Matt S

Looks like British Army. The moustache was compulsory until 1915.

How complicated is the pattern? If it's simple you could probably make a cardboard template then mark and cut several dozen in the time you could learn CAD. Small clicker dies can be used without a press by tapping along their length with a mallet.

Check the screw tension in your needle block. I have found that if I tighten the gibs too far (to take all the slop out) there is a situation somewhere between "too tight to move the block back and forth" and "loose as a clown's pocket" that prevents the block moving fore and aft as far as it should, and it ends up with a much shorter stitch length than indicated on the dial. The long rocker arm doesn't follow to the bottom of the cam all the way. The solution is to loosen the locking screws on the LHS of the block (hex heads). Also make sure you're lubing all the little oil holes in the block generously, and I think there's one on the axis of the rocker arm which controls the front-and-back movement of the block. Have you removed the block and cleaned all the schmoo out? There's oil galleries behind the ways and they can get clogged. Like all British engineering you know when it's oiled sufficiently -- it starts leaking like the Exxon Valdez. For reference the Pearson/BUSM 6 can do as many as 16 to as few as 3-1/2 SPI. The screw which bears against the screw on the stitch length adjuster is used to trim the stitch length adjustment for accuracy as the machine wears. If you need to turn it, remember it has a locking screw which needs backing off first or you could bugger the screw.

Some hides are as much as 10mm in places, but that isn't at all even across the hide. The first splitting is typically just to level the hide out for further splitting.

Renia 315 Aquilim is pretty good. It's a water based neoprene contact cement. Doesn't gunk up when stitching (which is great) but it also doesn't dry as fast as normal solvent cement so I help it along with a heat gun. If you're in the US I know that Lisa Sorel sells it (learned of it from her videos so I'm happy to plug).

Michael, why do you want to use veg tan specifically? It is far from ideal for garments so unless you're planning on tooling or embossing my advice would be to look at something more appropriate.

Yes that's the phrase i was searching for -- tunnel loop.

That looks very smart Alexis. Did you make the hames irons yourself? Are they stainless or nickled steel? Will you be making a collar also? Having used several sets but never made any is there a particular reason why you used the keepers rather than a tunnel loop on the tugs?

Thanks for sharing with us Brian. Looks like a real practical design that solves a problem lots of us have encountered. Keen to see your DIY edge finishing machine!

Halcyonia it would be great to see some pictures of your #6.

Depending on the context you could bull the item:

I don't know where in the world you are Marcus, but Abbey England and a UK eBay seller offer new manufactured Dixon style pricking irons in 1/2", 1" and 1-1/2" sizes. Rumour has it they are made by the same guys used to work at Dixon's. If you contact these sellers they may be able to have a 2-tooth iron made up for you, or it you take one of their 1/2" irons (around £20) to a grinder you could remove all but two teeth. I've never handled a Blanchard iron but I would expect the angle and length of the teeth not to match your Dixon iron.

This was on sale for some time on ebay UK. I am advised the stitch regulator assembly is from an old Adler machine. On such a machine the two wingnuts adjust the limits of forward (down) and reverse (up) sewing. Whether this means this K21 has been retrofitted to reverse I don't know, but I think that would be in the description if it has.

What is the total thickness of leather you are trying to stitch? Patchers are not designed or capable of anything much above 6mm. Can you provide a picture of your work? A size 100 needle should be used with a synthetic TKT40/V69 thread, which is a size often used on commercial wallets and purses -- much smaller than the threads usually supplied with those lock-stitch awls and smaller than any linen thread I think I've seen. TKT40 is towards the largest you can reasonably expect to use in your patcher. Linen thread is a little difficult to use through a machine, as it has zero stretch. I believe that the machine has to be designed with it in mind, and linen threads have not been common in industry in decades. Prewaxed linen is especially sticky, and machines supplied for its use had heating apparatuses to soften the wax before it got sewn. I realise that you want to use natural materials for a more period-correct product but If that's your aim you should be hand stitching in my humble opinion, using tools and techniques appropriate to the time and region.

That's very cool. What is the large brass piece? Is it something you cast yourself?

Looks like some submodel of Adler 67. Uses a 134R needle. Usually can manage up to 8mm of leather, but that is maximum, I wouldn't recommend any more than 6mm regularly. Maximum size thread would be TKT20/V138 with a 140 needle, though you may be able to use a TKT13/V207 through a 160 needle with TKT20 in the bobbin. Parts and accessories are about as readily available as industrial machine parts come. As to whether it's a good deal, it depends on your situation (including local availability of parts and consumables), your needs, and the price.

The 45K uses 214 or 328 class needles. If you have a 45K clone it will most likely be setup for this system but check your manual for this detail. As to the Chinese patcher it will depend on which type you have. The most common one (an inexpensive hand-crank that is sold with a tripod) is not a Singer 29K clone, though it is often decribed as such. I have have read conflicting reports as to what needle system it uses. As Eric says, once you know your needle system choose a size to suit the thread you use and a point style to suit the material you are sewing. Ignore the chart you posted, it shows typical uses and is not at all universal.

Hi Diyer, I think your machine is one that's tempting me ;-) I take your point about deflecting thinner needles, I used words I didn't even think I knew as I turned size 160 331LR needles into shrapnel when I couldn't use the needle steady on my #6. Running flat-out is not something I intend to do, which as you point out will help with any deflection issues. Have you done much sewing around 2mm with your 105?

I'm in the market for a cylinder-arm machine. I have a design in mind for mens' wallets which requires a cylinder arm machine. Thickness is between 2 and 4mm. Reverse is essential for this job, as access is very tight. Fairly straight-forward then -- so long as I use thread no larger than TKT20 (V138) I can use any number of Singer 153W or Pfaff 335 type machines. However, since workshop space is limited I would love to be able to use this machine also for sewing gussets into heavy satchels -- 4-8mm thickness of hard bridle leather should be easy enough but I want to use TKT10 (V277) thread or thicker, which elmiinates the usual cylinder-arm machines. I do not have the budget for a 441 or 205 type machine and was tempted to get a Singer 45K89 (cylinder arm snapping-foot with reverse) as I can deal with dog-marks. However some Adler 105-64s have come up, which seem to be a generally more refined product with more parts and accessories available off the shelf. Plus, I like needle-feed! :-) So to my question. The manual for the 105-64 recommends needles as small as 22/140, which will work well with TKT20 (V138) thread. I realise this is at the lighter end of the machine's comfort zone. Will I encounter problems forming a neat stitch in 2mm total of veg-tan leather? I am hoping that a 105-64 will prove to be a very flexible machine for a variety of jobs where my BUSM #6 is too much gun.

@Dunluce what blade are you using for your skiving? I tried the safety skiver and several different notes until I found the boring English paring knife to be my most comfortable tool for the job. Gotta be ridiculously sharp and with a flat back, just like a plane iron. As bikermutt says, definitely go for something smooth and hard -- the tip of the knife rides over the work surface so you have a reference point for staying stable. I think @gmace99 has a video on skiving in his YouTube channel UK Saddlery.

When it's on, a clutch motor is always spinning. in the motor housing, between the motor itself and the belt pulley that drives the machine, is a friction clutch. Normally this is fully disengaged so the machine doesn't turn but by pressing the pedal the clutch plates engage in proportion to how far down you press the pedal -- press it halfway down and the clutch is less engaged than when fully down. Think of it like a manual transmission car, except that the gas pedal is stuck at full and there is no brake -- you control the speed of the sewing machine by pressing the clutch pedal (which operates in reverse to that on a car) and by manually applying friction to the balance wheel with your right hand. with practice an operator can get excellent control and sew very fast, which is what these machines were designed for -- professional sewing machine operators, who spend 8+ hours a day sewing the same sort of items at a piece rate -- sew faster, get paid more. It's a learning curve and not something you can jump right into, even if you have a great deal of experience with domestic machines. Servo motors on the other hand are controlled by a digital circuit. You set using a small knob or a few push buttons the maximum speed and all sorts of other little settings, and are much easier to control. Switch it on and nothing moves until you press the pedal. Push harder and the machine moves faster. Let up on the pedal and the machine stops dead. They can be just as fast in a production setting than a clutch motor. They are also typically much smaller and lighter than an equivalent clutch motor -- I once replaced an old 30kg clutch motor with a 5kg servo that cost me only £100 brand new. The clutch was the size of a 5 litre beer tin, and the servo, with its control panel, half the size of a shoe box. the Singer 45k25 is a classic in the world of leather work, and I would love to add one to the menagerie. They have been out of production for decades and spares are a bit of a premium, though because they are classics certain spares are being reproduced. Remember though that, as well as marking the backside of the leather (which is often not the end-of-world situation a lot of people think it is, and can be heavily mitigated anyway) and not having reverse, they are designed for heavy work with heavy threads that often don't work in thinner leathers. It all depends on the thickness of your items, the temper of the leather and what you consider to be heavy threads. The 45k class for instance can sew using thread up to 18/8 linen (v554/tex600/tkt5 nylon or poly) and down to 18/3 linen (v207/tex210/tkt15) but I don't think I could comfortably get a good stitch on anything less than 2 or 3mm total thickness with the 18/3, and much thicker using the 18/8. On the other hand, were I to saddle stitch say two pieces of 1mm veg tan I could use a thread just about as thick as I like. It's just one of the trade offs when machine stitching.

I think it's a Gritzner (sp?) outsole stitcher. Dont know much about them but a name is a good starting point I suppose!

Yes, the pricker is still available, as are the other tools except for the edge irons.

If you believe that, I would like to sell you a bridge in London...

Now that looks fun. You in the BWSS? I'm at Bisley usually but have been known to trek up to Wedgnock.