Ferg

You can buy stainless steel stock in any size/diameter/shape you desire on-line. ferg

I couldn't help notice your method of skiving with your machine. After skiving across one side, lift the top foot so you can slide the leather to the edge of your last skive before completing. I think many folks having problems with their skiving machines try to begin at the edge of the leather. That usually makes the skiver cut a piece out of the already skived edge. ferg

Depending on the material you are stitching the shorter foot may deter the leather from being moved through. Haven't tried that on my 206 but have done almost everything else. ferg

I have a 29-4 from 1911. I don't think it will do much for you and your shoe repair. Mine is in great condition but will only sew with max of #92 thread through 1/4" leather. I love to hear it run. They REALLY do sound like a sewing machine even with a Servo motor as I have. LOL fferg

billybopp, Thanks for the link. What a great story!!!!! To everyone else who responded, Thank You. Isn't this medium fantastic? ferg

biglew, Thank you. I love my family, my wife especially because she is my best friend. I have had a full life and done many things many folks only dream of. In a couple weeks maybe, I will have hearing aids so I can hear the birds singing and my loving wife speaking to me. ferg

I assume you have a website? ferg

Being that I am now 81 years young I like to think about old things and what old folks do. Thought some of you folks might enjoy this. Subject: Old man and a bucket of shrimp You will be pleased that you read it, and I believe you will pass it on. It is an important piece of American history. It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean. Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier. Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp. Ed walks out to the end of the pier, where it seems he almost has the world to himself. The glow of the sun is a golden bronze now. Everybody's gone, except for a few joggers on the beach. Standing out on the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts...and his bucket of shrimp. Before long, however, he is no longer alone. Up in the sky a thousand white dots come screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there on the end of the pier. Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly. Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, 'Thank you. Thank you.' In a few short minutes the bucket is empty. But Ed doesn't leave. He stands there lost in thought, as though transported to another time and place. When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a few of the birds hop along the pier with him until he gets to the stairs, and then they, too, fly away. And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the end of the beach and on home. If you were sitting there on the pier with your fishing line in the water, Ed might seem like 'a funny old duck,' as my dad used to say. Or, to onlookers, he's just another old codger, lost in his own weird world, feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp. To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty. They can seem altogether unimportant ....maybe even a lot of nonsense. Old folks often do things, at least in the eyes of Boomers and Busters. Most of them would probably write Old Ed off, down there in Florida ...That's too bad. They'd do well to know him better. His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker. He was a famous hero in World War I, and then he was in WWII. On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he and his seven-member crew went down. Miraculously, all of the men survived, crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft. Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific. They fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger and thirst. By the eighth day their rations ran out. No food. No water. They were hundreds of miles from land and no one knew where they were or even if they were alive. Every day across America millions wondered and prayed that Eddie Rickenbacker might somehow be found alive. The men adrift needed a miracle. That afternoon they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle. They tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose. Time dragged on. All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft...suddenly Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap. It was a seagull! Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move. With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to grab it and wring its neck. He tore the feathers off, and he and his starving crew made a meal of it - a very slight meal for eight men. Then they used the intestines for bait. With it, they caught fish, which gave them food and more bait....and the cycle continued. With that simple survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea until they were found and rescued after 24 days at sea. Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that first life-saving seagull... And he never stopped saying, 'Thank you.' That's why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude. Reference: (Max Lucado, "In The Eye of the Storm", pp...221, 225-226) PS: Eddie Rickenbacker was the founder of Eastern Airlines. Before WWI he was race car driver. In WWI he was a pilot and became America 's first ace. In WWII he was an instructor and military adviser, and he flew missions with the combat pilots. Eddie Rickenbacker is a true American hero. And now you know another story about the trials and sacrifices that brave men have endured for your freedom. As you can see, I chose to pass it on. It is a great story that many don't know...You've got to be careful with old guys, you just never know what they have done during their lifetime.

Update on my last post: Epson has a direct print printer for T shirts and other fabrics that uses white ink for a measly $18,000 - $20,000. There are also Laser printers with white Toner. ferg

I have a dye sublimation set-up. I transferred photos etc. onto just about anything you can imagine. Extremely high learning curve, printers get plugged with the subbing ink constantly, many products factory coated for sublimation, very few for leather. As above, the inks are very expensive plus one source company has a monopoly on the inks. It went through a very laborious court battle for a number of years. They can actually sue you if you source from China on your own. All that said: You need a heat press, mine cost upwards of $2000. It is manually operated but Digital. I coated my own product using Auto Clear Coat. It is very expensive and a little softer than the commercially available pre-coated product. You can use a laser printer. If you have a heat press you can do a little experimenting with a laser printer. Print your subject matter onto a top grade Copy Paper, image reversed. Then you can transfer a decent image onto white leather such as Doe Skin. You would need to bake the leather with the image transfer for about 2 or 3 minutes at 300 degrees F. Leave it in the oven too long, you will get a discolored piece of white leather. There is no White Sublimation Ink unless someone has developed it since I looked. I have printed Jet Black ink onto Unfinished Veg tanned, it can look real nice. Takes unbelievable amount of patience and many, many, pieces of scrap leather. Now: Most of the very colorfully printed leather, fabric, etc. is done with "Direct Printing." The printers have a platen inside of the machine where the item to be printed lays. These printers may have come down in price some since I checked but when I looked into the possibility, a good one with decent size capabilities cost $50,000. Since we already have a CNC Router that cost $125,000 we didn't feel overly excited about another $50,000 for a printer. ferg

Catskin, No stitching with that old truck of mine but many told me it sounded like a "Sewing Machine" when it was running. I had it until about 1970. Not one bit of rust on it. ferg

First PU was a '62 Chevy with a Flat Head Six. I was building houses at the time. Put eight ply tires on it so I could work in snow and mud. Hauled scaffolding, brick and block and everything in between. Probably the best truck I have ever had. Drive a 2004 V6 Silverado now in RED. Love my 2014 Chevy Impala. No room in my garage for a Ford ! LOL ferg

Two things I notice. You appear to be grinding your knife on a very small portion of the edge. Check the grinding wheel to see if it is level across the grinding face. If not you need to use the "dresser" to make it flat. The grinding wheel should touch the entire angle of the original grind of the bell knife, yours seems to be messed up. Also, your machine has a "stone drive wheel". They can be a problem if not kept very clean. This may not be causing any of your problems now but it can in the future. The paper method of adjusting the drive wheel to the knife is an easy way to get a nice thin skive but it can create a problem also. You would need a number of different thickness of paper to set different skives. I take a test piece of leather I am going to use for a project, run it through the skiver. If it is the skive you wish no adjustment of the drive wheel and the top hold down is necessary. The distance from drive wheel to the bell knife should be the thickness of the skived leather you wish when it is finished. Distance between the top hold down and drive wheel should be set to the thickness of the "Un-skived" leather. It is not unusual to have to fiddle a little bit with the settings for some thin or thick leathers. Gloss finished leathers will feed differently than raw or dull finishes. Hope this helps a little. ferg

I believe some folks think you have to grind heck out of the bell knife to sharpen it. You only need a slight grinding as in, touch the stone to the grinder for about 2 or 3 seconds, unless the edge is pitted or in bad shape altogether. I know it is recommended to use the "rod" to get the burrs off the knife at same time you are grinding. I do not do that. If for no other reason it is very unhandy. Carefully use the rod as near straight with the sides of the bell. You only need to touch the rod slightly to the bell knife. I have never tried to hone or embellish the grind. I simply have never had to. After skiving any Chrome Tanned leather for a project I touch the bell knife with the grinder and rod. With Veg Tanned I may do the same because it is easier to remember to just do a "touch up" after each session. Distance from and angle of the drive wheel from the knife is one of the most important things when adjusting any of the Skiving Machines. There is a learning curve to this machine. If you do not wish to put forth the effort to learn how to use them, please do not complain about how you cannot use them. Machines setting idle until they rust is no good. ferg

tboyce Has a pattern for a Dopp Bag. Search: "tboyce" on this forum. ferg

You may or may not have read my previous posts on the Skiving machines. Search: "skiving machines-ferg" ferg

You are obviously a great artist with the air brush. I am an old man by many standards and come from much more subtle times than you. That said, How about using some art that refers to Patriotism, wounded soldiers, doesn't matter what country you wish to aim your product. I realize your jackets are more to the liking of Motor Cycle enthusiasts and modern music aficionados. Doesn't mean you couldn't waiver from that. You are an excellent artist. You need to widen your interests. I think your pricing is about right. Just my .02 ferg

Nice job. Isn't it great to do a refurb when it comes out so nice? You done well. ferg

Bobby, As always, your work is inspiration to everyone viewing. Must be busy, haven't seen any posts by you for awhile. ferg

I have bought from Tandy for many years but I have stopped. We have visited the Columbus,OH store twice in the last year, the quality of product is the worst I have ever seen it. Plus: very low stock on hand. Haven't even bothered with the Cincy store. The flyers from them are almost entirely "Junk". I don't get it. ferg

You didn't say what size your thread is. First, you should make sure the thread is the correct size for the needle or vice versa. ferg

This won't necessarily answer your question but, A Motorcycle jacket of best quality has 50 pieces to it. ferg

Wouldn't expect anything but "Pretty" and well done from you Tatyana. ferg

Very nice. ferg

I use the ready mades occasionally. They are useful even at some being high priced for a wallet etc. that does not meet my criteria for completely handmade by me. I believe you should make note to your potential customer when the interiors are not made by you. ferg