Matt S

I've seen many historical reproductions onboard wooden ships and at museums though I've never made one. They were generally of very heavy leather 5mm+ (12-14oz?) and lined with copious amounts of pitch. They resembled very closely the historical reality of tankards, blackjacks and bombards (rather than the modern "oldey worldey"/Farby versions you see all over the internet that reflect modern leather, hobbyists' tools and techniques, and result in a very nice pretty mug). Some had sewn-in leather bottoms, others wooden secured with tacks. All saddle stitched with linen AFAICT. Now these, of course, reflected certain locations, environments and time periods -- most likely with good documentations/references but I've not seen those. What would be appropriate to hang on the deck rail of a Georgian ship of the line may not be appropriate in a 1900s hook and ladder station. What are the buckets for -- decoration, museum display, living history/reenactment?

You can, and to my knowledge there would be no detriment to your machine. However you might want to reduce it if you don't need all of that lift in order to reduce noise and amount of metal moving about. Imagine you were exclusively sewing, say, watch straps on this machine. Not only would you not need hardly any lift you might not want the feet flying up and down on top of a piece of expensive fine leather.

@jpt I haven't played with a W/F Adler before, but I presume it has the common 111-style foot height adjustment slot on the back of the head. Check that yours is set to maximum before buying parts! Also probably best to check that you have the feet timed as close as possible to optimum for the usual thickness you put through your machine. The Adler 69, AIUI, has a 2-motion feed-dog (just goes back and forth, rather than the more usual back-down-forwards-up of a 4-motion feed-dog) so you do have one hand tied behind your back a little. However you might be able to tweak the height of your feed-dog to better suit what you're sewing. I have watched a very experienced operator working a Pfaff 335 (very similar to your machine) who nudged the foot lift pedal a tiny bit when climbing up, which helped. Not what you might call a technique for absolute beginners but perhaps something to bear in mind.

Forester, You're very welcome. At that sort of thickness you'll be near the top end of what's commonly available in the UK for tooling leather. I don't know if it's a matter of changing uses/tastes over the years, or a change in animal husbandry or both but many suppliers top out around 3mm these days, as I'm sure you've found out. That's one of the advantages of going to somewhere like Baker's, as they have a very wide range (even wider than they advertise), and will pick you out a skin as close to your requirements as they can find. They will also split a heavier hide down to 4mm if you like, though of course you'll have an unfinished back on that piece. In fact if they can't find you one to match your requirements they'll tan you one specially, though that can take 14 months from order to delivery... Le Prevo offer some Italian russet tooling leather up to 4mm thickness though you have to buy an entire butt, which makes for a lot of holsters and belts. Again an email or phone call to them might get what you're after (I assume you're after a shoulder as the grain lends itself a little better to holsters than a butt, there's fewer SQFT to buy and the price per SQFT tends to be lower.) You've probably noticed that leathers are typically quoted in a thickness range e.g. 3.5-4.0mm. This is because there is some variation in accuracy of the splitting machines used today to level the hides to a certain thickness. This is unavoidable but is far more accurate than holster makers would have had in the 19th century -- in those days splitters were brand new technology and I expect far less accurate or consistent than today. It was common for tanneries to sell hides unlevelled, with different parts of the same hide at different thicknesses. It was left to the individual craftsmen to shave it down to the desired thicknesses. I believe that a lot of modern makers of Western holsters line them to get up to the desired thickness. This gives a far smoother, finished inside surface as well as making it easier to source leather. However as to period correctness you'll have to do some research. Will Ghormley is probably a good starting point, and if you can find one for a reasonable price a copy of the book Packing Iron. Out of pure nosy curiosity, are you making these holsters for shooting (British Western Shooting Assoc), filming, reenactment or just personal interest? That's a term from Western saddlers not used in English saddlery (the skirts on an English saddle are very different to the skirts on a Western saddle!). The only time I've seen skirting leather advertised in the UK was Tandy, which no longer has a UK outlet.

The only pit tannery still going in the UK (and the only one on the European continetal plate) is I believe, Bakers of Colyton. Wonderful leather at reasonable prices but not cheap cheap. Ask them for a russet shoulder (oak bark if they have it). Do you want/need pit tanned specifically because of some property of that type of tanning (rather than drumming, which is the modern method of veg tanning), or for some authenticity/period correctness reason? If not I would suggest a good, inexpensive tooling shoulder from any of the usual supliers such as Le Prevo, JT Bachelor, Identity Store, Metropolitan Leathers etc. Abbey England is selling Sedgwick tooling shoulders for £40+VAT that have had good things said about them, as they should for Sedgwick leather.

Upper, or presser-foot feed. Like a patcher machine. Not a common arrangement at all. Be aware that this sub-class could only change stitch length with different feet. And, while it does list horse boots and gun cases as typical uses, it also lists "Embroidery work on pillow cases and other light material" so I suspect it's a light machine for decorative stitches with skinny threads and short stitch lengths (high SPI). Probably not a very useful machine for leather.

Jig saw, band saw, panel saw... whatever I've got handy. Another plus is that it's stupid-cheap. 8x4ft sheet for £12. That's a lot of templates.

I like using hardboard (Masonite) with the textured back. Not only is it easily worked with common tools but the back makes it far less likely to slip than anything else I've tried, including MDF, acrylic, card and plywood. You can cut directly around it too, with a little care.

Alex welcome -- both to the craft and the forum. One machine to do that range of jobs is absolutely realistic. I think you'll want a compound feed machine (often called a "walking foot", though not all "walking foot" machines are compound feed...) with a servo motor. Sadly flat-bed attachments are fairly uncommon in the UK but it's quite possible to do without, or make your own as you say. However a cylinder-arm is absolutely the right way to go for bags, and a small-cylinder (Pfaff 335/Adler 69/ Juki 246/ Seiko LSC-8) rather than large-cylinder (Singer 153/Adler 169/ Seiko LCW-8) for clearance. In the UK we have a far narrower range of machine available, and fewer good sources of them, than many countries such as the US. However there are many good outlets, you just have to find them! If your budget allows it I would recommend you look for a good quality, used machine from a dealer. Preferably with reverse (not on all machines, especially older ones). A servo motor would be an important feature to look for as it's far lighter weight (good for carrying upstairs), quieter and easier to control than the older-style clutch motor. A needle synchroniser/positioner would be a very handy feature too, as it stops the machine in exactly the same position each time. This will help you concentrate on the work rather than what the machine's doing, allows you to work faster easier, adn makes it less likely to get a thread jam. The price of such a machine would be about the same as a new Chinese machine of a similar type -- around £1000-2000 including VAT from a dealer. However the quality and reliability of machine is far superior, and if you ever sell the machine it will have depreciated far less. (Price of a premium machine of this type, new, would be about £3000-4000, for reference.) Look for brands like Durkopp-Adler, Seiko, Juki, Singer, Pfaff, Brother and Consew. As you say the Pfaff 335, while an absolute workhorse of the fine leather trades, might struggle on the heavier stuff you do. However there are many subclasses of Pfaff 335, some capable of heavier work than others. Adler 69s are capable of slightly heavier work and also very good machines. Castle Sewing is a good, reputable dealer. If you go to them with a list of your requirements and samples of what you want to sew I'm sure they'll be happy to make you some no-obligation, honest recommendations and let you test drive some. (This would be the minimum I would expect of any decent dealer.)

I see your point and don't disagree with you per se but would say more that a NPS largely eliminates the need for a speed reducer. So long as you have a fairly low starting speed on your servo motor, a single stitch isn't difficult to achieve reliably. I've built huge reduction ratios into machines before -- largest I think was a 8:1. It certainly increases torque at the machine, and lowers the effective starting speed for crappy servos that aren't really suited to leather sewing (had a couple that start at 500RPM, that wasn't fun). The problem is that with a typical maximum motor speed of 4500RPM that's only what, 560SPM? Pretty slow. Maybe if you're only sewing small things like knife sheathes, holsters and wallets that's okay but it gets old real fast the greater the length of stitching you try to do in a day. Even with a 3:1 reduction you're limited to 1,500SPM, which is half the top speed of a good quality modern triple-feed upholstery-class machine. Or to put it another way you're halving the number of items you can sew in a day. If the purpose of putting in a reduction gear is to be more precise, a £20 needle positioner achieves this at lower cost, takes up far less space on/under the table, is easier to set up, and doesn't limit the speed I can sew. I have good quality modern machines with relatively high top speed, partially because I was getting fed up with the limited top speed of the lower quality machines I used to own. I run my machines full-bore whenever I can. Even on a 3" straightaway. Every second I shave is another morsel of profit. Those seconds add up. Even for a hobbyist I don't think that spending precious free time sitting in front of a sewing machine crawling along a seam is going to be that much fun. Just my humble opinion of course and it's worth exactly how much you paid for it But I think a counterpoint from someone who's been on both sides of the debate is useful.

Out of interest Jim, what prices were you quoted, and for what? Sometimes dies just are expensive -- there can be a lot of skilled labour and surprisingly expensive punch tubes. One contributor to this forum paid about $1000 for a single die a while ago, but it paid off quickly for him. Prices seem to vary a lot for the same dies from different companies. For one basic set of dies (two small, simple dies with no punches) I got quotes from a half-dozen British companies ranging from about £50-500 last year. Part of the price difference is the speed and quality of service. Feasibly there could be a quality difference here too -- the most expensive were I think were forged dies, most were strip knives (and potentially some no-name stock, others decent brands). I ended up with the second-cheapest quote as they actually offered the fastest turnaround and those dies have been used hundreds of times since, with no noticeable wear.

15mm straight bore pulley wheels are very common for sewing machines. Most industrial dealers, and Ebay, will have them for a few €. Certainly College Sewing sells them if you get stuck.

Yeah I find PVA to be a lot easier than hide glue, but TBF hide glue for leather is a lot less exacting than for fine cabinetmaking or luthiery. No specific grade needed, just dump a small handful of pearls into a jar of warm water and leave overnight. Apply cold. Lasts a few days before it goes funky, depending on the weather.

I have noticed similar roughness at or near the startup speed with several brands of cheaper brushless/induction servos. Usually coincides with the point at which the needle initially contacts the leather, which is the most difficult part of the stitch cycle. I suspect that it's a torque issue -- I believe that torque output is vastly reduced at very low RPMs compared with "normal" speed but @Gymnast can probably talk more knowledgeably about this than I. Gearing down with a smaller motor pulley or a separate speed reducer, does tend to help.

I have a 6-ton hydraulic press for clicking. A big part of the reasoning was speed -- the smaller jacks tend to be faster than the larger ones from what I read, and certainly faster than the air-hydraulic jacks I've watched online. 4 pumps per click on 3-4mm leather (assuming I raise the ram the minimum needed to clear the leather and knife). That's about 1 second. 6 ton is plenty for a 4" circle. Maybe you can buy a similar cheap press and save the big one for larger dies, or put a small bottle jack in your existing press.

Not all NPS sensors are the same. I'm sure that some have an optical rotary encoder but I've taken apart several low-end NPS units and found them to be a hall-effect sensor with a small magnet on the rotor wheel. Essentially all they do is provide a logic signal when the magnet passes (hi or lo depending on the brand). Easily replicated with many different off-the-shelf sensors. I suspect that Jack servos count the number of motor revolutions between NPS signals, then divides by two to extrapolate for the "other" position. The ESDA servo I have doesn't do this, and have terrible granularity on the throttle.

In theory a 1-signal NPS could be replaced with a microswitch or IR notch sensor positioned to trigger at the apex of the take-up lever.

This topic has been discussed a couple times here before. The consensus is that you need at minimum an upholstery weight machine (such as but not limited to) the Singer 111. Preferably a harness weight machine. All of those machines you listed are domestic machines for sewing shirts and cushions, or garment weight industrials (for sewing shirts and cushions quickly). None of them are suitable for sewing plywood, even lighter stuff. Sadly eBay is full of mislead and misleading persons. For $250 you're going to be looking a while to get a suitable and functioning machine. You would probably be better off hiring someone who has a suitable machine.

From someone who does use a NPS... thank you!

Through-dyeing affects how the leather handles and works, and is not always possible with all different finishing methods. I know of one tannery and several curriers who use hand-colouring (sometimes by brush, sometimes by sprayer), especially for small batches. I'd rather they do that and get the type of leather I want than they tumble it all through a dye bath. It's really no hassle to colour the edges.

English bridle doesn't conform to the usual methods of edge finishing you might use with tooling leather. It's slightly compressed during manufacture and often has been thoroughly greased, so doesnt absorb liquids in the way you might expect. Edge paints generally are not thin enough to absorb or bond. After cutting and rounding the edges you can use a normal alcohol based leather dye. However I find this makes the burnishing stage more difficult. Most common is to mix a little water based dye or water soluble dye powder into your edge burnishing mixture. Forget the gum tarawotsit. What's most effective is essentially any water based glue. Traditionally rabbit or hide glue, but there are many others available. Gum Arabic (used to be used as kids liquid glue for paper, or used in cake decorating) works quite well,as does white PVA. Wallpaper paste gives a satiny not-quite-shiny effect. Experimentation with some offcuts is needed. Whatever you use mix it up with some water and swab the edge. Give it a few seconds to absorb then wipe off the excess and start rubbing with a piece of wood or bone. Concentrate on a 4" length and go fast. Persist while the edge goes through a slightly greyish stage and keep going while it gets a bit grabby until you reach a good shine but do stop once you got a shine -- don't over do it, it'll only get worse. The really deep shine comes when you rub beeswax into it and buff off, preferably after letting it dry thoroughly. If you really want to sand the edges do it after you've done the first burnish. Sand, then apply more solution and rub again. Think like finishng a good piece of wood -- the first coat raises the grain a little and firms it up. It does result in a very smooth edge but if your leather is good to start with and you cut your leather accurately I dont really think it's necessary. Glue to water ratio is by experiment. If you can't get a good shine quickly you need more glue. If it doesnt penetrate deep enough add more water. It's usually the thickness between 5% milk and single cream. As to finish, as you say the leather is prefinished. Most of the traditional stuff we get over here is covered in grease (wax, oil and tallow) front and back, which needs rubbing off with a rag. I usually rub in some Fiebings Aussie to help get rid of the last bits of wax, give it a good shine and make sure it's supple.

Grinding away your thread guide is like cutting your legs short cos you keep hitting your head on the door frame. If you really must use your machine at maximum thickness far better to grind a little off the top of any outer feet you may use with that thickness of leather. An outer foot is a £5-10 part and a 15 second swap; a needle bar is £30+ and a fairly involved job to replace when you get tired of keep snapping threads cos you ground the guide away. First thing to check (apart from the rotation mentioned above) would be that your needle bar height is correct for the correct class of needle as mentioned in the manual. Could be that the previous owner lowered it to suit a shorter needle class that they already used.

As you say Barnsley do one, which I like. I've reshaped the handle and it's my primary leather knife. I also have a late Dixons. but it sits in the drawer and rarely sees daylight. I also use a Osborne lead knife for detailed work, though they're about 3x the price of a Barnsley.

This is the sort of thing. Not that expensive. Not top quality but they do the job fine. I've got two. One of them has a quick-swap facility, which probably gets 10 times the use of the other. Really handy for marking clients' branding/name, sizes, and whathaveyou. I set the temperature different depending on the type of leather, and can even do foiling on the odd occasion that I want to do that. Heated stamps are fast, reduces the pressure needed, makes a very permanent, crisp mark on on chrome or veg, and doesn't leave a tide mark like it can if you dampen a bit of veg. Largest plates I've done with these presses is a tad under 8 SQIN. I'd say that's right at the limit of what these small, cheap units can do (frame starts flexing out of square) so a 3" diameter stamp should work okay, especially if you bolt the thing down and extend the handle and remember not to do a full 200lb gorilla impression. If you really want you can get them with pneumatic rams and dwell timers for maximum consistency but I think that's overkill for what I use them for. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32958298255.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.680826aciT5Dgl&algo_pvid=abd1ae58-406c-43b6-9c66-2180bcb237a5&algo_expid=abd1ae58-406c-43b6-9c66-2180bcb237a5-3&btsid=1808401f-4f49-486b-9522-670f7790e272&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_52

3" diameter (roughly circular) stamp makes for 6.75 SQIN of effective area. Most makers' marks in in the region of 1 SQIN, so you'll need nearly 7x the force that most people are using, all other factors being equal. What are you stamping (chrome/veg), and what condition is the leather (wet/dry) and stamp (hot/cold)? I reckon you'd be able to do it with a 0.5T arbor press but as Chris points out you'll probably need a cheater bar. I used to use my 6T hydraulic press for stamping, and would have great difficulty achieving a repeatable impression, or even stopping myself from ploughing straight through the leather. Nowadays I use my heated embossing press, which is basically a cheap arbor press with an electrically heated plate. Works very well every time. Largest plate I've embossed with it was about 8 SQIN, and that's really the max I can do without a cheater bar.