TomG

I think they are referring to the Black LB/AW. Fiebings has stopped making all flavors except Neutral. I spoke with one of their chemists a year or so ago. He advised me that you can take some of the EcoFlo leather dyes and mix then with the neutral LB/AW and have an equivalent for the discontinued products. He didn't know the ratios and advised me to just do small samples and start with maybe 5% dye to 95% LB. What I did was make brown and black. I dyed some sample pieces and used my test batches to see the results. To be honest, I actually found little difference between the Neutral and the "best" brown batch and on the black, I saw virtually no difference whatsoever. So now, I just use the neutral for everything. BTW, I make a ton of dog collars, belts, key fobs and such. I use the LB/AW for almost everything and love it. I put it on after the dye and buff it well, then, if I have any stampings/engravings, I apply my antiquing on top, let it sit until I see it just start to lose it's "gloss" and then wipe it off as if I was block dying a piece. After it dries overnight, I apply 50/50 resolene, again, using a block dye technique applied quickly. This takes off any excess antiquing with ripping the stuff out of the impressions.

You can use deer skin to line them, but why bother? Lightly sand the back. Use Leather Balm with Atom Wax top and bottom and rub in well. That makes for a fairly smooth finish on the bottom, unless it's an absolutely crap piece of leather. Follow up with some Mink Oil paste or SnoPruf. That will help waterproof it to a degree. You'll find that the collar will also absorb oil from the dog's skin and soften up nicely in short order.

As Northmount said, I've found that the vast majority of Fiebings dyes will require at least diluting 50/50 with alcohol. Some of the heavier pigments may require more alcohol to get the color you want. I used old prescription bottle that I had washed out to make small test batches. I'd do one at 50/50, one at 25/75 and one at even 10/90. (Dye/Alcohol). If it changed too much, I'd play with 40/60 or 60/40 depending on what I was trying to achieve. For example, I used 15/85 of Oxblood to make a light pink. What you will find is that at some point the color will start looking washed out and not be a true color. Royal blue is an example of that which I first saw that effect. One note... if your state allows it, get some 10ml syringes and use those to to your ratios. That save wasting dye. As you do your samples with each, be sure to write the ratios on each test piece. When you are all finished, you can usually dump all of the samples back into the main bottle without much effect on the original dye color. This is especially true if you are buying quarts. Oh.. You want to make sure that you are applying the dyes the same way and same amount to each sample. The best way I found to do it is a quick dip into the dye and let dry. Use a 1" wide piece to dip. In and out....

Try the drill press or hand drill route

I used to make a spacing strap our of nylon webbing and brass grommets. I would chuck a standard punch into my drill press. Set to a medium speed and use it to bore through the webbing. The punch generated enough heat to melt as it cut and I had perfectly cut holes. I used both wood and plastic cutting boards as backers.

As Hildebrand said. This is normal. Let me see if I can remember how it was explained to me. Picture a doughnut. If you measure the diameter of the outside and of the inside, they are different, of course. Say that the outside is 3" across and the inside is 2" across. Using the formula for the circumference, c=pid, the outside circumference is 9.42" and the inside is 6.28". And, since the circumference is equivalent to the "length" around the circle, you see that there is a 3.13" difference in length. In practical matters, you'd have to figure the diameters based on the thickness of the leather - if I remember right, it's something like outside diameter - thickness x 2. As for mixed tannages, people glue Chrome to Veg all the time. BUT, regardless of tannages, measure and glue everything up flat, not curved.

Oh Lord, Dwight.. You are not doing that at all. That's basically what I've been doing. I sort of pull the bobbin thread intil it "feels" right. and adjust my top tension from there. I was just blabbering about a "wish" <g>... I thought that might have contributed. I haven't had a chance to play with it and do any fine tuning. Woke up sick this morning.

Thanks. I THOUGHT I had that happening on my test sews after the repair. I'm going to breakout some good scrap and go back through all of the tension setup steps. That being said. I just discovered that both of the presser foot tensions were very light. I never thought to check those. The way my hands fed the 2 different pieces was different and I was probably holding the test piece down a bit without thinking about it. The leash was mainly making sure it fed straight :-) I'll know for sure shortly.. I do wish there was a way to precisely adjust the bobbin tension. With our 12 needle embroidery machines, we take the bobbin carrier out and hang 4 quarter taped together to the thread and bounce it. We adjust the tension until a bounce drops the stack and then stops. Easy-Peasy

First, thanks for all the help earlier on my needle bar issue. I replaced it and checked timing and it looks OK, I think. But, I was sewing on a leash today for a repair and the stitching is for crap. I did not mess with bobbin tensions or top tensions during the repair. Sewing with 138 and 22 needle. Now, the leash is sort of soft, well-used VegTan. I adjusted the stitch length to use the old holes. My test piece was a lot better looking, but not 100% perfect. So, I guess the question is.. Can the quality and firmness of the leather affect the stitch quality in this way? Photo shows top side and bottom side.

Been there. done that on a few mechanical machines. Like I said.. unless I KNOW it's a press fit, I check with others who might know. I just finished installing the new bar and did OK. It took a little experimenting to figure out how to reassemble, since a couple of parts did not want to cooperate . The main issue was the very tight tolerances on one of the sliding bars behind the rocking arm. Had to take abreak and ease up on my back, but now going to check the hook timing. Later

I'm in the process of replacing it now, but kind of stuck. I have the feed dog removed, loosened the clamp screw on it and it drops dpwn just fine.. except it hits the edge of the bobbin assy. I need about 2mm of movement to allow it to completely drop out. I've removed the screws that I THINK should allow the needle rocker frame to slide a little but it's not budging. I'm not comfortable forcing anything until I know it needs to be forced. That part is the pivot pin that the rocker goes on. I put in a call to Bob and will probably hear from him sooner or later. If I find it's OK to pry that pin out a tad, I'll be golden.

Nothing you can do. they are made from stamped metal. Once they start to bend, they are toast. Don't worry about throwing away cheap trash. You probably paid around $10 or so. Say $15. If you had it for 3 years, that's $5 a year! Go invest in a good, solid punch. I have the one I bought from Tandy about 12 years ago (around $25 on sale at the time) and use it almost daily. I either polish.hone the tubes in a drill press when they get dull or I simply buy replacement tubes. Try to get one with a replaceable anvil and you will have a tool that will last you a lifetime. You'll never regret it.

I did notice that it appears that the needle rod won't just drop out of the bottom of the machine. Bob said something about removing a plate or something. I haven't looked at it in depth yet though. Any tips you'd care to share?

Exactly. I ordered it today and hopefully Bob was able to get it in today's mail for me.

I suppose I could, but I would either have to drill all the way through the original hole, or buy a bottoming tap in the small size I'd need. I'd still have to pull the bar to do this. It's just easier to replace with new and not have an oddball machine . But, I appreciate the idea.

Thanks, but it broke off too far into the hole. I did drill it out, but slipped and damaged the threads. So, Iml replacing the bar.

I just picked up 2. I got home and tried to remove the old screw and wound up buggering the hole. So, I am going to have to replace the needle bar. If the bar I buy comes with one already, I'll be glad to mail you the 2 extras. I'll let you know.

As an FYI, the Consew part number is B140553. I'm waiting to hear if my local dealer has any in stock. Fingers crossed.

Consew 227-R2

Not sure if I can pull the needle out as it is secure, but I'll try it when I get to the shop tomorrow. Do you know what size screw it takes?

Thanks. I'll check into that. Never heard of a left hand drill bit

I was tightening the screw that holds the needle in the bar and the head broke off. Inswear I wasn't cranking down on it. But the screw is now recessed in the hole. I am afraid that the screw is too small for standard extractors. Suggestions?

Is it mainly widening the gap? What does the hook need?

I think I've seen the answer to this somewhere her. but I've spent an hour looking with not success. I have a 111W155 and it sews fine with 138 thread. I would like to sew with 207 just for cosmetic reasons. Isn't there a way to modify the thread path so I can use 207 top and bottom? Tom

When you skive and glue together, do you sew the join as well? I've done this to make longer dog leashes and always have to sew a couple of lines at the edges Not sure if I'd have to for belts though