CustomDoug

It's in good shape, though I have used it quite a bit - but not lately. It could use a sharpening probably.. I'll leave that up to the buyer.

I have a used bench mountable splitter from Tandy.. it's called the "High-Tech". Pictures upon request. But it's like this one (but at a fraction of the price): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tandy-Leather-Craftool-High-Tech-Leather-Splitter-New-3790-00-/370592087823?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5649027f0f Askin $50 plus shipping. Doug C

I didn't know that about the LU-1508, but I did know that it's what replaced the LU-563. I wish I could afford one - sounds like the ideal machine for me. I don't mind doing modifications but if there is a draw back (like breaking needles easier) I'm not so sure I'd want to do that. Besides, I like that the two machines (my cylinder arm & flat bed) would share needles and feet. Do you know how the 563 and 206 compare with regards to lift and material thickness? thnks

I am currently using a Consew 287R cylinder bed machine to do leather (bags, garment and upholstery) - it does a pretty good job but I find myself wanting a flat bed machine to do things that are annoying to do on the cylinder bed machine. So I've been considering getting another one to use in conjunction with my 287R. I've own two Consew 206RB's in the past and generally liked them. Mainly I liked that they use a larger bobbin (M) then my current cylinder arm machine (why's that?). But I understand that a Juki LU-563 uses an even bigger bobbin than the 206RB, it uses a "U" which would be really nice. One thing also, is that the consew 206RB had problems sewing over multi layer seams when they got a little thick. Do the two machines sew the same thickness? Does one have an advantage over the other besides the bobbin in the Juki? Other models I should consider? Chandler has a 206 also.. Thanks. ~ Doug

Hello - I picked up 11 full size upholstery hides locally the other day for for a very good price. They are high quality hides but the hitch is that they are all blue in color. I have some projects that this color will work well for but some others that it won't. So, I'm trying to figure out my options to change some of the hides to a different color all together. I own a good compressor and automotive paint guns so is there a quality product that I should look into? Most seem to be small aerosol cans, but I'd need a larger quantity. What about hand applying dye - is it called Aniline or something like that? This would be superior to the spray, right? But if doing this would I be locked into going darker than the original color.. or does going to a brighter color work too? Thanks for any an all help! ~ Doug

Thanks for the help guys.. Sounds like it wouldn't be a bad choice if I planned to keep the color blue. BTW, the description states that they are 'easy and cheap to change the color'... but that could be just a sales pitch to move the leather (which is discontinued). I may ask the seller for his suggestions on what he might have used to dye them in the past or how he'd do it. Also, just a note - it's flame retardant, not a bad idea in a 42 year old car. PS - I know of American Leather well, they offered me a job as a pattern cutter (what's the term?) a few years back as I had worked for 'Leather Center' making furniture in the past..

Hi guys, I've found some $60 full size whole hides of "Andrew Muirhead Premium Scottish" leather, which is supposedly high quality upholstery leather and is supposedly used in aircraft interiors. As a matter of fact, the hides I've found are in an 'American Airlines Blue' color. I would like to use these hides to do a couple of interior club chairs, a small sofa and the interior on my '71 Volvo 1800E. The problem is that I'm not all that crazy about the color, especially for the car. So.. if I'd consider spraying them another color - what would be the best method. I already have a small "detail" HVLP spray gun and compressor, and would prefer to use this over investing in an airbrush kit. Which dyes (or paints) are recommended? required preparations? Does and Don'ts ? Advice? Can better deals be found in less-specific colors? Thanks in advance! ~ Doug

How do you know if it's four pole or two pole exactly? It doesn't say either on the machine's tag plate. Is it just the max speed that indicates which is which? BTW, my motor reads '60 Hz'.

I'll try that tomorrow.. I guess this would also tell me if the brake is set correctly too Yea, but I only have 110v in my garage, so I couldn't do "4 pole" - assuming that's 220v. Another point for getting myself a Servo motor.

This is the motor that came with this skiving machine but I think your point's a good one. Is your 1725RPM motor a clutch or servo motor? I've been thinking about replacing this one with a Servo as I've had good luck with them on my sewing machines. But then again, I don't need the speed adjustment of the servos necessarily on a skiver. I don't suppose changing the pulley to a smaller one on this clutch motor would be any good? It actually seems a little slow as it is... until the speed builds up.

Yes, when this happens I can see and hear it loosing RPM and the torque disappears at the same time. I think it's an adjustment thing.. as this has happened after making changes to the head.

The tag on the clutch motor says 400Watts, 1/2HP, 3450RPM. Also, a manual for the same type of skiving machine (typical fortuna features) suggests 200-400 watt motor with a range of 1000-1200 rpm (though that speed seems low to me) http://sunstar-swf.eu/pdf/km-76.pdf . Could it be the tightness of the belt or maybe the screw that controls the brake (I haven't touched it)? I have oiled everything a few times now though.

I'm having an intermitting problem with a clutch motor... it's on a skiving machine [that I'm in the process of trying to figure out how to use] - sometime (usually lately) it will completely bog down under the slightest amount of load. Like when I try to feed leather through the machine. Once it does this, it will only start up again if I let off the foot pedal completely and let the motor catch up again. It's a 400W motor that I have running in the opposite direction as a regular sewing machine via a switch on it's case, as required for the skiving machine. I can actually slow the motor down enough for it to stop by the "hand wheel" while holding the foot pedal down completely. Is there some kind of adjustment I can make to help with this problem.. or is it just a bad motor? BTW, it will run fine, building up speed to it's max if there is no load added to the equation. Thanks for any help!

ok for a walking foot machine, what could I use to improve the stitch lines of my french seams? My stitch lines could stand to be a little more consistently straight. I was hoping that this would fit into the center channel of the seam which would control the straightness of my line.

I know I'm reviving an old subject here.. sorry. But would these spring loaded presser feet be useful for keeping straight lines while doing a French Seam on chrome tanned leather (like doing auto upholstery) ? Would the springed part ride nicely in between the seem as I sew or is that asking too much from it? I haven't actually picked any up yet but here's an example of the feet I'm talking about: http://www.ebay.com/itm/390403603648?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

I want to do this too.. the hardest part seems to be choosing just which dies to get - they're like a whole can of worms by themselves. Some are threaded (which is a good idea in my mind but maybe cost prohibitive), some not, some do this, some do that. Can someone recommend a fairly complete set at a descent price? Sorry for the slight hi-jack.

I've been looking for the type of pliers with the long perpendicular clamping jaws like I've seen bag makers use. These help set the glue in place on long runs - is there another purpose they're used for (maybe just creasing a gusset section)? One pair in particular that I saw had a hex nut on top of each jaw that (I'm assuming) made it possible to switch out the length of the clamps. Is there a particular name for these I should be searching? Does anyone know where to source these? They seem to have a wide jaw design.. otherwise I'd think that welder's pliers or sheet metal seamer pliers would work - do ya'll think they would? Here's a pair of the (non-changable ends) one from that Japanese place and a couple of possible alternatives. Are there any others I should look at? http://www.ebay.com/...=item19d2f1d108 , http://www.harborfre...amer-98728.html , http://www.harborfre...iers-93062.html

You guys using the squeeze bottles, do you use a brush at all when using them and if so, what do you do with the brushes to keep them from being trash right away?

Kevin - I love the idea of less power usage, so I'd be leaning more towards the servo.. plus like you said I could even add a larger pulley if faster is needed (I hadn't thought of that). BTW, I just realizes that the Cobra brand skiving machine uses a digital servo. Thanks for the input.

Is there any reason one type of motor would be better or worse (clutch/servo) for a skiving machine ? I'd think the sharpener would favor a fast motor (the clutch), but then again the servos are not necessarily slow. Any reason though to ever run one slowly ?

Yea Andrew that edge looks pretty darn good from what I can tell.. and that looks like veg tan leather, these are supposedly good with the chrome. Have you tried making a crease line parallel to the edge of a leather piece yet? I think the flat "paddle" tip is meant to slick the edges particularly using dyes,waxes and paints (from what I can decipher). I may have to order one of these units. Does that silver metallic shaft below yellow plastic get too hot to touch? I assume so, but it's thicker too than most soldering irons I've used.

Ahh, these excel at topstitching a seam rather than sewing an original seam together.. that makes a lot of since. thanks for the info.

Does anyone here have any experience with the Presser Feet (Singer 111 style - fits the many clones thereof) that have the built in edge guides in various widths? These guides are spring loaded I think and may also be called "compensating guides". How do you like them or are they more trouble than they're worth?

Yea I had eventually figured that out but everything else I read about France and phone numbers said that the numbers should be in groups of 2 digits. I tried it every which way possible at least 3 or 4 times. It turned out taking it basically as I would normally enter it in the US with a 1 and a dash between numbers.... even though I tried that several times initially. Thanks.