machinehead

What Max said.

I have always been able to speak with a sales rep when I call. They take the time to answer all of my questions and never rush. They are open 7:30 AM TO 4:30 PM MON. - FRI. Central time.

If you have been wondering about the quality of American Leather Direct's leather, check out this video by saddle maker Bruce Cheaney. See his comments on the saddle skirting. https://youtu.be/SzqbId52RSs

The machine is probably a Wheeler & Wilson D-12 or possibly a D-15. The Singer machine is probably a 12W class.

They must be referring to Tasman USA. Thoroughbred is one of their brands. http://www.tasmanusa.com/

Has anyone tried these folks yet? Frogjelly Leather http://www.frogjellyleather.com/ Arthur Porter, a member here took a tour of the facility and has a video which is included in one of his youtube posts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIgHQEThF00

If you haven't seen this already, its a good place to start. http://parts.singerco.com/IPinstManuals/16-133_CLASS_16.pdf

From Lisa Sorrell, a member of the Forum, we find this. http://sorrellnotionsandfindings.com/product/reinforcement-tape/

On the bay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-Organ-7X4NW-DYX3LL-794LL-Leather-Point-Sewing-Machine-Needles-Singer-Consew-/400730390609

Ray, PM sent. Thank You

Bob, As always you did an excellent job. I am glad to hear that you like American Leather Direct's leather. A great leather and fantastic service . David

The small blade off to the side is the glass cutter. To use as a knife sharpener, you draw the blade perpendicular between the large round wheels. Rotate them once in awhile to present fresh sharpening edges. These work fairly well on certain blades made of carbon steel.

Actually, it is a combination knife sharpener and glass cutter.

You've received a lot of great advice here, and mine is just a variation on what's already been stated. When I was doing shoe repair, build ups, and foot orthotics we would keep a piece or two of the natural crepe rubber in our aprons for adhesive removal. If you have a shoe repair shop close by you might score a chunk. Tell them what you need it for and they will know what you are talking about. We also used the old style Teflon lined glue pots and you had to stay ahead of cleaning the glue off the outside. We would ball up some of this residue and use it for an " eraser". I also agree with everything JMWendt says about the Duall 88

Great job, Ken. I have noticed lately that some of the styles from the sixties and seventies are making a comeback. Is the guitar strap cut using the Black River Laser template?

http://www.raichert.com/Leather/pro2000/ferdcoPro2000Web.htm Here is a company in Arizona in business since 1932 claiming it is the " original" since 1995 Gregg from Keystone Sewing here on the forum also carries the machine. Maybe get a " second opinion"?

Hoffman Bros. has been in business since 1903. Surely they haven't accomplished that by hook or by crook.

I go along with books. Did your kit come with modeling tools? They are a must have. Simple but invaluable. At some point you will want something other than a poly mallet, but there may be better places to purchase one. It will do for now.

In the interest in full disclosure, I have two of the LS-1 machines. I have bought and sold many machines over the last several years and the first LS-1 I acquired has the Monster wheel and the leather foot installed. I have two pieces of veg tan that is 1/4" thick that I used to adjust the tensions on one of my true leather sewing machines. I took that test piece and hand cranked a couple of inches on the Sailrite. Using about size 92 thread, it acomplished that very short run with no skipped stitches in forward or reverse. Having said that, would I say use this machine for sewing 1/4" veg-tan? No, absolutely not. It was mentioned above by someone else that owns one that even 5-6 ounce can cause skipped stitches and I have no doubt that in a real world project scenario that can be the case. I don't know from personal experience because I never use it for heavy stuff. Let me be clear - in regard to the LS-1, 1/4" is very heavy. It is a fine machine for the purpose it was designed for so why would I abuse it by asking more of it than it is designed to acomplish? Speaking of thread size, the size the 92 looks and is puny for 1/4" of veg-tanned. Speaking of available feet... in addition to the regular heavy toothed foot the selection is limited to left and right zipper and the aforementioned leather foot which is a must for not marking the leather as it has less aggressive teeth. The LS-1 does not have needle feed.

It states on the Sailrite website that the Ultrafeed will stitch up to 6MM (1/4") of leather but they are talking about soft leather, not hard temper such as veg tanned and that is the upper limit of the machine's capability, under ideal circumstances. It uses up to and including V92 thread with up to a size 22 needle. One shouldn't use a tack hammer when the job calls for a sledge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Charitable_Mechanic_Association Millennium Park is evidently over an old landfill. http://goodoldboston.blogspot.com/2011/08/urban-archeology.html

Steve, Thank You for providing an excellent example of your customer service. I commend you sir.

This might help. http://www.willghormley-maker.com/OldDogsAndNewTricks.html and then there is this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPtelaDViPY

The 97x4 Leather Point needles are sold; but I still have 97x3 Round Point needles.