Ferg

If you have a paper measure, get the measurement of circumference, divide it by the actually width of the stamped area of one impression. Use a divider to layout evenly making a small mark with point of dividers each time. Remember the space must be the width of the stamped area on leather. ferg

I grew up with Draft Horses from time I was 2 or 3 years old. Have always been "taken" by all breeds. These have to be some of the most beautiful creatures on earth. WAR HORSES - Absolutely Beautiful! Too magnificent not to send on. You'll love the music as well, beautifully played. These horses were originally bred as "war horses" in the days of knights and armor. As armor got heavier, bigger horses were needed and the Friesian almost became extinct. They are back and are one of the most beautiful horses in stature as well as gait. What gorgeous animals! Just watching them becomes an emotional experience. Can you imagine what it would be like to ride one? Their manes and tails are the longest that I have seen and I noticed that when performing on grass, their hoofs do not kick up a divot, as they land flat footed. Creatures such as these are what makes this world so special. These horses are native to the Netherlands. Have your audio on. http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Y5XJbSqwriM?rel=0

Kangaroo! ferg

I have a "funny" answer. I sew dungaree hems for shortened legs, veg tan leather, kangaroo, oil tanned, kid skin, I could go on. I really haven't found much the Consew cannot sew. But! You have to practice and learn everything you can about your machine/machines. Then most of the time it is smooth sewing. ferg

First: I think you are going to have problem making some/maybe a lot of the style holsters needed on the 206 RB unless it is totally different than my 206RB-5 They use a large bobbin, will sew nicely with 138 thread and "chug" with 207. Thickness of leather tops out at about 3/8" although I have done close to 1/2". I have used 23 and 24 size needles but don't like that big hole they make. Contact Bob Kovar at Toledo Industrial Machine for your needs. ferg

Boy, do I have leather and other supplies I probably will never be able to use. I am going on eighty two years young now but the "young" is slowly but surely slipping away. lol I have a large closet with shelves in my leather room. To say they are crammed full is a gross understatement. That said: I try to never allow sunlight to reach the hides. I roll all of them in brown paper. I never store them on anything but solid shelving. Dowels tend to make nasty impressions in expensive leather. I separate according to type and thickness as much as possible. I need to take everything out of the closet and re-file. I bought several hides of kid skin recently and found I didn't have a good place for them. The closet is in a room with central air in summer and central heat in winter. I usually roll the hides so the finish side is up. When I open the end of the brown paper I can see what leather, thickness, and color without exposing much of the roll. Makes for easier checking. I have all hardware items in plastic cases that have latches and are clear enough I can see what is in them. Sewing machine needles and bobbins along with at least twenty rolls of thread and zippers are in plastic storage containers resting beside each machine. Shelves on one wall to hold my many books on leather, history and working with same. I have several of my cutting knives at my "Cutting and Layout table" as well as leather scissors and thread kippers at each machine. Oh yes, A small metal oil can at each machine also, containing white oil of course. Also have my carving/working table with 2" marble insert and all my carving and stamping tools etc. along the same wall as my bookshelves. My overhead lighting is Fluorescent color corrected, with many accessory lights on the machinery. I do not spend near as much time in the leather shop as I would like. We have a family business that pays the bills and that definitely comes first. I have always liked to experiment with different items and push the envelope. Leather Art/Crafting is a fascinating and relaxing endeavor for me. ferg

Several years ago I ordered 3 or 4 Shell Cordovan. They didn't have Tannery Row set up at that point. Don't remember the gentleman's name I dealt with but seems I remember it may have been one of the Horween family. He told me he would get them out for me within a week or two. Two weeks passed, nothing. I called again asking for same man. He wasn't in but I told who I was speaking to that he had given me two weeks at the most. I had the shells in a few days. Years ago I used a lot of the Shell Cordovan. Made fine wallets that were all laced by hand of course. Probably sold them for $10 maybe $15. Those hides were beautiful beyond your fondest dreams. Last ones I bought were just average. I accepted them because of the service I received, I will definitely buy from them again, and I will wait as patiently as I can. BTW: Most if not all Cordovan Shoes are made of leather from Horween. ferg

Turn your first picture right side up. lol ferg

Nice work ferg

Could that be "Paying it Forward? lol ferg

I tried almost every style knife I could find. I do like the rotary for thin straight cuts. Photos of one of the clicker knives I made with blade made by a professional knife maker on this forum. This is of a straight blade, I have another with a curved blade. The handles are solid brass. These knives cut any thickness of leather but do best in Veg Tanned. I strop before and during my cutting. ferg

I have to smile I use the bevel up but have also used it down. Don't use my various skiving knives much since I have a skiving machine. The knives are very handy for "finishing up" a machine skive. Skiving knives need to be a little more than "razor sharp" and stropped often. ferg

I know nothing about Tri-Flow. I use a product in my truck and automobiles called "Motor-Kote". It is not an additive. We add two ounces per quart of oil to the engine about every three oil changes. That said: I have a large sliding table saw in our shop. Metal to metal although it has bearings on one side. I sprayed the Motor-Kote on both the bearings and the slide three years ago and haven't lubed it since. It glides as though it isn't even touching anything. Slow movement compared to sewing machine. I have given a spray can of the stuff to friends and family. They have used it on everything from snow blowers to electric car antenna. I know, I'm getting to it..... I used the Motor-Kote on surfaces of a Singer 29k I have, to loosen it up. Have never sprayed the areas again but I do oil it regularly with the white oil. Have not used it on my Consew or Seiko nor the skiving machine. You can allow it to "set" for a few hours, wipe it off to make sure there is no dripping and go about your business of sewing etc. Just my .02 BTW: I would go along with anything Eric says about a sewing machine and their maintenance. ferg

I think you need to do some shopping for the ConsewRB-5 They are obtainable new at less than you are being quoted. That said: My first machine was a Consew RB-5. I find that when I wish to do something well and in a hurry on a flat bed this is the machine I go to. I have a Seiko cylinder arm and a singer patcher. The Seiko and Consew both have limits on thickness that are similar. Probably if I had it to do over, I would have bought a longer arm cylinder machine and made a removable table for it. I hate changing pieces on a machine to do work so I am very satisfied with my set-up. Personally i believe you will need a machine that will sew to 1/2" or a little more in time. I can stretch the Seiko to do close to 1/2" but it makes it work too hard. Just some thoughts. ferg

Probably would have better luck selling the pieces if you responded to e-mail ? I am still interested but we need to communicate. ferg

Raw edges are showing up often. I personally do not care for them but that is personal opinion. Kangaroo is such a great leather. It is beautiful and the wearability is fabulous. I did make some iPhone sleeves without burnishing the edges of "Roo". Since the material is thin it isn't as noticeable. When I want a nice smooth edge I roll the edges after skiving. ferg

Well, of course I didn't mean to offend anyone but there is always that chance. You see, I didn't care if it was true or not, my wife said it wasn't. I am well aware of all those folks in Oklahoma and many other places also. Fabricated or not it is a good story. I loved it and I think there might be a few that feel the same way. Thanks Bob, ferg

I read a lot of junk these days because I feel a person in this so called modern day needs to be "up" on what is happening in the world. Quite honestly, most of it makes me sick. The enclosed story is one of those to make a tear come to your eyes and to help you remember there are beautiful things happening also. Subject: Robby’s Lesson At the prodding of my friends I am writing this story. My name is Mildred Honor and I am a former elementary school music teacher from Des Moines, Iowa. I have always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons - something I have done for over 30 years. During those years I found that children have many levels of musical ability, and even though I have never had the pleasure of having a prodigy, I have taught some very talented students. However, I have also had my share of what I call 'musically challenged’ pupils - one such pupil being Robby. Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I prefer that students (especially boys) begin at an earlier age, which I explained to Robby. But Robby said that it had always been his mother's dream to hear him play the piano, so I took him as a student. At the end of each weekly lesson he would always say 'My mom's going to hear me play someday'. But to me, it seemed hopeless, he just did not have any inborn ability. I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. She always waved and smiled, but never dropped in. Then one day Robby stopped coming for his lessons. I thought about calling him, but assumed that because of his lack of ability he had decided to pursue something else. I was also glad that he had stopped coming - he was a bad advertisement for my teaching! Several weeks later I mailed a flyer recital to the students' homes. To my surprise, Robby (who had received a flyer) asked me if he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital was for current pupils and that because he had dropped out, he really did not qualify. He told me that his mother had been sick and unable to take him to his piano lessons, but that he had been practicing. 'Please Miss Honor, I've just got to play' he insisted. I don't know what led me to allow him to play in the recital - perhaps it was his insistence or maybe something inside of me saying that it would be all right. The night of the recital came and the high school gymnasium was packed with parents, relatives and friends. I put Robby last in the program, just before I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he might do would come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor performance through my 'curtain closer'. Well, the recital went off without a hitch, the students had been practicing and it showed. Then Robby came up on the stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked as though he had run an egg beater through it. 'Why wasn't he dressed up like the other students?' I thought. 'Why didn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?' Robby pulled out the piano bench, and I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen to play Mozart's Concerto No.21 in C Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were light on the keys, they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He went from pianissimo to fortissimo, from allegro to virtuoso; his suspended chords that Mozart demands were magnificent! Never had I heard Mozart played so well by anyone his age. After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo, and everyone was on their feet in wild applause! Overcome and in tears, I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby in joy. 'I have never heard you play like that Robby, how did you do it?' Through the microphone Robby explained: 'Well, Miss Honor, remember I told you that my mom was sick? Well, she actually had cancer and passed away this morning. And well ..... she was born deaf, so tonight was the first time she had ever heard me play, and I wanted to make it special.' There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening. As the people from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed in to foster care, I noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy. I thought to myself then how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil. No, I have never had a prodigy, but that night I became a prodigy ......... of Robby. He was the teacher and I was the pupil, for he had taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself, and may be even taking a chance on someone and you didn't know why. Robby was killed years later in the senseless bombing of the Alfred P. Murray Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April, 1995. And now, a footnote to the story. If you are thinking about forwarding this message, you are probably wondering which people on your address list aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message. The person who sent this to you believes that we can all make a difference! So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice. Do we act with compassion or do we pass up that opportunity and leave the world a bit colder in the process? You now have two choices: 1. Delete this; OR 2. Forward it to the people you care about. You know the choice I made. Thank you for reading this.. May God Bless you today, tomorrow and always. If God didn't have a purpose for us, we wouldn't be here! Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Any spools of thread I have, most are 1/2 lb to 1 lb I store in plastic drawer cabinets about 30 inches high at the end of two of my machines. Bobbins: I got tired of them being all over the place. You can find plastic boxes at JoAnn Fabrics for the small bobbins. Large Bobbins my Consew uses have plastic boxes. I took a piece of pine the thickness of the bobbin lying flat so that half of the width would fit in the boxes depth. I then drilled holes down the center of the piece of pine to the diameter of the bobbin making the holes so they had at least a half inch between them. I took those pieces with the holes and ripped them in half, right through the center of the holes. Cut the strips with half a hole to the length of the plastic boxes along with strips the same thickness and width of previous. The strips with no "Half Hole" I used for spacers between the rows of bobbins. The boxes will hold twelve bobbins. When you fill the bobbins , take the loose end of thread, through one of the holes in the side of the bobbin and tie a single knot. This way you can see every color you have. I use a white "Paint" pen to mark the size of thread for each bobbin. May sound like a lot of bother but it will save many hours chasing those cotton pickin bobbins. ferg

You do not need to apologize for your English. Many folks were born here and still can't speak or write English as well as you. LOL Welcome to the forum. ferg

If you are intent on copying the manner in which those seats are done plus doing it by hand you will need about a year of spare time and infinite patience. A walking foot is just about the only type machine you can do this I believe. Folks will have suggestions I am sure. ferg

OH How I needed a good laugh this morning!!!! Thank you ferg

A note about Kangaroo Leather. I think I counted 6 or 8 hides of Roo in my stache. I love working with it. Stronger than many other leathers and will "form" around cell phones etc. without wetting. Very tight grain, beautiful, wears like iron, expensive for the good stuff here in the States. I know two people who live in Australia, I might just have to contact them. Baby Bison is the only thin leather I have used that might come close to Kangaroo. ferg

Our experience has been with wood products. We made/manufacture a product in wood that last time I looked 112 other individuals/companies have made also. We have made it for 38 years. We get an occasional e-mail or letter saying we copied their design, they have usually only been in business a few years. The worst at copying products are the Chinese. They copied some of our products so completely that shapes of parts and colors were exactly the same. They sold them for less than we could buy the material. Re: Leather sewing machines. lol ferg

I should have said, I started carpentering when I was fifteen. Built residential and light commercial along with many remodeling jobs. Also built commercial cabinetry, mainly for Family Sports Complexes, and about 40% of the furniture in our home plus all the cabinets. Let's see that makes sixty six years, OH MY! ferg