Matt S

Do you have a picture of the correct bobbin winder? I have acquired in a collection of No6 parts a bobbin winder which looks like it might be about right for the A1.

10mm is more like 3/8". Many cowhides come out of the tan pit this thick in places but varying across the hide. It is put through a big splitter to even this out and ends up usually much less than 10mm.

I haven't bought one no but I will potentially be in the market for a similar cylinder arm machine this coming year. AE Sewing also advertise the Global 9205, not sure on the price though.

Have you tried contacting industrial sewing machine distributers such as Tyson's, Hobkirk or Braitwaite?

I would probably have difficulty seeing the stitching 18" away from my chest. I certainly do when sewing the gussets into messenger bags.

I've done about 24mm of bridle with mine, using a pricking foot and no needle steady. Just like my friend above I have no regular need to see such thickness but was curious to see if I could do it.

I have a lovely one, works great.

It makes a better fit for left-handed horses.

Yesterday arrived my 45k58. Dates to mid 1961. The interesting bit is the treadle base, which I believe is the correct industrial treadle base rather than one for a domestic with a 45k shoehorned on the top, which I see fairly often. As you can see she has sewn a lot of miles of seam -- the grey hammer paint has worn through to the black undercoat and even down to the bare metal in places. I'm tempted to strip it all down and repaint in black... Somewhen. Unfortunately it seems to have taken a knock in transit -- the lube pot has disappeared with the stud sheared off in the hole. Luckily I have a spare of each which I can use... If I ever get the stump out. The upper tension disc assembly was bent but i think I've coaxed it back to life. The foot lift lever is missing half so while functional it is a bit of a struggle fighting the big leaf spring with only an inch of lever! More annoyingly the exposed end of the thread take up arm has snapped off, which seems to be a tricky part to locate so other than a good clean I can't really play with it much yet.

Now that looks fine. What, if I may ask, are your intentions with this old lady?

How many belts will it sew before an arm bends or a gear strips or a bearing surface wears out because the machine wasn't designed for this heavy a use, permanently affecting the timing?

JT Bachelors mainly sells over the counter, and do a little mail order when they feel like it. They are a fine business to deal with so long as you can get there during business hours Monday to Friday. They have no desire to expand, nor would it do them any good. Baker's I would agree with 5ways, you need to phone to offer, and their leather is fantastic. Metropolitan has good service, I find their bridle fine but a little bland.

Well the Adler 67-63 has a very small balance wheel and even with the smallest available pulley wheel, the old clutch motor (with very little clutch left) it would jump from a standstill to about 900SPM. I didn't want to fit a speed reducer because the end of my table is quite cramped. The cheap servo was a £90 drop-in part that allowed me to dial from 200RPM (150-odd SPM) up to several thousand, which is useful for bobbin winding. I would like more of a gradient so I could throttle up and down on the fly (slower on the corners, faster down the long straights) without having to stop and adjust the speed but for the price I can't really complain.

I have that servo on my Adler 67. Works fine but there's not much gradiant to the pedal speed control. I have tweaked everything I can find and I only get two levels of speed within each speed setting.

Lining can also cover the back side of decorative stitching, or the back side of inlay or raised work. It used to be seen as a sign of quality but I am often suspicious lining might be used to cover the nasty backside of substandard leather.

We move (or at least hollow out) mountains just so our tea supply is uninterrupted https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinorwig_Power_Station

Those are knives from plough gauges.

The Coleman brand isn't very popular over here but we have plenty of camping or hiking stoves around. I have several, mostly powered by paraffin (kerosene) but none compete with the convenience of the 3KW fast-boil kettles that are available in every supermarket and department store.

Well that would disrupt our ability to boil water for tea.

I think that @Singermania has a copy.

PM inbound.

So I picked it up yesterday. For the record it will fit in a 5 door VW Polo so long as you take the head off and put the back seats down. Acceleration up hills suffers a tad though... Machine is generally in great condition, under 2mm of oil/dust/wax -- though this has protected everything underneath. The solution top wax box is still there, as is what I think used to be a hot water reservoir at the back (flat iron box with a loose lid and a pipe through the the front). Serial number is 10,400-something. Does anyone know how this relates to manufacture date? I asked about the missing wax tub on the bobbin winder. The chap didn't have a spare one but he said he had another, complete winder. After some dickering, a handshake and an exchange of cash I took home a second, complete gas heated bobbin winder, a smaller one that I think is for the Landis (but fits Pearson bobbins), three wax pots for the Singer 45, a spare Pearson shuttle, some bobbins, and around 100 various NOS needles. The manual for this machine is the February 1917 edition. There's also a BUSM catalogue but it's missing its covers and flyleaf. The Singer 45k parts list was not part of the sale but I'd fit sale. Guy also has a lot of misc 45k parts including a few shuttles for sale, with boxes of threads, full reels of webbing, saddlery hardware and cases of thread. I'll upload some detailed photos later this week, including the ones people have requested.

Before you go north of Watford (where there be dragons) have you tried JT Bachelors of Dalston? They have a good line in veg tan -- sides and shoulders. Closed weekends though I think. Is there any reason you don't buy tooling leather from Abbey? I've only ever bought their Italian bridle.

Potentially not the answer to exactly the question you asked, but I prefer to pay the tanner to do it. Dying is a messy process with a long wait between steps and I have never got as consistent as I would like. Dying a piece of russet veg is useful for those who have colour their leather, often to accentuate tooling or stamping. I do not, and the price difference is certainly worth it to me, even as a hobby. I get 3.5mm russet veg shoulder at £4/foot (buffed back) and bridle shoulder between 6 and 8 usually. A belt is half a foot, so for a difference of £2 per belt I've saved an awful lot of hassle.

If you touch it to a wet rag it shouldn't sizzle. Creaseing on veg tannages like bridle are usually between 60 and 80 degree celcius IIRC. Make sure the contact surface is smooth and well polished; a rough, pitted or chipped surface will not glide no matter what temperature it's at.