albane

http://www.durkoppad...m/en/index.html there is a link to the source. won't a machine from our sponcer serve you as well? http://artisansew.com/ Artesan serves us by supporting this site. food for thought

"He told me that it cut three ways.....long, deep, and continuous." I have to remeber that one. I have a couple go to knifes. The tool I find most useful is an Olfa cutter and a good mat. I have a Knife that looks just like the one pictuered above. I bought it when I was working in a boot factory. this type of knife is called a skiving knife. Mine is plain without the handle. machine shop here I come... that handle is just the solution for the sore fingers that bare blade produces. Like any tool It's the craftsman that makes the tool work. It sure is nice working with good tools. from top to bottom: 4) assorted exacto handles (funny the one I like best is missing 1/2" dia alum. handle) 1) skiving knife (from the boot factory) note the bare blade.... the pro guys....low wage hard working extremely talented immigrant guys had there own way of protecting there fingers by wrapping the handle with leather tape etc. They can make anything using only that tool. I lost a few bets saying I can do that with this. Humbling to say the least 1)Osborne trim knife 1) head knife 1) med olfa 1) small olfa I find the med. and small olfa serve me best the large tend to break to often. the med is great for straight lines with the help of a good straight edge. med is limited to about a 6"dia curve. the small olfa is nice for about 1 1/2" dia. depending on what your cutting. the draw back with the olfa system is joining 2 cuts at an angle like a 90 or 45 if one is not careful you can tend to over cut and make an X in the corner.

I have a Singer 132k6. Have had it for about 3 years. In my shop it is the heavy machine in the group. as a tailor I don't have much call for machines of this type but I enjoy having the ability of stitching heavy stuff. needless to say the 123k6 sits for long periods of time. most of my regular clients know I have it and it sees and hour or two a week. When I bought it there was a stitch length issue with it and it had to go back to see the mechanic. My relationship with my supplier is very friendly and if I need to learn something they tend to be vary helpful. anyway, he showed me how to lock down the stitch length adjuster so it will not move. that was fine up until 3 weeks ago when a client requested a shorter stitch. I gladly adjusted the fastener that locks up the system and got to the job at hand only find that the adjustment didn't hold and that I was the owner of a new belt... lol After the new belt acquisition processes I spoke with my client and we decides to get out the tools for a second time. now using scrap we tried again to find out I'm not as well versed at sewing machine maintenance as I had thought. so my quest for a singer132k6 service manual began. I found a few parts manuals but the service manual STILL alludes me! Turns out Singer never wrote one. and after looking over the parts manual it is a simple list with photos. Not an exploded view. at least with an exploded view I could see if my mechanism was missing a part etc. so I called singer..... the Folks at Singer were vary nice and help full. With the serial number they told me my machine was born on Oct.12 1943 in Scotland in the Kabul factory (67 +years old!!! that baby still runs) what did I learn from this info? well there was a diffrent mesurement standard in use then called the "British standard" or BS for short no wonder they converted to metric. understaqnd that I have many tools and none fit properly What is needed is a 7.5mm end wrench to hold the nut that locks the mecinsum. Making things worse the other end of the fastener is a flat head screwdriver on a 90. A BS flathead slot.... Snap on man here I come....guess what? snap on no longer make BS tools. After some begging I contacted a gent in the industrial tood department and they are making a custom 7.5 mm box end for me. I figure my machine is missing a lock washer. lol I have to laugh because no standard washers fit. Custom lock washer custom tools and she LIVES Again. Your results may vary. I wish you well, Al Bane this was a fun read http://www.singerco.com/company/history.html Singer Sewing Company 1224 Heil Quaker Blvd. P.O. Box 7017 LaVergne, TN 37086 Customer Service: 1-800-4-SINGER Customer Service Fax: (615) 213-0994 http://www.sew-europe.co.uk/132k5.htm http://homeappliance.manualsonline.com/manuals/mfg/singer/132k6.html

http://heavyleathernyc.com/ Rachael is cool and if things go her way she may need some help. say HI for me

Pat, I would make that leash for a minimum of $150.00 I get away with that kind of pricing for a couple reasons. I am a custom specialist so the client wants it before I make it. The next factor is that as a custom the client views the product in a different light. Custom verses off the rack. Off the rack can be anything from Louis Veton to Walmart. Custom can not be treated like a commodity. You are in fact a hard workin joe who wants to get by doing what he loves. When a customer comes in to your shop they know they can talk you down and they act like it's ok to ask for a deal. At that point I will reach in my pocket pull out a $20.00 bill and throw it at them, as i'm showing them the door....I will say "I don't have time to waste and need to get back to my life" If they are trying to insult your craft by not wanting to pay for it and compounding the insult by wasting your time they need to go and I figure I get off cheep for $20.00 . If they come back the first thing I tell them is consultations are priced at $250.00 per hour prorated to the second. They then are booked for an appointment a week out and we require a deposit. I love the look on there face when I sit in my chair put my feet up and relax. They want to know why they need an appointment if I'm just sittng and they are here now. I remind them if they want the best then they have to wait like everyone else. My approach is extreame you may want to have a softer touch. You only have so many days on mother earth and a limeted amount of products you produce in a lifetime you might as well get paid for it. Best Regards, Al Bane

Hi and thank you for allowing me to participate in this forum. This may be slightly off topic. If the moderator removes or deletes it I understand. As a professional leather smith, I have developed many tricks that my fashion school education didn't teach me. While the other posts are mentioning sewing machine maintenance I find that the most obvious problem for a beginner would be insuring that the two layers being sewn stay uniform with their lengths relating to the stitched seam. A typical flat bed sewing machine will inevitably drag the bottom ply causing it to stretch and inversely tug the upper ply causing it to gather, resulting in a misalignment in the joint, (i.e. the top gets shorter and the bottom gets longer). The solutions seem simple yet misinterpreted by the beginner. In traditional sewing a seamstress will pin the work pieces together to ensure alignment. While simple, not a very good practice when sewing leather. I have found evidence of 1/4 " ribbon being glued in to the seams typically in Chinese import pants. This practice seems like an expensive solution to a simple production problem, impractical in an American work environment. So I took the same basic idea and simplified it to the point of almost being ridiculous. I take a piece of plain old masking tape, cutting it into 1/4" strips and sticking it along the seam allowance. The tape itself is not stretchy by nature negating the stretchiness to light/soft leathers. The key is to remove the tape and eliminate any evidence of its presence. The unfortunate byproduct of taping is that it tends to leave some residue behind. Dealing with that residue, again, is another problem that needs to be solved. Some solutions could be to ignore the residue and let it disappear within the lining of a garment, or neutralizing the adhesive with something like talcum powder. Depending on the job, you may not want to introduce talcum powder. Used sparingly, it can do a good job but an unanticipated spill could potentially ruin your day. Another solution would be a chemical solvent like barge cement thinner or spot remover/dry cleaning fluid. Both of these options used in moderation will yield satisfactory results, but an error could be a catastrophe. Please note that this is only one of many solutions. Safety first should be a primary concern. When cutting masking tape into 1/4" strips I use a rotary knife and a straight edge. When applying solvents less is more. Small quantities of exposure will risk less damage to your work piece and your health. I hope you find this helpful.