billymac814

They really don't cost that much more. Its usually only a couple hundred bucks which isn't much compared to what you're already spending on the machine. If I found a really good deal on a used 9" I wouldn't pass it up but if we're talking new machines get the long arm for sure.

I've put a speed reducer on my patcher after the fact. It was a fairly simple procedure if your able to drill a few holes. You'll have to move your motor and just line everything up. I prefer a seperate speed reducer rather than the gear reduction ones personally plus a speed reducer and the belts are cheaper if you already have a servo. Of course you could sell your servo and recoup some of that money if you went with the gear reduction servo. I seem to get a little more belt slippage from the gear reduction servo than I do with the servo/ speed reducer combination. To be fair though I haven't tried comparing the two on the same machine so it could be just the differences in machines.

No I love dogs. What would be a better way to preserve your old dogs memory by making him into something that would be around for ever. I've watched a TV show where people had their pets freeze dried or stuffed so they'd be around for ever. I wouldn't doubt that you could get some serious cash for turning pets (whove died from natural causes)into purses or anything really. I'm not exactly serious about this and its not something I'd want to do but we all work with dead animals all the time so how different could it be? They'll just rot away otherwise. I always joked with my ex saying I would make something out of Hooch when he died. He outlived out relationship though. I recall being on a site that claimed to make things from human skin as well, I don't remember the site or the details though. It wasn't a US based company though.

An exotic definitely wouldn't scratch as easy. I wonder if you left off the finish and just used a wax based sealer if that would help some, kinda like the way harness leather comes, it could be the acrylic finish scratching. Or superglue felt to his nails. I just had a good idea when Cheryl brought up lizard skin. You could make hair on collars made of dog skin for an invisible collar.

Yea I get suckered into them on occasion, sometimes you get lucky other times not so much. Most recently I got some lambskin lining leather for 1.29ft. It was earthtones so I figured it would be some form of brown but when it came it was shiny green. I really doubt ill ever use that.

I would start by removing the dogs nails. They do it with cats so it should work with dogs too. Ok that's probably not the best idea. How did you dye it? The only items I've ever had scratch easily were things I've airbrushed. You may try dip dying or just really saturating it with a brush and give it another go.

I already have a maul started that I never finished, I think I started it 3 years ago. I found it easier to order a Barry king one. They would be good for that though I would think.

I like the CF interiors, I always thought about ordering one to see it, it looks very classy. I ordered one of Springfields and haven't used it as its kind of on the bulky side. They also started making biker wallet interiors that are nice and very reasonable. Good luck at the show, nice wallets too.

I recently bought a mold from Duckcreek traders for a Derringer. It was cheap and is pretty decent. I don't think it would be quite as strong as a blue gun but its plenty fine. I like it better than the Duncan's. they also included two patterns with it, they have embossing plates to use with the provided patterns. I doubt I'd ever use the patterns but ill keep them just in case. They also included a CD but I haven't put it in the computer to see what's on it, I'm guessing images of their other stuff.

Where did you get them at? This isn't typical of drum dyed black leather at all. My guess is it was one of those cheap ones from Springfield. Don't let those turn you off from it.

Hello all, I've decided to sell my Tormek t-7 water cooled sharpening system. This is considered one of the best sharpening systems out there. It works well on most knives, scissors, chisels, punches, axes, and many other blades tools. Included is the hand tool kit which includes all the jigs for most hand tools and knives. This is the latest version and has been used very lightly, and not that much at all. I used the leather strop more than anything so the stone isn't worn down at all. I've only had it 6 months or so. I was planning on sharpening knives for customers out of my shop but never really pursued that venture. The reason I'm selling is because I'm not using it that much and it doesn't work well on my lip knives so I figured I could put the money towards something I could use. I paid 840.00 for it from Amazon and still have the original packaging. Will sell for 625.00 shipped, no less or ill keep it. I still have about half a tube of the tormek cutting paste for the leather strop wheel. That thing alone is almost worth keeping it(or buying it). I should mention that there is currently not a jig for head knives so they have to be done free hand. I will upload pictures later email me if you want some before I get to them.

Thanks, it was kinda fun making the sheath and then basically abusing it and hitting it with random objects that were within reach and then hoping it looks right. The knife is marked USN on one side and Mark 1 Made in the USA RH 35 PAL on the other. Its not a Ka Bar. I picked it up at the flea market a few months ago and just now got around to making this for it. I'm going to keep it in the shop for a display piece, until someone offers me money for it anyway.

Pete, I would think with the tooling they would probably be in the 60-80 range at minimum. When you sell online you get a much broader range of people. I have a hard time selling my stuff locally where people seem to gravitate towards the cheaper stuff so most of the stuff I make gets sold online but I try to keep cheaper stuff in the shop to sell to locals.

I was wondering the same thing, there's no way I could do them for 40.00 with the tooling. How thick are the pocket pieces? I'm considering getting a couple, its always good to have some different things in the shop that people can buy I'm just wondering what I can sell them for and if it would be worth it or not. I'm definitely up for seeing better quality kits. I've never made a kit to sell because there's none I've seen that I would have been happy with the outcome.

Here's a sheath I just finished. Its for an old somewhat beat up knife so I made the sheath to look like it may have been with the knife all those years of heavy use.

That's a fairly new and still popular gun, you may as well just get a new one as I doubt many will be selling theirs right now and you'll sell more. I have a real one for sale though, never been fired, I bought it the first day they came out and used it until a bg was available. Www.bluegunstore.com to get a new one.

Paper money is a thing of the past too. Alot of people including myself don't carry much cash and if I do its not in my wallet. These smaller type wallets are becoming much more popular. I don't see a problem with the size. It seems people either want really small wallets for a few cards or they want gigantic biker wallets to carry every piece of paper they get. What does 18 bucks get? One kit? Are you doing any bulk pricing for multiple kits and is it cheaper without the holes or same price? I didn't realize leather could be cut out with a laser like that, very interesting.

Yes it does and that is the biggest problems with "one offs" and why its often hard to make a decent profit and make it worthwhile. Normally I only take these kind of jobs for people I know or potentially good customers otherwise its just not worth all the design time and I'd be embarrassed to quote some ridiculous figure for a fairly plain item when I know they could get one cheaper from someone who may specialize in it. He already thought this one was expensive and I only figured in about an hour and a half and that's about all I had in actually doing it but I had another couple bourse or so in making the patterns, then changing them then looking at them and scratching my head for a while.

Pretty much. I'm sure the next one would go a whole lot quicker, I just don't generally work with soft leather like that and getting those rolled edges to look good wasn't the easiest thing to do. Trimming the excess wasn't as bad as I thought. It would have been much easier just using veg tan and stitching it up and burnishing the edges. Most of my time was spent just thinking about how to do it and have the edges look good. I ended up deciding on the rolled edges and once I got started it went fairly quick but all told I spent way more time than I planned on it.

Well here is what I ended up with. I can't say that I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Working with thin soft leather is not something I do often other than repairs. Its made entirely of lambskin doubled up and it also has a layer of unicorn buckram in it to prevent it from stretching too much. The edges are rolled over using some darker lambskin. There's one part of veg tan under the tab that keeps the page for the register but I laminated lambskin to it so it matched. There's definitely some things I'd do a little different if I were to do another but there's a fat chance of that happening. .

Brian, I'm sorry to hear your still having problems with it, especially after it was working pretty good. I can only think of one time I ever broke a needle on mine and that was stitching a sheath that was almost an inch thick so I was exceeding its capabilities and what happened was basically exactly as Trekster described. Here would be my suggestion given your current situation. I believe your Boss may have been used pretty hard, there definitely seemed to be a lot more play in everything compared to mine, that could have been the reason your needle guide was hitting the foot and the beveled foot may have been more of a bandaid than a fix. I would call Tippman and send your machine in for a rebuild. I believe (but I'm not 100% sure) that they do a complete rebuild for something like 200 bucks, you'd still be doing pretty good with what you have invested and should you still decide to sell it the rebuild will no doubt make it worth more when you go to sell it. Then when you get it back you should be able to rule out any machine issues and concentrate on user errors. Its very frustrating when you don't know if its your fault or the machines fault, I've been down that road many times with just about every machine I own. It can still happen on a new or rebuilt one but its far less likely. I'd at least call them up and explain the situation, they should be more than willing to help get it straightened out.

That's an easy decision. Get the long arm. There's not enough price difference not to, especially if you're new, who knows what you'll decide to sew in the future. I think the only way I'd go with a short arm would be if I got a really good deal on one or I was say setting up a production facility that was very specific and I knew a long arm would never be needed. Depending on your location you can check with Bob Kovar at Toledo Industrial Sewing machines. He gives great service and his prices are good.

I used mine for several years with no major issues and most of my issues in the beginning were user error. They seem to be a machine that you either love or hate. I pretty much loved mine, not as much as I love the Cowboy but it served me well and I've stitched a lot of holsters on it. I purchased mine used and the one in this discussion was purchased used. I do know of another guy who had some issues with his new one but I would hope that that's not the norm. Keep in mind too that its usually the problems that you hear about or read on line, for every issue you read about there's probably 40 or 50 satisfied people who have no reason to take that to the forum. Of course those figures are entirely made up it could be higher or lower. In my opinion I would probably only consider buying one used or at least get one on sale. Otherwise at 1500.00(plus a little more on some extra bobbins and feet) I'd spend a few hundred more and try to get into a used or even new 441 clone. The Boss is a great machine and is very capable and compared to handsewing its pretty fast but the 441 clones are very nice to use and they are a little more versatile.

Where do you see them for 140.00 shipped? I'd almost blow 140.00 for one, I have no intentions on using it so whether or not it arrives in working order isn't that important to me really, I'm sure I could get it running if I wanted too but I have better patchers and just got a Claes. I just think they look cool and it would be a cool display in the shop window.

What size of thread are you planning on using for gun belts? I stitch my gun belts with 277 and probably 207 would be the thinnest thread if use. I have a CB 4500 that I use for them, I wouldn't want to use much smaller than that. I also have a Consew 206rb and honestly stitching gun belts its pretty maxed out stitching that thickness of firm leather with 207, I personally wouldn't want to use anything smaller. The thickness really isnt the issue as much the hardness of the leather. That machine will punch through 1/4"-3/8" of softer garment leather with no problem. I can't imagine a home machine doing any better than it does. If I were going to be making them on site somewhere I'd probably go with the Boss on the cheap end or look into that "portable" 441, I can't recall the manufacturer but it has the motor mounted to the head. Another option would be a 45k head, someone else just mentioned putting a knob on the handwheel to use it without a motor. If I couldn't afford to do one of those options I would stitch them down the sides at home and cut them to length at the show and handsew around the tip, if you're careful about how you cut them it won't be noticeable at all. I've had to cut off one a little bit before and I just cut at the next stitching hole, that have me enough space to keep the same distance from the edge all the way around the tip and it was hardly noticeable.