like something I would do! The LCDs are limited life parts but they're not hugely expensive to replace (about £30). Yes I'll try some stamps -- the resin will give a better finish I think, but I don't do much "wet" stamping so it would be more for design proofing before getting metal stamps made up that can handle heat.

Okay, you guys have twisted my arm and I'm dipping my toe into additive machining! I've just ordered an Elegoo Mars. It's a little different to most 3D printers as it prints with resin rather than filament. Lets of pros and cons but I was impressed with the finish quality of the prints and how (relatively) plug-and-play it seems to be. I've got a good few ideas what I want to make, even at the relatively tiny 4x6x2.5" build volume, and it'll let me know if I want to invest time and money into a larger printer in the future.

Yep, it works okay. I think it's some sort of starch. Works on burnishing edges too, though it doesn't go very shiny.

I've played around with a few things, but never got as good as a tannery finish (which shouldn't be a surprise). Most things that you'd use for edge burnishing worked to an extent -- gum trag, gum arabic, saddle soap, plain water. I found running the pasted leather through a pasta machine while it was still damp worked fairly well, until the pasta machine broke. Slicking with something that I could really put some pressure on was pretty good too. You can get glass slickers for the purpose. I also found that, like edge burnishing, the results varied quite proportionally with the quality of the leather.

I got the Weaver dies today! I don't have a Little Wonder press, and the dies are a bit tall for any of my existing presses, so I've got them setup in my milling machine for now. They work fantastic -- exactly what I was looking for. The dies are well machined from steel (no pot metal) and the spring in the upper die retains the staple perfectly until the press comes down. The brass staples have no problem piercing the 2mm chrome cowhide I'm using and set very securely with a minimum of force. I'll have to make a more permanent arrangement, probably by modifying a cheap/common press but these things are great! Now just to figure out how to block chrome tanned leather...

We truly are two nations divided by a common language! I'm sure you guys use the same stuff -- it's a silicone rubber tape that comes in rolls with a peel off layer between layers. Not sticky, just grabby, but magically it sticks and fuses to itself when you wrap something. Used in repairs a lot. You could get a similar effect with a bit of bicycle inner tube or if you make a few turns with some rubber bands but I'm sure you get the idea -- clamp the needle against the grippy stuff with your thumb and give it a tug.

Hi guys and gals, When die-cutting lightweight fabric (nylon or cotton) for wallet linings etc, what's the secret? I haven't had much success with my usual dies (which are pretty sharp and no nicks) and a smooth cutting board (LDPE I think). I realise that thinner fabrics are trickier to cut cleanly than leather but I just can't get a clean cut and in frustration I end up pushing the die too far into the board. I guess I could follow the die with a blade or a hot knife but that kinda defeats the speed of using dies.

Yep that could be it. Generally you want the hook crossing the centreline of the needle after BDC. Machines vary but most similar machines need the hook to cross after the needle has risen roughly 2mm past BDC. Looks like the Techsew 2750 is a clone of the Juki 341. Check out this page of the 341 manual for timing information: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/917750/Juki-Ls-341n.html?page=9#manual

I think that all of us who own a sewing machine have gone through this at some point, especially if we're self-taught. Don't despair, you CAN fix it, or find someone who can. Luckily you're in the right place for help. Sewing machines are devices that need a surprisingly precise and yet nearly unquantifiable amount of "just right" to work, and they can and will "walk out" of their settings over time, especially if they have a crash. Sometimes just a stubborn thread jam can throw it all out of goose. It's also quite easy to adjust them out of balance, perhaps inadvertently or perhaps in order to cope with a different combination of leathers, and either forget or not be able to set it back to "right". However with time (massively reduced by access to the centuries of machine mangling experience available to you on this forum) it will soon become second nature to you. There's a few different things that could be playing up with your machine right now, probably something to do with the hook timing, but those are never the first things to check. First action if your machine goes screwy is always to completely unthread your machine and install a new, fresh needle, checking that it's the correct type and size (made that mistake a few times!). Then rethread the machine from scratch, making sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions exactly (especially with regards the bobbin orientation). Use contrasting colour needle and bobbin threads if possible. Set the stitch length somewhere in the middle of its range. Turn the machine over a few times by hand, making sure to give a gentle pull on the thread tails away to the right. Does it still have problems? If it jams don't force your way through the jam as this alone can cause the machine to come untimed. Leave it as is, take a photo of what's going on around the bobbin case and post in this thread (or better still, another video). Remember also that your machine will behave a little differently with material/leather in it and without. It doesn't really surprise me about the manual -- industrial sewing machines are primarily intended for use by people in factories who have trained technicians available to do routine maintenance, make any adjustments needed and to fix problems as they arise. The manuals tend to give you a few tech specs, some basic maintenance and operating instructions and that's about it. It's the same reason why your car's manual probably doesn't tell you how to change its oil or do a 10,000 mile service. As owner/operators it's on us to learn to be a technician/mechanic, or to pony up and pay a real one for their expertise. Just the way it works I'm afraid!

To be fair to them the desire to slow down an industrial sewing machine is pretty rare when taking into account the world market. They may be thinking that what you want to do is limit the top speed of the machine, which with a clutch motor is often achieved by changing the motor pulley but of course with a JK servo is just a menu setting. I presume though that this isn't what you're trying to do? Your pulley half looks good. Not knowing much about 3D printing I guess you'd have problems preventing the overhanging flange from sagging while printing the full thing? What machine are you running, and how long did that print take? I'm kinda tempted to buy a 3D printer, mainly for making jigs and layup tools, but I don't know how much use I'd actually get out of it.

Hi Adam, I've not used a 563 but both of my smaller Jacks have the awkward 13mm shaft, which is also a little shorter than I would like. The ~70mm pulleys that came on them are thinner than the usual ones. It's a real shame that College doesn't just sell a compatible range of pulleys... or Jack switch to a more common shaft size! Constabulary/Folker's method looks really neat, quick and doesn't need a lot of tools -- if you can get the right size of tubing. I suspect that you'd still need to reduce the length of the boss on the more commonly available 15mm bore pulleys to fit the shaft though. What I did is took a 40mm tapered shaft pulley (11mm tapering to 15) and drilled it out to 13mm. That gives a good tight fit for most of the length with a little slop at one end, but with the key installed and the nut snugged down it's very solid. The only thing is that the shaft is a little short so I had to shorten the non-pulley end so it would fit. I used a grinder on the first one, which worked with a little care, then a few passes with a facemill in my milling machine for the second and third ones, which worked better. I've done this 3 times so far, works well. If you have a 3D printer and the skills to run it, rather than traditional workshop tools and skills, maybe it is a better option than adapting a commercial one. I don't know if I'd hire someone to print one though -- I doubt that it'd be cheaper than hiring someone to make an adapter sleeve or bore out an existing pulley. Probably cheaper than hiring someone to turn one from scratch, unless you know a bloke. I'd still be leery about running a 3D printed wheel at 4500RPM at crotch height for very long though...

Hi Adam, It'd be interesting to find out how long Stor's pulley lasted but I'd be concerned about concentricity and vibration, especially long-term -- however I tend to run my motors at 4500RPM a lot so your mileage may vary. Sewing machine pulleys are normally cast from aluminium, the bore reamed, keyway broached and the V-groove cleaned up on a lathe, which eliminates most of the wobble and gives a wheel that you can be very sure won't distort over time or spread shrapnel around the place. All for £5 retail. As to size limit, and assuming that you're aiming for as slow a speed (high reduction) as possible, I guess it depends on the motor. I'm currently running a 40mm motor pulley to a 80mm handwheel (standard/common with upholstery weight machines) on a Jack 511 and a 513, both with the standard needle positioner, neither of which has ever missed a stitch. 40mm is probably the smallest commercially available size and has problems at times with slippage (not much arc length in contact with the belt). I don't think I'd want to go any smaller just on the slippage issue alone. In the past I've gone with higher reduction ratios on other servo motors and found that issues tend to crop up with needle positioners when going above a 1:2-3 ratio, but it really does depends on the motor. It's also my experience that so long as you don't have one of the absolute dog toffee servo motors that starts at something like 500RPM a 2:1 ratio is plenty slow enough when you've got a needle positioner installed -- you can just tap your toe down and get a single stitch quite reliably. Out of pure idle nosiness, why do you want to 3D-print a SM pulley? Is it curiosity, or is there a problem you're trying to solve?

I suspect that what the salesman told you was akin to something that comes out the southern end of a northbound male bovine. At the very least the entire hide has been plated (embossed) with that pattern. It's too uniform. Nothing wrong with that, I like grained leathers and they help to hide imperfections but it is embossed. What the rep said about enhancement may have been true in that the hide was levelled in certain areas with fillers etc. to hide scars or blemishes (possibly including the horizontal line through your scrubbed section). However in my humble opinion that leather has a highly pigmented, thick top finish. Not sure how a white piece of leather can be in any way aniline though... I'd love for someone to show me a bottle of non-pigmented white dye...

Welcome, Charles! Knowing the location of your friend and their machine would be useful in determining price, as location factors into market value. In a populated and accessible part of Southern England, for instance, as a private sale I'd expect to get no more than £200-300 for that machine with a clutch motor. Maybe £300-400 with a servo. Those would be at the top end I think. They're well built and reliable machines but lacking a lot of modern features that are really handy. There's no reverse feed for instance, plus they're a top-and-bottom dual feed rather than the now standard triple-feed, which makes them trickier to use for leather. From the Singer catalogue: You won't see many for sale, as production of the 47W ended in the early 1950s. The nearest equivalent I could find for sale ATM is a 47W53 (a very similar but older version of the same machine) from a dealer for £475. Dealer prices are often 1.5-2x the price of a private sale.

You may have better luck searching using TKT sizing, as that's typically what we use this side of the pond. TKT20 (sometimes just "20s" or "size 20") is equivalent to v138, which is probably near the top of what your machine can handle. It's roughly twice the size of TKT40/V69 thread, and one size smaller than 18/3 linen. I mostly get Coats Nylbond from Abbey England, which is about £12 per 1500m cop, but you can get similar from ebay or Le Prevo too.

No problem. Honestly, I've used neither. They will be fairly similar machines but the 1541 is a newer model, and is available in slightly heavier duty versions.

Those Janome and Singer machines you mention are great, I'm sure, for sewing cushions, jeans and the odd set of curtains but not really for leather. It'd be like carrying a ton of gravel in a Smart car -- if you can get it to fit it might not move, and even if it does move it would be making a hell of a racket, break something catastrophic, and let the magic smoke out. A 29K is really for repairing and modifying boots and clothing -- quite useful for certain jobs but the compromises that make them good for those tasks make them not very good at others. As to recommendations... not really! It depends on your budget, comfort with machines of any sort, and your local market. Avoid anything that's not been manufactured for many years because parts and accessories are often rare. Look for a triple-feed machine with reverse and a digital/servo motor. A good quality cylinder arm machine, like the 335 and CW8 types mentioned above, would be a good starting point. There's nothing inherently wrong with Chinese-made machines so long as they're setup and checked properly by a dealer who knows what they're doing. I just don't like them because I had some bad experiences with a few, and have been lucky and patient enough to get some gently used machines from top quality manufacturers. I'd expect to pay around £1000-2000 for a brand new Chinese machine like I've discussed, which is probably a similar amount in €.

Welcome, @JHBH2! I'd suggest you try the steps mentioned above (leather-specific needles, smooth feet, hammering stitches etc.) but that your best bet is probably to look for a new machine. If you're looking for a reputable sewing machine dealer who understands what you'd need for sewing leather I can personally recommend you Hartley Sewing Machines in Walsall, Castle Sewing near Leeds, and College Sewing in Bury. College certainly sells Juki 1541s but bear in mind that £950 for a used one is roughly half what they cost new. You've got a company called Rowlson in Nottingham who do industrial machines, but I've not heard of them before and it looks like they mostly do machinery for sewing curtains, carpets, mattresses etc. and may not have the experience to advise you reliably on machines for leather. It's possible that they may even offer you a trade-in on your Juki. Ideally you'd visit a machine dealer and test drive any machines they propose using samples of your leather, but that's not possible right now. This would give you a feel for each one and you'd get the opportunity to learn how to make any common adjustments. Is getting a functioning machine very urgent or could you wait a while? Since you make mostly smaller goods you might want to look at getting a cylinder-arm machine on a smaller table, which would take up less space in your living room and give you more options for sewing trickier items. The main disadvantage is that there is less area to rest your work on as you sew it but there are add-on tables available for some models, if you feel that you might want more support. A "jump-foot" is a passive, rather than active, walking foot. The foot is mounted so it can be dragged backwards by the work, then jump forwards again under spring pressure when the pressure on the foot reduces near the top of the stitch cycle. It's less likely to grab or drag than a fixed foot but not nearly so effective as a true walking foot. You used to get them on certain models of Singer 45K, but they pretty much went out with winklepicker shoes and 45RPM records.

W&G are now rebadgers of Chinese machines. (Not sure if they're a zombie company that died and had someone resurrect their name or if they're the same company as before, just... atrophied a bit. Or a lot.) The 335 is a clone of the venerable Pfaff 335 (old casting IIRC) -- a small cylinder machine popular for lighter leather articles and the 8b a clone of the Seiko CW-8B, itself a product improved Singer 153W104. Singer 153s are large cylinder machines popular for slightly heavier articles, but not suitable for heavy-duty leather items like saddles, tool belts, holsters etc. Both types are good choices for your purposes, though the larger cylinder arm can get in the way on some jobs. Not sure about the 302. Being copies of popular designs any sewing machine tech will be able to fix, service and adjust a 335 or CW8 type design, and there will be a wide range of parts and accessories available for the foreseeable future.